MacKenzie Posted October 31, 2015 Report Posted October 31, 2015 I had the idea to deep fry some SV potatoes. Had some fingerling ones that I cut more into wedges than anything else. SVed them, vacuumed sealed and froze them. Next it was into the deep fryer. I think when I froze and then deep fried them the cell walls exploded. But oh my did they taste good. These were yellow potatoes. They had a nice tender crispy crust with SV cooked insides. Next experiment I'll get serious and cut proper fries, SV until just cooked, cool and then fry. If that doesn't do what I want I'll do the same thing but freeze them before deep frying.
bosco Posted October 31, 2015 Report Posted October 31, 2015 following with interest. I love a good fry, I think that I will add the acti fry next to my kitchen. Would love it if the SV got them cooked and then the acti fry would just have to crisp them up a bit
GoFrogs91 Posted October 31, 2015 Report Posted October 31, 2015 Love to read about cooking experiments! Benton
tony b Posted October 31, 2015 Report Posted October 31, 2015 Gonna have to steal this idea from you, MacKenzie - brilliant! No more needing to double fry them; just do the blanching in the SV first, then fry at high temp.
MacKenzie Posted October 31, 2015 Author Report Posted October 31, 2015 That's what I'm thinking and I sure hope it works as I find the double frying a pain. Some even say fry, freeze and then fry again. I hope to try another batch tomorrow. Stay tuned or try it.
tony b Posted October 31, 2015 Report Posted October 31, 2015 May give it a try on Monday. Plans for dinner tomorrow don't include fries.
bosco Posted November 1, 2015 Report Posted November 1, 2015 Does anyone have an actifry to try this out with as well?? Would love to know how they turn out
Poochie Posted November 1, 2015 Report Posted November 1, 2015 Those look like "proper fries" to me. Crunchy is what I aim for and those look like crunchy critters.
PRippley Posted November 1, 2015 Report Posted November 1, 2015 Fried potatoes, the one food I would choose, if I could only have one for the rest of my life, looking good MacKenzie, keep us posted as you "perfect."
Syzygies Posted November 1, 2015 Report Posted November 1, 2015 Twice-cooked starch is an entire revered category. Fried rice is better from leftover rice. Fried polenta has been chilled first. The poster child here is a classic french fry, which is always twice cooked. Sous vide as pass one for twice-cooked potatoes is a staple for us; we've easily made it dozens of times. Prepare potatoes raw into exactly the form one wants to pan-fry (peel or not? chunk size and shape?), vacuum pack, and cook in a circulating water bath at 85 C for an hour to 90 minutes. To taste, depends somewhat on the potato, but one wants the potatoes to fully cook. Now, chill the packet(s) in ice water, or spread the pieces onto a silicone nonstick baking mat on a baking sheet and put in the freezer for a bit. Once chilled but not frozen, pan-fry at high heat in ghee (clarified butter) till very nicely colored. Salt, perhaps black, MaraÅŸ or other pepper to taste. Sous vide is vastly superior to any alternative for the first cooking pass. It neither adds nor removes moisture. It does not overcook. If one is lucky, one can accomplish an acceptable first pass by other means, and finish exactly as described after a four hours to overnight chill in the fridge. This passes my "technique disappears" test as you can't tell I used sous vide, but you're wondering how I executed so well. 2
MacKenzie Posted November 1, 2015 Author Report Posted November 1, 2015 Thanks, Syzgies. I just finished a batch and cut the potatoes 3/8th by 3/8th sous vide for 15 mins at 194F. At this point they were just cooked. Cooled them to room temp. then deep fried in Avocado oil, starting temp. 360F, for 5mins. The potatoes were sprayed with oil before SVing. They do bubble up and the bubbles have died down some for this pix- After 5 mins. in the oil they look great. Here they are on the paper towel and lightly salted. Back to the drawing board, they didn't stay crisp, tasted fine but soft. I have a few more already SVed potatoes to test tomorrow;) 1
MacKenzie Posted November 1, 2015 Author Report Posted November 1, 2015 I cooked the frozen ones and while they were a little more crispy, they are far from what I want. The good news is that I did like the interior and they did taste very good. The oil was hotter this time 370. It may have worked better if I'd stuck with 355-360F as the temp before putting the potatoes in the oil. Can't say I'm suffering having to eat these fries.
CeramicChef Posted November 1, 2015 Report Posted November 1, 2015 Oh WOWZERS, MacKenzie! I get back in town and I see you're taking your taters to another level! Absolutely beautiful cook! My mouth is watering to be sure. Mega kudos to you to be sure!
PRippley Posted November 2, 2015 Report Posted November 2, 2015 I am suffering not being able to taste your fries, yummy MacKenzie!
