Sous Vide Fries

@Chris, you would probably be the best person to answer this question and I don't think it will take too long to either.

I am obsessed with Heston's Triple Cooked Chips, yet I am not the biggest fan of having to be so careful during the first stage of simmering them in water - unfortunately many a time I have been doing too much at once and all of a sudden the fries have transformed from bayonets into mush.

So at work today I was think why couldn't I just use an immersion circulator for this, not only will I be able to increase my yield I should be able to in theory do more at once. I know that this would probably not yield as much texture on the outside of the fry and because I don't have an ultrasonic bath lying around I am still willing to at least see the alternative....

If you think this would work what time and temp would you recommend and should the solution have any salt?

-Chris

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crkoller

For those would haven't tried the original recipe I mentioned, it is a must. http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/howtocook/cookbooks/best-cookbooks-2011/recipes/food/views/Triple-Cooked-Chips-368789

Cool Fry Videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIiQbeVHgX0

http://vimeo.com/32758577

Brendan_Lee_56950

Maybe a soak in the circulator with some Pectinex added to break down some of the structure that way?

Chris_Young_80640

@Chris_Koller — Indeed, I know the triple cooked chips well. It was on my section when I first started at The Fat Duck. Here is what I can tell you.

(1) It is incredibly important that you go as far as possible with the blanching. They really, really need to be nearly falling apart. The only way to get a good yield, in my experience, was to place all of the fries on a wire rack and lower them into a hotel pan that was put straight on the flattop. This was I could easily lift our all of the fries and remove those that were cooked far enough and then return those that need to cook longer. Surprisingly, even with everything cut exactly the same, some fries cooked faster.

(2) It turns out that the temperature is not that critical. More important is keeping things from getting too turbulent. Keep the water at a simmer, not at a rolling boil. The rolling boil just bumps the fries around and breaks them up. It's not helpful.

(3) The reason that the potatoes need to be falling apart is not because it makes them crisper. Instead, it's what makes them really light and fluffy on the inside after the frying. The greatness of the triple cooked chips was that they were incredibly crispy on the outside and really light and fluffy on the inside. The contrast was what made them awesome.

(4) I never played with Pectinex, but that might be an interesting approach. Soak the potatoes until they are nearly falling apart. It may still be necessary to do an initial cooking to convert the flavor from raw to cooked, and to gelatinize the starch. A bit of experimentation is definitely required here.

Does this help at all?

crkoller

Yeah that is perfect, I really appreciate the advice - I think the hotel pan with the rack will help prevent things from getting too disorganized like they do when I use my saute pan.

If I get around to playing with the Pectinex I'll post something on it, but I think the hotel pan and rack assembly seems like the best place to start.

Million thanks,

Chris

grant

Putting them in a sous vide bag filled with water or brine then in a water bath or in a steamer really works well also. Always plan on losing some.

crkoller

@grant_lee_crilly, how long would you cook them in a bath and what % concentration would you brine with?

crkoller

Saw that a sous vide fry recipe that had a solution with salt and baking soda, any reason for the baking soda? I'm assuming its maillard related?

Chris_Young_80640

I would also assume to enhance browning. It also will help to dissolve the molecular glue that holds plants cells together, so the surface of the potatoes ought to get fairly soft, which I would expect to result in a crisper crust after frying.

grant

Everything I have heard above is true. We are also adding baking powder in trials to prevent browning, and have them be light and golden. I prefer the flavor of the baking soda trials. I think a combination is ultimately where we will go. We are also testing potatoes for dry matter by floating and sinking in saline solutions. Ones that sink in an 11% but float in a 12% are the ideal dry matter for perfect french fries. Once we select our potato we cook them in equal parts solution that made of 100% water, 3% glucose, 1.5% salt and .25% baking soda. Depending on the size, we usually cook them at 95C for 12-15 minutes. Then fry once at 140c, freeze, then fry at 190C for about 1-3 minutes depending on size. Ben just found that McDonalds blanches there fries in a water bath to remove all sugar, then a second blanch in a stable and constant dextrose solution the ensure even sugar content.

We will have the final and most up to date recipe up soon. We are shooting a fish and chips video with some Ling Cod that I shot while spear fishing. Fish fry batter is a very technical things as well and I have been loving it. Brining me back to my methyl cellulose days at MC.