Why It Pays To Soak Sweet Potato Fries Before Baking

There's nothing worse than a soggy fry. In fact, one of the key characteristics of a top-tier sweet potato fry is its warm, golden-brown crispness. To ensure your homemade french fries hit the mark, try soaking your sweet potato fries in water before baking — this simple step helps prevent your side dish from turning into a mushy mess.

Potatoes are naturally starchy, which helps create the fluffy interior perfect for french fries. While you want the inside of your fry to be soft, the starch on the surface can prevent water from evaporating during cooking. The result: an unappetizing, soggy fry. By soaking your cut sweet potato fries in water before baking (or frying), you remove the surface starch and allow the browning process to begin.

To soak potatoes for crispy, golden homemade fries, chop your potatoes into ½-inch-wide pieces and place them in a large bowl or pot of cool water. Let them soak for anywhere between 10 minutes and one hour. You should be able to see the white starch collecting at the bottom of the bowl or clouding up the water. Once soaked, drain, rinse, and pat the fries completely dry before seasoning. Bake for 15 minutes, flip, and then cook for another 17 minutes or so before diving in.

While soaking sweet potato fries is a surefire way to boost crispness, there are a few other things to keep in mind when making homemade fries. First, the oven temperature can make or break how your fries cook — and crisp. Set the temperature too low, and your fries will steam in their own moisture, resulting in a mushy texture. An overly high temperature, however, can dry them out or burn the exterior while leaving the interior undercooked. Aim for a medium temperature, around 425 degrees Fahrenheit for an oven, or 375 degrees Fahrenheit for frying oil.

Another common mistake that ruins your sweet potato fries is overcrowding the pan. Overcrowding traps moisture, steaming the fries instead of letting them crisp. To avoid this, try baking in multiple batches, or arrange your fries in a single, even layer.

Lastly, you can enhance the crispiness of your sweet potato fries by adding a light coating of oil and cornstarch before baking. This provides an even layer of starch for crisping, replacing the excess, irregular starch that was removed during the soaking process.