Go to the Recipe: Thick-Cut French Fries
Cannot wait to get some free time and give this one a try.
Let us know how it goes for you when you give them a try.
If these are the Heston Blumenthal Fries - already did it .... these truly are the best fries that you can make ... a lot of work - but perfect ... and as an aside - don't leave out any of the steps - they all have a purpose - boiling stage will allow the potatoes to develop more surface area for maximum fry, low fry is important for developing a deeper more satisfying crust, and high fry is important to creating that perfect crunch and perfect color.
Can you substitute corn syrup for the glucose?
- originally posted by gtbreeze
Has anyone compared these fries to the technique outlined by Dave Arnold using the Pectinex SP-L?I prefer the steps of this recipe because you can do everything up to the last fry well ahead of time. In fact maybe we'll give it a try this weekend!http://www.cookingissues.com/2...
- originally posted by Franzel
Dave's technique is great. And you could combine the techniques too. But, done well, I haven't had a better fry than these.
Yes, although realize that most corn syrup has added vanilla flavoring.
John — I spent a lot of my life working on those fries for Heston. If you include the vacuum cooling and drying step after the blanching and the first frying, you will get the same result. The brine solution just helps improve flavor and consistency of the color.
why do u use baking soda for the broccoli puree?whats the chemical reaction?thanks
plant cells are "glued" together by pectin and hemicellulose. Elevating the pH (more alkaline) increases the solubility of these molecules, making it easier to puree the plant tissue.
What about using vinegar instead of the baking soda in the potato brine?
- originally posted by Morgan
I made the fries and included the vacuum step. While I could not get any of the russets to pass the stronger brine test, they were the best fries we have ever made at home and close to being the best we have had period.
This method is awesome. I adapted it to potato wedges. Best "Roasted" potatoes ever.Years ago, a low boy froze on me, and the baked potatoes that were inside froze with it. Upon thawing and frying it was amazing, now I see why!
If you don't have glucose syrup, can you substitute a syrup made of table sugar and water?
Corn syrup would be a better substitute than plain sugar.
Made these the other day. Best chips I have ever had in my life. So thankful to you! Love that 90% of the work can be done a few days before, making it easy to do it with guests over.One question - are there oils that you prefer for frying chips?
- originally posted by Chris G
Chris G — In general, saturated fats will fry better for longer, and provided they aren't transfats, the current scientific literature suggests that they aren't as unhealthy as people once believed. So, if possible, duck fat or beef fat are excellent for frying French fries.
Chris as you spent so long living in Blighty, would this or a variation on this technique help make roast potatoes for the perfect Sunday roast?
Yes, what I recommend for the perfect roast potatoes is as follows: Use Russet Burbank or Maris Piper.You want to blanch them first, until they're nearly falling apart, then strain them out. If you're feeling bold you can very gently toss them a bit in a strainer (just jerk it up and down a couple of times) to rough up the potatoes—this way you'll get more crisp bits.Have a baking sheet in a hot oven (around 400 °F / 205 °C) filled with about 1/2 inch of oil. Pour the potatoes in and let them fry in this oil. After about 30 minutes you'll want to turn them over to brown the other sides. Keep turning as required. Total cooking time will be at least an hour. About 10 minutes before they're ready, through in some cloves of crushed garlic and some sprigs of thyme and rosemary. Remove from the oven, strain onto absorbent paper, salt liberally. Enjoy.
Ok Chris, so I've sourced some pectinase powder used in wine making.If I combine the two methods should I add the pectin when I soak the spuds after I cut them,or, in the brine?3% pectinase you think?
Soak them in the pectinase after you've cut them. It should work in the brine. 3% pectinase seems like an awful lot, I would go to something like 1%.
Thanks Chris! Have done the fries (and many of Chef Blumenthal's recipes that are available online) and they were fantastic. Will try them with the vacuum cooling as I usually use the longer method and actually have a home vaccum (Vacmaster 112-duh me in retrospect). My compliments BTW with all you did while there (have done the chilli etc as well and watching the pepper trials are hilarious-sorry :-)..).
- originally posted by Todd Shewman
We have made the triple cooked chips to Heston's exact recipe (with a lot of suffering along the way) and your method looks to get equally good results as well as simplify the process.Can I ask, do your fries need to be dried and refrigerated / frozen after the blanching phase or can they be fried straight away? Also, our fries sometimes develop a crunchy crust thats actually too deep. Is this a result of an over-long second frying?
