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My mother did this -- made French fries at home. She "sliced" big potatoes with a wavy utensil (I still have this) kind of like a knife with a handle on top instead of extending out from the blade, which produced crinkle strips.** And she fried them in boiling oil of some kind. And the flavor was fabulous!!
I WANT TO MAKE MY OWN FRIES AT HOME! Does anyone know how to do this?
What kind of spuds to buy?
Soak or not soak them first? Soak or not after "slicing"?
What kind of oil? What temp? How long?
Oh please help! Thank you!!
**Found this thing. It's called a "Serrator". The "blade" is very thick, very wavy, 6" wide and 2" high. Must be from the 1940s. The printed cardboard sleeve says "Ideal for wrinkle edge french fries. Use on fruits and vegetables. Makes good food tastier and more attractive. Give your salads a new zip."
Last edited by allforcats; 05-15-2008 at 03:02 PM..
I just use whatever spuds I have on hand, slice them and soak them in cold water for about 10 min. Dry them off and fry them in my deep fryer, 375 degrees. With fresh taters, they reccomend frying them at 345 for about 4 min and then frying them again at 375 to finish
I use peanut oil in my Presto Fry Daddy. It has no temp settings, you just plug it in and wait 10 minutes for the oil to heat. I also use whatever potatoes I happen to have. I never peel, just scrub & slice. I never soak. I cook them until they look cooked. Drain on a few paper towels on a paper plate. Sprinkle with lawry's seasoned salt. Enjoy!
The main trick, as stated above, is to fry them twice. The first grying cooks the potatoes and the second frying is used to make the outside golden and crispy. If you try to fry them at a high temperature initially, you tend to overcook the outside before the insides get cooked. Let the fries rest a bit between frying, giving the oil a chance to rise to the higher temperature for the second frying. Also, at each step, fry the potatoes in small batches because the oil temperature will immediately drop once the potatoes are put in. Upon removal of each batch you have to let the oil get back up to proper temperature before dumping in the next batch. Upon final cooking remove the fries to paper towels to draw off excess oil.
Sometimes I soak my potatoes before cooking, usually in ice water with a bit of sugar added. The sugar contributes to nice browning. If soaking them you want to pat off excess water to reduce splatter when placed in the hot oil.
I usually use peanut or sunflower oil for frying, but any good oil will do as long as it has a reasonably high smoke point. Additional flavor can be given to the fries by adding some beef tallow to the cooking oil, or even a little lard! Of course these two additions are not healthy, but they DO add flavor. Some folks like to try in a cheap shortening, NOT all vegetable, for the very same reason...animal fat is involved.
If unsure about the temperature of the oil, use a candy thermometer. Actually, I recommend this anyway.
Season as you please. I like to use some celery salt of the finished fries. I also dip my fries in good mayonnaise on occasion.
HINT: As with bacon, do not make French fries naked!
I'm not an expert at making fries, but probably the russets so they're not as sticky??
I do have a friend who is an expert though, and he always says the trick is to double fry, as someone has already suggested. Then they don't go limp.
He also uses peanut oil when doing fries. He's also chef and owner of a very busy establishment.
Have you ever had yam fries? Just tried them about a month ago, and really good!
They were cut a little finer than the regular size fries. .. 'course, with a little pesto chipotle dip to go with them, how could they not be good??
Make sure your oil is hot enough .. throw a small piece in first to test oil. If it looks like it's cooking too slowly, it's not hot enough and you'll end up with greasy, saturated, limp fries
The year my parents bought a deep-fat fryer, my two sisters and I were hard at work giving the Butt Sisters some serious competition. My advice: don't even get started.
We went from frying chicken, and making homemade French fries, to slicing potatoes paper-thin by using a peeler, and making homemade potato chips, to homemade doughnuts. My favorites were the chips, and I was never so grateful as when the fool thing stopped working. We made it a point to never buy another -- but I still miss those homemade potato chips. Oh, man.
Wow! You folks are great!! Thank you for all your splendid ideas! Now that you talk about soaking and patting dry, I remember seeing my mother doing this. Okay, I'm off to the supermarket!!
We must have loosened up an old corner of my brain files -- I remember what my mother fried in: Crisco. Hahahahaha!!!
And homemade potato chips!!! Whoda thunk it?? Hahaha!
Thank you!!
And Hi, Buckhead, fellow pizza folder! Wasn't "Do Not Make French Fries Naked" a movie title??? :-)
I usually use peanut or sunflower oil for frying, but any good oil will do as long as it has a reasonably high smoke point. Additional flavor can be given to the fries by adding some beef tallow to the cooking oil, or even a little lard! Of course these two additions are not healthy, but they DO add flavor. Some folks like to try in a cheap shortening, NOT all vegetable, for the very same reason...animal fat is involved.
A few years before Julia Child died she was on television talking about how much she liked the fries at McDonald's until they switched from frying them in beef tallow to frying them in vegetable oil.
On the same program somebody else said something like, "life ain't worth a damn without a little cholesterol", and Julia laughed and nodded in agreement!
A few years before Julia Child died she was on television talking about how much she liked the fries at McDonald's until they switched from frying them in beef tallow to frying them in vegetable oil.
Oh I totally agree!! Some things require fat and lard and Crisco and such, right?! Yes, McD's fries used to be so yummmmy, now they're okay.
THANK YOU, my friend seattlerain, for reminding me that heavy, fatty cholesterol is one of the important food groups!! You have convinced me to use nitty gritty "frying medium", as it were
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