Air Fryer Chestnuts

Everyone feels like a chestnut expert because they make them once per year for stuffing or whatever and it's a family tradition or whatever. They confuse familiarity with expertise.

I've made chestnuts almost 50 times this year alone (they're cheap and great here), and I've refined my method to perfection. I won't explain why I don't soak them, or parboil them, or salt them, or any of the other unnecessary and counterproductive moves people do. Just trust me.


Preheat your air fryer 400

"But Jim, air fryers don't really fry, they're just a convection oven!"

Correct. But they're really good, handy, economical, windy, and self-contained convection ovens, perfect for chestnuts. You can do this recipe in a real convection oven, but it won't work as well. Buy a small air fryer (I have this, and when the silicon bumpers wear away I suggest you buy a new air fryer). You'll never use your toaster oven again, and you'll hardly ever use your convection oven. Just run it 15 times outdoors to burn off rubber and plastic manufacturing artifacts without turning your kitchen into Love Canal.

Put chestnuts in a deep bowl full of water (more than you think necessary) and discard any floaters. Drain the water.

Use a serated steak knife or bread knife to slash an "X" on the flattest side of each chestnut. Don't go too deep if you can help it.

Place in preheated air fryer, cut side down. Set it for 20 minutes.

Cook 5 minutes.

Shake tray violently. The chestnuts will flip to cut side up.

Cook 5 minutes.

If you shake them, they won't flip. They'll just sort of move around. So you must laboriously and painfully flip each chestnut with your fingers (cooking gloves, tongs, etc., won't work) back to cut side down. Just this one time.

Cook 5 minutes

Shake tray violently. The chestnuts will flip to cut side up.

Cook 5 minutes

Dump chestnuts into a dishtowel, double it over, and press firmly downward with your palms, trying to press each chestnut solidly at least once. This loosens the skins.

Cooking over charcoal is better, but not as much better as you think, so probably not worth the extra effort. And if your charcoal method doesn't allow smoke penetration, it's not better at all. If you master the air fryer technique, you will not yearn for charcoal.


Eating notes:

Eat them hot. Don't let them sit.

Most of the skins will come off effortlessly. But for stubborn patches, don't scrape. Just push your fingertip directly down hard on any lingering skin. It will crunch (like with the dish towel), wrinkle and detach, easy to flick off with another finger. For larger patches of stubborn skin, squeeze the nut between thumb and index finger, then flick off skin with your other hand.