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Could America's love affair with the French fry be hitting a rough patch? Inundated with press around obesity and nutrition, people seem to be getting the message -- and forgoing the fries. According to NPD Research Group, French fry consumption dropped by 10 percent last year, as restaurant patrons passed up the potatoes in favor of healthier fare, such as salads. The moment seems ripe for deep-fried alternatives.
Enter the T-Fal ActiFry, a European kitchen gadget that looks (as the Wired blogger Brad Moon pointed out) like the love child of a salad spinner and a deep fryer. Developed three years ago in France (bien sur!), the ActiFry requires merely one tablespoon of oil (make that oil "heart-healthy," as the nice lady in the ActiFry promo suggests) to fry up two pounds of fries. (Compare this to the two-liter bottle of oil you'd need for conventional deep-frying.) The machine spins the potatoes, dispersing the oil lightly and evenly, while using hot air as a heating element. And the ActiFry isn't just for potatoes -- the gadget comes with recipes for an array of deep-fried goodness. Surely this will revolutionize our relationship with deep-fried food! Less oil equals less fat! All hail! ...Right?
Maybe, maybe not. Blogger Charlie Sorrel, also at Wired, makes the argument that the mechanics of frying food are slightly counterintuitive -- more oil in the pan does not always mean more oil in your food. In fact, when food is dipped in very hot oil, "water inside vaporizes, creating an outward pressure and preventing the absorption of fat." In other words, properly cooked French fries are "virtually fat free," says Sorrel. (Caveat emptor: Fat free does not equal calorie free.) Meanwhile, insists Sorrel, because the ActiFry directs you to add cold oil to the potatoes, much of the oil soaks in -- making ActiFry fries fattier than the conventional version.
Not so fast, insists Michele Lupton, director of communications at ActiFry. "ActiFry has been tested with a lot of doctors with Europe," she told Slashfood, "and what they tell us is, when eating French fries [cooked in the ActiFry], you can save over two hundred calories and over ten grams of fat per serving over fast-food fries." Whoa. There's no data to compare ActiFries with regular home-cooked fries, Lupton explains, because there are too many variables to consider, but if you're facing the choice of fast-food fries or ActiFry fries, the research shows a pretty stark difference.
Questions about fat content aside, there are other draws to the ActiFry. Moon liked the child-friendliness of the gadget -- no horrific third-degree burns waiting to happen. And those among us who fry a lot of food, like this reviewer, may find the ease of cooking -- not to mention dishwasher-safe cleanup -- outweigh the somewhat hefty $300 price tag. The ActiFry hit the U.S. market last October, and according to Lupton, it's selling extremely well despite its limited distribution. Still, the jury's out on whether it'll put the FryDaddy out of a job anytime soon.
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4-08-2010 @3:33PM Noadi said... Also looks ideal for a frying phobic person like me but only if it can also do fish and chicken. I'm not afraid of fried food but of open vats of hot oil.
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4-10-2010 @12:07AM gerry said... amen to that
4-08-2010 @4:03PM Frank said... ""virtually fat free"
I think means something closer to THEORETICALLY "virtually fat free"
In practice, with the many crevices and fat-trapping regions of most any food you fry, you will definitely get more than 1 tbsp of oil along with anything you fry. (i mean, think about all the oil you see as you drain any fried foods)
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4-08-2010 @4:44PM Emelia said... I just looked up the reviews for this product on Amazon. There are only 6 thus far and the price tag is indeed $299.95. One of the reviewers suggested to look at Amazon uk for more reviews. The price on Amazon uk is £117.10 which is $178.64 for the exact same product. Evidently the price started out high in europe and then dropped dramatically. I suggest if anyone is interested they wait to purchase it when the price goes down in the states or order it from the uk.
The reviews on Amazon uk seem to be pretty ok for the product. There are several accounts of a cracking noise and then sometimes smoke or worse, fire, but I believe that was for the most part an earlier model. Most everyone seems to be happy with the way it cooks their "chips."
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4-08-2010 @11:51PM Sarah said... This thing is great - I got to use it before it was commercially available (yay for cooking competitions!). It's awesome for risotto or stews in particular, or stir fries - anything that needs to be stirred a lot while cooking. It's definitely less greasy (and dangerous!) than traditional deep-frying!
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4-10-2010 @7:08AM Photocrazy said... They had one of these on The Doctors this week and did a taste test. The fries from this machine won the taste test.
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4-10-2010 @3:03AM lita said... I have a deep fryer that requires about one gallon of oil. For picnics, I've cooked as much as 12 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts and used as little as 1 cup of oil in the process. The chicken isn't oily at all (and because the coating is saltine crackers, the coating gives the appearance of skin and is crispy as well). The problem? All that left over oil. I refrigerate it for reuse of course but still that's a lot of oil to have around. I'd welcome a process that used a couple of tablespoons of oil.
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4-10-2010 @3:27AM carl said... The solution is very simple...Throw your oil out...Use Smart Balance Butter...if you MUST Fry..,,,,.but rather...Toast,Bake,Broil,Open Grill,..the foods and stay alive a bit longer...
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4-10-2010 @3:32AM carl said... I have a better solution...DONT DEEP FRY ANYTHING...I like fries,,so I broil them in a Toster Oven...Comes out nice and chrisp..NO OIL....Try an Out Dood....Grill...or indoor,,Brroiler, Toaster, Bake in Oven,,,etc...Dozens of ways to avoid OIL...If you MUST fry ,,then use Smart Balance..BUTTER SUBSTITUTE
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4-10-2010 @3:36AM carl said... Since you determined.... to kill yourself, your guest and family....Try,, Broiling.. The Meats...Then serve then a glass of oil to drink,,,on the side
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4-12-2010 @6:22AM Jazz said... If we would just eat things in moderation, we wouldn't have to obsess over something like a french fry! Eat what you want to, but eat a reasonable amount! We have become a society obsessed with weight and diet and body image and there is a whole industry making a ton of money while they laugh at us all. Just don't eat so much!
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4-12-2010 @11:40AM ryan said... I use my Turbo cooker for french fries , (frozen) and the turn out great not oily just cooked and browned goodies...
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4-12-2010 @12:05PM janis said... MORE CRAP FROM T-fal
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4-12-2010 @9:17PM Daryl said... I have one, and it works great. With fresh potatoes, you only need 1 tablespoon of oil. With frozen french fries, you need NO OIL at all. They come out crisp and dry. My oldest son, who is 20, didn't know I used it and commented how great the fries were. It's also super easy to use and clean. No fumes, no oil, no mess, a teflon removable pot.
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4-12-2010 @1:40PM Marcie said... I have never had a deep-fat fryer. Actually, I can't think of anyone who has one who isn't at least 50 lbs. overweight. Drenching your food in hot oil???? There's no good reason to do that. You can get tasty food by baking it, or broiling, or steaming, or toasting, or microwaving. A lot of vegies and fruits are best eaten raw.
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4-12-2010 @9:20PM Daryl said... Marcie, if your oil temperature is right (generally in the 324 - 375 range, depending on the food), then very little oil actually penetrates into the food. It's not really the frying process that makes fried food fattening, it's improper technique. Use an oil with a high smoke point, don't overdo the amount of food in the oil at the time, and let the oil get back to a high temp, and you won't have any problem. I use the TFal because it's easier and cleaner.