So you wanna know how to make perfect French Fries, do you? So did I. For about the past 20 years. The trick is in the triple cooked chip. Not double. Triple.
I will tell you now, that I have tried every method, potato and oil temperature known to humankind in my quest to create the perfect french fry. I've come close many times. In all that time I had never succeeded in creating the perfect chip at home.
Until I discovered the triple cook method developed by by The Fat Duck's Heston Blumenthal.
If you're interested in other "Perfect" stuff, try my perfect pizza recipe done in a cast iron pan. I know bloggers tend to lean towards exaggeration with their stuff. Like "the BEST", "the only!" "the PERFECT"! But I really only call something perfect if it is.
I lean more towards truth as in "The Almost Award Winning Maple Bourbon BBQ Sauce." Which is actually quite delicious.
This is not a post on how to make easy french fries. It is a post on how to make perfect french fries. Remember that when you start compulsively rolling your eyes at me throughout this post.
Table of Contents
Important French Fry Factors
- Variety of potato
- Temperature of oil
- Type of oil
- Length of fry
Most people (sanely I might add) make french fries at home either with a bag of frozen french fries baking them in the oven or if they're a bit more serious about their fries in a home deep fryer.
The really adventurous make chips from potatoes and deep fry them. But they do it wrong and end up with soggy or partly cooked on the inside, burned on the outside fries.
I am on the opposite end of the scale. I grow my own potatoes for making french fries. I'll get to which varieties I grow specifically for making fries in a bit.
French Fry Making Mistakes
- The first way people make homemade fries is to grab whatever potato they have in their cupboard, cut it up, turn the deep fryer onto "HOT AS HELL", and throw them in.
This will not create the perfect french fry. - The second way people try to make fries is by getting fancy and twice cooking the french fries. First cooking them in oil, taking them out to cool. And then cooking them again at a higher temperature. It's a good start but ...
This will not create the perfect french fry.
So how do you do it? How do you create the ideal french fry at home?
The Method
If you want to make french fries that are golden and crispy on the outside and hot and fluffy on the inside, you need to:
- Use the right potato - Russet Burbank (baking potato) is ideal and its cousin the Kennebec (white potato) is even better. Both the Russet Burbank and the Kennebec are bred for making commercial french fries. I grow both of these varieties for making fries.
McDonalds uses Russet Burbank to create their famous fries. In-N-Out uses Kennebecs.
- Peel the potatoes. Perfect fries don't have skin, because the skin won't get crispy the way we need it to. So off with the skin.
Aren't all the vitamins in the potato skin?
Actually, no. That's a myth that we've all heard from someone so we just accept it as fact. 🤷♀️ In truth, potato skins contain 40-50% of the fibre that a potato has to offer. As far as the major vitamins and nutrients, they're all right there in the potato flesh.
- Boil them first. This is the key. It creates a slightly rough texture on the potato which is what helps make them crispy when you fry them. It also partially cooks them.
- Add some animal fat to your oil. You can use vegetable, grapeseed, peanut oil or any other oil with a medium to high smoke point. It should also be neutral tasting. And then add a big blog of lard or tallow to it.
- Fry them at a low temperature. Then let them cool.
- Fry them at a high temperature to finish them.
What You Need
- Potatoes
- Deep fryer
- Heavily salted pot of water
This is all very scientific, so I figured I'd better have a control group to show you the difference between an O.K. fry and THE PERFECT FRY.
I'm even wearing rubber gloves and a lab coat. And a stethoscope.
TEST fries
I created a control group of fries by doing what everyone does when they cook fries; I cut up a potato, turning my deep fryer onto HOT AS POSSIBLE and dropped them in.
This method produced overly dark, slightly undercooked fries. So they looked overcook and tasted raw.
They were limp. And unappealing. As limp things often are.
Perfect Homemade French Fries
Make perfect homemade french fries. The triple cooked chips an invention of chef Heston Blumenthal.
Ingredients
- 4 large baking potatoes - Burbank Russet or Kennebec
- salt
Instructions
- Cut baking potatoes (note 1) into medium sized fries.
- Place in pot of cold, heavily salted water. Bring to boil. Once you see the first big bubble of a boil, remove fries. They will be cooked, but not falling apart. Drain and run under cool water.
- Dry and cool fries in fridge, convection oven or with hairdryer until leathery.
- Fry (note 2) at 300°f until a crust forms but no colour. About 5 minutes. (Technically Heston's fry temp is 266 F but that's hard to do with a regular, crappy home deep fryer)
- Shake out oil and cool in refrigerator or freezer. Fries should seem leathery.
- Fry again at 355°f until golden and crispy. About 7 minutes.
- Salt immediately.
Notes
- The best readily available potatoes to use are Burbank Russet (baking potatoes) or Kennebecs. Heston Blumenthal who invented this technique uses Maris Piper potatoes.
