Need some culinary assistance, s'il-vous plait.

[nolawitch58]

OK, so I've tried to make homemade french fries and they keep coming out cooked but not firm and crispy. I'm using regular Idaho potatoes, canola oil and a deep pot. I do nothing to the spuds except peel, rinse and cut them into french fry shaped pieces. I do nothing to the oil except heat it up at the highest setting on my stove. How do I get the damned things to come out firm and not flaccid? Thanks for any help with this as I am not the most domestic person on the planet. I have never been Suzy Homemaker.

Majorly cool that I sent a finished system off to Indiana with Nancy to give to her friend. I have another system ready to go to the guy in my writers' group. All I have left to do on that one is set up the printer and make sure it works then scavenge together cords, keyboard, mouse and mousepad. He's gonna be happy. Do you think I should put stickers on everything to show where the cords plug into? He's never owned a computer before. I've also got my sister-in-law's system done and am waiting on her to get a desk for it.

Last night we watched "Mallrats" before I went to sleep and Corpsman played poker into the wee hours. He woke me up after a while because I was laughing in my sleep and I told him that Jay and Silent Bob were in my dream doing something hilarious. I wish I could remember it. Life can't be all that bad when I laugh in my sleep.

Comments

French Fries...

[lab-rattus.livejournal.com]

After rinsing be sure that they are nice and dry. Do not think it really matters if they are cold or room temp. Other than that...I do not know.
Sounds as if you are doing everything right.

[thewrongcrowd.livejournal.com]

It might be your oil. I get crispy, luscious fries using lard (which is what McDonalds used to use, heh). But if ya'll are eating heart-healthy, there's a couple things to try...

Don't put too many fries in at a time, it lowers your oil temperature too far for a crispy finish. Try partially cooking your taters first, then cut and fry at 350F degrees to finish.

[nolawitch.livejournal.com]

How to partially cook? Microwave? Drop into boiling water? Oven to dry them out?

[nin-wife.livejournal.com]

My mom always used shortening. She insisted since it was vegetable shortening that it was not bad for you. I still can't get her to understand the concept of hydrogenated trans fats.

But her fries were pretty darn good.

Either parboil in slightly salty water or fry in two stages

[salegamine.livejournal.com]

Clicky for real belgian french fries

Re: Either parboil in slightly salty water or fry in two stages

[nolawitch.livejournal.com]

I'll give it a shot and let you know how it goes. Thanks for the clicky.

You're welcome

[salegamine.livejournal.com]

:)

[thewrongcrowd.livejournal.com]

What salegamine said. I usually parboil.

[goddessmusings.livejournal.com]

Do the fries in small batches. Also, is your oil maybe too hot? Is it bubbling before you put the fries in? It shouldn't be boiling until you toss the fries in. Also- depending on how large the fries are, it may take longer to cook.

The computer- use the stickers! This is coming from a girl that has owned several computers and still gets confused as to where the wires all go! LOL!

Laughing in your sleep- yeah- that's a sign that life is pretty good. :-)

True,

[lab-rattus.livejournal.com]

No one likes sweaty fries.

[celticess.livejournal.com]

Soak the fries in cold water with a dash of lemon juice. Then dry well and deep fry in bubbling oil. That should help it.

[law-witch.livejournal.com]

ditto

also checked
www.foodtv.com
Alton Brown has many good tips on fries!!

[nolawitch.livejournal.com]

He's also cute in a food geeky way, n'est-ce pas?

[celticess.livejournal.com]

I find some of the guys on this (http://vancouver.citytv.com/whats_on/shows/content/barely_cooking.asp) cute but the show also funny. They are serious about cooking but just wacky canadians doing it in the buff... Aprons though protect from burns but you should hear some of the exchanges.

[celticess.livejournal.com]

Yes he mentions something when I look there that I forgot to mention. Rinsing the starch off. Such is done also when making perfect rice. Even if it looks clean and even if your using a rice cooker. You should rinse it til the water goes from milky to clear. It makes a big difference in how it cooks. The lemon I mention in the water is to prevent browning similar to apples. The cold water helps keep them firm. But if not dried well the cold water going into the fryer brings down the temp and can contribute to mushyness and risk of burns.

The way I learnt to do frites:

[salegamine.livejournal.com]

Do them in two stages.
First you "blanche" them (I think the english word is parboil) in boiling, slightly salted water for a 6 to 8 minutes, then pat them dry with a towel. When they are dry you fry them in very hot oil, 200C / 390F for 4 to 5 minutes or until nicely golden. This will allow you to get them really crispy on the outside while still being cooked through. This is the slightly healthier option.
You can also do them twice in oil, first go at about 160-170C / 320-340F, and then again when it's very hot 200C/390F. That works if you have a proper chip pan with the wire basket thingy. The times are about the same as with the "blanching" method, but you have to let them cool and drain really well between the two passes in the pan. Those are considered real chips by Belgian purists.

The ready frenched potatoes you buy have usually been parboiled in the factory before being packed and shipped, so that first step becomes pointless. But with fresh potatoes the twice cooking will do the trick very well and you get delicious fries.
:)
The restaurants here do them that way, and you can ask my sweetheart, you get some really gorgeous french fries here. Crispy outside and fluffy inside.