How do YOU cook french fries? Mind come out crisp on the outside and mushy in the middle.
I cut the potatoes, place them in water until ready to fry. Heat the deep fryer as hot as it will go, put in the fries for about 8 minutes. Pull them out for a couple minutes, and then back in for about three minutes. Place them on paper towels to drain, and eat.
What am I doing wrong?
There was a show on french fries on America’s Test Kitchen on PBS a couple of weeks ago. Here is the link, but that show has not been uploaded yet. Keep checking this link to see the video:
On this show they test a zillion ways to make something and come up with the best method. It’s a fabulous program. The french fry method is totally counterintuitive, and you’ll need to get the precise method from their website, but here’s what I remember.
Use Yukon Gold potatoes.
Cut them to a uniform size- 1/4" by 1/4" strips.
Fill a pot on the stove with peanut oil (or if you’re allergic to peanuts, use something else, but not olive oil)
Put the raw potato pieces in the COLD oil.
Yup, you read that right:** COLD OIL**
Turn the heat on high.
Do not touch or move the potatoes… just let them sit there while the oil heats up
When the oil is BOILING, let the potatoes go for 15 minutes without touching or moving them.
After 15 minutes, go in with a utensil and gently move the potatoes around, especially unsticking any that are stuck to the bottom of the pot.
Let them cook for another 10 minutes… you may move them around at this time.
Then fish them out and let them cool.
What this does is get the inside of the potato to cook AND crisp up the outside.
I know that your soul cries out to plunge those babies into screaming hot oil, but you’ve seen for yourself that this doesn’t produce the potatoes you want.
I’m not making this up.
That seems like a LONG time to cook them. Here’s my husband’s contribution (reading over my shoulder):
Get a fry-daddy
Fill with oil
Turn it on, wait for it to boil
dump in taters
they are done when they float
Personally, I think cooking with a huge vat of oil is nasty, and it’ll spatter oil all over your kitchen. Frying is strictly His Thing.
(but he does make yummy taters)
Anthony Bourdain’s show No Reservations recently did a special on cooking techniques. You can find the whole thing on YouTube. It’s worth watching.
The technique on French Fries was to soak them in cold water, then cook in 260 degree oil for 10 minutes, followed by 340 degree oil for 5 more minutes. I tried it–it worked great.
Here’s a link: the fry part starts at about 1:45. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BOA6JYQIfQ
For perfect French fries, you need to blanch the potatoes. Heat the oil to 325 and fry the spuds in batches for 3-4 minutes. Cooking in batches makes for even cooking. When all of them have been blanched, heat the oil to about 375. Finish cooking the potatoes in batches until they are done, about 2 minutes, depending on size.
I do it similar to ThelmaLou, but I use this technique.
It’s not at all practical to make a lot of fries, or fries in a restaurant where you need them done quickly. But for fries for a few people at home, it’s an amazing recipe. They come out crispy on the outside, soft in the middle. You can’t replicate that without frying them twice - like Chefguy describes - which is a hassle.
Plus, the cold-oil technique doesn’t spatter oil all over your kitchen, or use a ton of oil. Highly recommended.
10,000,000 Belgians can’t be wrong. They make the best fries I’ve ever eaten.
Thanks, all. Quiet a variety of methods. I think I’ll try the cold oil method next…
FTR - the cold oil method was described in Cooks Illustrated as the way to make fries without using the dual-temp method.
I agree. Plus, you can freeze the par-cooked fries and finish them off later, if you so desire.
Cook’s Illustrated is put out by the same people who produce the program America’s Test Kitchen. The idea was to find a method that didn’t require frying the potatoes twice at two different temperatures.
In fact, Christopher Kimball, the host of America’s Test Kitchen and Cook’s Country, is also the Editor-in-Chief of Cooks Illustrated.
Chefguy and his army of Belgians are right. That’s how I cook them too (the fries, not the Belgians).
Just to clarify - Cook’s Illustrated didn’t make up the cold oil technique, it’s been around for a long time, and plenty of high falutin’ French chefs have written about it.
I’ve done fries with the cold oil and with the double-cooking method, and they are both divine. For just a few people at home if you have a couple hours to spare, I like the cold oil method. If you have more than a few people and/or want to make a lot of fries quickly, I like the double-frying method.
The only thing that truly makes substandard fries is to just peel a pile of potatoes and throw them in oil, or oven-baking fries. That’s not to say either of these techniques are bad - I’ve done 'em that way, too, and they are plenty good enough to eat. But they’re not really, super, wonderful good fries, they’re just OK fries.