My sister told me to stop shaking the air fryer basket mid-cook...

She saw me jiggling the basket at the 8-minute mark on some frozen fries and said I was ruining the hot air circulation. Tried her way last night with a batch of chicken tenders and they came out way crispier without me touching them. Anyone else got a cooking habit that someone told you was actually making things worse?

3 comments

3 Comments

gray3143d ago

I gotta push back a little on the "ruining the hot air circulation" part. I've been shaking my air fryer basket mid-cook for years and my fries come out crispy every time, especially with frozen ones that tend to stick together. The machine circulates air so fast that a quick jiggle at 8 minutes barely interrupts anything, it's more about breaking up the clumps so heat can hit every surface. If I left them alone, the ones on the bottom would stay soggy while the top ones burn, at least in my experience. Your sister might have a point with chicken tenders since they're less likely to clump, but for fries I'm team shake every time.

robin8963d agoMost Upvoted

Who shakes fries without burning their fingers at least once, right? I've definitely done the "quick jiggle" and ended up juggling the basket like a hot potato.

paulnguyen3d ago

You said "if I left them alone, the ones on the bottom would stay soggy" and that's exactly what I've been trying to figure out. So when you shake them, do you just give the whole basket a quick flip or do you actually open it and move things around with a spatula? Because I tried the shake method with my Cosori and ended up with fries all over the counter, not in the basket. I'm wondering if there's a trick to it, like tilting it a certain way or using a specific grip. Also, do you shake them multiple times or just once at the halfway point? I feel like I might be overdoing it because my fries come out okay but not as crispy as yours sound.