It’s National French Fry Day!
You love french fries, right? Just close your eyes and imagine them. Perfectly crisp outside. Tender and light inside. That crunch when you bite into them — no soggy wannabes. For most of us the siren call of a side of fries is almost too magnetic to ignore. But did you know you’ve been making french fries the wrong way? Yep. I’ve discovered an easier method that doesn’t soak up as much oil and there’s no double frying!
For most of us – we get our fries when we’re eating out. Not at home. Never at home. Why? Hello??? – they’re a pain in the ass, um, too much trouble to make. Until now. Seriously.
The traditional method — requires frying not once, but twice. The first time cooks the inside, the second crisps the outside. P.I.T.A. No more. I heard about this new technique on NPR. I’m sure you’ve heard Christopher Kimball and his culinary gurus broadcast America’s Test Kitchen answering questions and offering tips to home cooks.
add fries & oil to a dutch oven
You’ve been making french fries the wrong way!
This episode was revelatory to me — because they suggested that frying only once with very little hands-on effort would result in magically crisp-tender fries — and use about 1/3 less oil. Whaaat??? Easier and healthier?
“No”.
“Yes.”
“Noooo”.
“YES!”
It was all too much to believe, so I did the only thing I could. I tried it. The secret to these fries is to place the rinsed and dried potatoes directly into COLD oil. As the oil heats to the normal frying temperature, it gradually cooks the inside of the potato, so that by the time the oil is bubbling, the inside is cooked – and it goes right into the crisping phase. All by itself. No help from me. AND the potato doesn’t soak up as much oil. Really.
To confirm that, I fried the potatoes, let the oil cool and then poured the oil back into the original container. It filled back up nearly to the top. Maybe a quarter cup was actually absorbed in the whole batch. Incredible.
And look at the result. Perfectly browned. Not greasy. Perfectly crispy and gorgeous. A sprinkle of sea salt while they’re still hot is all they need. And maybe some ketchup. I love ketchup.
Also try these crazy good Duck Fat Potatoes. They’re baked in real duck fat until crispy and crackly.
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World's Easiest French Fries
ingredients
- 4 medium Yukon Gold potatoes
- 32 ounces peanut oil for frying
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
instructions
- Fill a large bowl halfway with cold water. Set aside. Using a sharp knife or mandoline, slice the potatoes into thin fries (about 1/3"-1/2" thick). Transfer the cut potatoes to the cold water. Swish the potatoes in the water with you hand and drain the water from the potatoes. Refill the bowl with cold water and rinse again. Use paper towels to pat dry the potatoes.
- Add the oil to a medium dutch oven. Put the potatoes into the cold oil. Place the oven on the stove and turn the heat to medium-medium high. The oil will bubble briskly once it comes to temperature. Cook the potatoes for 25-30 minutes until crisp outside and tender inside, stirring occasionally.
- Meanwhile, line a baking sheet with paper towels and set aside.
- Use a spider or slotted spoon to scoop out the fries and transfer them to the baking sheet. Immediately sprinkle the fries with salt. Serve.
Tried this. It was easy and the results were good, but they still don’t hold up to twice-fried potatoes, which I glaze with a bit of truffle oil.
Hi, would this work with an electric deep fryer?
Yes, you should be able to use an electric deep fryer (not an air fryer). Just start with the cold oil as directed.
The method is actualy nothing new. It’s called confi, witch is a French way of cooking in oil, instead of frying.
In the original method you coock your potatos, meat, veggies, fruits in the oil on 90 Celsius or sometimes even less.
The method was invented a long time ago and was used mainly to preserve the dish.
If you cock your meat confi, and than put in a jar covered with oil, and store it in a cool dark place it will last years!
Even though the method was invented to preserve the dish, witch the name of the method suggest (confire in French, to preserve), it is often used by novadays chefs because what is also preserves is water.
The oil is the thing that transports taste, if you put plums and apples in the oil in witch you prepare your confi duck or confi turkey it will have a very strong plum and apple taste.
Confi is a lot stronger taste adding agent than water.
The other advantage of confi is the fact that even though it penetrates the meat like water can not, it dose not mix with water inside your meat, so it dose not take taste out of your dish. Contrary to cooking in water.
Try coocking your meat confi.
I am making a confi duck every Christmas.
And always remember never put you’re confi used oil down the drain.
It has all the smell of the duck and veggies, and can be a marvelous agent to frying potatoes and other vegetables you are going to add to your duck. And also it is a great base for the sauce.
Try it out and I guarantee you are never gonna prepare your thanksgiving turkey any other way.
I very much appreciate your explanation on this cooking method, thank you so much, you are very kind and I have such a better understanding, especially on tips with the used oil. Great advice!
Yes, putting the fries in cold oil works! The fries were absolutely perfect. I don’t cook fries often, but will definitely use this method.
So glad you enjoyed them Rae!
Can I use coconut or canola oil instead of peanut oil? Also can I use russet potatoes instead of golden?
Coconut Oil has a smoke point of 350° and Canola oil has a smoke point of 400° whereas peanut oil has a smoke point of 450°. That means you can cook the potatoes at a higher heat without negative repercussions. I wouldn’t use coconut oil because it would impart a flavor to it. If you’re going to make a substitution, try canola oil, but watch the heat. it should be bubbling, but you don’t want it to go beyond the smoke point. The moisture content in the Yukon Gold is the optimum, but you can make this with russets if you want.
I’ve always been scared of “deep frying” at home!
These are easy and delicious!
#fearlessfryer
I’m so glad you found it to be an easy method. I certainly did. Congratulations on your fearless fryer status!
My potatoes are all falling apart in the oil..do you know why that would happen?
What type of potatoes are you using?
