In the Mood for the Best French Fries? If You Don’t Mind the Cleanup, Here They Are.
Here we have Classic French Fries, cooked as they should be cooked. First they’re fried at 325 degrees (you will need a thermometer – I use an instant read Thermapen)for 6 to 8 minutes, drained and held over for awhile until you’re ready to eat them. At that time, the oil is heated to 350 degrees and the potatoes are cooked for only a couple of minutes. Perfect French fries. I hesitate to call anything perfect, but when you come upon something like this, there’s really no other way to describe them. I couldn’t improve on these if I tried. The technique is classic for a reason.
It’s how I was taught by my French cooking teacher decades ago and it’s how Cook’s Illustrated still recommends it be done. This is all about the technique and anyone can make these. They’re not hard. Well, I hadn’t made them in many many years and for whatever reason decided I was in the mood. As I said, I couldn’t have been happier with the results. No reason for false modesty here.
But I will NEVER make them in my kitchen again. The reason I don’t make these more often all came back to me when it came time to clean up the kitchen. As those potatoes were happily bubbling away in the oil, those little bubbles were releasing a fine mist of oil into the air which settled on every single object in my kitchen – fridge, microwave, toaster oven, cabinets, floor, etc. Everything had to be soaped down. The only way I will tackle these again will be to set up my pot of oil outside on my grill. That way, I will avoid the cleanup. Nope to making French fries in my kitchen. This will not be happening again. But they really were perfect.
Perfect Twice Fried French Fries
4 - 6
servingsPerfectly crisp deep fried French fries.
Keep the screen of your device on
Ingredients
4 large Russet Potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/4 inch by 1/4 inch sticks
2 quarts peanut oil
salt
Aleppo pepper
Directions
- Place cut potatoes in a large colander and rinse with cold water until the water runs clear. Add the potatoes to a large bowl, cover with water and then cover with ice cubes. Refrigerate for at least a half hour.
- Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven to 325 degrees over medium heat. I used a 7 quart size and don't recommend using anything smaller. There will be a lot of bubbling when you cook the potatoes and you don't want the bubbles coming too close to the rim of your pot.
- Drain and dry the potatoes with paper towels. Add them a handful at a time to the hot oil. Increase the setting of your stove top burner in order to maintain 325 degrees. Stir the potatoes and cook until they turn limp. This took me about 8 or 9 minutes.
- Remove the potatoes from the oil and let drain on paper towels. They can rest for awhile at this point if you're not ready to finish and serve them yet. But let them sit for at least 15 minutes. I wouldn't let them sit for more than an hour or so.
- Heat the oil in the pot to 350 degrees. Be ready to serve them at this point because this step goes very quickly. Add all the potatoes to the pot and stir. They will brown quickly. This shouldn't take more than 2 minutes or so. Remove them from the pot with a slotted spoon or strainer and put on paper towels. Salt and pepper them immediately and serve. There you have it. Perfect French fries. Enjoy!