- Use a neutral tasting oil with a medium - high smoke point like peanut, grapeseed or vegetable oil. Then add a blob of animal fat. Lard or tallow if you can find it.
If you want something similar to a McDonalds french fry, cut your fries to ¼". Technically McDonalds fries are blanched in low temperature water for a long time instead of boiled quickly. But if you want my honest truth, as long as you cut a fry to ¼" inch, double fry it and douse it in salt it's going to taste McDonaldey.
Step-by-step instructions
1. Plop your fries into a pot of cold, heavily salted water.
Bring the pot to a boil. Once it shows signs of boiling, remove the fries.
The easiest way to cook them to the right degree is to immediately remove the fries once the water shows its first big bubble. If you get to a rolling boil your fries will be overcooked and falling apart.
You should be able to pick up one of the fries without it breaking in half. But you should feel very nervous about it. THAT'S a perfectly pre-cooked fry.
2. Spread your fries on a cookie rack to dry.
You can dry them in the fridge, convection oven, or with a hairdryer.
The surface should be dry and leathery. Refrigerate until cool.
3. Once the fries are dry and cold, fry at 300°f* until a crust forms. About 5 minutes.
*(if your fryer works as low as 266 that's the ideal/recommended temp but sometimes home fryers don't behave this way)
You don't want the fry to colour the potato. It just has to form a crust.
4. Return your fries to the cookie rack and refrigerate or freeze until cool.
I do see you rolling your eyes in exasperation, so just know that.
5. Fry again in hot oil of 355°f until golden brown and crispy. 5-7 minutes.
These fries are crispy good with no "limping" even after sitting out for several minutes.
The outer shell is crispy and crunchy, while the inside of the fry is hot, fluffy and salty thanks to boiling them in salt water first.
That's O.K., just make sure you buy baking potatoes for fries. Any baking potato. They are usually larger and more elongated than a white or yellow potato with a tougher skin. A baking potato has the right amount of starch and moisture to make good fries.
You cannot under any circumstances create perfect french fries in the oven. Cannot. You can create slightly healthier fries in the oven but they won't be considered, referred to or hailed as perfect. So no.
Using a french fry cutter, or by hand, cut your fries so they're ¼" thick. Almost shoestring size. Blanch at 170 f for 15 minutes. Then fry once at a low temperature (300) for 5 minutes and let them cool. Then fry again at 400 until golden and crisp. Salt, salt, salt.
See here for how to make Guaranteed Crispy Sweet Potato Fries. I haven't given the esteem of perfect because a lot of people have trouble with the method. If you don't follow it perfectly you end up with very unperfect sweet potato fries.
And if you want something truly awful I can hook you up with some brussels sprouts which are always gross, but this recipe I got from Shelter restaurant on Tofino, British Columbia is edible if you hate brussels sprouts. Mainly cause they're fried and covered in a delicious dressing.
O.K. get your eyes straight in your head again and either go out and make some french fries or call your sister to tell her how insane people on the Internet are.
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Catherine
Just tried these and they turned out awesome!!!! Totally worth the work! Thanks for your 20 years of trial and error- we got it on the first try :)
Karen
Wow. That makes me sound realllyyyyyyy old, LOL. Glad they worked out. :) ~ karen!
Kiat Huang
I've not been to the Fat Duck yet. It's about 20 miles away from where I live, but incredibly expensive a long booked out (note to self: book it!). However I did have the most delicious fries ever in a Dublin restaurant who followed Heston's recipe, but used Duck fat for the final frying. This was inspired by the traditional English method of basting roast potatoes with duck or goose fat, even if the meat is beef, lamb, pork, chicken or whatever.
Unfortunately I'm not a potato eater any more but will give Karen's crispy sweet potato fries recipe a try with a non-grain cornstarch substitute.
Very entertaining post and comments - great blog!
Pat
Dunno if they were perfect but they were pretty darn good ;-)
Karen
Pat - I tried these the other night but wanted to make them more quickly and in the oven. So I boiled in salted water, dried them, tossed them in veg. oil and put them in the oven at 400 convection. Turned out crispy delicious! Not as good as in a deep fryer, but way better than they normally are in the oven. Plus I used Kennebec potatoes which are great for fries. ~ karen!
Jesús
I just hope those french fries be better than the pictured ones. They look so red, it makes me remember "sweet" potatoes and its horrible taste.
I have a good "feeling" (come on, all those positive comments can't be wrong ...) about this recipe.
Thanks for posting!.
Howard
I googled my way here while researching the Thrice Cooked method under discussion. I was struck by the similarity of process I heard described on the radio program "The Splendid Table" for two-step mashed potatoes.
http://www.publicradio.org/columns/splendid-table/recipes/side_garlicpotatoes.html
I felt that the insight offered would be of interest.
Lynne Rossetto Kasper gives credit to CookWise by Shirley O. Corriher for the following food science tidbit.
