Deep Fried/Chips: How do you make SOFT french fries?

Subject: How do you make SOFT french fries?
Newsgroups: rec.food.cooking
Date: Fri, 04 Jun 1999 10:40:02 GMT
From: caronjp at nb.sympatico.ca (J.P. Caron)
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I don't like crispy french fries.
How do you make them so they are cooked, but nice and soft?
From: Lynn K Busby (lynn at phoenixcons.demon.co.uk)
Date: Fri, 4 Jun 1999 18:15:41 +0100
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Cook them in lard.
From: Alan Boles (agboles at hotmail.com)
Date: Sat, 05 Jun 1999 11:51:31 GMT
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I think that if you want soft fries you need to cut them thicker. The reason I think this is becauce I like crispy fries and if I cut them to thick they aren't crisp.
From: wstewart at hawaii.rr.com (Ward Stewart)
Date: Sat, 05 Jun 1999 19:01:52 GMT
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"Soft Fries" can easily be achieved --- I can't imagine why but I do know how. It is only necessary to wrap them closely for a few moments and theirs crusts will be softened.

As in making pan de mie, it is the steam AFTER baking that produces the crustless texture.
From: pbelci at mindspring.com (Jill)
Date: Sat, 05 Jun 1999 13:52:30 -0400
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Just fry them, once, at an even, moderate temperature. They'll out really brown and a little crispy, but a minute or two at room temp, and they'll soon soften up. My Nanny taught me to do this when she would make fish and chips.
From: vstark at netcom.com (Valerie)
Date: Fri, 4 Jun 1999 18:37:17 GMT
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J.P. Caron wrote:
>How do you make them so they are cooked, but nice and soft?

Well, given the way fastfood fries seem to change, I'd say put them in a paper bag for a few minutes...

Val
From: Elaine Parrish (esp at ebicom.net)
Date: Fri, 4 Jun 1999 16:10:04 -0500
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J.P. Caron wrote:
> How do you make them so they are cooked, but nice and soft?

Well, I can tell you how I do mine. This may not be what you want, but...

You can do this with raw potatoes or with store-bought fries; store-bought just don't have to cook as long.

I peel (or not; sometimes I leave the peel on)some potatoes [white or red]. Cut them into fries - not too thick, not to thin [nothing like specific directions, huh? <g>]. Thin ones - like you get at McDs and places - are too thin to do well. Thick ones - like the ones they call steak fries - are ok but are not what I call french fries.

However, the finished product is kinda like steak fries.

I use a skillet as opposed to a deep fryer (like Fry Daddy, etc). I use just enough oil to cover the potatoes, but not to let them float.

Get the oil hot, drop the potatoes in quickly - you won't have a single layer. Turn the heat down to medium and let cook - uncovered - about 15 to 20 minutes, turning several times.

dropping the potatoes into the hot oil seals the outside so that they do not soak up even more oil (cooked this way, they are more oily than deep frying - which [usually] will crust the outside while the inside is more...doughy ???).

What I've found is:

The bigger the skillet and the more oil in relation to the amount of potatoes will give you a crispier [more crispy ???] fry. {if the oil can get all around each fry and they can "swim", they will be more crispy {or more crispier <g>}

When the oil is hot and I drop the potatoes in, I turn down the temp (I start out on high, then go to medium), and then I turn the fries immediately, putting the layer on the bottom on top.

The ones on the bottom are "seared" [if you will], and before the oils cools off, the top layer will "sear"

The potatoes must fry (like a "slow boil" or a "rapid simmer"), they can't just lay there or they will soak up a lot of oil.

Elaine
From: lscanlon at erols.com (Leo Scanlon)
Date: Sat, 05 Jun 1999 13:52:12 GMT
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J.P. Caron wrote:
>How do you make them so they are cooked, but nice and soft?

Bake them in the oven. The new Joy of Cooking's recipe works well for me, but I add a little garlic powder and some Penzey's Pasta Sprinkle. It takes about 30 minutes (turning each 10 minutes) and then I brown them on broil for a couple of minutes. Yum!
Newsgroups: rec.food.cooking
Subject: Re: How do you make SOFT french fries???
From: Steve Kramer (stevekra at gol.com)
Date: Tue, 22 Jun 1999 21:39:03 GMT
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> How do you make them so they are cooked, but nice and soft?

After frying, boil them for 20 minutes....... :o)
From: aem (aemretd at worldnet.att.net.invalid)
Date: Tue, 22 Jun 1999 16:18:37 -0700
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> How do you make them so they are cooked, but nice and soft?

Sorry to hear it. How about double frying them? This puffs them up so the outside is a little crispy but probably not too much for you, while the inside is airy and soft. All you do is fry them once at a temp a little lower than usual for deep frying -- maybe around 325F, I'm not really sure -- then remove when a little less browned than you want, drain, let cool. Then raise the oil temp to 375F and put them in again for a short time. You'll see them puff and take on the color you want.
From: lscanlon at erols.com (Leo Scanlon)
Date: Wed, 23 Jun 1999 12:40:02 GMT
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>How do you make them so they are cooked, but nice and soft?

Do them in the oven. The Oven-Baked French Fries recipe in the new Joy of Cooking does it for me ('cept I add Penzey's Pasta Sprinkle to it).
Newsgroups: rec.food.cooking
Subject: "Soft French Fries"
From: Jill McQuown
Date: Tue, 22 Jun 1999 18:29:38 -0500
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I missed the original post. These are quarter fries and while the outside is slightly crispy the insides are very tender. If you don't like that, lower the heat but increase the cooking time to make sure the potatoes are cooked through. I list 2 recipes using the same method.

Seasoned Oven Fries

2 medium baking potatoes
1 tsp. seasoned salt
2 Tbs. olive oil
Vegetable cooking spray

Wash potatoes and cut lengthwise into 8 wedges (peel them if you prefer; I don't). Cover with cold water with a dash of lemon juice added (to prevent potatoes from discoloring) and soak at least 30 minutes. Pat potatoes dry. Place, skin-side down on baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Brush oil generously over potatoes. Sprinkle with seasoned salt. Bake at 400 degrees for about 50 minutes.

Greek Oven Fries

2 medium baking potatoes
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/8 tsp. salt
2 Tbs. olive oil
pepper to taste
Vegetable cooking spray

Cut potatoes lengthwise into 8 wedges. Cover with cold water with a dash of lemon juice added (to prevent potatoes from discoloring) and soak 30 minutes. Pat potatoes dry. Place, skin-side down on baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Blend together oil, oregano, salt & pepper. Brush generously over potatoes. Bake at 400 degrees for about 50 minutes.