I Found The Perfect French Fries

Summary

In this deep dive into the art of making the perfect French fries at home, the host explores and tests various well-known techniques to recreate restaurant-quality fries. The journey starts from the basic single fry method to more complex procedures like double frying, battering, par-cooking, and the renowned triple-cooked method. Each method is meticulously tested for crunch, fluffiness, and flavor to find the ultimate French fry recipe. The video culminates with a surprising winner, challenging traditional methods and proving that the perfect French fry might just be achievable at home.

Takeaways

• 😊 It is undisputed that french fries are a beloved food staple across the world
• 👨‍🍳 The author has long sought to recreate the perfect restaurant-style french fries at home
• 🔬 Several french fry cooking methods are analyzed in detail to determine the best technique
• 🥔 Single-fried potatoes lack crunch and fluffiness compared to other techniques
• 🔥 Double-frying improves texture but still falls short of restaurant quality
• 🎊 Batter-frying introduces great flavor but the interior potato remains dense
• 🥧 Parcooking then frying makes a tasty baked potato fry but lacks sufficient crunch
• 🏆 The triple-cooked method yields the crunchiest, fluffiest and tastiest fries yet
• 🧂 Brine-frying results in excellent flavor penetration and makes fries that rival triple-cooked
• 👍 The brined or triple-cooked fries are deemed the best homemade restaurant-quality options

Q & A

What is the main topic of the video?

The main topic is testing different french fry cooking techniques to determine the best method for making restaurant-quality fries at home.

What is the baseline frying method used?

The baseline is simply cutting potatoes into fries and frying them once.

What are the two main components that make up an ideal french fry?

The two main ideal components are crunchiness and fluffiness inside.

What is the triple cooked method?

The triple cooked method parboils the fries, then does a first fry, freezes them overnight, and does a second fry from frozen.

What is special about the brined fries?

The brined fries have deeper flavor penetration due to the brining process before frying.

Which method produced the best tasting fries?

The brined fries and the triple cooked fries were the top scoring methods.

Why is it important to season fries immediately after frying?

Seasoning immediately helps the salt stick to the fries better while they are still hot.

What oil temperature is used for the first fry?

The first fry is done at a lower temperature of 320°F to par-cook the potatoes.

What is the purpose of the overnight refrigeration step?

The refrigeration helps develop crunchy starch on the exterior of the potatoes.

What recipe adjustments are suggested in the video?

The batter can be customized with different spices based on personal taste preferences.

Outlines

00:00

😋 Making a basic single fried french fry

The first paragraph describes making a basic single fried french fry by cutting potatoes into fries, frying at 350F until golden brown, draining on paper towels, and seasoning with salt. The fries turn out very limp with no crunch or fluffiness. The taste is decent but not like a french fry. The single fry method scores a 7 out of 15.

05:01

😕 Testing a basic double fry method

The second paragraph tests a double fry method, par frying at a lower temp first to cook most of the way through, then frying at a higher temp to get color and crunch. The fries are slightly improved in crunch and flavor but still dense inside with no fluff. The double fry scores a 13.5 out of 15.

10:01

🤩 Perfect restaurant style french fries achieved with a brine

The third paragraph tests a brine method, brining the potatoes before frying twice. The brined fries have the best flavor, crunch, and fluffiness. They score a 25 out of 30 points compared to 24.5 for triple cooked fries, making brined fries the winner for best restaurant style french fries.

Keywords

💡french fries

The main dish being discussed in the video. Defined as potatoes that are peeled, cut into strips, and then fried. The video explores making the perfect french fries through testing different recipes and techniques.

💡crunch

An important texture characteristic for good french fries. Crunch refers to a crisp, crunchy exterior while the interior should be fluffy. Lack of crunch was an issue with many attempted recipes.

💡fluffiness

Closely related to crunch, fluffiness refers to a light, airy interior texture in the french fries in contrast to a dense, soggy interior. Fluffiness along with crunch contributes to the ideal french fry texture.

💡parcook

A pre-cooking step used before frying, such as boiling, baking or blanching. Helps drive off excess moisture from potatoes before frying which improves texture.

