French Fries - Fat, Calories Real Dark Kitchen

[chattius 2,538]

With 5 kids making french fries is developing into an art. There are many combinations of sort of potatoe, oil and how you fry them.

 

The sort:

A good sort should have less water and more starch than the average potatoe. My cousine runs a farm so we can choose from many sorts. We use 'Agria' which is used by (local german) companies who sell deep frozen pre-made french fries. They ripe out last of our potatoes and can be stored for a year in our ramped clay cellar (5 metres below ground, so allways cool and dark). They stay usable and tasty till the mid early potatoes can be harvested the coming year. I do not like the very early variants, the weather here is too bad, so they develope no real taste.

 

The oil:

This is tricky. Above 170 Celcius it can happen that evil molecules are build which may cause cancer. Below 150 Celcius and the potatoe sticks may suck up too much oil. I use rapeseed oil. Cold pressed olive oil is only 130-150 degree celcius, which is too low. After doing the french fries I filter the oil and put it in a bottle for next use. It can be filtered 4-5 times till it is no longer usable. Strangely the more it was used the better tasting french fries will be made.

 

The preparation of the potatoes:

Removing the skin, washing, use a real sharp knife to cut the sticks. A former classmate who now runs a restaurant told me that a sharp knife will give clean surfaces which will suck up less fat. Put the sticks into water for half an hour, so the stark on the surface will be removed and it is less probable that the sticks will stick/glue together when frying. Put them in a pot with boiling water for a short time (blanching) So even more stark removed and the surface sucks up even less fat.

 

The preparation of the salt:

Use a mortar to mix rosmarin and salt to fine powder.

 

The frying:

Pan from casted iron (used when single and student, married, married with up to 2 kids):

I used to do french fries in pan from casted iron with a diametre of around half a metre. I had the oil up to 2 centimetres so I can turn the sticks while they swim in the oil. Then I used a spoon with holes to remove the fries from the pan. You can get more homogen results than in a deep fryer. You can turn individual sticks, remove ones which are already ready, ... Disadvantage: You can't use a pan if there are too much people (kids birthday and similiar)

 

Baking oven (used till now): prepare the potatoes as above, take a plastic box which can be closed , fill in the sticks, 4 spoons of oil and the rosmarin salt. Mix them, lay aluminium paper on the oven plates, place the sticks on the plates and put them in the oven. Not as crispy, but not much fat.

 

Deep fryer: (used when being at army): if you want your french fries cross and crispy and are not a professional cook this is the way to go. Disadvantage- many kitchen fires are caused by these, you need a good one so less particles from last frying swimming in oil, it takes away too much room if you aren't frying something every week.

 

HIGHTECH: I wrote this article because I saw a store selling 'hot air deep fryers' for 140 euro. You need only a spoon of oil for 2 pounds of potatoes with this machine and they promise that you get good results. But 2 pounds is a bit too less for 8 people, have to check if there are bigger machines around. Or will it be just another gadget used for a month and then placed somewhere in the barn?

 

 

At least it seems to be able to do some stuff normal deep fryers can't do.

 

Edited December 8, 2010 by chattius

[cider_steve 26]

Hey there.

 

Thanks for the info, but I think I'll stick to buying them from Mc D's.

 

Can I count them as part of my 5 a day ? They are from a vegetable after all.

Edited December 8, 2010 by cider_steve

[wolfie2kX 528]

Good info on making french fries.

 

A couple of variations I've come across include frying the potatoes in oil at a lower temp instead of blanching them in water. Say around 110 C (230 F) for a few minutes to get them ready for the final frying.

 

There's a bit of science behind making the perfect fry. Potatoes, like all organic life forms, contain water. The reason deep frying is effective in making great fries is because it distributes the heat (in the form of the hot oil) evenly around whatever you put in the pot. This turns the water inside the potatoes to steam and that makes the inside of the spud light and somewhat flakey.

 

The reason fries soak up oil - you've overcooked them and all the water has escaped. The perfect fried potato has most of the moisture removed without removing all of it. If you snap a freshly fried stick in half, some steam should be seen escaping.

