If you’re able to get kennebec potatoes, comment below to share where you got them. Also, if you’re in the UK, there’s a similar variety called Maris piper. Start speaking a new language in 3 weeks with Babbel🎉. Get up to 60% off your subscription ➡Here: go.babbel.com/t?bsc=1200m60-youtube-brianlagerstrom-jul-2023&btp=default&TH-cam&Influencer..brianlagerstrom..USA..TH-cam
When I was in the service, I was station near Belgium. I was addicted to their fries. They're secret is beef tallow. They fry their fries in beef fat. Just an idea to make life easier. Big fan, keep up the good work. Peace
Oh my goodness! I just saw these on sale this weekend from my local tractor supply and wanted to give them a try because I've never heard of them before. I'm so excited. I'm in the South, and we have a long growing season so I wanted to plant some since I still have time before 1st frost. What luck
Great video. A little potato science from my husband who grew up on a potato farm… the reason why the russet is darker than the kennebec is that it was stored (after harvesting) in a colder potato storage than the Kenny. Potatoes raised specifically for fries are kept at a warmer temperature in storage in order to keep the starches from turning to sugars. Spuds raised for table use and grocery store bags are stored in colder temperatures in order to keep them from sprouting and breaking down. Whenever they would bring a truckload to the processors they would have a potato sliced and dropped in oil, called a fry color check. That would tell them where to unload because the processors wanted like fry colors together and not mixed. Just thought I’d add that info coming from the grower perspective- they grew kennebec as well as russets.
Came here to say the same thing! I’m a potato Agronomist for a large French fry processor. Most people don’t know that there’s a grocery store russet type and specific russet types used for French fries and they are managed very differently all the way from planting to storage.
@@justinwilcox2936 thank you! Phew, I’m glad I didn’t make any glaring errors on my explanation! Thanks for the additional information. Actually probably most people don’t know there are more than two varieties of potato.😂baking and boiling. 😂love that Brian has so many food followers who know and care about foods. Brian is a wealth of knowledge and so are his friends and fans!
Hey Bri - Two things that upped my fry game: - Use peanut oil, super tasty for fries (even better is beef tallow, but that's a whole thang) - Use popcorn salt, tinier granules that stick well and have that classic fry taste (big fast food places use this)
One tip people trying to fry some russets - boil in a combo of water/vinegar, this will keep the potatoes from crumbling and falling apart (see Kenji's recipe).
that's how I do it plus a double fry. they come out perfect every time. I just want a good method for frying waxy potatoes. The flavor is so much better but they will never get crispy
Found the Kennebec at my local farmers market yesterday. Made your fish and chips recipe with them and the wife was blown away. Thank you for the tips!
@@Lettuce-and-Tomatoes That is a completely ridiculous claim. If it was _at all_ possible to mount a class action lawsuit for your being obese, there wouldn't be a fast food chain left alive today. Don't be hysterical.
And I guarantee ya they’d come out practically equivalent to 99% of people. Hell you might even be able to fool Brian especially assuming he’s correct they use that potato variety. So why the hell are we going to all this effort for practically the same thing. Most of it is just in our head and we feel like it’s better if it’s hand made even when it doesn’t really matter. Literally the coveted restaurant fries are usually freezer fries, they come already partially prepped and frozen. Guess it’s like planting a garden though cuz that’s almost never the easiest best way to get that done but you enjoy it
@@Lettuce-and-Tomatoesdude that is only just barely coherent. I can’t tell if it’s funny or sad, maybe you we’re just really drunk when you wrote that lol
Russets can be improved by parboiling 10min w/ a little vinegar - the lower pH will slow the maillard reaction upon frying such that you use a slightly hotter temp for longer too cook the water out without the fries burning
@@davidf2281 i used a 1/2 cup for a pretty bug russet (2 cup), which was a little much, leaving the final fries with a little vinegar taste (not bad though); I’d say for parboiling 2 cups of potato shoestrings use between 1/4- 1/3 cup of vinegar the parboiling does leave you with wet shoestrings, which need to be dried before frying; you can also freeze them to alter the starch crystallization upon frying, but that’s better for when you have to fry a lot and the parboiling and storage ahead of time minimizes the fry time of the day of… not super revelatory or practical for home equipment
also i feel like his comparison was a little unfair, he was cooking the russets the same amount as the other potatoes when they were clearly done already. So you're comparing one potato that was cooked the right amount of time to the other which was clearly a bit overcooked.. and then being like "see? the russets are so much worse!"
@@EB-bl6cc i haven’t tried kennebecs, but the technical tricks to optimize russets and their availability are just a different point all together than the one he’s making, and in fairness to him the vinegar blanche + freeze + 2x fry is featured on other cooking YT creators’ channels
I've seen these types of potatoes at my local farmers market in St. Catharines, Ontario in Canada. I haven't seen them this year yet but I think they are in season later in the summer if I remember correctly. I will definitely try this out when I can get my hands on some!
that's the thing I've been realizing with many of these recipes (as someone learning to cook). Many of them require ingredients i simply don't have access to.
Right off the bat I think you have the absolute right idea about the precook. In my younger days, I worked at a famous fast food hamburger place that is famous for it's huge portions of home made French fries. And their procedure was a much shorter precook, in a much hotter oil...The same temp oil they did the final cook in. And in my own personal quest for perfection, I learned to do it almost identically to yours. I concluded 290 (splitting hairs), but also did 5 minutes. So MUCH MUCH more cooking in the precook than at 5...erm, that famous Hamburger place. The procedure you are using is PERFECT for serving the public in my opinion. it will yield a fry that most people will think is perfect. I would suggest an added step that people could use if they like those random straggler fries that got either overcooked in precook due to being smaller than average, or just got broken after precook and before final. And that is a 60 second blanch in boiling water prior to precook. This does 2 things, it cooks them more and weakens the surface so they get a more penetrated crunch, and it also helps them get drier prior to precooking in hot oil. When you take them out of hot water, the moisture on the surface tends to self dry as it is hotter and evaporates more aggressively. Again...This is only for people that like something a little more crunchy, broken down, and a tad greasier, due to the surface not being as secure. Also, one last tip...in the early process of rinsing, if you have the time, rather than rinsing 3 times at once, wait 30 minutes between rinses, and agitate them multiple times during each 30 minute period. Also this method will help mitigate the difference in results from a Russet to a Kennebec. As you said, nothing will replace the Kennebec, but this will get the Russet closer.
