McDonald’s French fries can be made at home
By Sarah B. Weir, Yahoo
Even food snobs who shun McDonald’s have to admit that they serve the mother of all French fries. Ray Kroc, one of the chain’s founders wrote in his autobiography that the fry was “almost sacrosanct for me. Its preparation a ritual to be followed religiously.” The end result is a crispy golden-brown baton showered with just the right amount of salt. The exterior’s initial crunch yields to a tender and steaming white center. More, please?
“They are consistent,” says David Myers, chef/owner of Comme Ca in Los Angeles and Las Vegas. “I can’t imagine how many millions of dollars in research and development they have spent in order to achieve a perfect fry around the world.” Myers is no stranger to fried potatoes. His restaurants, which serve classic French brasserie fare, cook hundreds of orders of “pommes frites” (French-fried potatoes) a week.
McDonald’s French fries are shipped to outlets frozen. “We do all of ours fresh everyday,” says Myers who uses the same recipe at his restaurants and at home. Myers also uses the best Idaho russet potatoes, French sea salt, and super fresh cooking oil.
He says the key to making a perfect, consistent, McDonald’s-style fry is in the advance preparation. The cut potatoes need to be soaked for at least two hours before cooking which pulls out excess starch and ensures the crispiest product. Also, Myers recommends that, “you have plenty of paper towels, a lined sheet pan, and have your oil ready to go.”
The beauty of Myers’ two-step cooking method is that you can cook your fries ahead of a dinner party and keep them in the fridge until you are ready to finish in hot oil just before serving. This way you get the most delicious, sizzling, salty, golden-brown fries every time.
When I worked at McDonalds(longer ago than I want to remember), the potatoes were deliverd in burlap bags. We would carry the bag up from the cellar, peel the potatoes in a machine, than cut each one in the hand slicer. The cut pieces were then soaked in water for a couple of hours before they were blanched. The blanched fries were stored until you needed them so that it only took a couple of minutes to create what are great french fries (pommes frites). Good to hear someone recognizes Ray Kroc’s receipe for top quality and consistency.
Try there french fries at McDonalds by the Y ,yummmmmmy
If you make them at home, are they still McDonald’s fries? Personally, I think that stuff is horrible.