Curly Fries - anyone remember these?

[wattacetti]

I know you want to replicate this from scratch and what I'm about to say is probably going to get me flogged, but if the point is just to have the curly fries once, wouldn't it be easier to hunt down a bag of McCain's Golden Crisp Seasoned Spirals?

Aside: we had one of those contraptions in high school shop class. Think we were making lopsided rolling pins at the time.

[andiesenji]

Clearly, this is not the correct tool for the application, right? That's something you make furniture with?

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It's an apple peeler/corer. Invented by the Shakers in 1882.

[Anna N]

A friend and fellow Society member showed up at my house with this gadget:

So despite calling an end to this experiment I had another go:

There must be some technique for ensuring consistency in thickness but I have not discovered it yet. If anyone has one of these gadgets and knows how to prepare the potato properly, please post the instructions! It seems to work best if I don't square off the end of the potato but I haven't done enough yet to be sure. I am even wondering if the potato should go in on its long axis.

Regardless of their authenticity, when properly fried and sprinkled with either seasoned salt or salt and creole seasoning, they are yummy. (Ordinary square-cut fries would likely be just as yummy but oh so boring).

[alanamoana]

thanks for the update AnnaN, they look delicious even if they aren't the same as the "real" thing. i love that the gadget is actually electric! the curl crazy is probably from an "as seen on tv" store

the other day, i went to arby's just to have some curly fries. see what your thread has me doing?!

[andiesenji]

I stopped at a Jack-In-The-Box on my way home Thursday and got a small order of curly fries, well done.

There were multiple accidents on the freeways I have to drive and I just needed a short break from the traffic and something to much on.

[ohev'ochel]

Anna, i have that same crazy gadget -- only u got it for a buck! i stoopidly paid (ahem) ok, i won`t embarrass myself. after trying to get the sucker to literally stick to the counter with its "ohhh so expensive" suctioning mechanism countless times, it stayed. then came the fun part. watching my apples get destroyed with this very fine peel and leaving weird looking grooves all over the surface of the peeled apple and to my horror making these spirals all through the apple leaving one big, continuous curl. oh yeah, did i mention how it does a great offset job of coring the apple? lol. i think it's faster to peel it urself with an Oxo type peeler and a simple corer or coring it urself manually. i imagine with practice, it does somehow work. it now takes up space somewhere in my kitchen and gathers dust (until my next attempt! have to get my money's worth out of it before chucking it!).

hmmm....i have potatoes to peel today. does it have to go through the middle rod in order to get peeled resulting in that baton shaped piece or was that the result of ur trying to make the curls? i honestly only used it twice and only with apples.

curly fries are great, too bad the little green wonder didn't work for it. i did see this however (and on sale -- warranted purchase i guess only if ur going to use it frequently): fry cutter/slicer

i guess i can use my thingy to turn legs for tables and chairs as Jason suggested.

[Anna N]

Anna, i have that same crazy gadget -- only u got it for a buck!  i stoopidly paid (ahem) ok, i won`t embarrass myself.    after trying to get the sucker to literally stick to the counter with its "ohhh so expensive" suctioning mechanism countless times, it stayed.  then came the fun part.  watching my apples get destroyed with this very fine peel and leaving weird looking grooves all over the surface of the peeled apple and to my horror making these spirals all through the apple leaving one big, continuous curl.  oh yeah, did i mention how it does a great offset job of coring the apple?  lol.  i think it's faster to peel it urself with an Oxo type peeler and a simple corer or coring it urself manually.  i imagine with practice, it does somehow work.  it now takes up space somewhere in my kitchen and gathers dust (until my next attempt!    have to get my money's worth out of it before chucking it!). 

hmmm....i have potatoes to peel today.  does it have to go through the middle rod in order to get peeled resulting in that baton shaped piece or was that the result of ur trying to make the curls?  i honestly only used it twice and only with apples. 

curly fries are great, too bad the little green wonder didn't work for it.  i did see this however (and on sale -- warranted purchase i guess only if ur going to use it frequently): fry cutter/slicer

i guess i can use my thingy to turn legs for tables and chairs as Jason suggested. 