Brian, we have a lot in common. I may not be a former baker or run a wildly successful cooking TH-cam channel, but I sure as hell can smash an entire bowl of fries as well.
I have two fry secrets. The first one is also a secret for popcorn. Instead of salting with kosher or table salt, put a 1:10 ratio by weight of MSG to salt in a mortar and pestle and grind into a powder. This will make the salt stick MUCH better. Instead of dipping in just ketchup, mix up a 1:2 ratio by volume of Worcestershire to ketchup.
I can't stand ketchup so I use a mixture of garlic powder and hot sauce or just pour on hot sauce, barbecue sauce, ranch or bleu cheese dressing. If I don't have dressing maybe a bit of mayonnaise or any combination thereof.
If you're willing to dedicate a couple hours to the process you absolutely can get amazing glassy exterior fluffy interior fries with the lowly russet. The trick is you boil the fries with a heaping teaspoon of baking soda for 5-6 min (pull and drain when you see the smaller fries begin to break in half or small shards flake off the larger ones). Drain and dry on paper towels and stash in the fridge on a cookie sheet until cold. Take them out of the fridge and let them come up to room temp and fry at 375 until you get the browning you desire. Voila. Best fries ever. Love your channel by the way.
My secret tip for drastically improving that crispy outside creamy inside texture, is boiling the fries after being cut, then freezing them, then frying at low temp, freeze them again if you really want to go the extra mile, and then fry them hot to serve. Yields perfect restaurant fries even with the lacking variety of potatoes i can get where I live!
Greetings from Belgium. You get a lot of things right and a few not so right. From a health perspective the temperature of your second bake is really too high. You need to avoid acrylamides. 345° F would be ideal for most potato varieties. Soaking the fries is a waste of time, and you want a thickness of 1 cm, not 1.5 cm. This ensures that you can bake at 345° F, and it only requires 2-3 min., not 7-10 min. Kennebec is a very good choice because it has a medium starch content and it's the right size.
I have heard that beef tallow is preferred as well??? Is this true? Thank you for the warning on acrylamide, I have some research to do now to make sure I'm doing this safely.
@@dkindig Beef tallow tastes better and is far safer at higher temperature cooking for longer periods of time so you can cook at the higher temperatures safely. Another alternative is palm oil. It's one of the safest oils for deep frying being able to handle higher temperatures and longer high temperature cooking without breaking down. Avoid seed oils for deep frying if you can. The worst is vegetable oil (soybean oil), canola oil (rapeseed oil), and while many people like the taste of peanut oil, it does break down over a long period of time at high temperatures, so it's not the healthiest.
I really appreciate how methodically you talk through every step. I'm guilty of more than a few failed experiments and the edumacation as to why I may have erred is awesome.
My secret weapon for really great fries have been triple cooked chips (UK). Cook in water + vinegar first, 2nd fry low temp, 3rd fry high temp. Delicious!
That's what I do. But I do think the French fry is a different thing. This method looks great for the classic American french fry. (I know that's a contradiction but I think the Americans made it their own).
Brian, have you tried the cold oil method (i.e. put the fries in the pot, cover with cold oil, bring to temp and have the oil bubble until the fries are crispy and brown)? We did this for July 4th and the results were great. Light, crispy, fluffy insides. It was such and easy process and I only had to stir about two times. It was so easy and a great method.
Take a pot o' cold water. Cut russets into desired shape, drop them into the water as soon as they're shaped. Once all tates are cut, go to the sink and wash away starch as described in the video (though I'm usually less thorough). Replace the water and take it over to the stove. Boil until they're about to fall apart from a poke with a fork. Strain them in the sink and let them sit in the strainer to steam off. Do a similar double fry method as described in the video. I've never timed it. I pull them up on the lower temp after they basically start to get any color on them. I pull them up on the high temp after they've passed the "I scraped them with a fork and found them sufficiently crispy" test. Salt and enjoy. Make a Raisin Caines ripoff fry sauce for bonus points. This method gets me pretty impressive results and I can be eating fries within an hour with it. I'm sure the upgraded Kenny potates would also help bring this method to the next level, but I've never heard of them before today.
BTW if you live in Europe and are looking for a good potato variety you should look for Bintje Potatoes (pronounced bintsh) ! The are probably the best kind of potatoes for Fry making. Every proper fry cooked in belgium is made with this one, and every respectable fry enthusiast in europe uses them. I dont know if this variety is produced in north america but in europe it is for sure.
@brianlagerstrom; Good technique, as usual. Pro tip from the fry capital of the world -Belgium-: 1st fry in ox white, far more flavourfull. Then freeze the fries. 2nd fry in peanut oil to chrisp up. You're welcome!
for home cooks, where you don't need to cook multiple batches, the easiest way is to put the potatoes into room temp oil, and fry them until they are done. No double-cook is required. Rinse and soak the cut fries for at least one or two hours, then dry them off, place them in the fryer along with the room temp oil, set the temp for 375, and cook in a single batch until done, about 20 minutes generally. Best oil for frying is pure beef tallow, with peanut oil a close second.
Best snack EVER… the Northern English Chip Butty. Maris piper potatoes fried in beef dripping and lumped into a heavily buttered soft floury bap. Heinz tomato ketchup optional…
Happily, I live in Maine - which is a great potato-growing state - and live less than an hour's drive from Kennebec County. We stocked these as seed potatoes when I worked at any Agway and they can be found at farmers markets, like the vid said. I never appreciated the differences in the kitchen between these and Russets. Thanks.
I'm actually a big fan of the way russet potatoes deep fry. They're definitely not the same type of crunch as other restaurant fries, but they work really well for newfoundland (local) style fish and chips. The darker colour and somewhat in-between soft and crisp texture works well with a coating of gravy and "dressing" (soft bread crumbs, summer savoury and butter). The Brits consider our style of fish and chips soggy bug I've always loved the messy homogeneous texture of it. If you like poutine you may like this style.
