Question about people crowding the air fryer basket

I keep seeing folks online shoving whole chicken breasts and piled up fries into their air fryer basket. Last night I tried a batch of brussels sprouts, half a pound, spread in a single layer with space around each one. They came out perfectly crispy in 12 minutes at 380, not steamed or soggy. Why do so many recipes still say to just dump everything in without leaving air gaps? Has anyone else had better results after giving your food some breathing room?

2 comments

2 Comments

wright.rowan4d ago

Dude yes, the air gap thing is a total game changer. I used to just toss frozen fries in there and they'd come out half steamed and half burnt. Then I tried doing a single layer of sweet potato wedges, leaving a little space between each one, and they got actually crispy on all sides in like 10 minutes. Same thing with chicken thighs, I do two at a time with good spacing and they get that nice browned skin instead of being soggy. It's crazy how many recipes just tell you to fill the basket to the brim, it's like they want you to fail.

umamurphy4d ago

Right, but here's what gets me - why do recipe bloggers and even some cookbook authors still tell you to pile food in? Is it just that they're trying to make the recipe look faster or easier for clicks, or do they genuinely not test their own instructions? Like, a full basket of frozen fries takes 20 minutes and they're still limp, but a single layer takes 8 minutes and they're perfect. That math doesn't add up unless they just don't care about results. Makes you wonder how many people gave up on air fryers because they followed bad advice straight from the source.