Perfect fries?

[apicius9]

I seem to remember Jeffrey Steingarten recommending frying them in horse fat for best results... Can't add anything constructive, I may be one of the few people in this country who could live a happy life without fried foods...

Stefan

 

[MadMel]

Duck fat. Need I say more?

 

[mano]

For the double fry method, russets seem to be the way to go, how important is the oil/lard choice? Peanut oil, canola, crisco, lard... I imagine there are slight flavor differences, what the most popular?

Thanks for the great tips! Gonna try the oven method as well!

Pierre, you're in Canada where there's lots of geese. So use goose fat. No kidding.

We have a LOT of duck fat and agree with MadMel. With either one you can strain it and use it at least twice unless it's burned.

 

[slowtyper]

Where did you get modernist cuisine online?

 

[mr drinky]

Where did you get modernist cuisine online?

Doesn't Amazon have it? I remember following the blog and there was a lot of talk of pre-sales on Amazon.

k.

 

[Crothcipt]

you can get the data down load for only 150 ish there. I was looking yesterday when that was posted. Not sure where online you can read it tho.

 

[mr drinky]

Ahh, I see. Reading online is another issue. I missed that detail.

k.

 

[ThEoRy]

275 then 350 works for me.

 

[Seth]

Finally....something to use those practice potatoes for! Now, my practice onions; some recipes for onion rings?

 

[PierreRodrigue]

Yes indeed, lets add onion rings, and while were at it, anyone got a killer fried chicken recipe?

 

[Johnny.B.Good]

What do you guys do with the oil after you make a batch of fries? Pitch it? Just pour it down the drain?

 

[sw2geeks]

Here is a link to how I do crispy oven roasted fries.

It involves using parchment paper to transfer the fries to a preheated baking sheet. That does the trick for me. With the baking sheet already hot the fries crisp up nicely absorbing less oil.

 

[Johnny.B.Good]

Here is a link to how I do crispy oven roasted fries.

This looks awfully good.

 

[kalaeb]

What do you guys do with the oil after you make a batch of fries? Pitch it? Just pour it down the drain?

At home I filter it using a coffee filter and re-use it. Don't pour it down the drain, it can eventually clog your pipes and causes havoc to the ecosystem, water oxygenation and public sanitation digesters. Just place it in a sealable container and put it in with your trash, landfills have an barrier between the fill and the water supply.

 

[Johnny.B.Good]

At home I filter it using a coffee filter and re-use it. Don't pour it down the drain, it can eventually clog your pipes and causes havoc to the ecosystem, water oxygenation and public sanitation digesters. Just place it in a sealable container and put it in with your trash, landfills have an barrier between the fill and the water supply.

I assumed pouring it down the drain would be a bad idea. Thanks for the info. Kaleb.

 

[Tristan]

Here is how I do mine, if I have the time: http://www.cookingissues.com/2010/04/27/the-quest-for-french-fry-supremacy-part-1/#more-4005

I get rave reviews and they are even good cold, and that's amazing.

Read Parts I and II. I don't do the pectin or anything like that. I do think the salt water blanch is critical. I dry in a combi oven on air only then move to the freezer for more drying. The oil blanch is also critical. Using this method makes awesome poutine! :doublethumbsup:

-AJ

Thank you for this! I read through posts 1 and 2... and I think I died and wen to geeky foodie heaven! :happy1:

Fries for the weekend! Although I've actually left off fried foods, this is too good an experiment to pass up.

 

[MadMel]

Where did you get modernist cuisine online?

booksdepository.co.uk

Free shipping worldwide

 

[JKerr]

Honestly, I haven't read through the entire thread cause I'm drinking and my attention span is low, but, at the moment we're using sebago (I think previously we were using burbank, then exton, depending on what we could get). Whack 'em through a chipper at roughly 1cm into a large saute pan (I think about 20lts, guessing on that one though) chuck in a decent amount of rosemary and 2 bulbs of garlic, split, fill to just cover chips and bring to the boil. Drain, cool for a few hours in cool room, then fry at 150oc for roughly 5mins; I tend to do this to touch/sight/smell as it changes a bit on the type and how long the the potatoes have been in the drystore for. Drain of oil, transfer into container and stick in coolroom. For service, cook at 180oc for about 2mins (or until crispy), drain, season w/ rosemary salt and send.

I reckon it results in a pretty tasty product, but then I'm not really a connoisseur of fries so can't compare them to much apart from the cook from frozen stuff from a bag.

Ta,
Josh

 

[SpikeC]

Here is a link to how I do crispy oven roasted fries.

It involves using parchment paper to transfer the fries to a preheated baking sheet. That does the trick for me. With the baking sheet already hot the fries crisp up nicely absorbing less oil.

I'm going to try this with sweet potatoes.

 

[Ordo]

At home I filter it using a coffee filter and re-use it. Don't pour it down the drain, it can eventually clog your pipes and causes havoc to the ecosystem, water oxygenation and public sanitation digesters. Just place it in a sealable container and put it in with your trash, landfills have an barrier between the fill and the water supply.

Does the re-using frequency depend on the oil quantity?

 

[Andrew H]

Does the re-using frequency depend on the oil quantity?

Usually it depends more on how much food you are frying per unit of oil.

 

[mhlee]

Usually it depends more on how much food you are frying per unit of oil.

And type of food from my experience. You can fry a lot more potatoes per unit of oil than you can fry fish, for example.

Also, after reading a number of articles discussing the subject, I've certainly found that food fries better and browns better when you use some used oil with your fresh oil. Also, on the Serious Eats website, there's a technique for blanching the fries in acidulated water to precook the fries and also give them structural integrity. I've tried this and it works very well.

 

[Ordo]

And type of food from my experience. You can fry a lot more potatoes per unit of oil than you can fry fish, for example.

I assume you're not mixing oils, but why frying potatoes should be different in weight per liter than fish? Does fish deteriorates frying oil quicker?

 

[Vertigo]

Does fish deteriorates frying oil quicker?

Oh most definitely. We change our oil after every fish fry. The oil is practically ruined. Stinky, smokey, gross.

 

[MadMel]

I assume you're not mixing oils, but why frying potatoes should be different in weight per liter than fish? Does fish deteriorates frying oil quicker?

That's probably because of the water content. Water and salt will spoil your oil faster so I always salt after it comes out of the fryer.

 

[Lucretia]

I've always heard that you can "clean" your oil somewhat by frying some potatos (throw them out afterwards.) Don't know if it's true or not.

 

[pumbaa]

I par boil my potatoes. This also works for hash browns or any other potato you want soft and flaky inside and crunch and brown on the outside. Then I just fry them.

 

[PierreRodrigue]

Doing a run of 7 pounds russett potatoes. Will let you know how they work out! Also doing 6 pounds fried chicken, and beer battered onion rings.

 

[Vertigo]

Doing a run of 7 pounds russett potatoes. Will let you know how they work out! Also doing 6 pounds fried chicken, and beer battered onion rings.

Be there in 20 minutes. Hope the pass is clear.

 

[PierreRodrigue]

I'll have beers in the snow bank!