 

Another key to doing great fries - consistent sizes. That way they all arrive at the point of perfection at pretty much the same time. The sticks should be the same size from top to bottom and side to side. While a good, sharp knife is useful, the best tool for making fries would be a mandolin slicer or an old fashioned "Veg-O-Matic"

 

Mandolin slicer: http://www.culinarydistrict.com/Products/Bakers-Racks/49753-06

 

Veg-O-Matic: http://www.smithsonianlegacies.si.edu/objectdescription.cfm?ID=224

 

As far as oil goes - I agree - olive oil, while offering a nice flavor and heart healthy benefits - has a smoke point that's just too low for effective frying of potatoes. You need something more like Canola oil or peanut oil to do the job right without adding nasty flavors and cancer causing agents to your food. The one really nice thing about deep fat friers - the better ones have a good thermometer to keep your oil temp consistant.

[chattius 2,538]

Seems canola is used in america for what we call 00-Raps. Raps is rapeseed in english , but hasn't the second meaning rape has in english.

Raps, 0-Raps and 00-Raps are all just called Raps in normal german language and only food producers and farmers know the difference.

00-Raps is very low on dangerous oils, 0-Raps has an very much lowered amount compared to normal raps but is 3 times higher then the 00-variant. So in germany 00-Raps would be close to what is Canola in america.

 

Never trust a dictionary or wiki. If I do german wiki for Rapsöl and then click on english I am at Colza oil, but when doing english wiki for Canola and click german I am at Rapsöl.

 

In european community farming gen manipulated rapeseed is not allowed where in Canada it is up to more than 80% gen manipulated. In germany we make a difference between Sommerraps and Winterraps. For Winterraps, which is most of the 00-Raps, the seed would be brought out in autumn to be harvested the next summer.

 

Different sizes of fries was the reason that I normally preferred a pan.

[Stormwing 40]

And once again I learned something new. Generally about the raps. Or should I say rapeseed... Or whatever.

Have to admit I got a few lol-moments when checking the translator. Seeing in Finnish rapeseed is "rapsi" and turnip rape is "rypsi"

One letter difference in Finnish. Jeez, checking these threads slowly rises the interest in languages. Not to mention the recepies just wet my appetite.

 

Too bad I'm trying to avoid any possible carbon hydrates due to my diet. Oh, how I miss good fries...

[wolfie2kX 528]

Seems canola is used in america for what we call 00-Raps. Raps is rapeseed in english , but hasn't the second meaning rape has in english.

Raps, 0-Raps and 00-Raps are all just called Raps in normal german language and only food producers and farmers know the difference.

00-Raps is very low on dangerous oils, 0-Raps has an very much lowered amount compared to normal raps but is 3 times higher then the 00-variant. So in germany 00-Raps would be close to what is Canola in america.

 

Never trust a dictionary or wiki. If I do german wiki for Rapsöl and then click on english I am at Colza oil, but when doing english wiki for Canola and click german I am at Rapsöl.

 

In european community farming gen manipulated rapeseed is not allowed where in Canada it is up to more than 80% gen manipulated. In germany we make a difference between Sommerraps and Winterraps. For Winterraps, which is most of the 00-Raps, the seed would be brought out in autumn to be harvested the next summer.

 

Different sizes of fries was the reason that I normally preferred a pan.

 

 

And so it appears to be... Canola is a specific variety of rapeseed that's low in erucic acid - which is not supposed to be good for you.

 

 

At any rate, it's good for high temp frying as it has a higher smoke point than most other oils.

[wolfie2kX 528]

And once again I learned something new. Generally about the raps. Or should I say rapeseed... Or whatever.

Have to admit I got a few lol-moments when checking the translator. Seeing in Finnish rapeseed is "rapsi" and turnip rape is "rypsi"

One letter difference in Finnish. Jeez, checking these threads slowly rises the interest in languages. Not to mention the recepies just wet my appetite.

 

Too bad I'm trying to avoid any possible carbon hydrates due to my diet. Oh, how I miss good fries...

 

Yah.. I hear you on the diet bit... {sigh} But what's life if you can't have a LITTLE bit of carbs every so often. I'm not saying rush out and get a supersized mega vat of 'em... Or even one of Gogo's infamous Poutines... But a small order or even a half order once in a blue moon might be acceptable. Denying yourself any satisfaction isn't good either.

