11 replies to this topic

[David Ross]

I'm an incurable crinkle cut fry addict, but I've never found a good cutter or method for cutting crinkle cut fries at home. I've tried the crinkle cutter with the handle, cheap and expensive mandolines with a "wavy" cutter blade, on and one. None of them have produced the same 3/8" crinkle cut fries I get at the local Mom and Pop burger shops. Anyone have suggestions for a good crinkle cutter?

[rotuts]

I have another take on this, but it doesn't really help you much: have you tried commercial frozen crinkle fries? Ore-Ida ? (sp?)

as long as you bake them in a very hot oven, they might give you a decent 'fix' from time to time as your journey for the correct cutter continues.

their tater-tots are exceptionally addicting for me as Im a Tot-Head. I might cuisinart some pots and make my own, but baking theirs or TraderJoes (a value) solve the problem for me from time to time!

[weinoo]

Are these what are usually called cottage fries?

[Smithy]

Are these what are usually called cottage fries?

Around here at least, "cottage fries" are just sliced and fried rounds of potato. No wedges, no crinkles, no cubes or fingers.

[David Ross]

Are these what are usually called cottage fries?

Yep. Out West we call them crinkle cut. I find the frozen version, which are made not far from where I live, to not taste as fresh as fresh-cut fries. I can make a reasonable crinkle cut fry with the hand tool, but it's really labor intensive. I've seen some of the french-fry presses, but they all seem to have just straight cutting blades.

[Keith_W]

as long as you bake them in a very hot oven, they might give you a decent 'fix'

Don't bake them. Deep fry them in hot oil.

You know Heston's triple cooked chips? Well, these fries are also triple cooked. First they are parboiled, then cut, then fried, then frozen. When you deep fry them, you supply the third cooking step.

I used to go through a lot of effort to make triple cooked chips. But when I discovered that deep frying frozen fries produces a result which is close to, or superior to the Heston method, I gave it up.

[Lisa Shock]

Here's what the pros use:

[ermintrude]

as long as you bake them in a very hot oven, they might give you a decent 'fix'

Don't bake them. Deep fry them in hot oil.

You know Heston's triple cooked chips? Well, these fries are also triple cooked. First they are parboiled, then cut, then fried, then frozen. When you deep fry them, you supply the third cooking step.

I used to go through a lot of effort to make triple cooked chips. But when I discovered that deep frying frozen fries produces a result which is close to, or superior to the Heston method, I gave it up.

Not quite they are cut, parboiled (In burnt hay water can add a twist), when cool placed in the fridge uncovered for an hour to dry (you can shorten this under vacuum I believe, and overnight works) , fried at low temp to cook, can then be left till needed and get a high temp fry to crisp. The recipie's here http://www.channel4....ed-chips-recipe
I've been frying frozen fries for years as oven chips are the spawn of the devil, but they are not the same as heston triple cooked. The chips as they are cut before parboiling are practically falling apart and get lots of "edges" due to bits breaking off, I tend to lose a third of whole chips, they then get dried, and the first cook finishes the cooking and does seem to stabilise them from disintegrating. The final stage makes them wonderfully crisp (think a good roast potato) but fluffy inside,
Many places that server triple cooked chips skimp some of these steps, and while they may be boiled, fried and finally fried and are triple cooked they are not Heston triple cooked chips.
All that said, to make the full on Heston chips it's a right labour of love to do properly and you can tell the difference but it's not worth the work unless for a special occasion or for the joy of cooking to make them, so most of the time I'll deep fry frozen oven chips like you ;-)

Edited by ermintrude, 29 July 2012 - 05:42 PM.

[David Ross]

Well, finally success! After searching and searching--and spending more money than was necessary on tools that didn't "crinkle-cut"--I finally
found a hand-held crinkle-cut fry cutter--and it was less than $20.00 off Amazon.com.

I actually owned something similar to this cutter years ago, but it was puny, (the blade no more than 3" wide), and it had a flimsy plastic handle. This time I told myself I would not settle for anything but a hand-held cutter with a blade wide enough to cut grade "A" Russet baking potatoes, (my preferred variety of potato for fries).



A full 6" cutting blade-


Start by peeling the potato, then begin the crinkle-cut by cutting each edge. You're basically cutting the potato into a block with serrated edges-






Then cut the block into wedges. These are about 3/8" thick-


Now cut the wedges into fries, trying to keep them square-




I like to soak the fries in cold water at this point to rinse out some of the starch. After
about an hour in the water, then I dry the fries-


Then a double-fry in canola oil. First at 350, then the second fry at 375-


And in the end, crinkle-cut fries like I remember them from an old-fashioned drive-in-

[rotuts]

priceless!

[Blether]

An hour in water and the potato will soak up its fill of water and get noticeably stiff. Have you noticed a difference between chips you've soaked, and chips you've just rinsed the starch off, David ?

[David Ross]

An hour in water and the potato will soak up its fill of water and get noticeably stiff. Have you noticed a difference between chips you've soaked, and chips you've just rinsed the starch off, David ?

Actually this was a shorter soak in water than I usually do. I typically use a method from Daniel Boulud that employs soaking the fries in cold water in the fridge for 6 hours. I never thought of the issue of soaking the fries could end up with fries soaking in water like a sponge--but it makes sense. I never had a lot of problems with long-soaking fries, but now that I think about it, they aren't as crispy as I'd like. That might be due to the water-soak issue.

What's so wonderful about crinkle-cut fries is that the little ridges add another element of texture. I'll try again with a no-soak method.