My neighbor told me to stop soaking potatoes before air frying them and I was ready to fight until I tried it

I ran into my neighbor Jerry by the mailboxes last Tuesday and he saw me carrying a bag of russets. He said I was ruining them by soaking out the starch because that's what makes them crispy in an air fryer, not a deep fryer. I argued with him for like 10 minutes about how every recipe online says soak for 30 minutes. Finally tried it his way last night, just washed and dried them with a towel then tossed in oil and salt. They came out way crunchier than my usual batch and I'm honestly annoyed about all the time I wasted soaking.

2 comments

2 Comments

perry.lee1mo ago

Well shoot, Jerry might be onto something. I've been soaking spuds for years like some kinda potato scientist and now I find out I was just making them soggy. I tried his method last night with some Yukon Golds and they came out so crispy I felt like I owed him a beer. Makes me wonder what other kitchen hacks I've been doing wrong my whole life.

emerychen1mo ago

Ngl, @perry.lee your post got me thinking about all the dumb stuff I used to do in the kitchen too. I once spent a whole summer peeling potatoes with a vegetable peeler that was practically dull as a spoon because I thought that's just how it was supposed to be.