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My frozen fries went from sad and pale to crisp and golden after I stopped shaking the basket

For the first year I had my air fryer, I followed the bag instructions to shake the fries halfway through. They always came out a bit limp. Two months ago, I saw a comment on a cooking site saying to just leave them alone. I tried it with a bag of store brand crinkle cuts, set it at 400 for 15 minutes, and didn't touch the basket. The difference was huge, they were way crispier all over. Is shaking actually making things worse for some foods?

4 comments

4 Comments

mark_thompson1mo ago

My old air fryer manual swore by shaking... but my last batch of tater tots proved it wrong.

wright.leo26d ago

Tried shaking fries once and it just made things worse. Now I just give the basket one good shake halfway through. For tater tots, I found spraying a tiny bit of oil on them first stops the sticking. My last batch came out perfect, all crispy and not stuck together at all.

jana6721mo ago

Wait, @mark_thompson, your manual actually told you to shake tater tots? I mean, that just seems like a mess waiting to happen.

sammartinez1mo ago

My air fryer manual said the same thing about fries. Ended up with half of them stuck to the basket.