Crispy Air-Fryer Potato Wedges

There's a kind of restaurant potato — thick-cut, mahogany on the outside, fluffy as a baked potato inside, the skin still on — that for a long time you couldn't really make at home unless you owned a deep fryer or were willing to fight a sheet pan and 400 degrees of oven for an hour. The air fryer changed that, almost by accident. The combination of dry circulating heat and a shallow oil coat does the same thing a deep fry does, in twenty minutes, with a tablespoon of oil instead of a quart.

These are that wedge. Skin-on for grip, soaked in cold water before they go in (the only step you might be tempted to skip — don't, it's the difference between crisp and crackling), tossed with smoked paprika so they pick up the russet edge you see in the photo, then air-fried at 400°F until they sound hollow when you tap them on the plate. Serve them while they're hot enough to make you breathe through your mouth. Ketchup is allowed and encouraged, but they're salty enough to stand on their own.

A note on quantities: the photo is what you get from two big russets — four servings as a side, or one and a half if it's just you and a movie. They don't keep, so don't bother saving leftovers; just make less next time, or eat what you don't finish cold from the fridge the next morning (I do this, I'm not ashamed).