Homemade French Fries?

[RichieB]

As I sit eating dinner, having store bought fries, I was thinking. (That alone can be a scary thought.) What if I bought a bag of russets and sliced to my liking. Variety, thick, thin maybe even curly. Then froze them in portions. Prior to cooking, season to my want for the cook. Has anyone done this? Would like to get some input on is it worth the effort. I think it is. I've pretty much had it with store bought.
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I just answered my question. I would still look forward to input and opinions.

Update: just told my wife and she says you can't freeze raw potatoes. I argued, she Googled, I lost. So they would have to be cooked to some extent. Then cut and frozen. So either boiled or microwaved prior to freezing. Thoughts are welcomed.

Huskee it was mainly the concept, method. I do fries homemade but but mainly for the single cook. So the thought was making bulk, freezing similar to buying a bag of frozen. Hope that makes sense.

[Huskee]

Is it the freezing before frying that you're asking about specifically, or the variety of sizes you're asking about? Otherwise, aside from freezing, this sounds like classic homemade french fries. I don't know if freezing would affect anything really, other than make your grease bubble up a lot when dumping them into it.

[Attjack]

Cut them, soak them, dry them, then freeze them. Then let us know how they turn out.

[RonB]

I'd freeze them on a tray with them not touching, then bag 'em. That way you can take out just the amount you want.

And here's an easy way to fry them:

https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/sl...d-french-fries

I don't think you would even have to defrost them, but it would probably take a bit longer for them to cook.

[LDimick]

My first job (outside of the home) was at McDonalds more than 40 years ago. We certainly did fry frozen french fries.

Even today you can buy frozen hash browns etc and fry them without defrosting. In fact, I think many of the fast food breakfast hash browns would be in serious trouble if they were defrosted prior to frying.

[pkadare]

Kenji to the rescue again!
https://aht.seriouseats.com/2010/05/...nch-fries.html

[tbob4]

Wow. Read the whole thing to get your answer. My only question is whether SV would render the same results in the blanching process. Thanks for the link.

[mountainsmoker]

Excellent article.

[Donw]

We cut, soak and then lightly fry using the cold oil method until the tiny bubbles, which is moisture in the potato, starts to subside. They also start to go limp. At this point we cool and bag servings and freeze. Sort of like parboiling but in oil until partially cooked. When we want to eat them we drop them back in hot oil and continue frying until golden. They last for months this way.

[scottranda]

This was going to be my answer from watching videos on homemade fries on YouTube.

[ScottyC13]

Alton Brown just had a Good Eats Reloaded where he baked the potatoes ahead of time then cut them and fried them. Both sound like good ways to try.

[jfmorris]

The best fries and wings in my experience are always fried twice - a "par fry" if you will, down around 325 maybe, then let them cool for at least 5 minutes before hitting the fryer again at 375 or so for the perfect French fry or chicken wing. My favorite local wing place fries their wings twice and it makes a huge difference in the wings.

I am pretty sure commercial fries have been through the first fry before freezing, as they are certainly not frying them twice in a fast food joint.

EDIT: Ok I went and read the article by Kenji. That sounds like the way to go! Just sent it to the printer to try myself.

[wu7y]

I haven't done it with wings, yet. But IMHO that's the only way to go for fries. My favorites are the reds and Yukon gold. Never have much liked russet's, fried or baked.

[lisalewis73]

Yeah, I once also thought that freezing potatoes would be a great idea. But this attempt ended in disappointment. It turned black and there was a lot of potato water

[Santamarina]

We don’t do fries very often, but after reading the Kenji article a year or so ago I started prepping for home fried potatoes this way. Cut into squares, blanch, and freeze. When ready to cook I get my Blackstone piping hot and dump a bag of the pre-cooked, frozen potatoes and we have delicious home fried potatoes for breakfast in no time. We always keep at least a couple bags in the freezer.

[DavidNorcross]

We make fries all the time. Slice to desired size and heat oil to about 350. Drop the fries in the hot oil and in about 20 to 25 minutes you have awesome homemade french fries. I have not thought of freezing the potatoes, but it only takes about 5 minutes to peel and slice so I am not sure if I would. Good luck.

[grantgallagher]

I agree with 99.9% of the kenji article. However the oil does matter. Yea mcdonalds used to use beef tallow which as anyone who has made roast potatoes or a pie crust using that knows is awesome. Peanut oil works but for obvious reasons any fast food chain is not going to use that. What mcdonalds uses now, or at least last i knew, is a mix of vegetable oils which is actually pretty unstable at frying temps. Are their fries still good? Id say yeah if you get them fresh. Are they as good as they used to be? No. Malcom Gladwell had a really good podcast on this exact topic

[texastweeter]

fries come out better in my opinion if cooked first, then chilled and fried. Alton Brown agrees. And yes tallow is the best fries...keep a fryer full of it at all times.

[jack_gr]

The wife, and I love made-at-home fries. We've been doing it for many years.
And I always do a double cook on them as well. After the first cook, I put all the fries into the freezer for about 15 minutes. Then I recook them at a slightly higher temp to crisp em up.

[tbob4]

Hello from Chico, CA! Introduce yourself in a separate thread. From the nose up (photo), and from your post, I can tell you are a good cook. The sunglasses and hat prove it. You are going to enjoy this forum. Lots of great people and good advice. You will have fun here.