💡brine

Soaking potatoes in a saltwater solution before cooking. Brining seasons potatoes throughout and enhances flavor. The brined fry recipe was a top contender.

💡deep fry

The primary cooking method used for french fries. Involves frying food by submerging in hot oil. Different techniques like single vs double frying were tested.

💡batter

Coating potatoes in a thick flour-based mixture before deep frying. Adds a crispy exterior but couldn't compensate for poor fry texture.

💡triple cooked

A multi-step frying method involving parcooking, partial frying, freezing, and frying again. One of the top contenders for best french fry recipe.

💡restaurant quality

A frequent reference point for judging the fry recipes. Seeks to create french fries at home that meet the standard of those served at restaurants.

💡russet potatoes

The recommended potato variety for fries due to higher starch content. Provides best texture and crust formation after frying.

Highlights

French fries are a beloved food staple with over 52% of restaurants having them on the menu

Homemade french fries often don't match the crunch and flavor of restaurant fries, but this video aims to determine the best at-home frying method

Simply cutting and frying potatoes results in decent flavor but a limp, dense texture lacking the signature french fry crunch

Double frying improves texture and flavor compared to single frying, but still falls short of an ideal french fry

Batter frying introduces great flavor and exterior crunch, but the potato interior remains dense and limp

Par-cooking then frying potatoes mimics steak fries well but doesn't achieve the right balance of crispy exterior and fluffy interior

The triple cook method of par-boiling, par-frying, freezing, and frying makes McDonald's-style fries with great texture and flavor

Simple brine frying yields fries with the deepest flavor and great crunch, despite fewer steps

Brined fries match triple cooked fries for best results, with excellent crunch and robust seasoning penetration

Brined and triple cooked fries both score 8.5/10 for flavor and 25/30 overall, making them the top recipes

Battered fries take third place for their exterior crunch introducing interesting flavors, though limp interior

Single, double, and par-cooked fries don't achieve the right texture or flavor balance to match restaurant fries

Home cooks can choose between the brined or triple cooked methods to finally make restaurant-quality french fries

Brined fries have a deeper flavor, while triple cooked mimic the classic McDonald's fry profile

Adding ample salt is crucial to maximizing the flavor when making homemade french fries

