French Fries
also called fries · chips · steak fries · pommes frites · hot chips · french fried potatoes
- Diner
- Meat and Three
- serves 4
- about 1 hr 30 min
- Fried & Crispy
Three ways to read this recipe
The table
| 2 lb(900 g; peeled or not, in 3/8-in batons)russet potatoes | cut in 3/8-in batons, soak 30 min | blanch at 325°F (165°C) 6 min, until limp and pale | spread out and rest 30 min | fry again at 375°F (190°C) 3 min, until deep gold | salt them the second they come out |
| 3 qt(2.8 L)cold water | |||||
| 2 qt(1.9 L)peanut oil | |||||
| 1 tsp(6 g)fine sea salt | |||||
What to lay out
Everything the recipe asks for, sitting under the step that eats it. Tick each one as you measure it.4 things to get out.
1cut in 3/8-in batons, soak 30 min
2blanch at 325°F (165°C) 6 min, until limp and pale
goes in with what step 1 made
5salt them the second they come out
goes in with what step 4 made
Cooking it
Tap a step when it is done; the next one lights up.
The clock
- Start to finish
- at least 1 hr 9 mintwo waits that overlap count once
- Needs you
- 9 minof the steps that give a time
One of the 5 steps never says how long it takes, so both numbers are floors. The recipe itself says 1 hr 30 min.
cut in 3/8-in batons, soak 30 min
30 minwalk awayfrom the start
blanch at 325°F (165°C) 6 min, until limp and pale
6 minneeds you30 min in
spread out and rest 30 min
30 minwalk away36 min in
fry again at 375°F (190°C) 3 min, until deep gold
3 minneeds you1 hr 6 min in
salt them the second they come out
not timed1 hr 9 min in
- needs you
- you can walk away
- never timed
Drawn to scale, so a long wait really does take up the room it takes. The shortest stretches keep a sliver so they stay visible; their times are printed beside them.
Goes with
See how it is written
>> title: French Fries
>> category: Fried & Crispy
>> tags: potatoes, fried, side, double fry, stovetop
>> counters: Diner, Meat and Three
>> aka: fries, chips, steak fries, pommes frites, hot chips, french fried potatoes
>> pairs-with: homemade-ketchup
>> servings: 4
>> time: 1 hr 30 min
>> step.1: cut in 3/8-in batons, soak 30 min
>> step.2: blanch at 325°F (165°C) 6 min, until limp and pale
>> step.3: spread out and rest 30 min
>> step.4: fry again at 375°F (190°C) 3 min, until deep gold
>> step.5: salt them the second they come out
Cut @russet potatoes{2%lb}(900 g; peeled or not, in 3/8-in batons) and ~soak{30%min} in @cold water{3%qt}(2.8 L), until the water goes cloudy and then clear. Rinsing the surface starch off is what stops the batons welding into a raft in the oil.
Blanch @&(~1)soaked potatoes{}, dried hard on a towel, in @peanut oil{2%qt}(1.9 L) held at 325°F (165°C) ~fry{6%min}, until limp, pale and cooked through with no colour at all.
Rest @&(~1)blanched fries{} in one layer on a rack ~rest{30%min}, to room temperature or colder. The two frys are two different jobs — the first cooks the inside, the second only builds the shell — and the rest between them is what dries the surface enough for the second to work.
Fry @&(~1)rested fries{} again at 375°F (190°C) ~fry{3%min}, in batches small enough that the oil does not drop below 350°F, until deep gold and audibly hard.
Salt @&(~1)fries{} with @fine sea salt{1%tsp}(6 g) the second they leave the oil, while the surface is still wet enough to hold it.