The moment I stopped overcrowding my air fryer basket

It took me like 6 months of soggy fries to figure this out. I kept trying to cook a whole bag of frozen fries at once because I was impatient. Then last Tuesday I measured it out - I was putting about 2.5 cups of fries in a basket that really only handles 1.5 cups max. The difference when I do smaller batches is night and day. Everything actually gets crispy instead of steaming. Has anyone else dealt with this same issue or am I the only one who had to learn the hard way?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_piper8d ago

My girlfriend kept telling me to do smaller batches for months and I was like nah it'll be fine. Then I tried making sweet potato fries with only one layer in the basket and they actually came out crunchy instead of limp and sad. I felt kinda dumb but now I just cook everything in two rounds and plan for it. The extra five minutes is totally worth not eating soggy food.

the_terry8d ago

Read somewhere that the air fryer is basically a tiny convection oven and overcrowding it just turns it into a steamer. Makes total sense now that you mention it. The first time I did wings in a single layer I swear they were better than takeout. Kind of a game changer once you accept the extra few minutes.