Jim

I read/saw on TV some years ago that the way to make the "perfect" chip (the wafers of potato in a packet, that you guys call "chips" we call "crisps"), crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside, is to dry out the chipped potato in the oven first, then plunge them into the chip pan.

This isn't something that I've tried for a few reasons:

1. Unlike the traditional working class British household of the 60s/70s we haven't got a chip pan
2. We Tend, therefore to use oven chips (like McCaine's)
3. The conservationist in me decried using an oven AND the hob - waste of energy. But the fact that I use oven chips would seem to negate that, although other things are placed in the oven too.

Anyway, if you try that technique, in your quest, I'd like to know the result.

Terry

>Had a discussion with some friends the other day, started when I said there's no such a thing as crispy French fries if they're made with fresh potatoes and nothing added/done to them before frying.
>I based this on over 20 years of buying fresh French fries at well over 100 different places, as well as making my own using lard, shortening, peanut oil and olive oil.
>[ I could come closer if I part-cooked, let them sit for a while, them finished cooking, but even then they were not "crisp", but rather just a little less limp ]
>
>My friends unanimously said that:
>1) the well over 100 places, all being in Quebec, is likely a product of regional taste;
>2) my fat/oil simply was not hot enough to crisp the fries. "Crispy" is the natural state for French fries cooked properly
>
>I'd like to learn if CRISPY French fries can be made from fresh spuds with no other additives (dredge in flour, spray with milk before frying, etc). I say NO!
>
>cheers