A quick heads up about air frying frozen fries

I see so many people just dumping a whole bag of frozen fries into the basket and setting it for 400 degrees. That's how you get a soggy, uneven mess! The fries on the bottom steam while the top ones burn. You have to shake the basket at least twice, once after 5 minutes and again at the 8 minute mark. I tested this with a bag of store brand crinkle cuts last night, and the batch I shook was perfect while the 'set it and forget it' batch was inedible. Has anyone else found a better method for getting them all crispy?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_charlie3d ago

Used to just dump them in and walk away, convinced the air fryer would work its magic. Your post made me try shaking the basket like you said, and wow, what a difference. The fries actually got crispy all over instead of being a sad, half-soggy pile. I guess I owe my past self an apology for all those mediocre batches.

quinnbailey3d ago

My buddy Dave was the same way, swore his air fryer was broken. He'd make these sad chicken nuggets, one side burnt and the other frozen in the middle. I finally told him to just shake the basket halfway, like tossing popcorn. He texted me a picture later of the most perfect golden nuggets, said it was a total game changer for his frozen pizza rolls too.