You can also use a french fry cutter. Those things are amazing and helped me get a very even, consistent cut in my fries. That, and boiling my fries in a pot of water with 1 TBsp of white wine vinegar and plenty of salt, gave me the best home fries I've had in a long time.
Wait, so after cutting them, you boil them in water? How long do you boil them and what is the purpose of the White Wine Vinegar? Do you use that same boiling water to store them in a container overnight or something? Or... Is the (I imagine BRIEF) Boiling a way to rush the starches out of the potato in order to get frying within the same hour?
I got a easier trick that works in any potato and even sort of work with Airfryer: cut the chips on the thick side, boil them to the point their cooked but don’t break. And then fry them. You can even do doble fry like with korean fry chicken. Love your videos by the way.
Where I live the main potatoes sold in stores are the atlantic and kennebec varieties, interchangeably sold as "white" potatoes, and russets are sold as russets, not white potatoes. White potatoes are better mashed, baked, fried, boiled, everything. Never understood why russets are the "default" potato in the US when they just aren't as good.
Something tells me it'd probably just be easier to go with frozen fries from a restaurant supply store. :D I don't have to worry about eating all those potatoes before they go bad that way too.
Thanks! I'll have to see if our local farmers' markets have the Kennebecs. My mom used to make fries at home in the 60s and 70s and she'd do the two-step thing, and they were tasty (probably to a large extent because we ate them while they were still quite hot). BTW, your French accent is charmingly midwestern, mawn-soor!
I have made french fries countless ways, and the thing that makes the biggest difference in the outcome is the fat you fry them in. Beef tallow gives french fries by far the best taste. It's so much better than french fries fried in regular cooking oil, that I honestly don't even consider the two the same product.
@@HighKingTurgon That's right. Around the late nineties they changed the oil they used and the fries taste like crap now. The people who like the fries now never tasted the older ones. Sad, they'll never know.
❤Kennebec - They are delicious and good for anything; I grow them in my garden. Last harvest fries are mind blowing. Reaction @8:20 - spot on. Not kidding. Russets are preferred by stores and restaurants because of abundance and grow fast, you can get a couple harvests per year. Like imagine the Russet like a 1500 pick up truck, it does the job very well, loved by many. The Kennebec is like a Camaro, you pick your date up with it.
If you're in Europe, do buy the Bintje from Belgium, if you're in the neighbouring countries, they should have that variety available for shipping. Ideal for fries for the same reason as the Kenny. Traditionally fried in beef tallow, of course.
Must be a complete coincidence that in my area Kennebec potatoes are common, especially potato seeds. For years I've just stuck to Yukon potatoes because they're good all around and I love mashed potatoes. I might give these a try next year.
I'm LOLing at the timing of this video. I just made your fish & chips recipe last weekend, so I was rewatching that video in preparation. Today's video is an extended version of the "chip" portion, from the Kennebec potatoes to the method. Since I was doing the fish batter GF, I followed your advice & stuck to Ore-Ida steak fries in the air fryer so I could focus my attention on frying the fish - which was EXCELLENT, BTW. It didn't stay as crispy as wheat flour but the fish inside was perfectly cooked, and I hadn't had a good, old-fashioned fish fry in years. Really scratched the itch! Thanks for the great recipe & technique.
Finally someone comes out with the truth! I doubt I can manage to get a hold of these potatoes but at least now I know why no matter what I did the previous results were unsatisfactory, even worse most of the recipes/advice I saw made no mention that I wasn't going to get perfect fries so I thought I was doing something wrong.
These look way better than most homemade fries, but I still have the best results if I freeze them first. They turn out far crispier for me. (using Russets) I've heard it has to do with moisture content and surface vs interior cooking, but whatever the reason, freezing works for me. I'll have to find some Kennebecs.
Beef tallow is my secret weapon. I render my own from fresh suet. There is absolutely nothing better for french fries. Tallow is also great for fried chicken.
My trick is freeze them after 1st fry or technically Heston Blumenthalls trick to be more specific. It works great but u have to plan ahead to make them
I started my deep fry journey using an enameled cast iron dutch oven, as you use. I thought the thermal mass would help keep the temp consistent. however I found that unless I fry in pretty small batches, the temp drops and because of the mass of pot, takes too long to recover on a fairly wimpy home gas cooktop. So I switched to a carbon steel wok, as easier to regulate heat. Plus, the shape of the wok makes for easier maneuvering of food, and more area for expansion and bubbling of the oil. Just my own observation....maybe not for everyone.
Absolutely - the regulation you can get from a thinner pan is invaluable. The best I've found (I do this a lot) is what we call a chip pan in these parts: a saucepan with a frying basket that fits perfectly into it. If the potatoes are wetter than you thought and the oil goes a hit crazy, you can lift the whole lot back out (and even if it doesn't go crazy, it's just easier to plunge/lift everything at once). I also use a wok on another burner for doing the fish/chicken/whatever else I'm frying, so the meal's all ready together.
Happy New Year and thank you for the useful hints. Finally someone to eat French fries with ketchup like me. Greetings from the heavily coated mayo Europe 😅I like your channel. Blessings.
When I married my husband, he was an "only kennebec potatoe" guy haha we grow them in our garden, but we are lucky that we live in an area where we have a farmers market around every corner that sells them as well!
These look fantastic, buuuut, i'm happy with my more widely applicable method. The 36 hour soak, is a must. After the soak, you want to BLANCHE your cut fries in a pot with a mixture of 1 part vinegar to 9 parts water , i like shoestring, boil for 3-4 minutes. Remove to a paper towel lined tray to drain, cover with paper towels, then use a tea towel to pull out additional moisture, let sit for 30 minutes, bring a pot of neutral oil to 350f as they sit. Once they're drier, flash fry for 60-90 seconds, just to get a bit of crisp on the exterior. Back on the baking sheet to cool. Once cooled, PUT THEM INTO THE FREEZER. Let them freeze at least 12 hours, preferably 24. It's a pain in the ass, but the addition of vinegar elevates the flavor without overpowering anything and you end up with the same crispy on the outside, soft on the inside you get from the frozen supermarket fare.