 

Languages are a trip... I remember basic German in high school was fairly easy given how a LOT of the words are so similar to english. There are a few extra twists to the way words are put together, but all in all, you can see how the english language got it's start.

[Stormwing 40]

Wolfie: Indeedo. I'm perty sure I'll have something unhealthy this weekend when I'm at friend's.

Nothing beats a cold beer after sauna, that's for sure.

 

OT

*sigh* Wish I would've lived closer to the schools when I was in elementary. Would've been nice to get some German in. Some I hear saying it's tad "brutal sounding" and such, but I kinda like it.

Like I like Japanese. But that's on a different scale when it comes to the learning...

/OT

[chattius 2,538]

I got interested into languages when my german teacher interrogated me at blackboard and I did no answer correct. The class following german was physics and I always read into the experiments for the next class instead paying intention to the german class

My german teacher was the class-teacher, main teacher or however you call it of my older sister. So the very same day her class teacher whined at her what a stupid brother my sister would have.

And then my sister asked me what the hell I was not understanding, sound shifts and language theory would be rather mathematics and logic than reading german. So she explained me in half an hour Grimm's law and variants and I wrote the best test of whole class the next day. Something the teacher for german failed in 2 month.

 

I did a post of language history already here:

http://darkmatters.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=15255&view=findpost&p=6912194

 

The most common language law between german and english is a shift from B or P to F or V.

Starting with exceptions:

latin tabula->english table (word was in britain already at time of romans) -> german Tafel (germans got the word from romans)

latin canabis-> english hemp -> german Hanf (a first C->H shift and then a B->F), english and german word share the first shift from C->H, but english didn't do the second shift from P->F because the word was already in britain at the time of the romans.

 

But in most cases german has a B and english a V.

Rabe->raven

Liebe->love

Weib->wife

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sound_change

 

So with these language rules one can understand the origin of a word and when it was brought to a country. Many schools here are named Brother Grimm, mainly because of their researches and less because of their fairytale collection.

 

Sadly I had only latin as a non germanic language at school. So idon't know if there are easy rules for other languages too.

[Stormwing 40]

^ That makes a lot of sense. Should consider doing some serious research sometime, when I get the inspiration.

 

Don't know really about the rules for other languages either, seeing I can only speak fluently English and Finnish. We did have Swedish in school, but haven't really used it.

However, Finnish is kind of an oddball, as most of the words are spoken as they're written. There are some exceptions to it, but not really many. I've noticed that many foreigners are having difficulties with that.

Also, Japanese seems to be in that sense quite similar. Can't really say much about that as I only know the basics of the basics, but I do have listened quite much music and animes, and such.

 

Looks like cooking shifted into linguistical talk somewhere in the process. Sorry for hitchiking the topic.

Edited December 10, 2010 by Stormwing

[Bondbug 32]

Dare I suggest that the only real tasty chips are cooked in good (?.?.?) old beef dripping.

 

Unfortunately dietary restrictions mean you can only take them at infrequent intervals.

 

Why, oh why, is all this dietary research making food such a misery these days

Edited December 24, 2010 by Bondbug

[cider_steve 26]

Dare I suggest that the only real tasty chips are cooked in good (?.?.?) old beef dripping.

 

Unfortunately dietary restrictions mean you can only take them at infrequent intervals.

 

Why, oh why, is all this dietary research making food such a misery these days

 

It's the same with everything mate. We've cooked things the same for many years, and now they tell us not to. Don't even start me on the H&S police. Kids playing conkers with goggles and safety gloves, what total nonsense !!

[wolfie2kX 528]

Dare I suggest that the only real tasty chips are cooked in good (?.?.?) old beef dripping.

 

Unfortunately dietary restrictions mean you can only take them at infrequent intervals.

 

Why, oh why, is all this dietary research making food such a misery these days

 

I think it has to do with our changing lifestyles. You see, waaay back in the day, we could eat 3000+ calories and still be skinny little things. Why? Because we worked it all off. The flab didn't have time to settle.

 

So here we are, in the post Industrial Revolution age - where we have machines to do a lot of the hard work for us - cars to get us from point A to B, food processors to wield our knives for us, farm equipement to do pretty much everything from planting to pest control to harvesting our food and so forth AND we no longer need that 3000+ calorie per day diet to get us through life. And so that lard settles in our thighs, bottoms, guts - and let's NOT forget our arteries - and we wonder why we're fat and have heart attacks and become diabetic. It's because we eat like our forefathers and mothers did. Our forebearers made the fruits of their labor taste good - because they could get away with it. Heck, they needed it to get the work done.

