Make French Fries

French fries are delightful and make an ideal accompaniment to many a meal in need of a potato pick-me-up. Whatever your preference, there is a style of making French fries just for you.

Ingredients

Easy Stovetop Fries

• 2lbs (1kg) Russet Potatoes
• Oil for frying (Vegetable, Canola, Safflower, Peanut)
• Salt and other seasonings, to taste

Baked French Fries

• 1 potato
• Pinch of regular salt or Kosher salt
• 2 pinches of white pepper
• 1 tablespoon cornflour
• ½ teaspoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon of turmeric powder (optional)

Restaurant Style Fries

• 2lbs (1kg) Russet Potatoes
• 2 quarts (slightly under 2 liters) water
• 2 tablespoons (30ml) salt + more for seasoning
• 2 tablespoons (30ml) white vinegar
• Oil for frying (Vegetable, Canola, Safflower, Peanut)

Masala French Fries

• 1-3 potatoes
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon chilli powder
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ teaspoon cumin powder
• ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Oil for frying

Steps

Easy Stovetop Fries

1. Get some potatoes. You will need 1-3 medium potatoes per person.
2. Wash, dry, and peel the potatoes of any dirt or grime.
3. Fill a dry pan with vegetable oil about 1/3 of the way full. It is best to use either peanut oil or a blended oil, which is usually a mix of canola and soybean oil. Set the stove on medium-high heat. If your stove has number settings, set it to 8.
4. Using a sharp, clean knife, chop the potatoes with caution. You can make the slices as thick or thin as you want, just make sure they are all about the same thickness.
5. Make sure the vegetable oil is hot before you put the potatoes in. You can test the oil by putting a single fry in there. If it starts cooking immediately, and quickly, the oil is ready.
6. Cook the potato slices in the oil until they are golden brown. Do not burn them, as they will taste absolutely disgusting!
7. Cool the cooked French fries. Add salt (optional) while still hot to keep the flavor in. Set them on the counter or an area with room temperature to cool. If you attempt to eat the French fries while they're still hot, you will burn your tongue!
8. Finished. You can eat your French fries with ketchup, mayonnaise, BBQ sauce, Make French Fry Dip, salt and pepper, etc.

Baked French Fries

1. Peel and cut your potatoes into 1/2" (1.2cm) thick fries. You'll want these fries to be thicker than the other two methods, as this helps them avoid drying out.
   • Peel the potatoes (optional -- if not, rinse and scrub skins).
   • Cut each potato lengthwise into two halves.
   • Lay each half cut-side down, then cut parallel to the cutting board to cut in half once more.
   • Cut these potato planks into your fries.
2. Combine potatoes, vinegar, water, and 2 tablespoons (30ml) salt in a large pot and boil for 10 minutes. This vinegar boil is called "parboiling," and the vinegar helps to keep the potatoes nice and firm. Put everything into the pot cold, then crank the heat up to high until it boils for 10 minutes.
   • When pierced with a fork, each fry should be tender but not falling apart.
3. Drain parboiled potatoes, then toss with the buttermilk and let sit for 5 minutes. The buttermilk will form the crust needed to get a nice, crispy fry. Normally this comes from the deep-frier, but you won't be deep-frying this time. The buttermilk is a perfect substitute.
4. Place the oil in the rimmed baking sheet and heat at 400F (205C). The potatoes will need to cook in the oil, but you want the oil to be hot to avoid soggy, greasy fries. Heating up the oil in the oven ahead of time is the perfect solution. While you could check the temperature, it should be good to go after 2-3 minutes, and will quickly rise to the right heat if the oven is pre-heated.
5. Combine flour, cornstarch, and baking soda with desired seasonings. Whisk together these dry ingredients -- they are the second half of your DIY oven french fry crispy-crust. This is also a great time to whisk in any desired flavors or seasonings, like a teaspoon (5ml) of any or all of:
   • Thyme
   • Black Pepper
   • Garlic Powder
   • Paprika
   • Cayenne Pepper (only 1/2 teaspoon (2.5ml), unless you want spicy fries).
6. Drain buttermilk from fries and toss with flour. Pour the buttermilk/potato mixture through a sieve, then dust the potatoes with the flour mixture. Leave it in the sieve, shaking to coat evenly and remove any excess dry ingredients. You want light and evenly coated potato sticks.
7. Let the potatoes sit for 5 minutes, then layer onto hot oil and place in oven. The waiting period helps your lovely crust develop, and then it's right from here to the oven. Remove the hot oil carefully and layer the potatoes down so they don't overlap.
8. Cook for 10 minutes, then flip the potatoes. The face-down side should be a beautiful golden brown. Use a set of kitchen tongs to flip each potato over.
9. Cook the other side for another 10-15 minutes, until potatoes are tender and golden brown. Once they are pierced with a fork and an appealing color, they're ready to come out.
10. Drain and cool fries on paper towels, salting immediately. Your potatoes are ready to serve! Blot with paper towels to remove excess oil, and salt to taste as soon as they come out of the oven.

