Chips · Air fryer

Air Fryer Chips with Cornflour Trick (John Kirkwood)

John Kirkwood's air fryer chips: floury potatoes, 13 mm chip, cornflour dust and three basket shakes to a properly crisp outside, fluffy inside. North-East UK retired cook, straight talk, no nonsense.

R By Richard · Adapted from John Kirkwood · Published 10 June 2026
❤️ 38.8k source likes
⏱Prep 12 min
🌡Temp 190°C
⏲Air fry 20 min
🍽Serves 2
Air Fryer Chips with Cornflour Dust

Source video by John Kirkwood on YouTube. This recipe was adapted with strict source-fidelity rules.

From John Kirkwood, retired North-East UK cook. Floury potatoes (Maris Piper or King Edward) are cut to 13 mm chips, rinsed of starch, dried thoroughly, then tossed with 1 tbsp of cornflour and 1.5 tbsp of sunflower oil. After a 3-minute preheat at 200°C, the chips cook for 20 minutes at 190°C, with basket shakes at 5, 10 and 15 minutes for even crisp. Cornflour dust is the trick for the crispy outside; floury spud is the trick for the fluffy inside.

Ingredients

Chips
  • floury potatoes (Maris Piper or King Edward), peeled, cut into 13 mm chips, rinsed and dried
Coating
  • 1 tbspcornflour
  • 22 mlsunflower oil
Optional spice mix
  • 1 tspgarlic granules or garlic salt
  • 0.5 tsphot paprika
Seasoning
  • sea salt
  • black pepper

Method

  1. Peel the potatoes and cut into 13 mm chips. Drop the cut chips into a bowl of cold water as you go to stop them greying.

    ~10 min

  2. Rinse the chips well to remove excess starch, then spread on a clean towel and pat completely dry.

    ~4 min

  3. Tip the dry chips into a bowl. Sprinkle over 1 tbsp of cornflour (plus garlic and paprika if using). Toss to coat.

    ~1 min

  4. Pour over 1.5 tbsp of sunflower oil. Toss again until each chip is coated.

    ~1 min

  5. Preheat the air fryer to 200°C for 3 minutes.

    ~3 min

  6. Season the raw chips with sea salt and black pepper. Tip into the basket and set the timer for 20 minutes at 190°C.

    ~1 min

  7. After 5 minutes, pull the basket out and shake well. Slide back in.

    ~1 min

  8. At 10 minutes, shake again. Slide back in.

    ~1 min

  9. At 15 minutes, shake one more time and add a little more salt and pepper. Slide back in for the final 5 minutes.

    ~1 min

  10. Tip into a bowl lined with kitchen paper to soak up any excess oil. Serve at once.

    ~1 min

Frequently asked

Why floury potatoes specifically?
Floury varieties like Maris Piper and King Edward have a lower water content and higher starch, which is what gives you a light, fluffy middle. Waxy potatoes stay dense and rubbery; they're a salad spud, not a chip spud.
Does the cornflour really matter?
Yes. The cornflour combined with the surface starch from the soaked-and-dried chip forms a crisp coating in the air fryer that you can't get with oil alone. Skip it and you get pale, soft chips.
Why three shakes?
Air fryers only blow hot air; without movement, the chips touching the basket stay pale. Shaking every 5 minutes rotates the chips and gives every face a turn at the hot air for an even golden colour.
Can I do these without preheating?
You can, but you'll need to add 3-5 minutes to the total time and the crust won't set as cleanly. Preheating gives the chips an instant sear when they hit the basket, which is what locks the cornflour crust on.
Extraction notes (transparency): All quantities and timings explicit in the source. Potato weight not stated; recipe serves about 2 from a 'good bowl of chips' as shown.