I made these a couple nights ago. They were good but not as crisp as I like. I cooked them the minimum time and they were cooked through but not real crisp. I will make them again tonight and cook a little longer. Even so they were better than any fast food frys and so easy! Thank you for sharing this method.
Thanks for sharing. You can cook the fries until their a deep golden brown to get them crisper — also it will depend on how thick you’ve cut the fries. It is an easier method than the double-fry — and absorbing less oil is a good thing!
I just made these tonight as a side to burgers. My son loves fries but they are so labor intensive. How did I not know about this method sooner? They are fantastic! I cooked them to a light golden brown and they were perfectly crispy AND they stayed that way. Generally the fries I made had a crisp shelf life of about 5 minutes.
I will never go back again and now we can have fries more often. Thank you for sharing this!!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed them Alysia! It’s definitely an easy method — and the results are fabulous!
Sorry. I followed the recipe perfectly I thought but they came out burned. Only going 20-25 min even. I guess I can try again just cook it less?
I’m sorry your fries burned … how thick did you cut them? If they were shoestring, they’d obviously take less time. That said, my fries were a darker brown than the one’s you’d get at McDonald’s or the like, but they didn’t taste burnt. When you try it again, be sure you’re using your spider to turn the fries every so often as they cook and when they start to look done, take one out as a tester and verify that it’s cooked through and crisp.
Does the oil splatter when cooking?
Not really. Of course, you need to use a pot that’s wide and deep. You want to have the volume of oil and potatoes several inches below the rim of the pot.
Oh my! Wow, wow, wow. Thanks for sharing this technique! I’ve been craving homemade fries for days now, but my previous disappointing attempts usually meant making a huge mess and still driving for take out. Not this time. I followed your recipe, using russet potatoes and olive oil, and found I needed closer to 40 minutes for the level of crispness I was looking for. I have an electric range and feel I was too conservative on the heat from the start, but about 10 minutes in when I started seeing the first of the bubbles, I bumped the heat from 6 to 8. The end result was piles of perfect French fries. Thanks again!
So glad it was a success for you! Nothing better than piles of perfect french fries!
Is the lid duppossed to be on? Or open top?
No, definitely don’t put the lid on.
Absolutely awesome! Will always do this! Thank you.
I’m glad you like! I think it’s so much easier!
French fries are my FAVORITE food, but I’ve always been hesitant to make them at home because I’m not a big fan of deep frying (makes me nervous). I finally decided to make some and gave this recipe a try. They turned out to be the BEST fries I’ve had. I’ve made them twice and both times they turned out amazing. I’ll be making them again tonight with some salmon burgers. Thanks!
Eunice — we love french fries too — and normally, I’m not a fan of deep frying either — but this method is so easy and so good! I’m very happy that you enjoyed them too!
Lisa,
I can’t figure out how to reply to your replies so I have to make a new comment.
The multi-chopper I have came from Williams Sonoma and it cost $50. It’s no longer available but newer versions of the product are. Here is my old one (one of the pictures shows the french fry cutter):
https://uedata.amazon.com/Williams-Sonoma-5471628-Professional-Multi-Chopper/dp/B0047ONEVM
I’m not sure I’d buy it new myself. If you just search on multi chopper you can likely find a better one, but this one does work.
And yes, I know too much about ketchup. I was shocked to learn that mayonnaise outsells ketchup as the #1 condiment in America. Did you know that Heinz shut down one of their production plants up north (Ontario) which would have put lots of local tomato farmers out of business? Well, French’s (the mustard company) learned of this and bought the plant from Heinz. And that’s why French’s now makes ketchup. I bought some and it’s, well….. ketchup. It tasted good but with that secret ingredient I’ll always prefer Heinz. Own your ketchup purchasing and bring your family to heel!
Lisa,
Thanks for the reply. Tonight I used russets and so tried a different method. I boiled them whole for 15 minutes, then sliced them using a multi-chopper for ease and perfect dimensions, then fried them in oil until golden brown. They turned out great – at least as delicious as high quality fries from a restaurant.
And I’m highly aware of ketchups! I really enjoy Heinz ketchup, it’s got a “secret” ingredient I learned of from the Food Wishes blogger. It’s clove oil. Heinz now has a version with reduced and/or no sugar (the label has changed in the last year) that I really enjoy because it has, as I mentioned, a quarter of the sugar in regular ketchup. Almost all brands of ketchup, including Heinz, has 4 grams of sugar per tablespoon whereas their low/no sugar version has 1 gram per tablespoon. I love it!
Those fries sound dynamite. Which multi-chopper do you have that gave perfect dimension? IMO, Shake Shake makes the perfect restaurant fries though — I’ll never say no to fries. Glad you’ve got the down low on the ketchup. I’ll have to look for the no sugar version in my store, but I’m gun shy after being lambasted for buying the wrong stuff the first time.
I’ve tried this method before because of Cook’s Illustrated and they turned out great. I did use Yukon Gold as prescribed. However, will this work with russet potatoes? Do any adjustments need to be made if using russets?
I wouldn’t think you’d need to do anything different with russet potatoes, the texture will be more fluffy than with the Yukon Gold. Not necessarily a bad thing!
Well I never ! I wouldn’t have thought of using COLD oil ! I’ll definitely try a batch using your method 🙂
I know! It’s CRAZY! But it works!
Thanks for showing me the right way of making fries!
These look better than restaurant fries and I know my fries! I have got to make these ASAP! Thank you for sharing! I can’t wait to try these.
They’re delicious but I really like how simple they are to make!
They look like the perfect crispy fries! You really can’t beat homemade.
What temperature?
Keep it between 350 and 375. I had it on a medium high heat on my gas cooktop.
Yes!!!! We love fries, but you’re right… Homemade fries have always been a P.I.T.A 🙂 Can’t wait to try this method – looks super easy!
Super-easy!