Easier French Fries

By LaLaCooks

Flavoring the oil with bacon fat (optional) gives the fries a mild meaty flavor. We prefer peanut oil for frying, but vegetable or canola oil can be substituted. This recipe will not work with sweet potatoes or russets. Serve with dipping sauces (see related recipes), if desired. See "Cutting Potatoes for French Fries," below, for help on cutting even batons.



WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS: Our recipe for Classic French Fries works beautifully, but we’ll admit that it sometimes seems like a lot of trouble. We challenged ourselves to devise a shortcut that would give us crisp, golden fries with less work.

Oven-frying is the usual “quick” method, but we wanted real french fries. We started with an unorthodox procedure of starting the cut potatoes in a few cups of cold oil. To our surprise, the fries were pretty good, if a little dry. Because russets are fairly dry potatoes, we wondered if a different type of potato would work better. Sure enough, Yukon Golds, which have more water and less starch, came out creamy and smooth inside and crisp outside. A bonus was their thin skin—we could save time by not having to peel the potatoes. We were almost there, but the fries tended to stick to the bottom of the pot and they also tended to clump. Stirring seemed like the obvious solution, but this tended to break the potatoes. After some experimentation, we found that leaving the fries undisturbed for 15 minutes, then stirring them, kept them from sticking and from breaking apart. Thinner batons were also less likely to stick. These fries had all the qualities of classic french fries, without all the bother.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes (about 6 medium), scrubbed, dried, sides squared off, and cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch by 1/4-inch batons (see note)
• 6 cups peanut oil
• 1/4 cup bacon fat , strained (optional) (see note)
• Kosher salt

Details

Servings 3

Preparation

Step 1

1. Combine potatoes, oil, and bacon fat (if using) in large Dutch oven. Cook over high heat until oil has reached rolling boil, about 5 minutes. Continue to cook, without stirring, until potatoes are limp but exteriors are beginning to firm, about 15 minutes.
2. Using tongs, stir potatoes, gently scraping up any that stick, and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until golden and crisp, 5 to 10 minutes longer. Using skimmer or slotted spoon, transfer fries to thick paper bag or paper towels. Season with salt and serve immediately.
TECHNIQUE
KEYS TO EASIER CRISP FRENCH FRIES

The classic technique for French fries involves four steps: rinsing the cut potatoes, soaking them in ice water, and then deep-frying—twice—in quarts of hot oil. Our method calls for just one round of frying and a lot less oil.

1. LESS OIL Our fries cook in just 6 cups of oil instead of 2 or 3 quarts.

2. COLD START Beginning with room-temperature oil gives fries time to cook through before their exteriors crisp.

3. ONE FRY Potatoes are fried only once, for about 25 minutes, rather than twice.
TECHNIQUE
GIVING FAT THE COLD SHOULDER

Our easier approach to cooking French fries does not preheat the oil and calls for one prolonged frying instead of the quicker double-dip in hot oil used in the classic method. But does the lengthy exposure to oil lead to a greasier fry?

EXPERIMENT
We prepared two batches of fries using Yukon Gold potatoes, our preferred spud for the cold-start method. We cooked one batch the conventional way, heating 3 quarts of peanut oil to 325 degrees and frying 2½ pounds of potatoes until just beginning to color, removing them, increasing the oil temperature to 350 degrees, then returning the potatoes to the pot to fry until golden brown. Total exposure to oil: less than 10 minutes. The second batch we cooked according to our working method, submerging 2½ pounds of spuds in 6 cups of cold oil and cooking over high heat for about 25 minutes, with the oil temperature never rising above 280 degrees. We then sent samples from each batch to an independent lab to analyze the fat content.

RESULTS
Our cold-start spuds contained about one third less fat than spuds deep-fried twice the conventional way: 13 versus 20 percent.

EXPLANATION
Fries absorb oil two ways. As the potatoes cook, they lose moisture near their surface, which is replaced by oil. Then, as they cool after being removed from the hot grease, oil from their exterior gets pulled in. Because our cold-start method cooks the fries more gently, less moisture is lost (but enough so the fries stay crisp) and less oil is absorbed during frying. Plus, this approach exposes the spuds to just one cool-down, versus the two cooling-off periods of the classic method, so less oil gets absorbed after cooking as well.

COLD OIL
13% FAT

DOUBLE FRY
20% FAT
TECHNIQUE
CUTTING POTATOES FOR FRENCH FRIES
1. Square off potato by cutting a 1/4-inch-thick slice from each of its 4 long sides.

2. Cut potato lengthwise into 1/4-inch planks.

3. Stack 3 to 4 planks and cut into 1/4-inch batons. Repeat with remaining planks.