Most people think they know how to make french fries out of potatoes. You just cut up a tuber, throw it in some hot oil, and boom—snack time. Except, it rarely works out that way for the home cook. You usually end up with one of two disasters: a limp, oil-soaked stick of mush or a charred exterior with a raw, crunchy middle that tastes like dirt.
It's frustrating.
The gap between a McDonald’s fry and what comes out of a standard kitchen is massive. But honestly? It’s just chemistry. If you understand what starch is doing when it hits 350 degrees, you can beat the system. You don't need a commercial-grade Vulcan fryer. You just need to stop treating the potato like a vegetable and start treating it like a science project.
The Potato Choice is Everything
If you try to use a Red Bliss or a Yukon Gold for classic fries, you’ve already lost the game. These are "waxy" potatoes. They have too much moisture and not enough starch. When they hit the oil, the water inside tries to escape, turning the whole thing into a steam bath. You get a potato that is soft, but never truly crisp.
You need the Russet. Specifically, the Russet Burbank if you can find it.
The Russet is a high-starch, low-moisture beast. J. Kenji López-Alt, who basically wrote the bible on food science with The Food Lab, points out that the high starch content in Russets creates a dry, porous surface. That surface is exactly what you need for the oil to grab onto and turn into a golden crust. If you use a waxy potato, you’re fighting physics. Don't fight physics.
Why Your Fries Turn Brown Too Fast
Ever had a fry that looked perfect—deep golden brown—but was still hard in the middle? That’s the Maillard reaction working against you. Potatoes contain natural sugars. If those sugars stay on the surface of the fry, they caramelize and burn before the internal starch has a chance to gelatinize.
This is why we soak.
Put your cut fries in a bowl of cold water. Watch the water turn cloudy. That’s the excess surface starch and sugar leaving the building. Most pros will tell you to soak them for at least an hour, but if you're in a rush, even a 15-minute scrub under running water helps. You’ve gotta get that surface clean. Some people even add a splash of vinegar to the water.
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Why vinegar? It slows down the breakdown of pectin.
Basically, the vinegar keeps the fry from falling apart during the first stage of cooking. It’s a trick used by many high-end gastropubs to ensure the fries stay straight and stiff rather than drooping the second they hit the plate. It works. It's science.
The Myth of the Single Fry
If you think you can just fry them once and be done, I have bad news. A single fry results in a "baked potato" interior with a thin, leathery skin.
You need the double-fry method.
The first fry is a "blanch." You’re cooking the potato through, turning the hard starch into a soft, fluffy mash inside the skin. The oil should be around 325°F for this. They shouldn't turn brown yet. They should look pale and slightly limp. Once they come out, they need to rest. Honestly, this is where most people quit, but it’s the most important part.
Cold Starts and Other Controversies
There is a subset of chefs, including the legendary Joël Robuchon, who suggested a "cold start" method. You put the potatoes in cold oil and then turn on the heat.
It sounds insane.
Conventional wisdom says the potatoes will just absorb all the oil and become grease sponges. But somehow, as the oil heats up, the exterior of the potato dehydrates slowly, creating a thick, crunchy shell. It’s a lazier way to do it, and while it doesn't give you that specific "fast food" snap, it creates a rustic, incredibly crunchy fry that some people actually prefer. However, for the standard, world-class fry, we’re sticking to the double-fry. It’s more consistent.
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The Secret Step: Freezing
If you want to know how to make french fries out of potatoes that actually taste like they came from a restaurant, you have to freeze them after the first fry.
I'm serious.
When you freeze a par-cooked potato, the water inside turns into ice crystals. These crystals act like tiny jackhammers, puncturing the cell walls of the starch. When you drop those frozen fries into the final 375°F oil, that moisture escapes instantly as steam, leaving behind a jagged, cavernous surface area. More surface area equals more crunch. This is why frozen bagged fries often have a better texture than fresh ones made by an amateur. They’ve been engineered for that "shatter" effect.
Essential Gear You Actually Need
- A heavy-bottomed pot (Cast iron is king because it holds heat).
- A thermometer. Don't eyeball it. If your oil drops to 300°F, you're making grease sticks.
- A spider strainer. Tongs will break your fries.
- Paper towels or a wire rack.
The Final Countdown
Once your blanched, cooled (and preferably frozen) fries are ready, it's time for the second fry. This is the glory lap. Crank that oil up to 375°F.
Working in small batches is non-negotiable. If you dump a pound of potatoes into a quart of oil, the temperature will plummet. The oil will seep into the potato instead of searing the outside. You want that oil bubbling violently the second the fries hit.
It only takes about 2 to 4 minutes. You're looking for that "Ghibli movie" golden brown.
When they come out, salt them immediately. The oil is still wet on the surface and will act as a glue. Once that oil cools and soaks back into the crust, the salt will just bounce off and end up at the bottom of the bowl. Nobody wants a bland fry.
Addressing the "Air Fryer" Elephant in the Room
Can you make these in an air fryer? Sorta.
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An air fryer is just a small, powerful convection oven. It’s great for reheating, but it doesn't provide the same heat transfer as liquid fat. If you're going the air fryer route, you still need to soak them and par-boil them in water first. If you put raw potato sticks in an air fryer, they will be dry, leathery, and sad.
Fat is a flavor carrier. It’s also a heat conductor. You can’t get the same result with air, no matter what the box says. If you're going for health, sure, use the air fryer. If you're going for the best fries of your life, use the oil.
Peanut oil is the gold standard because of its high smoke point and neutral flavor, but beef tallow is what made McDonald’s famous in the first place. If you can get your hands on some rendered beef fat, mix it into your frying oil. The depth of flavor is staggering.
Why Texture Matters More Than Shape
Don't worry about making them look like perfect matchsticks. Hand-cut fries have character. The "bits" at the bottom—those tiny, over-fried crunchy ends—are often the best part. Chefs call those "fines."
The goal is a contrast between a glass-like exterior and a mashed-potato interior. If you achieve that, the shape is irrelevant.
Putting it Into Practice
Ready to actually do this? Don't overthink it, but don't skip the steps.
- Peel and cut your Russets into 1/3-inch sticks. Consistency helps them cook at the same rate.
- Rinse them in a bowl of cold water until the water is clear, then dry them. I mean really dry them. Water and hot oil are mortal enemies.
- Heat your oil to 325°F. Fry the potatoes for about 5 minutes until they are soft but pale.
- Drain them and let them cool to room temperature. If you have the patience, throw them in the freezer for two hours.
- Reheat the oil to 375°F. Fry the potatoes in batches until they are crisp and golden.
- Toss with fine sea salt immediately after they leave the oil.
The result should be a fry that stays crisp even after ten minutes on the table. If it sags, you didn't fry it long enough on the second pass or you crowded the pan. Next time, give them space. Cooking is about heat management as much as it is about ingredients. Once you master the double-fry, you'll never look at a bag of frozen fries the same way again.
Get your potatoes today. Start the soak now. By dinner time, you'll have something better than any drive-thru could ever offer.