Transcripts

it is Undisputed french fries are a food

staple of the world with over 52% of

restaurants having it on their menu now

listen I know I like to talk about how

everything that you make at home can

easily be better than anywhere you go

and get it but with french fries it's

different that is the one dish most

restaurants will do it better than

someone at home but why what are the

secrets that they're hiding from us what

goes into a restaurant quality french

fry the crunch the fluffiness the flavor

it's just this beautiful thing and I've

been chasing the perfect French fry

recipe for years but today is the day

that all changes I'll be testing all of

the most known french fry techniques and

determining the best one so that you can

finally make the perfect restaurant

quality french fries at home this is the

end all Beall guide let's begin we're

starting this off as simply as possible

a single fry french fry it's really just

cutting the potatoes and frying them

that's kind of it I don't expect it to

be great but it's part of the science so

hopefully it's decent but it will set

the Baseline so first you'll need to

peel some rusted potatoes I would start

with three if you're serving two to four

people cut your potatoes into 1/ qu in

planks then into 1/4 in sticks so little

French fry shape optionally you can wash

your cup potatoes in cold water Pat your

rinsed potatoes as dry as possible with

a paper towel then fry in a six4 dutch

oven or heavy bottom pot filled a little

over halfway up with vegetable oil

that's been heated to 350 F or 176 CI

once it's at temp add your potatoes in 2

to three batches and Fry until golden

brown stirring occasionally for about 4

to 5 minutes then use a spider to

transfer them to a paper towel Lin

baking tray and what do I always say and

for some reason people don't listen to

me season immediately to taste with salt

you don't season them while they're hot

the salt doesn't stick you go wh w w in

the comments and I go oh I Told You So

and you're like oh my now these fries

are a lot more Brown than the typical

french fry that you'd received it's

because we're frying them fresh there's

still a lot of sugar and starch on the

surface it hasn't had time to express

itself so it Browns more quickly than

you might wanted to which I don't love

as soon as I pop them on the plate they

were well flaccid and they stayed crispy

for what 5 seconds I mean look they went

softer than a uh you know what let's

taste that should not happen a three a

two and a two total score seven a low

start but not unexpected I'll still eat

this whole plate but there isn't much

crunch there isn't much fluff but the

flavor is definitely there yeah it's

just super limp but still has bite to it

which I don't understand but other than

that the flavor is still great I think a

one wouldn't be fair because they do

taste good but they don't taste like

french fries it tastes more like a

roasted potato there's a little bit of

sweetness still there somehow zero

crunch it's almost like negative crunch

this is like a boiled potato no fluff at

all it's super dense don't single fry

your fries better off baking them now

we're just basically going to double we

did last time by making a basic double

fry same exact concept except we're

going to do a low temperature par fry

first again large rust of potatoes

peeled cut into a/4 in sticks same as

before optionally you can wash your

potatoes Pat them dry with a paper towel

and this time when they go in the fryer

you're going to fry them at 320° F or

160 C for about 3 minutes they should be

pale in color dra on a paper towel try

to dab off that excess oil raise your

oil temperature to 350 F or 176 C once

it reaches temp immediately Ed your

fries back to the oil stirring

occasionally and cook until golden brown

another 30 to 45 seconds remove allow to

drain for a few seconds and then

transfer to a large mixing bowl using a

spider and season to Salt while tossing

frequently so the second fry they got

color still very quickly especially when

they went into the hotter oil which not

really enough time to get a little bit

of color I don't know why I did that I'm

sorry but I will say they do seem a

little crispier now let's find out how

much

more didn't really fix that problem a

five a 3 and 1/2 and a five a tasting

score of

13.5 I felt like these were right on the

precipice of being crunchy but there was

something about that first fry and the

second fry really drove up the flavor

this is the first one we've tried that

like is starting to taste like a fry

it's crunchier than if you did a single

fry but I really like the airiness of it

I think that is a good texture it's not

like what you look for in a traditional

fry but I thought that was pretty

interesting and then flavor-wise I think

it's a step above the last one the

exterior has like this thin thin thin

layer of crunch but it's still dense it

didn't get the fluffiness I wanted the

flavor slightly improved in the

direction of french fry but I I would

not be happy if I got these from a

restaurant I've gone the restaurants and

gotten fries like these and been pissed

about exactly but I would still eat them

but under that context would you call

them a five no way out of 10 I'd call

them a five yeah no way dude double fry

also double the score next up we have

battered fries you see these a lot at

bars maybe you know a little ice house

but if there's one thing I know brother

people love a good battered french fry

so we're going to start the same again

peel potatoes qu in sticks optionally

wash them and pat dry this time in a

large mixing bowl you're going to add

half a cup or 60 G of allpurpose flour 2

tbsp or 30 G of anro powder 2 tbsp or 30

G of smoked paprika 2 TPO or 8 G of

garlic powder half a teaspoon or 2 G of