Never heard of Kennebec potatoes before and will have to find them in my area if I can. Really good info about the science/process as I’m trying to step up my french fry game. I’ve noticed if I let my russet potatoes soak overnight I tend to not get an overcooked brown color on my fries either. Thanks for the 18-36 hour refrigerator tip since I’ve only been doing 8 hours, maybe my russet potatoes will be less brown if I let them soak longer
Not to make this a competition between TH-cam French Friers, but if all you can get is the russet potatoes I've had a lot of great success doing Ethan Chleboski's boil in acidic water followed by a double fry method. Its definitely not a quick weeknight fry option but for homemade french fries its made the best ones I've ever had at home when I do it.
I remember when I first found your channel a billion years ago (Weeds and Sardines) and I was so happy to find both gardening and cooking in one place. Sigh. Good times.
Honestly, get a chip pan if you're not using a deep fryer: having a basket that fits inside your pan makes it SO much easier. Bit wetter than you thought and the oil bubbles up? Lift the basket out. Instant calm. And cast iron for deep frying? Well, yes, OK, it holds the heat, but that's a double-edged sword. If it's getting too hot, it's very difficult to control it and get it cooler again. I'll use a chip pan for the chips and a wok of oil for the fish, chicken or whatever else I'm doing. Controlling the temperature of two deep-frying pans to coincide is a LOT easier if they're thinner! I'm in the UK so I generally use Maris Pipers for the same reasons you use Kennebecs: dry and starchy, not much sugar. I tend to parboil first, so they can evaporate a load of moisture before the first frying, but the biggest difference I've noticed is growing them. Chips made from my homegrown Maris Pipers knock spots off what I can make with store-bought.
I wonder if you can use a dehydrator for 10-20 minutes to get the fridge potatoes totally dry and higher internal temp. They won't get much past 120F but all the moisture on the surface should be done.
We usually leave the skin on and put the bowl in the freezer for at least 20 minutes before frying or baking. The whole potato can be eaten so if you're going to peel them don't throw out the the skin. Fry them up and season them as a side dish. I can't recall the last time I peeled a spud.
Have you tried freezing the fries before frying? Same technique works for Tofu. The freezing creates little air pockets that makes the fries crispier or the tofu more permeable to flavor.
Doesn’t this pose a risk for extreme splatter of the oil when you put frozen fries in oil or am I mistaken? Is that just putting wet things in oil that causes splatter?
For people trying to get crispy fries with Russets, I recommend sticking to a shoestring cut with the twice-fry and you should get a pretty good result. The fries will cook faster, which means that they will start crisping earlier and the surface of the fry won't have time to darken too much and throw off the flavour. I find you get a delicious result, but it is a different fry. Personally, I love poutine and I think the shoestring works better than a thicker cut because it will hold more gravy.
Literally made homemade fries last night and complained to my husband that they never seem to come out right 😅 definitely gonna try this cutting and cooking method next time!
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If you’re able to get kennebec potatoes, comment below to share where you got them. Also, if you’re in the UK, there’s a similar variety called Maris piper. Start speaking a new language in 3 weeks with Babbel🎉. Get up to 60% off your subscription ➡Here: go.babbel.com/t?bsc=1200m60-youtube-brianlagerstrom-jul-2023&btp=default&TH-cam&Influencer..brianlagerstrom..USA..TH-cam
I get better potatoes right from the farm: th-cam.com/video/YML_DDLouOk/w-d-xo.html
Move to Maine. I live on a hill just above the Kennebec River and I can get Kennebecs all year long! 😎
When I was in the service, I was station near Belgium. I was addicted to their fries. They're secret is beef tallow. They fry their fries in beef fat. Just an idea to make life easier. Big fan, keep up the good work. Peace
@@samgrant83 Everybody in the room: "They are on another level." IYKYK
Oh my goodness! I just saw these on sale this weekend from my local tractor supply and wanted to give them a try because I've never heard of them before. I'm so excited. I'm in the South, and we have a long growing season so I wanted to plant some since I still have time before 1st frost. What luck
Great video. A little potato science from my husband who grew up on a potato farm… the reason why the russet is darker than the kennebec is that it was stored (after harvesting) in a colder potato storage than the Kenny. Potatoes raised specifically for fries are kept at a warmer temperature in storage in order to keep the starches from turning to sugars. Spuds raised for table use and grocery store bags are stored in colder temperatures in order to keep them from sprouting and breaking down. Whenever they would bring a truckload to the processors they would have a potato sliced and dropped in oil, called a fry color check. That would tell them where to unload because the processors wanted like fry colors together and not mixed. Just thought I’d add that info coming from the grower perspective- they grew kennebec as well as russets.
Thank you.. love the extra knowledge
It ain’t much, but it’s honest work
Came here to say the same thing! I’m a potato Agronomist for a large French fry processor. Most people don’t know that there’s a grocery store russet type and specific russet types used for French fries and they are managed very differently all the way from planting to storage.
@@justinwilcox2936 thank you! Phew, I’m glad I didn’t make any glaring errors on my explanation! Thanks for the additional information. Actually probably most people don’t know there are more than two varieties of potato.😂baking and boiling. 😂love that Brian has so many food followers who know and care about foods. Brian is a wealth of knowledge and so are his friends and fans!
Fascinating! Thx for sharing
Bri, I'm so sorry you had to suffer through that bowl of fries, we appreciate the sacrifices you make for our education. You a real one.
I'm glad that you can understand my struggle
Hey Bri - Two things that upped my fry game:
- Use peanut oil, super tasty for fries (even better is beef tallow, but that's a whole thang)
- Use popcorn salt, tinier granules that stick well and have that classic fry taste (big fast food places use this)
Animal fats for the win
And you don’t even need to buy popcorn salt. Just take it for a spin in the food processor to get that saltiness powdery
yep, I would never ever use canola or sunflower oil for deep frying again.
Please use beef tallow instead of any plant oil.
Peanut is great! The cost is not :(
One tip people trying to fry some russets - boil in a combo of water/vinegar, this will keep the potatoes from crumbling and falling apart (see Kenji's recipe).
that's how I do it plus a double fry. they come out perfect every time. I just want a good method for frying waxy potatoes. The flavor is so much better but they will never get crispy
@@clashwithkeen give them a batter. A little sprinkle of corn starch or something.
