Nicest Oven Chips (Fries)

Thargor

As per thread title, Im looking for the nicest oven french fries out there, stuck in crappy accommodation for the next 6 months so please dont bother suggesting ways to make my own, are there any decent brands in Aldi/Lidl etc?

squonk

McCains do/used to do some really nice oven chips cooked in duck fat. Small bag, big price but they were quite decent the one time I had them.

rubadub

My house mate was getting tesco finest ones. I worked out it would be cheaper to get chips delivered by the chipper, including delivery. I think the McCain ones were very expensive too, compared to chippers.

I have added oil to oven chips to get them better. For some reason the chip makers seem to presume all people wanting to make oven chips want low fat "healthier" or "lower calorie" chips.

You mention "fries", if you want mcdonalds type ones I find the tesco skinny ones to be fairly OK.

Ashbx

I like the Lidls steak cut chips! Dunno what the brand is but its in a red packet.

They are only 65 cent for a decent size bag (id say you get 5/6 portions of chips)...how can you complain about that price!

pwurple

After a happy accidental student purchase, I discovered that you don't need to buy special "oven" chips at all. Bog standard cheapo frozen shoestring chips cook perfectly fine in an oven turned up to max, on a sheet pan with a spray of oil. They out some sort of flavour coating on oven chips, which I never liked. Just use your regular brand of chips OP.

yes there

Dunnes own branded ones are nice, thick and are in all black packaging. They are nicer than any aldi ones I have ate.

the beer revolu

I've always liked McCoy's French Frys (a skinny cut chip). But the secret of oven chips is in the Cooking. Oven too low or pan overcrowded and they will be awful. I find that a thin layer on a pizza tray in a very hot oven gives good results. But will only make enough for one to two people.

fussyonion

I found the nicest oven chips and I swear they really do not taste like oven chips.

They're Country Store Golden Fries, in a blue bag, by Tesco. €1.49 a bag.
Put loads of vinegar on them and you could be eating chipper chips.

I'm loathe to really tell many people about these chips as they're my little secret!

Johnnythefox4

These bad boys

http://www.mccain.co.uk/mccain-products/authentic-chips/gorgeous-chips/

Very fattening I know, but by god they're worth it. Think they sell them in Dunnes

Miaireland

McCanns??? shoe string oven fries. You must pre heat the oven on high first, have the baking tray preheated and sprayed with a tiny bit of oil. Make sure you use a large tray and have a single layer of fries.

Otherwise Marks and Spencers do a nice frites (fresh) but expensive for what you get.

Glenbhoy

crinkle cut has to be the starting point. The best are Aunt Bessies, followed by Dunnes Finest (best value by some way), McCain's crinkles aren't far behind.
Avoid Tesco own brand crinkles - inedible.

At least that's my opinion anyway.

Oh and tray is very important, again in my opinion a mesh type effort work best, seems to allow the hot air cook the chips better overall.

Bateman

Another vote for the red packet from Lidl, they do the job and more for the price you pay for them.

Alun

Glenbhoy wrote: »

Oh and tray is very important, again in my opinion a mesh type effort work best, seems to allow the hot air cook the chips better overall.

I have a special non-stick baking tray for oven chips that has holes in it. Works great as long as you pre-heat it first, and put it up high-ish in the oven. I use the Lidl Harvest Basket 'Jumbo Fries'.

exercise

I bought a JML 7 in 1 wonder cooker, from littlewoods for €90, plug it in,

it does chips, home made chips, in hot oil, which i think taste the best of all,

just buy your bag of spuds, cook whenever,

Thargor

fussyonion wrote: »

I found the nicest oven chips and I swear they really do not taste like oven chips.

They're Country Store Golden Fries, in a blue bag, by Tesco. €1.49 a bag.
Put loads of vinegar on them and you could be eating chipper chips.

I'm loathe to really tell many people about these chips as they're my little secret!

Tried these and they were okay, just okay though but its a big bag for the price.

Anyway I found the perfect oven skinny fries, Green Isle Skinny Cut fries, also available in Spicy, absolute perfection, like McDonalds or Burger King before they ruined them, and they cook perfectly in 10 minutes aswell unlike the burned around the edge/raw in the middle clumps you get with other brands...

http://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=267078147

Tabitharose

I got these in Iceland in Finglas, and think they're possibly the nicest oven chips I've had, not much good to you if you don't like garlic though. I think the aldi ones already mentioned are excellent for the price too

http://groceries.iceland.co.uk/iceland-garlic-fries-750g/p/55809

suicide_circus

You will often see chinese takeaway workers filling trolleys with bags of the dunnes white pack frozen chips

otisleeomal

no one mentioning the new kid on the block- Meade Irish Rooster Frozen Chips. The only Irish product in that market, rest are all uk/dutch/Belgian etc. I think they are in most of the bigger retailers at this stage. I thought they were seriously tasty.

fussyonion

otisleeomal wrote: »

no one mentioning the new kid on the block- Meade Irish Rooster Frozen Chips. The only Irish product in that market, rest are all uk/dutch/Belgian etc. I think they are in most of the bigger retailers at this stage. I thought they were seriously tasty.

