How To Rescue Soggy Fast Food Fries With Your Air Fryer

You walk into the house after a stop by your go-to fast food restaurant — and the fries are already cold and soggy. It's an unsatisfying meal proposition that most of us have dealt with at least once, but there's an appliance in your kitchen that can come to the rescue. Out of all of the air fryer hacks you should know, it's the way it can quickly reheat fries and bring your starchy, salty snack back from the brink that we're talking about here.

Whether the ride home was too long, the drive-thru attendants gave you an old batch of fries, or there are leftovers from last night, the air fryer can return them to their ideal form. The air fryer's hack is all about the hot air it circulates, which helps crisp the fries up. It won't delay your meal too long, because you won't have to wait for a traditional oven to heat up. And since the fries were most likely already deep fried, it doesn't hurt that the air fryer won't require any extra oil to make the magic happen.

Even the best fast food fries out there might turn cold or soggy on the ride home, but it only takes these few steps to reheat them properly. First, set the device's temperature somewhere between 350 and 375 degrees Fahrenheit. The next important step is to spread the fries evenly in the basket and keep them in one layer. If you overcrowd the tray or overlap the fries, they won't reheat and crisp up evenly. All that's left is to wait about five minutes and those soggy fast food fries should be piping hot and ready for indulgence.

To prevent this mishap next time, try a trick for keeping takeout fries fresh and crispy that simply involves keeping the bag open during the commute. And to prevent a mess in your air fryer anytime you reheat the spuds, use a silicone tray liner so the residual grease of the fries doesn't dirty up the appliance. When you've got time, go ahead and make homemade air fryer french fries so you don't have to rely on fast food for a meal.