That's a very good idea regardless of whether you double fry or use the cold oil technique. (Big Kenji fan here who does the vinegar/pectin thang.)
who's kenji? where can I see his recipe? Edit: serious eats on google I gather?
btw, I saw that he doesn't do the keep in cold water for 8hrs thing, is it not necessary with his method?
Found the Kennebec at my local farmers market yesterday. Made your fish and chips recipe with them and the wife was blown away. Thank you for the tips!
My french fry secret weapon: you can deep fry oven fries.
@@Lettuce-and-Tomatoes That is a completely ridiculous claim. If it was _at all_ possible to mount a class action lawsuit for your being obese, there wouldn't be a fast food chain left alive today. Don't be hysterical.
And I guarantee ya they’d come out practically equivalent to 99% of people. Hell you might even be able to fool Brian especially assuming he’s correct they use that potato variety. So why the hell are we going to all this effort for practically the same thing. Most of it is just in our head and we feel like it’s better if it’s hand made even when it doesn’t really matter. Literally the coveted restaurant fries are usually freezer fries, they come already partially prepped and frozen. Guess it’s like planting a garden though cuz that’s almost never the easiest best way to get that done but you enjoy it
@@Lettuce-and-Tomatoesdude that is only just barely coherent. I can’t tell if it’s funny or sad, maybe you we’re just really drunk when you wrote that lol
@@Lettuce-and-Tomatoesridiculous
@@Lettuce-and-Tomatoessure bro
Russets can be improved by parboiling 10min w/ a little vinegar - the lower pH will slow the maillard reaction upon frying such that you use a slightly hotter temp for longer too cook the water out without the fries burning
Interesting tip! When you say "a little" vinegar how much do you mean, approximately?
@@davidf2281 i used a 1/2 cup for a pretty bug russet (2 cup), which was a little much, leaving the final fries with a little vinegar taste (not bad though); I’d say for parboiling 2 cups of potato shoestrings use between 1/4- 1/3 cup of vinegar
the parboiling does leave you with wet shoestrings, which need to be dried before frying; you can also freeze them to alter the starch crystallization upon frying, but that’s better for when you have to fry a lot and the parboiling and storage ahead of time minimizes the fry time of the day of… not super revelatory or practical for home equipment
@@hellfish2309 Cool, thanks dude 👍
also i feel like his comparison was a little unfair, he was cooking the russets the same amount as the other potatoes when they were clearly done already. So you're comparing one potato that was cooked the right amount of time to the other which was clearly a bit overcooked.. and then being like "see? the russets are so much worse!"
@@EB-bl6cc i haven’t tried kennebecs, but the technical tricks to optimize russets and their availability are just a different point all together than the one he’s making, and in fairness to him the vinegar blanche + freeze + 2x fry is featured on other cooking YT creators’ channels
I've seen these types of potatoes at my local farmers market in St. Catharines, Ontario in Canada. I haven't seen them this year yet but I think they are in season later in the summer if I remember correctly. I will definitely try this out when I can get my hands on some!
that's the thing I've been realizing with many of these recipes (as someone learning to cook). Many of them require ingredients i simply don't have access to.
Right off the bat I think you have the absolute right idea about the precook. In my younger days, I worked at a famous fast food hamburger place that is famous for it's huge portions of home made French fries. And their procedure was a much shorter precook, in a much hotter oil...The same temp oil they did the final cook in. And in my own personal quest for perfection, I learned to do it almost identically to yours. I concluded 290 (splitting hairs), but also did 5 minutes. So MUCH MUCH more cooking in the precook than at 5...erm, that famous Hamburger place. The procedure you are using is PERFECT for serving the public in my opinion. it will yield a fry that most people will think is perfect. I would suggest an added step that people could use if they like those random straggler fries that got either overcooked in precook due to being smaller than average, or just got broken after precook and before final. And that is a 60 second blanch in boiling water prior to precook. This does 2 things, it cooks them more and weakens the surface so they get a more penetrated crunch, and it also helps them get drier prior to precooking in hot oil. When you take them out of hot water, the moisture on the surface tends to self dry as it is hotter and evaporates more aggressively. Again...This is only for people that like something a little more crunchy, broken down, and a tad greasier, due to the surface not being as secure. Also, one last tip...in the early process of rinsing, if you have the time, rather than rinsing 3 times at once, wait 30 minutes between rinses, and agitate them multiple times during each 30 minute period.
Also this method will help mitigate the difference in results from a Russet to a Kennebec. As you said, nothing will replace the Kennebec, but this will get the Russet closer.
I've turned countless thousands of pounds of potatoes into french fries and this is the process we'd always use. No other way to do it
Phew, thanks for weighing in.
Brian, we have a lot in common. I may not be a former baker or run a wildly successful cooking TH-cam channel, but I sure as hell can smash an entire bowl of fries as well.
Congrats on getting a million subs man. Been here since Weeds&Sardines. ❤❤❤
Thanks for still being here 👊
Congrats on the 1M subs!!
I have two fry secrets. The first one is also a secret for popcorn.
Instead of salting with kosher or table salt, put a 1:10 ratio by weight of MSG to salt in a mortar and pestle and grind into a powder. This will make the salt stick MUCH better.
Instead of dipping in just ketchup, mix up a 1:2 ratio by volume of Worcestershire to ketchup.
Just don't try to be fancy and make your own ketchup. Never works!
@@paulblichmann2791 I made ketchup from peaches and nectarines last week. It was amazing.
I can't stand ketchup so I use a mixture of garlic powder and hot sauce or just pour on hot sauce, barbecue sauce, ranch or bleu cheese dressing. If I don't have dressing maybe a bit of mayonnaise or any combination thereof.
I just use popcorn salt.
If you're willing to dedicate a couple hours to the process you absolutely can get amazing glassy exterior fluffy interior fries with the lowly russet. The trick is you boil the fries with a heaping teaspoon of baking soda for 5-6 min (pull and drain when you see the smaller fries begin to break in half or small shards flake off the larger ones). Drain and dry on paper towels and stash in the fridge on a cookie sheet until cold. Take them out of the fridge and let them come up to room temp and fry at 375 until you get the browning you desire. Voila. Best fries ever.
Love your channel by the way.
