Quality Tips

French fries should be deep-fried twice. This gives them a crispy exterior rather than the soggy version one often gets.

It also helps to start off with a good quality potato. If you have a choice at the local store, try to choose the better quality ones. One indication of a superior potato is that it has a faint yellow colour rather than a pure white.

• Do not use 'new potatoes' (these are early summer potatoes, which have not developed a skin yet). Although new potatoes are fine for many recipes, they are not suitable for French Fries.

Use fresh vegetable oil. If you want to reuse the oil, let it cool and then put it in the fridge to keep it cool where it will be good for a few days. One of the reasons that home made french fries taste better is that fast food outlets save money by reusing the oil many times and by keeping it for a long time (often until it goes rancid). Fresh oil is the best.

Preparation:

Peel the potatoes. Wash any dirt off of the peeled potatoes.

Cut the potatoes into French Fry size. You can do this with a knife or with a French Fry Cutter (see discussion below). The length of the French Fry doesn't matter. The thickness of the French Fry is a matter of personal preference. A thick-cut French Fry takes longer to cook, but absorbs less oil (healthier and fewer calories) in relation to the amount of French Fries, since the oil is absorbed mainly on the surface.

Most recipes call for a French Fry cut to a quarter-inch (half-centimeter) in width, but I prefer to cut them to about a centimeter square. Not only is this a bit healthier (see above) but if cutting with a knife it is less work.

Cooking

Put vegetable oil into a pot and preheat until is just starts to boil. Reduce the heat until the oil is on a low boil.

It is best to use a deep fryer, or a pot which has a metal sieve. This allow one to easily remove the French Fries when they are cooked, without trying to fish them out of hot oil. Following is a photo to illustrate:

Cook the french fries until they are done. You can tell when they are done because they will change to a pale golden colour. You can also test by sticking a sharp knife into one; if there is resistance then it is not cooked yet but when the knife easily goes through (just like a boiled potato) then it is cooked. For fine cut potatoes this will take about 3 minutes and for coarse cut potatoes it will take about 10 minutes.

Remove the French Fries. Either put them on a rack for the oil to drain off, or put several layers of paper towel on a plate and dump them on top.

Leave the French Fries to cool for at least 10 minutes. Then put them back into the pot of simmering oil for 2 minutes (fine cut) to 5 minutes (coarse cut). At this point the colour should change from a pale golden colour to a darker golden colour. Remove the french fries and quickly drain off the oil.

Note that the French Fry is cooked in two stages rather than one. This is to give is a crispy outside and more enjoyable taste than simply cooking it in one stage.

Serve

Serve the French Fries. You can serve with salt, pepper, ketchup or whatever you prefer.

References

For the definitive guide to this recipe, click on French Fries.