Cooking Lesson #205 Perfect French Fries

How you doin’? I must admit I love fried foods—all fried foods—do you? Since we are not going out to lunch these days, I haven’t had French fries in over nine months (full disclosure… I did stop at KFC for some extra crispy chicken twice). I am far beyond withdrawal, but I must confess I really miss my French fries. However, I’ve lost about 30-pounds without my daily potatoes so there’s a silver lining.
 
I want to share with you the best procedure for making French fries that we developed for TGI Friday’s back when everything in their kitchens was made from scratch. You might find this procedure a bit Baroque (long and complex), but the end results are definitely worth it.
 
Prep time:  1-1/2 hours active
Soak time:  24 to 48 hours soaking overnight
Final fry time:  4-1/2 minutes
Yield:  4 to 6 servings
 
Ingredients
3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4-by-1/4-inch fries kept refrigerated in cold, clean water overnight (about 5-6 potatoes, depending on size)
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon distilled white vinegar
3 quarts peanut oil for frying
1 to 2 tablespoons kosher salt
 
Directions

1. To make perfect homemade, fast-food-style French fries start by peeling cutting and soaking the raw fries in cold water to remove much of the surface of the starch. Continue to soak the potatoes in several turns of fresh cold water for at least 24-hours. From here, the perfect French fry procedure is straightforward, if not laborious.
2. After you have soaked the potatoes, you are going to par-fry the potatoes in peanut oil as follows:
3. Fill a large container with a gallon of cold water with the vinegar and granulated sugar.
4. Preheat a frying kettle or Dutch oven filled with peanut oil to 250⁰F.
5. Working quickly, remove the cut fries from the cold water, drain off as much water as you can without breaking the fries.
6. Par-fry the potatoes in batches the peanut oil for 2-1/2 minutes.
7. Remove the par-fried potatoes and immediately plunge them into the cold sugar water.
8. Drain the potatoes for 10 minutes and then refry them again and plunge them in sugar water as before.
9. Drain the twice par-fried potatoes and hold at room temperature until ready to fry them for the last time. (See ChefSecret for more options.)
10. For the final fry, preheat a kettle or Dutch oven of peanut oil to 390⁰ F. Working in three batches, add the fries to the peanut oil and cook until the fries are light golden in color, about 4 minutes. When you add the fries the temperature of the oil will get lower. Carefully, adjust the temperature as needed in order to maintain oil temperature between 350⁰ F and 375⁰ F. It’s better to keep the oil temperature be below 375⁰ F rather than higher.
11. Agitate the fries with a slotted spoon or spider during the cooking process to ensure even cooking.
12. Remove the fries from the oil into a metal bowl or sheet pan lined with paper towels.
13. Season with kosher salt and serve hot immediately.

ChefSecret:  Peanut oil is the perfect shortening for frying Perfect French Fries. After par frying, you can freeze the par-fried potatoes on a tray. After they are completely frozen, bag them up in a zip lock bag. You can then fry them from frozen whenever you’re ready from Step #10 forward.

Covid-19 Quip of the Day: “The best way to avoid touching your face is to have a glass of wine in each hand.”

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