My secret tip for drastically improving that crispy outside creamy inside texture, is boiling the fries after being cut, then freezing them, then frying at low temp, freeze them again if you really want to go the extra mile, and then fry them hot to serve. Yields perfect restaurant fries even with the lacking variety of potatoes i can get where I live!
This is what french fry factories do
dominik knows what he is talking about.
The Operative Word is they make me "HAPPY" 😊 😋😊
Greetings from Belgium. You get a lot of things right and a few not so right.
From a health perspective the temperature of your second bake is really too high. You need to avoid acrylamides. 345° F would be ideal for most potato varieties.
Soaking the fries is a waste of time, and you want a thickness of 1 cm, not 1.5 cm. This ensures that you can bake at 345° F, and it only requires 2-3 min., not 7-10 min.
Kennebec is a very good choice because it has a medium starch content and it's the right size.
I have heard that beef tallow is preferred as well??? Is this true? Thank you for the warning on acrylamide, I have some research to do now to make sure I'm doing this safely.
@@dkindig Beef tallow tastes better and is far safer at higher temperature cooking for longer periods of time so you can cook at the higher temperatures safely.
Another alternative is palm oil. It's one of the safest oils for deep frying being able to handle higher temperatures and longer high temperature cooking without breaking down.
Avoid seed oils for deep frying if you can. The worst is vegetable oil (soybean oil), canola oil (rapeseed oil), and while many people like the taste of peanut oil, it does break down over a long period of time at high temperatures, so it's not the healthiest.
yes thats true we use beef tallow in belgium! horse fat is also common
@@Danielle_1234 Yes, peanut oil has always been what I've used for turkeys 😀, good to know about palm oil, I will look into that.
@@xd-me8yr Thanks, that's great to know!
I really appreciate how methodically you talk through every step. I'm guilty of more than a few failed experiments and the edumacation as to why I may have erred is awesome.
Every year we used to raise 800-1,200 lbs of mostly Kennebecs. Prolific and long-lasting, they were one of our favorite potatoes.
My secret weapon for really great fries have been triple cooked chips (UK). Cook in water + vinegar first, 2nd fry low temp, 3rd fry high temp. Delicious!
That's what I do. But I do think the French fry is a different thing. This method looks great for the classic American french fry. (I know that's a contradiction but I think the Americans made it their own).
Благодарю за мастер-класс, обязательно приготовлю ! 👍Thanks for the tutorial, I'll definitely make it!
Brian, have you tried the cold oil method (i.e. put the fries in the pot, cover with cold oil, bring to temp and have the oil bubble until the fries are crispy and brown)? We did this for July 4th and the results were great. Light, crispy, fluffy insides. It was such and easy process and I only had to stir about two times. It was so easy and a great method.
Really?! That's awesome. I need to know more.
Take a pot o' cold water.
Cut russets into desired shape, drop them into the water as soon as they're shaped.
Once all tates are cut, go to the sink and wash away starch as described in the video (though I'm usually less thorough). Replace the water and take it over to the stove. Boil until they're about to fall apart from a poke with a fork.
Strain them in the sink and let them sit in the strainer to steam off. Do a similar double fry method as described in the video. I've never timed it. I pull them up on the lower temp after they basically start to get any color on them. I pull them up on the high temp after they've passed the "I scraped them with a fork and found them sufficiently crispy" test. Salt and enjoy. Make a Raisin Caines ripoff fry sauce for bonus points.
This method gets me pretty impressive results and I can be eating fries within an hour with it. I'm sure the upgraded Kenny potates would also help bring this method to the next level, but I've never heard of them before today.
Hey Bri - Made your Apple Galette over the weekend. HUGE HIT!
delicious
THANKS! That was a sleeper vid last fall, not a lot of views, but I really liked the recipe. Thanks for trying.
I've made it 4x, its incredible 🍏
BTW if you live in Europe and are looking for a good potato variety you should look for Bintje Potatoes (pronounced bintsh) ! The are probably the best kind of potatoes for Fry making. Every proper fry cooked in belgium is made with this one, and every respectable fry enthusiast in europe uses them. I dont know if this variety is produced in north america but in europe it is for sure.
"je" in Dutch is not "sh" my man but yeah best potatoes for sure
@@JanPatatoes i put the pronunciation that i knew, which is the french one in that case. How do you pronounce it in dutch ?
@@pierre-louislamaze8802use the duh sound, but with a j, so something like bintjuh.
Feels like this video was made for me through the ether... been experimenting for months, and this was just fantastic. Thank you as always!!!
@brianlagerstrom; Good technique, as usual. Pro tip from the fry capital of the world -Belgium-:
1st fry in ox white, far more flavourfull. Then freeze the fries. 2nd fry in peanut oil to chrisp up. You're welcome!
7:24 "These fries are literally PERFECT" 🤣
Looks so good!
for home cooks, where you don't need to cook multiple batches, the easiest way is to put the potatoes into room temp oil, and fry them until they are done. No double-cook is required. Rinse and soak the cut fries for at least one or two hours, then dry them off, place them in the fryer along with the room temp oil, set the temp for 375, and cook in a single batch until done, about 20 minutes generally. Best oil for frying is pure beef tallow, with peanut oil a close second.
Best snack EVER… the Northern English Chip Butty. Maris piper potatoes fried in beef dripping and lumped into a heavily buttered soft floury bap. Heinz tomato ketchup optional…
HP Sauce not optional...
"Call your local produce purveyor" LOL @ Brian
Happily, I live in Maine - which is a great potato-growing state - and live less than an hour's drive from Kennebec County. We stocked these as seed potatoes when I worked at any Agway and they can be found at farmers markets, like the vid said. I never appreciated the differences in the kitchen between these and Russets. Thanks.
I'm actually a big fan of the way russet potatoes deep fry. They're definitely not the same type of crunch as other restaurant fries, but they work really well for newfoundland (local) style fish and chips. The darker colour and somewhat in-between soft and crisp texture works well with a coating of gravy and "dressing" (soft bread crumbs, summer savoury and butter). The Brits consider our style of fish and chips soggy bug I've always loved the messy homogeneous texture of it. If you like poutine you may like this style.
Totally agree, from Saskatchewan!
