French Fries - PERFECT Fries

By Addie

To get perfectly golden French fries that are soft in the middle and crisp on the surface, plunging potatoes straight into oil just doesn’t work. The starch on the outside of the potatoes interferes with the texture of the fries and never allows them to become nice and crisp, and in order to cook the fries long enough to soften the potato, the outside can often get to brown. Utter chaos, I’m telling you!

But once you try french fries the way they’re meant to be made—and the way they’re made by most restaurants and fast food chains—you’ll have a hard time not trying to find ways to work french fries into your weekly menu. Whether or not this is a positive thing is something I’ll let you figure out.

Begin by peeling five pounds of potatoes, then cut them into sticks. Throw them in a pot or large bowl and cover them with cold water, then let them soak for at least two or three hours.

Soaking the sliced potatoes is the fundamental first step of making proper french fries. The soaking process removes the troublesome starch on the outside of the potato, which will help the fries achieve the perfect crispness.

Ingredients

• 5 pounds Russet Potatoes
• Vegetable Or Peanut Oil For Frying
• Sea Salt

Preparation

Step 1

In a nutshell, here it is:

1. Soak potatoes, dry potatoes, fry potatoes, drain potatoes, then fry again!

2. Peel and rinse the potatoes, then cut them into sticks by cutting the potato in four or five vertical pieces, then cutting each piece into sticks.

3. Place them in a large bowl and cover with cold water, then allow them to soak for two or three hours. (You can also stick them in the fridge and let them soak for several hours or overnight.)

4. When you're ready to make the fries, drain off the water and lay them on two baking sheet lined with paper towels. Blot them with paper towels to dry them.

5. Heat a few inches of oil in a heavy pot to 300 degrees. In three or four batches, cook the potatoes for about 4 to 5 minutes per batch, or until the potatoes are soft. They should not be brown at all at this point! You just want to start the cooking process. Remove each batch and drain them on new/dry paper towels.

6. Once all the potatoes have been fried at 300, turn up the heat until the oil reaches 400 degrees. When the oil's hot, start frying the potatoes in batches again, cooking until the fries are golden and crisp. Remove from the oil and drain on paper towels.

7. Sprinkle fries with sea salt and dive in!