I finally made those last week with some incredible results, by *far* the best french fries I've ever had. Previously I've done the "Heston"/Chris version from Heston's Book and had great results but these were something else. The bag/brining step makes things MUCH easier and I got a perfect yield with no broken fries. The inside of the fries was much softer than with the original recipe in my opinion and it seemed to pick up color much more easily on the second frying step. Those were so perfect that I forgot to make a picture of them, which is sad.
I did two things slightly differently though, and would love to hear some feedback :
- Post brining, I dried them in the freezer instead of air drying them. I guess there's not much difference in doing that, it's something I used to do with the previous recipe and I didn't follow the instructions correctly on this one
- The second thing I'm most curious about is Glucose. Is it simply for taste or does it do something specific at the brining process (maybe helping slightly with the color you get ? Mine were exactly as pictured in the recipe). I omitted it simply for personal taste but I'm willing to try it if it does have an impact outside taste.
Again, massive thanks Chris & All for a great refinement on a already awesome recipe !
Hi there, I was able to find Dextrose in the local supermarket but not glucose syrup.
I have a sense that I can somehow convert this to DE42 glucose syrup, but I can't find out how. Any tips?
Thanks for the amazing recipes
I've had success using dextrose as opposed to glucose syrup. A good conversion, is to use 42% the amount of syrup you would need. So if you need 100g syrup, sub 42g dextrose.
Thanks!! I think had success too :-D Can't wait to use my frozen fries!
One more question: does it have to be turned into syrup first in hot water? Or can it directly be incorporated into the brine?
Could you use the same method for selecting potatoes for Pomme Soufflés? The Modernists says that the potato should have dry matter content between 19%-22%. If you can use this method what would be the recipe for the two brines? Thanks
How necessary is the sous-vide step? I'd love to produce fries like this commercially but the sous vide step would make it impractical. Also, how long should the potatoes brine for without the sous vide method?
Attempted this tonight. Had a few questions and a recommendation.
Is the cooking time for the sous vide the time after comes to temperature or after it gets back to temperature. I made a double batch to test both scenarios, and ended up overcooking the potatoes on both occasions. I did cut my fries thinner than the recommended 18mm, which may have lead to the inconsistency.
What is the gas released in the sous vide process. I did water displacement technique to get a vacuum and it looks pretty good. However, as the potatoes cooked there were bubbles in the brine and the top of the ziploc bags was full of air. Was this the Baking soda reacting with the potato somehow?
What is a tolerable amount of temperature drop for the first fry? How quick should one try to get the temp back up?
Recommendation - When I cooked the potatoes there were some that weren't salvageable to be fries. Too small, broken ends etc. I kept these, and will be refrigerating them over night, and plan on making hash in the morning with them. Should be a GREAT texture when pan fried with some butter and bacon fat.
The sous vide process just cooks the potatoes. You can certainly do sous vide any number of ways, You don't necessarily need to use a sous vide machine.
Anything that can hold water at a relatively constant temperature can work. These machines just make the accuracy of the process much much more refined. You can even buy small machines that go in some water reservoir for ~$100 USD.
An old crock pot with some type of temperature gauge, and control you could use to adjust the temp appropriately. Or, you could also use a pot of water on the stove. These will just need much more attention.
Just did it without sous-vide machine, i used thermometer and heated all of the potatoes in the brine. After initial frying they already are damn delicious!
It wouldn't work once the intention is to elevate the PH, and the vinegar would make it lower(more acidic). Considering the goal is elevating PH, other salts would probably work. Try Sodium Citrate and Sodium Hexametaphosphate.
Should the Fries be added frozen? How long will they last in the fridge instead of freezed?
Anyone in Australia (Brisbane Ideally) found russet or a similar potato that would work for this recipe? I've tried 3 varieties now, all sub-par results. The best so far I have been able to get is royal blue potatoes.
Hello!
I'm a fan of lacto-fermenting vegetables and remember reading somewhere that fermenting pre-cut raw potatoes has a magical effect on fries. It firstly improves the flavour (as does fermenting for many vegetables) and secondly the fermentation process eats aways starches/sugars that usually burn easily. Thus a lacto-fermented potato chip is more resistant to burning and therefore makes for a better french fries experience.
In theory at least. I haven't tried it yet and like the other Adam below this post, I have difficult getting decent potatoes of any description here in Sydney.
Anyway, I am LOVING Chef-Steps - it's like the super user friendly version of my Modernist Cuisine. Well done all and please don't stop!
Adam // Sydney
Vinegar (acetic acid) would have the opposite effect, actually lowering (acidifying) the pH of the brine.
Did this tonight, best fries ever.
