Use a hotter final oven blast to crisp fries after baking
If baking instead of air frying, finish with a short higher-temperature step to crisp them up.
Bake fries, then give them an extra few minutes at a higher temperature to increase crispness.
The short version
- Finish with a brief higher-temp step for extra crisp
What goes wrong
Keeping the same temperature the whole time and ending up with softer fries
Add a short higher-heat finish to crisp them
Why it works
A hotter finish drives off remaining moisture and accelerates browning for a crisper exterior.
Put it to use
Learn next
Shake air-fryer fries partway through to cook and crisp evenly
Give the basket a shake during cooking so fries brown more evenly.
Pat parboiled potatoes dry before air frying or baking for crispier fries
Dry the potatoes after boiling so they crisp instead of steaming in the air fryer or oven.
Parboil fries until the outside softens before air frying or baking
Boil cut potatoes until the exterior starts to soften, then finish in an air fryer or oven for a crisp outside.
Rinse cut potatoes to remove excess starch before cooking fries
After cutting potatoes into fry shapes, rinse them to wash off surface starch for better crisping.