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I am surprised at your problems with the apple peeler/corer. I was impressed at the job it did on apples! It does make one continuous spiral but that is easily cut into slices. Mine sticks firmly to any perfectly smooth surface. You can avoid the baton shaped piece when doing potatoes as that is simply the "core". Don't use the coring blade on potatoes. I certainly would not use it to peel a few potatoes for a small family though - a parer or knife would be faster and better but for large quantities I would seriously consider it.

[ohev'ochel]

Anna, i have that same crazy gadget -- only u got it for a buck!  i stoopidly paid (ahem) ok, i won`t embarrass myself.    after trying to get the sucker to literally stick to the counter with its "ohhh so expensive" suctioning mechanism countless times, it stayed.  then came the fun part.  watching my apples get destroyed with this very fine peel and leaving weird looking grooves all over the surface of the peeled apple and to my horror making these spirals all through the apple leaving one big, continuous curl.  oh yeah, did i mention how it does a great offset job of coring the apple?  lol.  i think it's faster to peel it urself with an Oxo type peeler and a simple corer or coring it urself manually.  i imagine with practice, it does somehow work.  it now takes up space somewhere in my kitchen and gathers dust (until my next attempt!    have to get my money's worth out of it before chucking it!). 

hmmm....i have potatoes to peel today.  does it have to go through the middle rod in order to get peeled resulting in that baton shaped piece or was that the result of ur trying to make the curls?  i honestly only used it twice and only with apples. 

curly fries are great, too bad the little green wonder didn't work for it.  i did see this however (and on sale -- warranted purchase i guess only if ur going to use it frequently): fry cutter/slicer

i guess i can use my thingy to turn legs for tables and chairs as Jason suggested. 

←

I am surprised at your problems with the apple peeler/corer. I was impressed at the job it did on apples! It does make one continuous spiral but that is easily cut into slices. Mine sticks firmly to any perfectly smooth surface. You can avoid the baton shaped piece when doing potatoes as that is simply the "core". Don't use the coring blade on potatoes. I certainly would not use it to peel a few potatoes for a small family though - a parer or knife would be faster and better but for large quantities I would seriously consider it.

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i actually think the suction part of the one i bought is defective as the seal is horrible and that was after countless tries.

i was somewhat annoyed and shocked at what it was doing to the apples as i was making 2 tartes tatin and other desserts for another occasion which required smooth edges and wedge type cuts. i didn't expect that the cutter would make the spirals. anyway, nothing ventured nothing gained. i still have it and will take another look at it when i need it for batch jobs. i am sure it has its uses. i guess i was just a bit disappointed as i didn't expect the ridges it made and the spiral through the apples.

thanks for ur reply.

[andiesenji]

Some suction bases often do not work on some surfaces if there is any porosity at all in the surface.

I can't get them to work on the portions of my counters that have tile, because the tile is not glazed and very smooth. It also won't work on the butcherblock portions - or rather, it will not hold for long.

I have one of the glass countertop protectors and use that for suction-based things.

My apple peeler has a clamp type base, similar to this one. "Back to Basics"

By the way, I have purchased canning supplies from this vendor in the past and have had excellent service via their online store.

Edited August 13, 2006 by andiesenji (log)

[AmyDaniel]

I haven't posted in a long time, but at an outdoor concert I attended a few weeks ago, I had this little treat...I asked for cheese fries, but got cheese CURLY fries instead!

Remembering this thread, I snapped a shot. Maybe this'll serve as inspiration for you, Anna.

[Anna N]

I haven't posted in a long time, but at an outdoor concert I attended a few weeks ago, I had this little treat...I asked for cheese fries, but got cheese CURLY fries instead!

...

Remembering this thread, I snapped a shot.  Maybe this'll serve as inspiration for you, Anna. 

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Yikes! My mouth is watering! Thanks for posting this and I hope you enjoyed them.