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I have eaten french fries from most popular fast food joints. McDonald's has been the best by far.

Crisp & crunchy on the outside yet moist inside, still maintaining the potato taste. Also it does not go soggy after taking it out of the deep-frier. I have tried my best to recreate what they do, I even went to great lengths to get their pre-fried fries from their outlet.

Anyone have any idea how to make this?

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3 Answers 3

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What you want is Kenji Lopez-Alt. Here.

Summary:

  • Cut fries 1/4 inch thick to maximize crispiness
  • Blanch fries with a little vinegar in the water
    The vinegar preserves the potatoes' pectin and keeps them from disintegrating in the water
  • Briefly fry
  • Freeze the fries
    This opens up their internal structure and allows more crispification
  • Before serving, fry for the last time

Another advantage of doing fries this way is that the blanching, pre-frying, and freezing can be done in large batches in advance.

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  • i agree - kenji not only tells you how to do it, he reverse-engineered WHY they are so singularly good, and explains it so it makes perfect sense.
    – franko
    Commented Oct 24, 2010 at 23:57
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    I do not often say this about anyone. Kenji, however, truly is The Man.
    – daniel
    Commented Oct 25, 2010 at 1:54
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    @daniel thanks for sharing. This is exactly what I needed. I read the article & was able to get it done in my kitchen today :)
    – Srikar Appalaraju
    Commented Oct 25, 2010 at 13:42
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    Care to explain this in a bit more detail?
    – Ivo Flipse
    Commented Jan 18, 2011 at 19:12
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    Go to the link. It's all very, very well explained there.
    – daniel
    Commented Jan 19, 2011 at 13:56
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The most detailed French fry investigation I have ever seen comes from the French Culinary Institute's Tech 'N Stuff Blog. You can read The Quest for French Fry Supremacy Part 1 and The Quest for French Fry Supremacy Part 2 for a complete overview not only of their technique but also of the hows and whys behind the decisions they made.

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    The fries of McDonald are very dissimilar from the real French fries in my honest opinion.
    – Mien
    Commented Feb 1, 2011 at 17:59
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If you are care about aspects other than texture... You might be interested to know that McDonald's fries are beef flavoured.

In The book fast food nation it is pointed out that McDonald's fries distinctive flavour comes from the fact that they were cooked in 'beef tallow' (lard). In the 90s they stopped doing this and moved over to vegetable oil but started adding artificial flavourings to keep the lard flavour.

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