 

Add in we also have TVs to keep our butts firmly planted on the couch with our eyes glued to the commercials featuring all manner of high caloric - yet extremely tasty junk foods, soda pop, and so forth. And we wonder why our kids would rather vege in front of the tube instead of going outside to play...

 

In short, MOST of us can't get away with eating like that any longer because we don't do enough to burn it off. Olympic athletes - like Usaine Bolt, Michael Phelps can - because they're bodies are high performance racing engines - think Formula 1 racing engines vs your Honda or Toyota grocery getter.

 

/rant

[Bondbug 32]

Oh dear, Wolfie. You are so right, and it is so depressing. I fought it off by playing 5-aside till well into my 60's - but could find no follow up when we came to France.

 

Kids playing conkers with goggles and safety gloves, what total nonsense !

 

I have a vague feeling that you are joking ... OMG I hope so. It is sad that things have deteriorated to such a point that I can not be sure that you are joking.

 

P.S. How can I say such things? Sitting here suffering from Xmas Dinner and Boxing Day follow-up. Cholesterol:) What the *** is that?

Edited December 26, 2010 by Bondbug

[wolfie2kX 528]

Oh dear, Wolfie. You are so right, and it is so depressing. I fought it off by playing 5-aside till well into my 60's - but could find no follow up when we came to France.

 

Kids playing conkers with goggles and safety gloves, what total nonsense !

 

I have a vague feeling that you are joking ... OMG I hope so. It is sad that things have deteriorated to such a point that I can not be sure that you are joking.

 

P.S. How can I say such things? Sitting here suffering from Xmas Dinner and Boxing Day follow-up. Cholesterol:) What the *** is that?

 

Yeah.. It is depressing. But it's not all that bad. There are ways to make food taste good - without all the nasty side effects. The key is moderation. Not an easy thing to do, but it's well worth it...

 

Cholesterol: Best described as little tiny blobs of sticky fat floating around in your blood stream. Like any sticky stuff being pumped through a hose (your arteries and veins), it will eventually clog 'em up. It's one of the vids I got to watch during my stay in the hospital. Whee.. Fun.. Nothing like that kinda thing to really make life even MORE miserable.

 

As far as Steve's comment goes.. He probably isn't joking about it. At least, I wouldn't be surprised if he wasn't. It's now the law at least in my neck of the woods - if you ride a bicycle - you MUST wear a helmet. OH..? Really? How ever did the human race survive prior to that law being put into effect?

[cider_steve 26]

No, sadly I wasn't joking ( which, I admit, makes a change ). They have gone health and safety nuts here in England.

 

The conker game was just one example. There are many that would leave you amazed and thinking it was a plot from some nutty film..........but sadly, they are smothering us with cotton wool.........just incase you feint from the stories.............

[chattius 2,538]

I think it is all a matter of balance. Even I ate way more on x-mas and new year: I lost 2 pounds. Because playing with kids, working in forest and not in bureau and I think most important enjoying lunch with kids even mid weeks. At work it is often just open mouth, insert calories, close mouth, chew 1-3 times, ...

But in winter breaks I eat slower and enjoy eating with the family. So probably a better and earlier feedback when the satiation level is reached.

 

When I read news today: dioxin polluted animal food, warnings not to buy eggs and meat from certain regions, ... I think these warning are more evil than the dioxin itself. If can't be healthy if you can't enjoy eating. Luckily we do most of our food on our own.

 

Invented a new recipe last week:

Left overs from new years party. Potatoe sticks spiced with wasabi, the kids considered them way to sharp. So they were put in a salade:

field salade (was a lot of work and fun to search for it below all the snow)

radices and carrots, cut into discs

a bit oil and vinegar sprayed onto the mix

a bit sugar, salt and black pepper

and finally the wasabi potatoe sticks added to the mix

 

Spicy finger food for kids while watching a movie on DVD while it was ice rain outside. And I think it wasn't too unhealthy.

Edited January 10, 2011 by chattius