"Precooking potatoes at 140-160° (in water) and then cooling swells (gelatinizes) and recrystallizes the starch, making it no longer soluble in water, therefore you have fluffy mashed potatoes. A little vinegar in the water adds a hint of flavor and helps prevent discoloration caused by hard water or stem-end blackening."
This was particularity useful for prepping a day ahead of a Thanksgiving feast thus saving time & serving a superior spud for your guests.
Debbie
i just made these and they were very good - my family made them disappear very quickly. my husband even said he would julienne the potatoes next time i do them. yum - thanks for posting instructions for something so tasty but a bit of a mystery.
Lynn
I cant wait to try your method. This weekend is poutine weekend here complete with curds and home made brown gravy. Wish us luck. Want so much the PERFECT fry and this sounds to hit the mark right on. Ok everyone its poutine weekend.
Karen
Excellent! Lemme know how they worked out. ~ karen
Lisa Marie
You are way too f#*%ing funny, I love it. So refreshing I might add. I just came across your blog while researching pomme frites in duck fat. I definitely will be checking out your other stuff.
Karen
Thanks Lisa Marie! Glad you found my site. ~ karen!
Alyssa
I am eating these right now...yum
Nicole
Karen, You're "Perfect French Fry" method sounds great and I do value my vigina! I have practicals for Culinary school tonight and am looking for the perfect french fry to cook as a side. I'm testing your method as we speak, however, I put a twist on it and am bringing the potatoes to a boil in chicken broth rather then just salted water. I will let you know how it turns out. Thanks for the tip! :0) Nicole
Nicole
Fries turned out great! Thanks again! I'm going to use this method tonight. :0)
Karen
Excellent! I e heard adding a bit of vinegar to the water (or chicken broth) helps with crispness. Something to do with chemistry. - karen!
Jane
These look yummy. Thank you. *smiles* Have you experimented with crisco vs oil? We did, (my husband and kids rather like chicken and fries) and the crisco won hands down for producing a crispy crust with and a soft center. I can only imagine how amazing they'd be if I used your perfect technique as well. Hm, but then I'd never be able to buy fast food fries again...
Sharlene
Oh my gosh, I laughed SO HARD at your post and replies! Recipes and laughter--perfect combo that made my evening. Thanks a million. I don't even care anymore if I make those yummy looking fries :)
Karen
Thanks Sharlene! Yup. That's my goal. Make em laugh and make em learn. And make em eat. ;) ~ karen!
Pam
Back in the 80's , I worked for Chili's . This is very similar to the process that we used . I have made them this way ever since. Best way to get a great FF. Thanks!
Karen
Pam - No need to thank me if you already knew! :) Glad you can confirm it though. ~ karen!
Ashleigh
If you add a couple tablespoons of vinegar to the boiling water, the fries won't fall apart even if they're left in too long. I found out about that here (http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2010/05/the-burger-lab-how-to-make-perfect-mcdonalds-style-french-fries.html), and trust me, you won't even believe the difference.
Karen
Thanks Ashleigh! ~ karen
Kasia
Love this post Karen! Never made fries at home before, not sure I'll start... and I consider myself a french fry addict :) Thanks for all your hard work and scientific inquiry!!!
(Most confusing bunch of replies ever on this one though!)
debra b
I am a fries-hund and I will definably be trying this method, and I know my spleen and vagina will be thanking me for it.
kimberly
My hubby has been on the search for the perfect French fry. I will be passing this onto him!
PS I LOVE your stack of fries!
Karen
Thanks Kimberly! ~ k
Tricia Rose
Karen dear, ( how can I say this) - you CARE. Do you need Help?
Karen
I'm confused. What do I care about? French Fries? I do. I really do. ~ karen
Nicola Cunha
Heston Blumenthal was one of the guest judges on Masterchef Australia and making his fries was a 'pressure test'! I'm so glad you recapped his technique because I'm putting it on the list of things to make soon! Thanks Karen!
Karen
Yup. That's why I made them! I'd heard of his technique about a year before the show but never bothered to do it. Figured it was a lotta work for a fry. But then I remembered ... these were going to be perfect french fries and figured it was worth it. And it is. ~ karen
Paulina J!
Do I REALLY need a deep fryer? I finally convinced my husband to get me an ice cream maker!! Can I use a thermometer and deep cast iron skillet? Do tell please.
Karen
Paulina - You can use a cast iron skillet, but I find them a bit dangerous for frying. I'd go for the deep fryer. You just need a small one. I just bought my mother a teeny tiny one (Cuisinart I think) for Xmas. ~ karen
Vere
Those are lovely fries, I just ate a hamburger and it came with the most soggy, sorry looking fries, I should give your method a try, please don't punch me on the vagina or spleen, my in-laws are sicilian so, you do not want to mess with them lol love your site, keep up the good work!