Restaurant Style Fries

1. Chop your potatoes into fries, roughly 1/4" (.6cm) thick. Try to keep all the fries all the same width so that they cook evenly together. This helps them cook at the same rate, instead of some burning and some undercooked.
   • Peel the potatoes.
   • Cut each potato lengthwise in half.
   • Lay each half cut-side down, then cut parallel to the cutting board to cut in half once more.
   • Cut these planks into your fries.
2. Leave the potatoes in cold water until ready to cook. Soaking them reduces the starch content. Some cooks even soak the potatoes overnight.
3. Fill a large pot with potatoes, 2 tablespoons (30ml) vinegar, 2 tablespoons salt, and 2 quarts (≥ 2 liters) water. Want to know how McDonald's gets perfect fries every time? They cook them three times, starting with a "parboil," or vinegar bath. Throw everything in a large pot, cover with the 2 quarts water, and set the stove to high. This is completely optional to get good crunchy fries.
4. Parboil the potatoes for 10 minutes over high heat. They should be tender and easily pierced with a fork, but not falling apart. Start checking after about 8 minutes.
5. Drain the potatoes and pat dry with paper towels. Let the potatoes cool on a paper towel-lined baking sheet for about five minutes as they cool down. As they do, get start heating up the oil in the next step.
6. Fill a deep pan or wok with 3" (7.5cm) of oil, and heat to 400F (205C) A large dutch oven, wok, or a deep-fryer will have the best results. While fries can be cooked without a thermometer, it will be impossible to get McDonald's-besting fries without one.
   • If you don't have a thermometer, but want to go for it anyway, you'll want medium-high heat. Not quite the highest setting, but pretty close. You drop one small potato in to test -- it should bubble up quickly
7. Fry the potatoes in batches, covering completely in hot oil for 1 minute. These are not completely cooked yet, and that's a good thing! They should be pale and floppy. Note that, as the potatoes hit to oil, the temperature should drop to roughly 360F (180C).
   • Return the oil to 400F with each new batch, ensuring all the fries cook.
8. Cool fries to room temperature on a paper towel-lined baking sheet. Remove the chips from the hot oil and drain them on a plate full of paper towels. Don't move forward until they have at least cooled to room-temperature. This is key for your second fry! It should take about 30 minutes.
   • Wondering why you double-fry fries? Potato water molecules are caught up in the starch, and there is less water in the outer edges (as they "air dried" when cut) than the centers. During the first fry, this outer edge water escapes, but the water in the center just makes it to the edge. Luckily, as this water cools it forms a starchy, oily crust, which the second fry turns into the perfectly crisp exterior of a good fry.
9. Optionally, freeze the cooled, half-cooked fries overnight for an even crispier final fry. McDonald's doesn't just freeze their fries to store them -- the process of freezing actually makes crispier final fries! This is because water expands as it forms ice, creating jagged little ice crystals in the potato. These internal "cuts" provide more room for the rapidly melted water to escape once you fry it, removing more moisture for a crisper fry.
10. Heat your oil back up to 400F (205C) for the final fry. This recipe requires little more than smart fryer skills. If you want to use the same oil as before, this is perfect -- simply strain out or remove any bits of potato that may have stayed in the oil.
11. Fry the potatoes for 3 1/2 minutes, until crisp and golden-brown. You'll likely need to do this in two batches to fit everything -- don't try to crowd the pan. The oil will again drop to about 360F (180C), and adjust the heat if needed to keep it there
12. Remove the fries and drain on a bed of paper towels, seasoning immediately with salt. The paper towels remove excess oil, and the salt provides the best, most even flavor when allowed to dissolve on the still-hot fries. Serve immediately!
    • If you're working in two batches, the fries can be kept warm and crisp on a wire rack in the oven set to 200F.

Masala French Fries

1. Wash the potatoes properly. Keep the skins intact.
2. Cut the potatoes into the typical thin cuboid shape of a french fry.
3. Mix the spices to make the masala. Add salt and pepper to taste. Mix the tomato paste in well.
4. Coat the fries with the masala mixture. Mix properly to coat well.
5. Let the cut fries stand for some time to remove the excess water and let the spice mixture soak in.
6. Deep fry or bake the fries. Follow the instructions outlined in the previous methods.
7. Serve hot with ketchup, mayonnaise, dips etc. Yum.

Tips

• Leave your french fries on a piece of napkin on a plate so the napkin can soak up all the excess oil from your fries.
• Try dipping your french fries in different types of sauces for different pops of flavor.
• If you prefer your fries more 'fast-foody', reuse the oil each time you make fries instead of using new oil.

Warnings

• Use a dry pan and do not get water in the oil or it will pop. Be cautious.
• Avoid cutting yourself with the knife, or you will risk getting an infection or worse!

Things You'll Need

• Pan
• Stove
• Knife

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Sources and Citations

See also

• Make McDonald's French Fries
• Make McDonald's Iced Tea
• Make a McDonald's McFlurry
• Make McDonald's Iced Coffee
• Make McDonald's Oatmeal
• Make Animal Style Fries
• Make Onion Ring Batter
• Make Curly Fries
• Make Homemade Cheese Fries
• Make French Fries Using a Deep Fryer

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