Add This to Potatoes Before Air Frying… and Get the Crispiest Roasted Potatoes!

Achieving a glass-like crispy crust on roasted potatoes within an air fryer relies on a couple of critical chemical interventions. This technique from Easy Airfryer Dishes highlights how alkaline parboiling, cooling, and starch dusting work together to produce a highly textured, deeply crispy exterior on standard spuds, finished with a classic garlic butter glazeGlazeA shiny coating applied to food to add flavour, colour, moisture or visual finish..

The Alkaline Parboil Method

The foundational step for these potatoes is parboiling large chunks in water seasoned with both salt and baking soda. The addition of baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) raises the pH of the cooking water. An alkaline environment breaks down the exterior pectin in the potatoes much faster than neutral or acidic water. This creates a starchy slurrySlurryA mixture of starch and cold liquid used to thicken sauces, soups or gravies. on the surface of each potato chunk. When cooked for five to seven minutes after the water reaches a boil, the potato exteriors become incredibly soft and rough, providing a massive surface area that eventually crisps up.

Cooling, Starch Coating, and Air Frying

A critical step after boiling is letting the potatoes cool down completely. Skipping this step leads to trapped steam, which turns the exterior soggy during the cooking process. Once cooled, the potatoes are dusted with starch and tossed with a small amount of olive oil. The starch bonds with the parboiled, slurrySlurryA mixture of starch and cold liquid used to thicken sauces, soups or gravies.-coated exterior, creating a reinforced shell. The potatoes then go into the air fryer basket to bake at 190°C (380°F) for 15 to 20 minutes. The rapid, circulating dry heat of the air fryer dehydrates this starch-heavy exterior rapidly, puffing it up into an ultra-crispy crust.

Finishing and Flavour Delivery

The final element is the emulsified coating. Instead of roasting garlic with the potatoes—which would burn at high heat—a separate mixture of melted butter, grated raw garlic, and fresh dill is prepared. Toss the hot, freshly fried potatoes directly in this garlic butter or brush it on. The residual heat of the potatoes cooked in the air fryer is enough to gently take the raw edge off the garlic without scorching it, leaving a clean, punchy aromatic finish that clings perfectly to the rough, crispy potato skin.