Soggy fries in the air fryer are your fault, not the basket's

Every time someone posts sad pale fries here, the replies say to buy a bigger machine or soak them for an hour first, and I think that advice just wastes your evening. I do frozen fries straight from the bag in my 5.8 quart at 400 for 14 minutes, shaking the basket at the 7 minute mark, and they come out crisp every single time. The trick nobody mentions is crowding: if the fries pile more than an inch deep, the steam has nowhere to go and they poach instead of fry. I tested this with the same bag of fries split into one crowded batch and one single layer, and the crowded pile came out limp at 14 minutes while the single layer was done at 12. What is your go to time and temp, and do you preheat or not?