Making the perfect chips yourself: easier said than done. I'm not talking about oven fries, wedges or other fakes - I want the original. The fourth time I freeze the potato sticks overnight after the first frying.
On my first attempt, I was still a long way from perfect fries. The second attempt with double-fried fries tasted much better. After the third attempt, I came close to perfection. The fries had an excellent flavour and were very crispy. But I'm still not completely satisfied. I think it could be even better. I would now like to take up a tip that I have so far ignored: I freeze the cut potato sticks overnight after the first frying process. This should make them even crispier. I hope this is the final step to perfecting my homemade fries.
Guide
Are pre-cooking and vinegar the secret to perfect homemade fries?
by Raphael Knecht
Pre-cooking in vinegar water has made my homemade fries even more delicious than switching from frying once to twice. This time I'm going to add an intermediate step to the method I used in my third attempt: I'll freeze the fries overnight after the first frying process. Up to this step and afterwards, I will do everything exactly the same as before. I won't increase the temperature or the duration of the second frying process, although I'll throw the potato sticks straight from the freezer into the deep fryer. But that's what it says in the many instructions I've found online and in the comments I've received as feedback on my previous attempts.
Three floury and two waxy potatoes before cutting them into fries.
Some recipes swear by not only cooling the fries before the second frying process, but also freezing them - at least overnight, if not longer. There is a good reason for this: any residual moisture that has not already escaped during pre-cooking in the vinegar water or during drying freezes into ice crystals in the freezer. The moisture can damage the potato structure during frying. However, if it is "trapped" in frozen form, it evaporates immediately when immersed in hot frying oil. What remains are not only crispier and fluffier fries, but also fries that taste much more intense and better. I can also make fries in advance this way and throw them in the fryer and enjoy them whenever I feel like it.
The waxy potatoes are already cut and cooked, the floury ones still have to go through.
I can prepare homemade chips almost in my sleep: cut firm and floury potatoes, soak in boiling vinegar water for eight minutes, dry and deep-fry for the first time at 150 degrees Celsius for three minutes. Now comes the innovation and hopefully the finishing touch for perfect fries: I freeze a portion of both types of potato pre-cooked and -fried potato sticks overnight. The next day, the fries are rock hard and ice cold - just the way I need them for a perfect crust and intense flavour. I don't defrost them, but put them frozen in the frying basket and into the frying oil heated to 180 degrees Celsius for four minutes. The lid is on the deep fryer and now it's time to wait: Wait and see. I hope that when I take the fries out of the oil, I will finally have found the preparation method that gives me perfect homemade fries.
The moment (just before) the truth: How are the fries after the second frying?
The four minutes are up, I lift the frying basket, open the fryer and inspect my work: the fries made with waxy potatoes are once again dark in colour. They look very crispy and smell delicious. After freezing, they seemed lighter in colour to me than the floury fries - but this evened out in the deep fryer as they were nicely browned. I can hear how crispy they must be as soon as I empty the basket. A first bite into one of the hot golden sticks reveals that they are very tasty and super crispy. In terms of flavour, they are identical to the last time I tried making them, except for freezing them. I can hardly believe that they have become even crispier. They are so delicious that I have to force myself not to eat them all so that I have some of both types of fries left for the final group photo.
I really like the look of the chips made from waxy potatoes.
When I take the floury fries out of the freezer, I don't notice any visual difference. They look plus minus the same as they did after cooling between the two frying processes in the third attempt. After the second frying, however, they are slightly darker than before - and still not as browned as their hard-boiled counterparts. This is probably due to the longer second frying process. From a purely visual point of view, these chips look like perfect home-made chips - even in direct comparison to the floury potato sticks. Do the taste and crispiness confirm this judgement? Yes, they do. The fries are very crispy and also have an excellent flavour. The difference to the third attempt is noticeable here: the earthy potato flavour is more evident than ever.
The chips made from floury potatoes are the crowning glory of the flavour.
I realise with a tear in my eye and a smile on my face that my experiment is over and that I have just made the perfect homemade fries. After pre-cooking them in vinegar water, I wasn't expecting any great leaps forward. But then I came across the tip about freezing. It actually turned out to be true: The deep-fried chips from the freezer taste just that little bit better. Both the chips made from the waxy and the floury potatoes are crispier than the third time I tried them. I can't tell any difference in flavour with the waxy fries. The freezing method brings out the potato flavour of the floury fries more than my previous preparation methods. In the end, my favourite and therefore the perfect homemade fries are the deep-fried potato sticks made from floury potatoes.
This is what perfect homemade chips look like.
Double frying, pre-cooking in hot vinegar water and freezing overnight before the second frying process - these are the cornerstones of my recipe. I took a chance, tweaked it for a long time and in the end I managed to get the deep-fried potato sticks perfect for my taste. The end of this exciting project is also the starting signal for a new adventure: I am looking for dishes that are not normally served from a deep-fat fryer and deep-frying them. If you would like to join me on this journey through the wide world of deep-frying and look over my shoulder, then follow me by clicking on the "Follow author" button.
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