A long time ago I became angry at a batch of soggy homemade french fries and threw them all away, i then was forced to have fish and chips without the chips. Since that day i have actively tried new things from beer batter , to baking, to tempura batter, to all different frying oils, and temperatures. I can now say that I have making crispy french fries down to a science (literally... but more on that later). a good batch of french fries is not nearly as simple as cutting up a potato and frying it on the stove with some vegetable oil. i mean, if you like starchy slimy french fries then sure go ahead and freestyle. But for us food snobs what follows is my method through trial and error for making perfect, crunchy, flavorful french fries.
Materials Needed:
1 Home Deep Fryer (yes this is important, no your stove will not work)
1 french fry cutting board (sure you could use a knife for this part but make sure you cut them thin)
1 Hair dryer (I'll explain later)
a properly equipped kitchen... things like a strainer, mixing bowl, measuring spoons, and seasonings and stuff.
2 of your favorite potato
2 Qt. peanut oil (must be peanut oil not canola or vegetable)
4 Tbsp malt vinegar (or beer if you're not to scared to buy it)
Ice... a lot of it
To start lets cut the fries.
i set my board to 3/8 in. it's pretty important that the french fries be cut small.. mostly because if you cut them bigger than what i do then you will need to adjust the temperature of the oil so that the outside of the fry doesn't turn brown before the inside is cooked, and frankly i just don't know how to do that because I've only ever done it this way...
next you need to rinse the starch off the fries. really rinse them off good or they will turn all grey when we dry them off.
DO NOT SKIP THIS NEXT STEP. don't do it... i know you want to but don't..
next you need to change the PH balance of the fries so that they will crisp up when you fry them
this is where that science bit I was talking about comes in. Its called Osmosis... (Osmosis is the net movement of solvent molecules through a partially permeable membrane into a region of higher solute concentration, in order to equalize the solute concentrations on the two sides) basically french fries are a permeable membrane so when you soak them in ice water they will soak it up like a sponge. now if that water is 16 parts water (1 CUP) and 1 part vinegar or acetic acid (1 TBSP) then the potato become stiff because the acid breaks down the starch in the potato, it also makes them taste great! so go ahead and fill a large mixing bowl with about 4-6 cups of ice water and 1 TBSP of malt vinigar per cup of water. and then let them soak for AT LEAST and hour.
after all that the fries need to be dried.. really really dried. now.. myself when i am making french fries its usually because i want to have them with something else that I'm making like burgers or fish... so i don't exactly have all friggen day to wait for them to air dry so... ya. i cheat... and use my wife's hair dryer... THERE IS NO SHAME IN THIS.. none.. i don't feel bad about it at all. STOP judging me OK?
At this point i usually turn on the deep fryer to preheat the oil. set your oil to 345... this is why you can not use a pot and your oven top because the over will just keep heating the oil constantly instead of maintaining the temperature at 345. and you will burn the fries.
now.. the dryness of them is pretty important.. you don't need them to be dry all the way through just on the surface... this is good for three reasons; first, they dry exterior will absorb more of the hot oil and will crisp up the outside faster without making it brown to soon. second, dropping water into hot oil is dangerous... and pretty stupid. just don't do it. lastly, when the outside is dry you can put them in the freezer in a Ziploc back and cook them later this way you don't have to spend all your time in the kitchen making a side dish....
OK so now for the oil... if you were paying attention then you should have already preheated it. go ahead and put the fries in a handful or so per batch. set your timer for 4 minutes and put the cover on the frier to keep the heat in. while we are waiting lets make ourselves useful. take some paper towels and lay them over a cookie sheet. three or four layers should do.
When the timer goes off go ahead and put the basket out of the oil but don't take the fries out of the basket yet... at this point your fries probably look a little slimy and not done... that's OK you're going to fry them again. (technically these are friets... not fries, it a french word stolen by Denmark... it really just means "fried" but they make the distinction because they have been fried twice and are a darker golden brown then normal) before you fry them again however you have to wait for some of the oil to drain off of the fries and for the oil in the fryer to return to the correct temperature.
once the oil returns to 345 drop the fries back in and this time leave the lid off. using a wooden spoon poke down the fries in the oil so that the ones on the top cook at the same rate as the ones on the bottom. take them out when they look dark golden brown. they will not be a solid brown they should be golden with brown splotches and have a bubbly looking exterior. dump them onto the cookie sheet that we prepared, shake your favorite seasonings and some salt over them while they are still wet and let them cool a little before you snitch one. they should look like this:
CHHEEEEEEEEEEEESSEEE GROMIT!!
throw that in the broiler for a few minutes and you have.....
LOVE, on a plate
