In many family kitchens, the air fryer is a “lazy person’s dream,” perfect for frying French fries, roasting chicken wings, and more. However, many people encounter problems when roasting sweet potatoes: either the outer skin is burnt while the inside remains hard, or it’s overcooked, sticky, and misshapen. The problem lies in getting the temperature and time right—roasting sweet potatoes seems simple, but there are several tricks to it. Today, we’ll explain the correct way to roast sweet potatoes in an air fryer in layman’s terms.Do I need to flip my food halfway through an air fryer?
First, let’s talk about temperature. The most common settings are 180℃ and 200℃. Which one you choose depends entirely on the size of the sweet potato. Small sweet potatoes (about the size of a fist, 200-300 grams) are best roasted at 200℃. The high temperature quickly sets the outer skin, making it crispy, and also locks in the moisture, preventing it from drying out. Large sweet potatoes (over 500 grams, about the size of a small pumpkin) need to be roasted slowly at 180℃. Roasting them at a high temperature will cause the skin to char quickly while the inside remains raw, resulting in a dry and hard texture.How to Prevent Food from Burning in an Air Fryer?
Then there’s the time, which is directly related to the size of the sweet potato and whether it’s cut into pieces. For whole sweet potatoes, small ones should be roasted at 200℃ for 25-30 minutes; medium-sized ones (300-500 grams) at 190℃ for 35-45 minutes; and large ones at 180℃ for 50-60 minutes. To save time, cut the sweet potatoes into 2-3 cm thick pieces and roast them at 200℃ for 15-20 minutes, flipping them once halfway through to ensure even roasting.Should I buy an air fryer with a viewing window?
Here’s a little trick: always prick the sweet potatoes before roasting. Use a fork to prick about a dozen small holes in the surface, like giving them some ventilation. Otherwise, the steam inside the sweet potato won’t escape during baking, causing it to puff up like a “little bomb,” and the skin will explode, splattering everywhere in the air fryer. Many people overseas skip this step when baking sweet potatoes for the first time, spending a lot of time cleaning up the mess afterwards.
Should you brush it with oil? It depends on personal preference. If you like a crispy skin, use kitchen paper dipped in olive oil to gently wipe the surface of the sweet potato; if you don’t like too much oil, just bake it directly, as the sweet potato itself will release sugar, resulting in a slightly crispy skin. Additionally, you can line the bottom of the air fryer with parchment paper while baking. This prevents the sweet potato from sticking and reduces cleaning hassle; simply throw the paper away after you’re done.
How do you tell if the sweet potato is cooked? It’s simple: poke the thickest part of the sweet potato with a chopstick. If the chopstick goes through easily with little resistance, it’s cooked; if it feels hard when poked, bake for another 5-10 minutes. Don’t just wait for the time to run out of time based on your guess. Different brands of air fryers have different power levels, and the varieties of sweet potatoes also vary. Some sweet potatoes have higher moisture content and need to be baked longer, while others have lower moisture content and can be baked for a shorter time.
Here’s a little secret to make sweet potatoes even sweeter: wash the sweet potatoes thoroughly before baking, pat them dry with kitchen paper, and let them air dry in a well-ventilated place for 1-2 days. This allows some of the moisture in the sweet potatoes to evaporate, concentrating the sugar content, resulting in a sweeter baked sweet potato, just like the ones sold outside, with a syrupy texture when you bite into it. Many families overseas use this method, especially in autumn and winter, when the aroma of baked sweet potatoes fills the entire house.
In the United States, many families bake sweet potatoes for dessert on weekends. They usually choose sweet potatoes with a reddish skin and a round shape, wash and dry them, prick them with holes, and bake them at 180℃ for 40 minutes, flipping them once halfway through. After baking, they cut them open, sprinkle with cinnamon powder, and some even drizzle with honey, making them especially fragrant. If there are few people at home, just cut the sweet potatoes into chunks and bake them. It only takes about ten minutes, saving time and making them delicious.