French Fries
- Total Time
- 1 hour, plus soaking
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 6large Idaho potatoes
- Vegetable oil, for frying
- Salt
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
672 calories; 49 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 35 grams monounsaturated fat; 8 grams polyunsaturated fat; 56 grams carbohydrates; 7 grams dietary fiber; 3 grams sugars; 7 grams protein; 763 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Peel potatoes and cut them lengthwise into slices, ⅜ to ½ inch thick, keeping the slices together. Give the sliced potato a quarter turn and cut slices into strips. Soak in cold water at least 30 minutes or overnight.
- Step 2
Drain potatoes and pat dry. Place them in a deep heavy pot and pour in vegetable oil to cover, plus an inch or two. Heat to a bare simmer and let potatoes cook slowly for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, until very soft.
- Step 3
Raise the heat to medium. Line a large bowl with paper towels. Let potatoes fry in bubbling oil until golden and crisp, 10 to 15 minutes more.
- Step 4
Lift out potatoes and place in a paper towel-lined bowl. Shake to drain, remove paper towels, add salt, and shake again. Serve immediately!
Private Notes
Comments
Soaking the potatoes leaches excess starch; prevent/reduces fries from sticking together, AND, increases crispiness to the outside texture.
Making french fries at home is deceivingly difficult. Let this be a warning to all non-expert home cooks: consider skipping this one!
Much preferred approach to putting cold potatoes into super hot oil. For those getting a soggy mass of potatoes during the initial simmer, it really is a bare simmer. Use a thermometer to make sure you don't go above 95 Celsius for this step, if you do your potatoes will start to fall apart. I have had good success with simmering at 90 C for 25-30 minutes, and then cranking the heat for the final fry (max heating on my old stove), an additional 5-10 minutes. Super crispy, delicious fries.
This turned my sliced fries into pieces and took way longer to turn brown.
Maybe it’s because I used cowboy potatoes, but the fries completely fell apart within the first 15 minutes. Total disaster. Nothing edible after the entire time.
Side note: on my stove I just crank up the heat to high at the beginning - takes about 30min for the oil to come to crisping temps and by then the potatoes are perfectly tender.
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