You can also use a french fry cutter. Those things are amazing and helped me get a very even, consistent cut in my fries. That, and boiling my fries in a pot of water with 1 TBsp of white wine vinegar and plenty of salt, gave me the best home fries I've had in a long time.
I do the same and fry them in lard. Works with most potato varieties.
Wait, so after cutting them, you boil them in water? How long do you boil them and what is the purpose of the White Wine Vinegar? Do you use that same boiling water to store them in a container overnight or something?
Or... Is the (I imagine BRIEF) Boiling a way to rush the starches out of the potato in order to get frying within the same hour?
I understand that variety makes all of the difference. Could par-baking the fry effect a similar result as par frying?
I got a easier trick that works in any potato and even sort of work with Airfryer: cut the chips on the thick side, boil them to the point their cooked but don’t break. And then fry them. You can even do doble fry like with korean fry chicken. Love your videos by the way.
I don’t even cook them prior and still have nice fries in my air fryer 👍🏻
@@AmandineDwidwine try it out, it would add an extra step with boiling but cut significant time in the air fryer. And the taste is so much better.
@@Ndres1692 I do mine with the Steam Fry mode, works perfect
What's your opinion of a pre-boil with water and vinegar to remove excess sugars before the frying?
THANK YOU. GREAT VIDEO
Crispy on the outside, smooth on the inside... armadillo!
I’m from St. Catharines Ontario Canada. Thx a lot Todd didn’t know If we can get here in St. Catharines 👍🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦🇨🇦
Where I live the main potatoes sold in stores are the atlantic and kennebec varieties, interchangeably sold as "white" potatoes, and russets are sold as russets, not white potatoes. White potatoes are better mashed, baked, fried, boiled, everything. Never understood why russets are the "default" potato in the US when they just aren't as good.
Something tells me it'd probably just be easier to go with frozen fries from a restaurant supply store. :D I don't have to worry about eating all those potatoes before they go bad that way too.
Thanks! I'll have to see if our local farmers' markets have the Kennebecs. My mom used to make fries at home in the 60s and 70s and she'd do the two-step thing, and they were tasty (probably to a large extent because we ate them while they were still quite hot). BTW, your French accent is charmingly midwestern, mawn-soor!
I have made french fries countless ways, and the thing that makes the biggest difference in the outcome is the fat you fry them in. Beef tallow gives french fries by far the best taste. It's so much better than french fries fried in regular cooking oil, that I honestly don't even consider the two the same product.
That's apparently why McDonald's had the best fries until the nineties
@@HighKingTurgon which company has better fries? mcd's fries are really good imo.
@@ACE112ACE112 I'm also a fan! If you asked me which fast food fry I'd like to get I would probably still say maccers.
@@HighKingTurgon That's right. Around the late nineties they changed the oil they used and the fries taste like crap now. The people who like the fries now never tasted the older ones. Sad, they'll never know.
You are exactly right.
❤Kennebec - They are delicious and good for anything; I grow them in my garden. Last harvest fries are mind blowing.
Reaction @8:20 - spot on. Not kidding. Russets are preferred by stores and restaurants because of abundance and grow fast, you can get a couple harvests per year. Like imagine the Russet like a 1500 pick up truck, it does the job very well, loved by many. The Kennebec is like a Camaro, you pick your date up with it.
That's good information. I love Fries
If you're in Europe, do buy the Bintje from Belgium, if you're in the neighbouring countries, they should have that variety available for shipping. Ideal for fries for the same reason as the Kenny. Traditionally fried in beef tallow, of course.
Used to use these all the time in Maine. I think they originated in Presque Isle Maine.
Must be a complete coincidence that in my area Kennebec potatoes are common, especially potato seeds. For years I've just stuck to Yukon potatoes because they're good all around and I love mashed potatoes. I might give these a try next year.
Might have to try my hand at truffle & parmesan fries after seeing this.
I'm LOLing at the timing of this video. I just made your fish & chips recipe last weekend, so I was rewatching that video in preparation. Today's video is an extended version of the "chip" portion, from the Kennebec potatoes to the method.
Since I was doing the fish batter GF, I followed your advice & stuck to Ore-Ida steak fries in the air fryer so I could focus my attention on frying the fish - which was EXCELLENT, BTW. It didn't stay as crispy as wheat flour but the fish inside was perfectly cooked, and I hadn't had a good, old-fashioned fish fry in years. Really scratched the itch! Thanks for the great recipe & technique.
Finally someone comes out with the truth! I doubt I can manage to get a hold of these potatoes but at least now I know why no matter what I did the previous results were unsatisfactory, even worse most of the recipes/advice I saw made no mention that I wasn't going to get perfect fries so I thought I was doing something wrong.
He fried the russets at too high a temp for too long for them to look like that.
These look way better than most homemade fries, but I still have the best results if I freeze them first. They turn out far crispier for me. (using Russets) I've heard it has to do with moisture content and surface vs interior cooking, but whatever the reason, freezing works for me. I'll have to find some Kennebecs.
I’m really looking forward to seeing if you get any dope recipes from Alaska
I worked at a McDonalds in the 80s and I remember topping off the vats with vegetable shortening.
If you only had Russet potatoes would you do the boiling technique first, and then the double fry?
Beef tallow is my secret weapon. I render my own from fresh suet. There is absolutely nothing better for french fries. Tallow is also great for fried chicken.
Our preference is using yukon gold for most of our potato dishes. We also rinse the starch off of the fries and soak them.
My trick is freeze them after 1st fry or technically Heston Blumenthalls trick to be more specific. It works great but u have to plan ahead to make them
No boil with vinegar? That step is a huge win in the overall process. It'll prevent the fries from breaking allowing you to use russets no problem
Whoa!!! World class!!!
Here I sit in the capital of Maine in Kennebec county. Taters are mostly grown in Aroostook though. Still yummy! Thanks!
That crunch!
Thanks for this. Did you experiment with freezing the fries after the first cook to rupture the cell walls and make them fluffier?
I started my deep fry journey using an enameled cast iron dutch oven, as you use. I thought the thermal mass would help keep the temp consistent. however I found that unless I fry in pretty small batches, the temp drops and because of the mass of pot, takes too long to recover on a fairly wimpy home gas cooktop. So I switched to a carbon steel wok, as easier to regulate heat. Plus, the shape of the wok makes for easier maneuvering of food, and more area for expansion and bubbling of the oil. Just my own observation....maybe not for everyone.
