Instant pot fries

By duckieq

Ingredients

• 8 – 16 oz. (225g – 450 g) Russet potatoes
• 1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup cold water
• frying oil, shortening, lard or rendered animal fat
• (DO NOT use olive oil)
• salt

Preparation

Step 1

Prepare your frying supplies in advance. Take a good skillet, with nice high sides, pour oil into it, leaving at least 2″ of pan side above the top of the frying oil. (If deep frying, allow at least 3″ above top of oil.) Place a metal rack over a cookie sheet or skillet to use as a draining rack (or you can use 2 paper towels on a plate, although the draining rack drains oil better and helps keep fries crispy).
Peel, wash and cut potatoes into thick steak fries size planks
Peel the whole potatoes. (If they need to be cleaned, wipe them clean with a dry paper towel. Do not run the potatoes under water.) Cut potatoes into planks at least ½” wide, then cut the planks into french fries at least ½” thick. What you want are essentially thick steak fries.
Pressure cook on High Pressure for 2 minutes using Quick Release
Add 1 cup of cold water, a teaspoon of coarse kosher salt, and ¼ teaspoon baking soda to the pressure cooker pot, stirring briefly. Place trivet or steamer rack inside. Place french fries in a single layer on top of the steamer. Cook at HIGH PRESSURE (10 PSI) for 2 minutes using QUICK PRESSURE RELEASE. (If you have a standardized stovetop pressure cooker, I would recommend pressure cooking the fries for 1 minute at 15 PSI, and immersing your cooker under cold water as soon as the minute is up.)
Once pressure is released, remove the fries immediately from the pot
Once pressure has been released, unlock and remove the lid, holding the lid at an angle over the bowl of the pressure cooker to allow any hot water to drop back into the pot, and shielding you from any residual steam. Remove the fries from the pressure cooker as quickly as possible, either individually with your tongs, or if you have a good oven mitt, you can grasp the steamer by its central prong and remove the pressure cooked potatoes all at once. Discard any potatoes that have fallen into the water and become waterlogged.
Dab the pressure cooked potatoes dry with a paper towel
If there is any surface water on the cooked fries, dab it gently away with a clean paper towel. Do NOT rinse the potatoes. Do NOT rub them. The surface of the french fries should be starchy and slightly tacky, and if you rub the potatoes too hard, you might remove this starchy layer, and your fries won’t be as good.
Heat frying oil to 350° F and add the fries to the oil
Using medium high heat, heat your frying oil to approximately 350° F (175° C). If you’re shallow frying or don’t have a thermometer, you drop a bread cube into the oil, and if it turns brown within a minute, the oil is ready for frying. Using your tongs, gently place your fries into the cooking oil, taking care not to overcrowd the pan (there should be space between the french fries).
Fry the French fries until they are a medium golden brown color
If you are deep frying the french fries, they should be done in just a couple of minutes. If you are shallow frying the potatoes, do not move them for a couple of minutes – allow a crust to form on the bottom before flipping them to avoid breakage. Cook the french fries until all sides have a gorgeous medium golden brown color.
Place the fully fried fries on the metal draining rack and sprinkle with salt
When fries are ready, use the tongs to remove them from the oil and place them on the metal draining rack. Lightly sprinkle with salt. French fries are at their best when hot out of the frying oil, but if you are serving kids, you might want to wait a few minutes before serving. (The french fries should still be crispy and delicious even at room temperature.)
Pressure Cooker French Fries Recipe