Home made chips

Minder

What are the best potatoes for making chips. I have a deep fat fryer which is rarely used to make chips. Every time I try chips, the results are disappointing. I've tried different varities of spud, tried the cook it twice method, tried soaking the spuds and drying them. Using groundnut oil at 180 to 190c. French fries are probably the worst. Consistently poor results.

Apparently Golden Wonder are the best variety for chips, but apart from Farmers Markets, they are not available in retail. McCains oven ready frozen chips are all we use now.

Any diehards of the fryer out there?

oblivious

Maris Piper are supposable the ones chippers use

MoominPapa

If you par boil and fry low then high in groundnut oil I don't think the choice of potatoes matters all that much. Recently been using records and they result are great, but would expect the same pretty much any spud.

olaola

Cooking in lard will give you the best results... or even duck/goose fat (if you're going all-out)

I find the twice cooking method goes well.

OP, explain what is going wrong... are they soggy?

ali.c

Now i would of said kerr's pinks! havent had deep fat fryer chips in like forever though. Are you sure the oil is hot enough when you put them in? If you throw in one chip it should rise to the surface with loads of bubbles around it and then its hot enough. Also be sure you arent overloading the fryer too.

Now for a healthy option, i chop the chips toss them in oil and herbs and garlic throug them on a baking tray drizzle some mix and them throw them in the over for 45-60mins.

Pigletlover

I've heard Maris Pipers but I've only ever seen them once in Supervalu. I use Roosters and my chips always turn out perfect but I use a chip pan not a deep fat fryer. I don't have a clue about temperatures but I usually heat a pan of oil on a (large) electric ring, turned up to 8 or 9 for around 8-10 minutes and then add the chips, making sure they're well dried off. I never shake them for the first few minutes as this only breaks them up and makes them hold the oil so they turn out greasy. How long they take to cook will depend on how thick they are cut, but mine ueually take around 12 minutes, at which point they are crisp and very light golden brown on the outside and light and fluffy on the inside. If the oil is too hot they brown too fast and don't cook through properly.

The Hill Billy

oblivious wrote: »

Maris Piper are supposable the ones chippers use

Supposedly indeed. I doubt very much that chippers would use a high quality & expensive spud for churning out chips. But I am open to correction on that one.

Maris Pipers are a great chip-making spud. I do a two-part cook as is generally recommended. A 7 to 10 minute slow fry at 150C to cook through, then a more furious 2 to 3 minute fry at 190C to crisp & brown. Timings dependent on chip thickness of course.

rubadub

Hill Billy wrote: »

A 7 to 10 minute slow fry at 150C to cook through, then a more furious 2 to 3 minute fry at 190C to crisp & brown. Timings dependent on chip thickness of course.

Thats the trick alright. The initial low temp is almost just boiling them. Then the second blast crisps them. I have heard it recommended to let them go cold in between, sort of like making fried rice.

Gary Rhodes did them on a show, boiled in oil at only 100C first.

Most chippers do it, speeds up cooking too, though some people moan about getting "reheats", while it does result in better chips.

olaola

Heston Blumenthal did a show on the 'chip' - the exterior of the potato turning into a 'glass' while keeping the inside warm.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/heston_blumenthal/article542776.ece

Minder

olaola wrote: »

Cooking in lard will give you the best results... or even duck/goose fat (if you're going all-out)

I find the twice cooking method goes well.

OP, explain what is going wrong... are they soggy?

Soggy, yes.

Sometimes they lack that crisp outer with the fluffy inside - rather they are cooked in the middle, but the outside is thin and damp? or bitter if cooked too long.

French fries are always too damp, soggy. I have a large capacity fryer, and I am not aware that it is overfilled, but the fries always seem to release such a lot of steam - and I think that is what is making them soggy. Hence the question re different varieties.

The Hill Billy

Minder - Make sure that the chips are dry before you put them in the fryer. Also, for the second fry - the oil needs to be really hot.

You mention that you use a large capacity fryer - maybe fry your chips in smaller batches. Large batches may reduce the oil temp too much & that's why they're coming out soggy.

rubadub

Hill Billy wrote: »

Large batches may reduce the oil temp too much & that's why they're coming out soggy.

Yes, most fryers are only around 800W while a kettle might be 3000W, not a lot of power. If you add twice as much oil then it takes twice as long to heat but the energy is stored up. Now you drop in cold chips, say the oil is 200C and you drop in 500g chips in 1L of oil, and they drop to 150C, that is a drop of 50C. Now if you had dropped the 500G in 2L of oil it will drop to ~175C, i.e. the drop is half as much since the oil has twice the energy stored up. This is simple physics/thermodynamics. Water takes a lot of energy to boil off, so adding water to boiling oil will drop its temp a lot, so keep them dry as mentioned.

I fry mince in tiny amounts, get the pan really hot, I separate the little bits by gentle rubbing, then put them in the pan, the water boils off immediately and they crisp up like mini steaks. If you add a lot of mince, it cannot boil the water fast enough and it boils and goes grey.