Tonight, I will be making French Fries for the family and my reputation with my grandson as a great cook hangs in the balance. I have made good fries from time to time, but nothing outstanding. I am looking for something that will generate the latter.
I have Idaho potatoes just purchased. I have some duck fat but not very much - perhaps a cup or two in the freezer left over from our potato latkes in duck fact extravaganza. I also have corn oil, sesame oil, avocado oil and a variety of olive oils, varying from Costco EVOO to two vintages of Veletta. I have two mandolins with fittings that allow me to go from almost angel hair on up, and then there are plenty of knives for manual cutting. I can soak the potatoes in a brine or plain water for whatever time is left between when you post your recipe and 7 pm New York time tonight. I have a normal stove with normal burners (NO 35,000+BTUs) but if extreme heat is necessary, I can set up a frying pot on the grill on the BGE over a roaring fire.
So what’s your best French Fry - or if you prefer, pommes frites - recipe, with technique?
To be served with prime sirloin, roasted broccoli with garlic and garden herbs, and maybe something else on the side TBD.
A day late, but - I use the double fry method similar to Martin’s link, but go a bit hotter for each fry. 325 for the 1st fry & then a bit over 400 for the 2nd fry. The 2nd fry especially, cools down quickly if you’re putting fries from the freezer into the oil, so some extra heat isn’t a bad thing
The great thing is, you can prepare these up to just before the 2nd fry well in advance. I stick mine on a sheet tray in the freezer between fry’s and the time elapsed doesn’t matter.
I use peanut oil for better fries given it’s ease of finding in quantity, otherwise have never had a complaint when using veg oil.
This is easily what I get the most compliments on from family and friends, even if it’s really just being consistent with a method, vs skill.
Belgian frites are the very best to me. Freeze the potatos after soaking before you do the first cooking. Beef tallow is what McDonald’s used
until it became a liability to do so. The fries are delicious. I love duck fat fries BTW.
I’ve never made french fries but I’ll say that the best I’ve ever had were at a dinner at Keith Levenberg’s old apartment so I’d ask him how he did it.
A few years back the World Cyclocross Championship came to Louisville KY. For those that don’t know (most), cyclocross is like horse steeplechase, but substitute bicycles. The Belgians rule the world in cyclocross, and they descended upon Louisville. To make the Belgians feel welcome, the organizers set up a large covered fry station. The fries were indeed pretty damned good though they get cold in a hurry when everyone is walking around in the snow. It seemed 25% of the thousands of fans in attendance were Belgian and many were walking around with the conical cones of fries and grins on their faces. It seems a bit nuts to visit Belgium just to see what the frites are like, but I think I will. I suppose their may be some other things to enjoy, like beer and kermesse races. Or perhaps wait for winter and watch the Belgians dominate at cross in their own territory.
Beer and fries in that country are pretty great, especially together.
My wife loves the fries at our local pub Brussels Bistro. She finally asked how they were made and found out they are double fried in beef fat (sort of wrecked it for her as she does not each red meat), but they are realllllly good.
Have the frites at L’Ami Louis in Paris. $40 but absolutely the best. They have been perfecting the recipe for more then 50 years.
Asked the owner how he does it and he said it would take 2 months to teach me. I understand; took me months of practice to get certain recipies perfect when I was working at great restaurants in France, but then it’s like riding a bicycle- once you get it, you never blow it again
No pics, they disappeared too fast. The posts of substance were all too late to follow but I basically followed a double fry method using only corn oil after doing some Googling. Mandoline fries about the dimensions of those at MacDonalds, Fry in 360 degree corn oil until cooked through but not brown, remove to cool, refry to crisp. Made three HUGE Idahos for 5 people (including a three year old) and they were all gone. My son - he of the Scarecrow is the best wine ever made variety - thought they were excellent but thought that a slightly thicker fry would have been better. I agree with him. I will try the triple cooked method recommended when I have the extra time, but I think those need much thicker fries to avoid them falling apart.