Couldn't care less where my chips are made once they're nice.

Thargor

otisleeomal wrote: »

no one mentioning the new kid on the block- Meade Irish Rooster Frozen Chips. The only Irish product in that market, rest are all uk/dutch/Belgian etc. I think they are in most of the bigger retailers at this stage. I thought they were seriously tasty.

Never seen them anywhere before, weird, will keep an eye out thanks...

the beer revolu

I tried Lidl's Skinny cut fries yesterday.
1KG for €0.99.

They were good. But the secret of oven chips is in the cooking.
Prior to this, the occasional time I used oven chips (Mrs.Beer won't have them) I always used McCain's French Fries - the Lidl ones were just as good and about 1/4 of the price.

Swiper the fox

otisleeomal wrote: »

no one mentioning the new kid on the block- Meade Irish Rooster Frozen Chips. The only Irish product in that market, rest are all uk/dutch/Belgian etc. I think they are in most of the bigger retailers at this stage. I thought they were seriously tasty.

I'd love to support this new Irish company but I have already done so and the chips were not good to be honest.
I like McCain southern fries or those expensive Gorgeous chips are very nice.

As an aside even though the OP mentioned in the first post that he didn't want to hear it , it's a miracle that it took 14 posts before somebody suggested he cooks his own chips from scratch:P

dom40

I think Aunt Bessies homestyle oven chips are the best ive tasted,prefer them to mc cains any day.

beer enigma

I find the tray on which they are cooked is equally important - If you try cooking them on a pizza tray (one of the ones with the holes in), you'll find pretty much any oven chip will crisp up nicely !

rubadub

Andip wrote: »

If you try cooking them on a pizza tray

I do them on the wire tray you usually put under a grill. I dump them onto it and move them out evenly, a good few will fall through the gaps in the wire, so you just lift the mesh away and pick up those that fell through and put them back in place.

Thargor

I got one of these on ebay for a fiver, massive improvement alright, better Donegal Catch, fish fingers, veggie burgers, better everything really and no need to turn anything anymore.

Kat1170

Thargor wrote: »

I got one of these on ebay for a fiver, massive improvement alright, better Donegal Catch, fish fingers, veggie burgers, better everything really and no need to turn anything anymore.

Seen similar in Dealz for, you guessed it, €1.49 :pac:

Thargor

Thargor wrote: »

Tried these and they were okay, just okay though but its a big bag for the price.

Anyway I found the perfect oven skinny fries, Green Isle Skinny Cut fries, also available in Spicy, absolute perfection, like McDonalds or Burger King before they ruined them, and they cook perfectly in 10 minutes aswell unlike the burned around the edge/raw in the middle clumps you get with other brands...

http://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=267078147

I was sick of these after one bag tbh, started off nice but theres something off about them. However! I was in Dunnes the other day and I vaguely remembered this post from Yes There:

yes there wrote: »

Dunnes own branded ones are nice, thick and are in all black packaging. They are nicer than any aldi ones I have ate.

€2 for a massive bag and we definitely have a winner, these are proper chips straight from the oven so I think Ill be sticking with them in future...

rubadub

Kat1170 wrote: »

Seen similar in Dealz for, you guessed it, €1.49 :pac:

there are 2 types, I was in the other day

http://www.dealz.ie/home-and-garden/kitchen/baking-and-cooking/quickachips-cooking-mesh-30-x-30cm
http://www.dealz.ie/home-and-garden/kitchen/baking-and-cooking/cookamesh-24-x-37cm

hardCopy

Johnnythefox4 wrote: »

These bad boys

http://www.mccain.co.uk/mccain-products/authentic-chips/gorgeous-chips/

Very fattening I know, but by god they're worth it. Think they sell them in Dunnes

I was in bits for days after half a bag of them. Far too rich for my tender belly, much more fat than you'd get in chipper chips IMO.

Makood

Splash out on an actifry or similar. I cannot recommend enough. As close to decent real chips as you will get.
Factor in the cost of running an oven and it won't be long before you pay off the initial outlay.

Makood