The best way to make chips (fries)

Ok, now I've got my pepper sauce sorted, I want to move onto chip production. Up to till now I've been using oven chips. Now I fancy getting a deep fat fryer. Some questions... How often do you have to change the oil? What do you do with the old oil? What is the best oil to use? Is it worth getting one or should I stick to the oven method?

Thanks in advance

You might have to invest in a new wardrobe full of clothes six months after getting that deep-fryer.

Hmmm...didn't consider the stinking out the house aspect.

Do you want one for your shoulder?

Well, I am pretty angry that there isn't a decent chip shop nearby.

Try this out - chip the spuds as normal - boil them for 5/10 mins then put them on the baking tray on full heat cover generously with olive oil and salt and turn every 5/10 mins - 20 or 25 mins later spot on chips lovely

Yep, I often cook spuds like that but there are times when only a real chip will do.

if done correctly they the closest you can get without smelling the house out and sticking of fat for weeks on end you do need a fair amount of olive oil so its similar to frying

You need lard, not oil! And you need to filter it often or it will go bad in a few weeks of only sporadic use, but mostly cause you leave crap in there that floats to the top and molds. Do not cook fish in there and expect anything else you cook not to taste like fish. In the restaurant I worked at, we filtered the oil every night and had one fryer designated for fish and that oil had to be changed three times as often as the spud oil. They were cheap bastards too and used half oil, half lard in all the fryers. Lard is what you want, but it costs extra. If you only cook spuds, filter regularly and store properly, ah... you could keep your oil for about 3 months depending on usage. If you buy a fryer, buy or make a filter deal or forget it.

Cheers for the tips.


Maybe there are a few health issues I should consider too. But you're right I've heard that the best chip shops use lard.

Beef dripping.

I am guessing you are wanting to fry proper chips Mr Vicar and not those god-awful stringy french fry things?

I alway used the double fry method - whack em in at 200 degrees for a bit, remove, whack the heat up to 400 and stick the chips back in until nice and golden. One of the worst errors you can make is having the oil too cold.

You need Lard and one of these things from Tefal makes chips just like your gran used to make

It looks a thing of beauty.


I must try that out.

I actually considered buying a deep fat dryer last year but decided on a thermometer instead. I just fill a normal pan or wok and monitor everything with it. Sure, you have to keep an eye on it more and self regulate the temperature, but the results are the same and saved the cash

tis indeed and combined with this !



now we're talkin'

I thought about buying a deep fat fryer last year, but remembered that I was already a fat ass.

What you are doing is blanching them. Most all restaurants do this for two reasons; 1) it actually is good to do this and 2) it cuts down on the time to cook them when they are ordered. This removes most of the excess water and cooks them half way, but this is only needed if you are making your own from scratch. You also need to let them cool down completely and let them dry a bit. A properly blanched fry will be pliable, but firm. The worst thing you could do is to over blanch and then you will end up with mush. You also have to remember that they will continue to cook as they cool down. I think we blanched for about 2 to 2 and a half minutes with large cut fries. This does make them golden up better and float when they are finished cooking the second time around.

Proper spuds cut nice and thick no pre-cooking straight in the hot lard takes about 10 minutes result luvley golden chips. The Tefal fryer was worth every penny, I change the lard every month or so never had any probs. just wish I could get mushy peas here

See the Official French Fries Pages. Recipes. Best method is the par-fry at 160° for 3 minutes, rest and cool, then shock-fry at 180°-190° (depending on thickness).

The Roto-Friteuse is nice but having had that and a countertop basket type of fryer I'd stick to the latter.

woof.

Mushy peas i amke myself and according to the consumation on the 'Northern Appreciation Evening' they were good because there was none left

Need to start thinking about that one again...

Instead of all this chili cookoff and all those things we should have a chip butty cookoff.

A good lod Chip-pan if you can find one...

Dont change the oil too often.. 30K km i the norm these days..

ALWAYS Blanche the wee blighters first ( Allowing 20 mins cool down time)

Not too fat like then "sleepers" in Mollies..

Only use Sarsons!

SP

Well glad this thread is on as the wife blew up her second deep fat fryer in 1.5 years.Did the Wok thing and it worked out really well.Chips were grand.Even our guests said they were good.

So what do people do with the old fat? Still waiting for that one to be answered...

It is recommended to collect it and bring it to your local Wertstoffhof (formerly known as junkyard).
I would always keep the empty bottle and pour the used fat into that, then wrap it in a plastic bag to avoid leakage. When my weekly shopping to me close to the WSH I would drop it off.

Aren't they called "Liberty Fries" now? Thought the French thing was out since France joined the axis of evil?

We get a bucket here from the Wertstoffhof.You pay € 1 for the bucket,take it back when its full and then get a new one for free.

We have one, and it lives on a shelf in the garage on a switched power strip. I personally hate the fact that we even have one, but must admit that the fries (chips) are an excellent treat, with all the McDonalds aroma banished from the house.

The oil is changed every few weeks ... and it's a small enough quantity that it's disposable poured into the normal kitchen trash bag and disposed of in the slim jim.

Serious question: Do people think this is okay to do? Else it can become part of the Betriebshof run.

Absolutely I do the same, aprox 1 litter of lard every month or so in the bio bin. I don’t actually see what the fuss is ,it is after all edible waste

So far, so good.

Wrong. Potatoes pick up all flavours. Never fry anything else in the oil/fat you use for chips/fries, and change the oil once it starts going dark OR if it starts to get any sort of smell. Don't re-fry chips: they absorb much more oil on a second fry and the salt breaks the oil down faster.

Maybe, but it'll end in tears, mark my words (and those of the UK gov't).

You can turn it into soap with some lye. Or you can mix a load of dishwashing liquid with it, then water and dump it down the drain. Or you can ask a local restaurant if you can dump your oil in their barrel (they're getting paid for the stuff these days). Or you can put it into bottles and dump it in the normal bin where it will end up helping create more electricity for us. Your choice.

woof.

Time for a demo I think

Step one chopped in the sink


step 2 mmm smells luvly

step 3 while you're reading this I'm eating that



and still some left over !!!

timezoner, I think I´ll have to visit you - very soon!!!

- in fact, why not just have a open-house and invite us all round???

:-)

I had steak n chips at a local place in Garching. You could taste 100 different meals in the chips. Revolting.

Me too...a curried chip...brings back memories!

EDIT: Never been to Frankfurt before - could combine sightseeing with an original chip butty experience chez toi

timezoner, just wondering is that butter or mayo on the bread? I love potatoes and could eat them five times a day, but I can't.

Your 'tatoes look wonderful, thanks for sharing your pics.

Pleeeaaase then it would be called a chip mayty

oo Timezoner can we come round for tea?

Strangely enough - the frozen Pommes from Aldi are pretty good....

i bought a Tefal because i thought was a good brand, and it was only small and rather cute (classy design). that was only three or so months ago. now it's given up the ghost!? only used it 2 or 3 times per those 3 or so months... decidedly shitty because i've no idea what i did wrong... and because i'm not german, it's highly likely that i tossed the bill

Bumpity-bump-bump...

Any word from the fry experts on which Kartoffel type to buy in Germany when you're going to make fries? Festkochend? Überwiegend festkochend? A specific variety?

cheers,
ian in hamburg

I am the fry expert. You want vorwiegend festkochenden. See here. Sadly the Bintje is difficult to find and producers have moved to other sorts. Once I get more info there'll be a page about that listing sorts used for various world regions.

woof.

Ah right - VORwiegend. Sank you.