cayenne powder 2 taspo or 8 G of salt

whis that together and then add 1 cup or

240 ML of water and whisk Andel combined

that is your batter now look you can

change the spices to whatever your heart

desires this is a Choose Your Own

Adventure sweetheart maybe try using the

spices I suggest first now potatoes into

the batter let the excess drip off and

fry in the same size pot at 350 F or 176

C for 3 to 4 minutes or until a deep

golden Brown these things will get a

little darker because of the spices and

that's totally fine pull them out with a

spider let them drain for a few seconds

and then transfer to a large mixing bowl

and again season it taste with salt

immediately by the way quick note

whenever you season french fries with

salt please add more salt than you think

you need now obviously you could apply

other techniques before battering and

frying these which would probably

improve the fry but really this is all

about the batter and how much better it

makes the fry which we're about to find

out a six a five and a six total score

17 these are obviously remarkably better

than any the previous fries I'm like

50/50 on how I feel about it because on

the exterior you have this beautiful

wispy crunch big fan of it but on the

inside you've got essentially a boiled

potato like it is flaccid and you know

it's flaccid so it didn't pick up any

actual crunch on the potato itself the

flavor is great but again the batter is

leveraging it so it's almost like a

science lab french fry rather than just

a potato it's like green screen french

fries like they're fake oh my God it's a

fry like the crunch on these is a

fallacy like you get through it and

you're like that's tight but then you

get get to the potato and you're like oh

this is just the single fried potato

again it's more wispy than crunchy and

it's still dense when you get into it

there's not really that fluffiness

you're still building off the past two

fries what we're good about that the

sweetness of that and then you get new

introduced flavors here with all the

spices you can put into that we're still

not there yet on the perfect fry but

definitely built we're getting the

crunch we need the fluff a clear leader

but are we surprised next up we're using

a steak fry as the example to show

something I called the parcook then fry

method you can boil parcook or you can

bake parcook we're going with the big

route so wrap as many rusted potatoes as

you'd like in aluminum foil place in an

oven at 350 F or 176 C and bake for 40

to 60 Minutes remove from the oven and

place in the fridge overnight the

refrigeration step is crucial okay the

cooked cooled starch is what makes the

crunch once the potato is cold cut it in

half then cut it in half again now you

have quarters then cut each of those

wedges in half once more and you should

have wedges then from here all you got

to do is pop those bad boys in 350° F or

176 C oil and deep fry for 3 to 4

minutes or into a beautiful crisp golden

brown stink fry emerges from the oil

glistening ready to be cracked open take

them out let them drain add to a bowl

and immediately season and toss with

salt they look good I'm going to be

honest with you I'm not a huge fan of

steak fries it is what it is but these

are some of the better ones that we've

made that being said I'm not so sure how

well they're going to rank let's find

out 3 and 1/2 four and uh seven wao

total tasting score 14.5 although this

is good and I would eat this and I would

be happy with it this is nowhere near

the perfect French fry okay the crunch

is there but there's way more baked

potato on the inside than there is on

the outside there's more soft to Crunch

flavors there so it's good but it's not

the perfect fry this looks a bit

psychotic but I kind of just ate the

outsides for that exact reason very

crisp on the edges and I really like

that but the inside is too much like a

baked potato this was crispier than the

single fry it was crispier than the

double fry it got somewhat close to the

batter but the density of the inside is

what really killed it it's just a really

good baked potato where does the seven

come from I think that this is a better

fry than the battered fries is that your

highest rating so far yes that's Bonkers

so far second place now we're entering

goat territory I don't mean like brazed

goat I mean like goat this is hands down

one of the most common and famous

techniques of all time it is the triple

cooked french fry so it should be the

winner at least I hope it is because I

have a method for it in my cookbook and

I do think it's one of the best ways but

this isn't the last recipe for today so

we have our potatoes that have been

peeled cut in a/4 inch match sticks

rinsed fried and this time you're going

to place your potatoes in a six cord

stock pot filled about halfway up with

water bring it to a boil over medium

high heat then add 1 tspo or 4 G of

baking soda 2 tbsp or 30 G of white

distilled vinegar and 1 and 1/4 tbsp or

18 G of kosher salt add your fries to

the boiling water solution and quickly

boil for 30 to 45 seconds you do not

want these cooked all the way through

it's a par parar cook they're still

going to be raw this is just helping

create a crust so remove dabbing dry

with more paper towels then you're going

to take your parboiled fries and Par fry

them in 320° F or 160° C oil this is

step two for the crust and you're going

to cook those for 2 to 3 3 minutes or

just until pale in color and matte they

should look like this creting a little

chemical reaction there brother with the

boiling water solution little par fry

and again your fries at this point

should be just about cooked through

remove drain on a paper towel and

transfer to a parchment line baking

sheet and place in the freezer overnight

until frozen solid that is a minimum of