Absolutely - the regulation you can get from a thinner pan is invaluable. The best I've found (I do this a lot) is what we call a chip pan in these parts: a saucepan with a frying basket that fits perfectly into it. If the potatoes are wetter than you thought and the oil goes a hit crazy, you can lift the whole lot back out (and even if it doesn't go crazy, it's just easier to plunge/lift everything at once).
I also use a wok on another burner for doing the fish/chicken/whatever else I'm frying, so the meal's all ready together.
I used to prep fries for a major canadian fast food place, and this is how we prepped them. Cut, wash and blanche.
Happy New Year and thank you for the useful hints. Finally someone to eat French fries with ketchup like me. Greetings from the heavily coated mayo Europe 😅I like your channel. Blessings.
When I married my husband, he was an "only kennebec potatoe" guy haha we grow them in our garden, but we are lucky that we live in an area where we have a farmers market around every corner that sells them as well!
These look fantastic, buuuut, i'm happy with my more widely applicable method.
The 36 hour soak, is a must.
After the soak, you want to BLANCHE your cut fries in a pot with a mixture of 1 part vinegar to 9 parts water , i like shoestring, boil for 3-4 minutes.
Remove to a paper towel lined tray to drain, cover with paper towels, then use a tea towel to pull out additional moisture, let sit for 30 minutes, bring a pot of neutral oil to 350f as they sit.
Once they're drier, flash fry for 60-90 seconds, just to get a bit of crisp on the exterior.
Back on the baking sheet to cool.
Once cooled, PUT THEM INTO THE FREEZER. Let them freeze at least 12 hours, preferably 24.
It's a pain in the ass, but the addition of vinegar elevates the flavor without overpowering anything and you end up with the same crispy on the outside, soft on the inside you get from the frozen supermarket fare.
Kennebec potatoes are what "In 'n Out" uses for its FF. Good stuff.
Thx for sharing,
Definitely gonna look for these at the farmers market
I agree. Use peanut oil rather than canola.
Never heard of Kennebec potatoes before and will have to find them in my area if I can.
Really good info about the science/process as I’m trying to step up my french fry game. I’ve noticed if I let my russet potatoes soak overnight I tend to not get an overcooked brown color on my fries either. Thanks for the 18-36 hour refrigerator tip since I’ve only been doing 8 hours, maybe my russet potatoes will be less brown if I let them soak longer
Not to make this a competition between TH-cam French Friers, but if all you can get is the russet potatoes I've had a lot of great success doing Ethan Chleboski's boil in acidic water followed by a double fry method. Its definitely not a quick weeknight fry option but for homemade french fries its made the best ones I've ever had at home when I do it.
I have so many of your videos saved to try
These are fire! Heston Blumenthal’s fries are the gold standard in my opinion.
THANK YOU YOUNG MAN...
Try rendered down chicken fat for deep frying chips and English style battered fish. Its amazing and the golden colour
I remember when I first found your channel a billion years ago (Weeds and Sardines) and I was so happy to find both gardening and cooking in one place. Sigh. Good times.
Try golden wonder potato.
Make chips finner and cooked only once at 150c.
You will love it.
That fry crunch asmr 🤤
As a Micmac Indian, we used to lightly dust them in corn starch before frying ??? 🤔
Honestly, get a chip pan if you're not using a deep fryer: having a basket that fits inside your pan makes it SO much easier. Bit wetter than you thought and the oil bubbles up? Lift the basket out. Instant calm.
And cast iron for deep frying? Well, yes, OK, it holds the heat, but that's a double-edged sword. If it's getting too hot, it's very difficult to control it and get it cooler again. I'll use a chip pan for the chips and a wok of oil for the fish, chicken or whatever else I'm doing. Controlling the temperature of two deep-frying pans to coincide is a LOT easier if they're thinner!
I'm in the UK so I generally use Maris Pipers for the same reasons you use Kennebecs: dry and starchy, not much sugar. I tend to parboil first, so they can evaporate a load of moisture before the first frying, but the biggest difference I've noticed is growing them. Chips made from my homegrown Maris Pipers knock spots off what I can make with store-bought.
😂🤣THE BEST Babble ad on the internet. "I said 'Wee' and checked in mucho faster."
I do mine with russets but I cheat by coating them with a small amount of corn starch. Double cook as well and they're absolutely perfect!
I wonder if you can use a dehydrator for 10-20 minutes to get the fridge potatoes totally dry and higher internal temp. They won't get much past 120F but all the moisture on the surface should be done.
We usually leave the skin on and put the bowl in the freezer for at least 20 minutes before frying or baking. The whole potato can be eaten so if you're going to peel them don't throw out the the skin. Fry them up and season them as a side dish. I can't recall the last time I peeled a spud.
Awesome. thanks again!! :)
Have you tried freezing the fries before frying? Same technique works for Tofu. The freezing creates little air pockets that makes the fries crispier or the tofu more permeable to flavor.
Doesn’t this pose a risk for extreme splatter of the oil when you put frozen fries in oil or am I mistaken? Is that just putting wet things in oil that causes splatter?
@@Elizabeth-490 frozen is not an issue, that's what McDonalds does. In and Out fries fresh cut potato fries and they are not nearly as good
"Unadulterated mouth pleasure" Hahaha! You kill me. Thanks for the tip about Kennebec potatoes, great video.
Even better when you batter and “chicken fry” them on the second fry. 👍👍👍
I asked an employee at IN-N-OUT Burger (here in El Segundo, Ca), what potato they use for their fries, his reply; Kennebeck.
For people trying to get crispy fries with Russets, I recommend sticking to a shoestring cut with the twice-fry and you should get a pretty good result. The fries will cook faster, which means that they will start crisping earlier and the surface of the fry won't have time to darken too much and throw off the flavour. I find you get a delicious result, but it is a different fry. Personally, I love poutine and I think the shoestring works better than a thicker cut because it will hold more gravy.
Literally made homemade fries last night and complained to my husband that they never seem to come out right 😅 definitely gonna try this cutting and cooking method next time!
Bro ur channel is a gold mine ❤ thx a lot u earned a sub 👍