Fried spatchcock chicken and home made French fries!

[scottranda]

I had some fun this afternoon with my Gator Pit jet burner, large stock pots, and a Walton’s French fry cutter!

First, the fries... I used this method from Serious Eats

https://aht.seriouseats.com/2010/05/the-burger-lab-how-to-make-perfect-mcdonalds-style-french-fries.html

RonB did the same thing last week and posted they were the "best ever" and he doesn’t use that term lightly or often. So, I had to try. I used the SV method at 170 for 15 minutes, but he may have done the boil in water and vinegar.

Everything worked like a charm up until the fry. The cutter was the first time using it, and it was great. Very easy and heavy duty. The very, very first potato it was a little difficult, but the second and third potato were easier b/c the first potato acted/provided a lubricant for the others to be easily passed through the cutter.

I fried up a chicken, and that worked awesome. As soon as that was done, I put the fries in, but something happened with the temperature. I thought it was higher than it was, and the fries didn’t taste as good as I hoped. Oil temp was too low, and I didn’t realize it. I was aiming for 350 to 400, but somehow I messed up. It might be my regulator on the hose to the gas tank.

Anyway, I thought I’d share. My 3 year old is very picky, and he tried the chicken, and immediately wanted more. My wife thought it was delicious also! Win win! I spatchcocked it b/c my pot is so big, that I would use less oil if it was laying more flat.

I’ll try to post the few videos that I have.

[scottranda]

The fries were "ok" but it was more user error And the 33 minute timer is when my chicken was done.

[scottranda]

https://youtu.be/4oAyuNsdf6M

https://youtu.be/CN-vhQq_Tfg

https://youtu.be/alHN1T7LKtQ

Here are the 3 quick videos!

[scottranda]

With the pot being so deep, how do I get a thermometer all the way down to the oil? It’s probably a foot and a half down to get to the oil.

[Dewesq55]

Lower a probe from your leave in thermometer into the oil. If you can lay something across the pot opening to suspend it from it will be easier to keep the tip from hitting the side metal.

[scottranda]

Dewesq55 good idea. I’ll think about how to implement. My pot is so big, I discovered the temp variations are large so I’ve had to stir the oil a bunch to get it even.

[RonB]

That burner sounds like a jet engine Scott. I boiled the potatoes when I made the fries. I did a bunch since it was a fair amount of work, and there are still a few in the freezer. My wife sez I have to save them for our son who is coming for a visit next week.

Did you freeze the fries before cooking. I think that really helps. 400° is too hot using my stove. I try for 375° as the dunk 'em point.

[scottranda]

I didn’t freeze them. I wanted to at least try them right away. And make tweaks later. I did read that freezing makes it better. Maybe my next batch I’ll go big!

[DavidNorcross]

RonB how long do you boil? I had read in an early post to leave in hot water and maintain 175 and add vinegar to the water. That correct? I really want to try this method.

[RonB]

Kenji sez to boil for 10 min starting with cold water and vinegar. I cut the vinegar in half so I would not get any of that taste in the fries. Here is a link to his recipe:

https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/05/perfect-french-fries-recipe.html

[scottranda]

Oh, anyone have tips on what to do with the oil??? 😬 it’s cooled down at this point, but don’t I have to filter or triple filter it into another container?

[Troutman]

I refrigerate or freeze mine in the original containers. I generally get 3-4 uses before it starts getting rancid.

[fzxdoc]

I'm loving the first video, the one with the french fry cutter, where your son says "Oh my goodness, Daddy!" So adorable.

Nice cook by the way. What brand of turkey/chicken fryer do you have? It looks good and sturdy.

Kathryn

[scottranda]

The jet burner stand is by Gator Pit. That thing is 40 pounds of steel and super strong. The pot is:

https://www.webstaurantstore.com/vigor-40-qt-heavy-duty-stainless-steel-aluminum-clad-stock-pot-with-cover/473SSPOT40.html

Maybe the pot is too wide? I use a lot of oil to get the chicken dunked. The pot itself is really nice though.

I love my son’s expressions! He’s 3.5 and super cute with a pretty good vocabulary. He said the chicken was "intense" but I think that meant flavorful 😃

[grantgallagher]

Love it. Out son is 4 and the same way, a much better vocabulary than i am comfortable with and he knows how to use it too! Kid spits back logical arguments. The days of daddy said so are long gone, lol.

[scottranda]

I had some guys over tonight. I made 10 pounds of wings and 10 pounds of fries. Both were going to be fried using the jet burner and the massive stock pot in peanut oil.

The fries were my second attempt, since the fries earlier in this post were not good at all. Really, the only thing I did different with these was an initial fry for 50 seconds, then freezed them. OK, well, last time, I screwed up the oil temp (way too low) as I didn’t realize I was running out of propane (fuel for the jet burner) This time, I made sure of the oil temps, and things went way better. When the guys came over, we made/fried wings, and as soon as those were out, I dumped in the fries and those were done in minutes! FRESH hot wings and fries!!!

Holy cow, the fries were amazing! I highly recommend it!

[Dewesq55]

Those wings look delicious. What did you sauce them with?

[scottranda]

Dewesq55 some random sauce I found in my grocery store. "Rib shack" was the name. I had never tried it before. I liked it. I like blues hog better though.

[crazytown3]

Oh brother, that looks GOOD!

[fzxdoc]

Sounds like you rounded the corner of the learning curve, scottranda . Congrats!

That looks delicious. Plus I bet it was a fun cook with a bunch of hungry guys lending a hand as needed.

Kathryn

[scottranda]

I was nervous about the fries until the first bite. But now I feel more confident in frying! The guys LOVED it.

[HouseHomey]

Looks like you’ll be making more fries pretty quickly. Way to break it down. Kudos for hunkering down and staying on this.

Nice work.

thank you for the post.

[RonB]

Great job Scott. The thing about these fries is that they cool quickly, so should be the last thing cooked, and served immediately. I have a cutter for the french fry cutter that is larger, and I will try that next time to see if they stay hot longer. I think I will also try making some steak fries.

[Voodoo628]

I really need to stop looking at post before I eat breakfast in the morning! That looks great!......and now I am starving.

[gcdmd]

During my truck stop short order cook days in the early sixties one of our more popular main courses was a half chicken deep fried. It fit perfectly in the deep fryer basket and didn't take long to cook.

[jfmorris]

Your burner is great - my suggestion would be a smaller pot for these type fries. I got a Lodge CI dutch oven To help with frying on the grill and such, I sure didn’t want to use the 15.5 gallon keggle I brew beer in, or a 5 gallon or 7 gallon pot for smaller batches.

[DavidNorcross]

All of this is confirming my MCS attack and my pending Cajun Fryer purchase...