3 to 4 hours but ideally overnight Josh

that's such a small amount of french

fries that's all I'm going to get listen

to reduce food waste we are only doing a

small amount for testing here obviously

you can make more now when it's fry time

you need to understand you are frying

these potatoes from Frozen Do not let

them come to room temperature they need

to be frozen solid when they go into

that oil so get your 6q Dutch oven with

fry oil in it crank that heat up to 350

F or 176 c lower in your frozen fries

and fry for 2 to 4 minutes or until a

stunning golden almost McDonald's

looking french fry announces itself from

the oil as you slowly lift up a

shimmering beautiful Obelisk of potato

transfer to a large mixing bowl season

it taste with salt and hopefully these

are the best french fries we have today

let's taste that's crazy notice that

this is the only fry that when we've

gone to grab them we grab more than one

a big eight another eight and an 8.5 a

total tasting score of 24.5 that's going

to be damn near impossible to beat but

we have one more Contender people will

be like oh it's like the best one there

and it's only an eight grow a backbone

you can't rate every good thing that

goes into your mouth a nine or a 10

because one day you'll realize there are

not many things that deserve a n or a 10

in life this french fry has the crunch

that I was looking for I know mentally

that probably could be a little

crunchier that's just me being really

anal but this is a good fry no one's

going to complain about this there's

nothing there as you can see flavor is

everything that I want out of it it just

tastes like a french fry and fluffiness

is exactly where we want it to be so it

gets an eight which is extremely high

for me crunch is a huge step up from the

last couple we've been having the

fluffiness was the big change here we

finally had one that wasn't so dense and

it's balanced on all ends the crunch the

fluffiness the flavor and that's why it

gets a solidate for me the flavor was

Unreal the bite to the the fries was on

the outside not the inside which is what

you want this is the best fry that we've

had today could be our winner but we

have one more left the brind fry this is

quite literally the most untraditional

version of french fries I think I have

ever seen we're not triple frying we're

not freezing we're not cooling them down

we're literally just going to fry them

twice back to back which is the exact

same method that we did earlier in this

video which was quite literally one of

the lowest rated recipes the only

difference is a simple brine so again

start with the same potatoes that we've

made every single time I'm not saying it

again you know what they are so you can

use any size jar you want we used a

quartz size but it's all dependent on

how many potatoes you do the more

potatoes the bigger the jar here's how

you calculate your brine it's going to

be a 2 to 5% brine five is very much on

the high end 2% is recommended so if you

want to be around in the middle

hypothetical scenario would be 30 to 35

G of salt and about 750 G of water

that's roughly 3 and 1/2 to 4% brine

stir together to dissolve add a clove of

crushed garlic 1/4 TPO or 1 G of mustard

seeds and 1/ teaspoon or 2 G of black

peppercorns add your potatoes to a jar

now make sure those are completely

submerged in the water if they're not

you may need to add a small layer of

plastic wrap or something to weigh them

down make sure you're not to weigh them

down with metal choose plastic or glass

then you're going to let those brine for

3 to 5 days then you'll pull them out

they're a little cloudy a little funky

make sure there's no mold on top ideally

there shouldn't be but if there is you

might need to restart Now drain your

fries dry with paper towels and now our

first fry which will be fried at 320 F

or 160 C until the fries are just about

cooked through pale and relatively matte

in color the first thing I noticed is

little air bubble here now drain on a

paper towel raise the oil to 350 F or

176 C and Fry once more until a lovely

deep golden and crispy something special

is going on here because I removed from

the oil allowed to drain tossed into a

bowl I heard something a little

different than I had heard before

seasoned generously to taste with salt

and already I feel like these fries are

the most different looking the most

different sounding something about these

are special even though it was less

steps so let's taste it's a lot less

complicated than the typical triple fry

and all the stuff you got to do to it

what I really liked about this is the

flavor is deeper than any other fry

we've had today the crunch was there the

one thing I didn't like these were kind

of chewy the flavor is there you can

tell due to the fact they've been brind

that the salt really penetrated the

entire potato the chewi is slightly

offputting now let's rank an eight an 8

and 1/2 bare minimum in order for this

to win it needs an 8 and 1/2 or higher

so it's up to cam coming in at at

exactly an 8.5 total score of 25 our

winner the brine fries triple cooked in

second place with 24 .5 only .5 off of

our first place winner and batter fries

in third but who cares about third we

made these in another video where we

tested viral Tik Tock food hacks and we

were blown away by it and it did it yet

again the first time we made them they

were remarkably better than this so the

fact that they still get an 8.5 is High

Praise it's a Choose Your Own Adventure

between these two you know what to do

and if you want to find the recipe the

link will be in the description it's

always in the description we have a

website full of recipes that are just

for you so click that link if you want

to make it yourself otherwise don't

forget to to like And subscribe if

you're not already I love you

goodbye