Used NZ Agria Potatoes with Skin on. Cheers!
http://www.inspection.gc.ca/plants/potatoes/potato-varieties/agria/eng/1312587385617/1312587385618
Just did Part 1 and 2 where I sous vided the potatoes (I did them right in the sous vide supreme with no bag) and then deep fried. Now I didn't thick-cut them, I used a French fry slicer so 8 minutes would have been way too long. I did 3.5 minutes before freezing.
I've done a similar recipe before where I boil the fries with vinegar for 10 minutes but the sous vide method is way more consistent and precise.
They call me "monsieur pomme frite" because I love french fries. I've used chef Blumenthal's ff recipe on multiple occasions and I agree, they are the best I've ever made or eaten. However, using sous vide to cook the potatoes is silly and this technique is not mentioned in the recipe from his book. I learned of this technique of dehydrating the potatoes by freezing while taking an EdX course - The Chemistry of Cooking.
After preparing these a few times recently, (by popular request), I can say, without a doubt, this is the best way to cook french fries that I have come across bar none! These are just as good as Heston's and a bit easier. Putting them in the sous vide about three hours before serving allows enough time to freeze them between frying. I omitted this stage on the first attempt, and found it really does make a difference.
18mm? They do not look like 18mm.
I have used this recipe twice now and love it. The first time I accidentally over cooked them, but my son loved my Fluffy French Fries. Today for an unexpected brunch I had to host. I made a new batch into breakfast potatoes, keeping the thickness but cutting down the length. I precooked them, froze them. And then instead of Deep frying a second time. I Sweated some onions and salt, until they started to brown. I then removed the onions, added two tablespoons of oil. and cast iron pan fried the potatoes adding back the beginning to caramelize onions. Fry for three or so minutes until the potatoes and the onions get roasty brown. I make these over night waffles most people go crazy about but today they couldn't stop talking about my potatoes.
Is the only reason to use glucose syrup to "emulate the natural sweetness" of the potato? Also it looks like you are just using russets. Do I really need to spring for Kennenbecs?
Has anyone tried doing this with quartered potatoes? to get ultra crispy roast potatoes. Aside for the longer cooking time in the brine is there anything else I should consider? I was thinking about using my sonicating bath to get the edges really puffed up for maximum crispy crustness
Has anyone tried this with sweet potatoes? Would it be the same process?
Hi Josh, it wouldn't be the same process because they have different sugar and starch content. They'd probably still taste great, but it wouldn't work the same.
Well of course I have mad respect for virtually everything you do. And, I am somewhat obsessed with french fries -- recognizing that there are many kinds of french fry out there, and it's hard to declare one or another 'perfect' because people have very different tastes. (As a side point, I find that these days french fries in restaurants are overcooked about 90% of the time; I think it's an artifact of today's obsession with crispiness. When I was a kid, french fries weren't overcooked, and a slightly droopy fry was not a sin.) In any event, I have to admit the fries pictured here to me -- based on my aesthetic of a fry -- are flawed. The reason is they are not uniformly brown. I think that's partly a result of the glucose soak. They also look a little bit on the greasy side. For my an ideal fry is perfectly golden brown -- indeed more like a McDonald's fry. I think it would be interesting to take Kenji Lopez's Serious Eats recipe and take it to the next level: it's still not quite at the level of a McDonald's fry, in my view, but it's pretty good. (For reference, it basically involves blanching in acidulated water for 15 minutes, I do it at 170F but Kenji does it at boil, and then relatively short first fry of 1 minute at 360, and then a second fry for 2 minutes+ at 360 again (actually Kenji uses 375 -- I find a slightly lower temp works better).
i bought a thermometer that was recommended by chef steps but it only measures to 300 degrees. Is there any way of checking if the temperature is in the the high 300 for the last fry. (maybe seeing if something dissolves in the oil)
Just cook it at a higher temperature and it would be fine
I think "perfect" is the problem. It's getting to be a bit over used. "in pursuit of perfection" and it has not stopped. I'm not sure how perfect a french fry has to be. It should be as good as it can be but it's probably not a good idea to conceive the impossible or strive for it. How many "perfect roasted potato" recipes have we seen? They conjure up notions of potato chip crispy crusts and creamy centers. But can you really do that? No. But you can make very nice roasted potatoes if you follow the rules and that is what should be defined as perfect.
When comes to modernist cooking I think we leave a big thought out. If you've had roasted potatoes made by a high line pro you know what a good potato is. Chances are that pro used conventional methods to make them. No Sous Vide no glucose etc. Just the raw skill acquired after 50 years in the kitchen. Modernists are substituting some of that acquired skill with technology and precise blue printing of the food.. That's a good thing because we can all do better that way. But it may lead us to 'pursuits of perfection' that no one can achieve. Not the pro not the modernist. That leads to frustration and dropping out of the kitchen.
