Restaurant Style French Fries

Ever wonder how restaurants make their French fries and why they are so much better? There are a few tricks that most of us at home do not know about to get super crispy and fluffy potatoes.

The first is soaking your potatoes in water. This only goes for white potatoes that have a ton of surface starch like russet potatoes. Once you cut them into fry form you are going to want to soak them in water and activate the starches to release by moving them around. You will notice the water gets super cloudy – thats good, thats the surface starch coming off of them. This typically makes fries gummy if we dont wash them – but by soaking and rinsing, they can get crispier. You can either do what I do in this video, rinse until the water runs clear. Or you can let them soak in water for a couple of hours. Just make sure to thoroughly dry afterwards.

The second trick is what we call blanching the fries. This is the first round of frying that you do at a lower temp of 300*F. This allows the fries to partially cook. If we were to fry at 375*F like we do later, they would be too crispy and brown on the outside, and undercooked on the inside. Blanching for 3-5 minutes in 300*F fixes this problem.

Those are the two secrets, then finishing them for the last fry at 375*F until crispy and brown. For ease, I used my Cusimax Fryer. It regulates temperature so I do not have to, and has a lid so there is no splatter. It makes it a lot easier to fry! Otherwise use a pot and thermometer to control temp. Use code “cleankitchen15” for 15% off Cusimax Fryer.

I chose to use avocado oil for frying. It is the healthiest high smoke point oil to use, unless using duck fat, lard, tallow or other!

Ingredients:

• 2 large russet potatoes, washed and cut into fry shapes
• A lot of high smoke point oil such as avocado oil
• salt

Preparation:

STEP 1.

Soak your fries in water and activate surface starch by stirring around with your hands. Rinse and repeat 1-2 times until the water runs clear. Dry the fries thoroughly on a paper towel.

STEP 2.

Add avocado oil to your fryer and turn your fryer to 300*F, or stovetop in a pot, heat oil to 300*f. Once heated, work in small batches not to overcrowd the pot, fry your fries for 3-5 minutes just until slightly cooked through. Remove and set aside. Do this with the rest of your potatoes.

STEP 3.

Once the first round of “blanching” is done, turn the fryer temperature up to 375*F. Once the oil is heated, in batches, fry the potatoes until golden brown, around 3-5 minutes. Remove and immediately place into a bowl and salt. Do the same with the remainder of the fries and enjoy.