Jon B. Posted March 27, 2018 Report Share Posted March 27, 2018 (edited) At a local tavern/restaurant , the Greek family that owned it, had a french fry press mounted on a wall in the kitchen. When your ordered fries, they would put a whole potato in the press and make fresh potato fries to throw into the hot oil. Sadly, the father George (Georgio) and his chef buddy Spiro, both from the old country, are no longer with us. I always told myself that some day I should get on of those presses! Red Head Sue still gets a discount at William & Sonoma and I happened to see one in a catalog. The time was right! Last night we tried it for the first time. Pressed out some fries. Microwaved them for a while, coated with garlic olive oil & fry seasoning and then threw then into the air fryer to finish. Need to experiment a little with the timing but they were really tasty. One of these days, I'm going to fire up the oil deep fryer and make some french fries the old fashion way, in memory of George & Spiro!!! Edited March 27, 2018 by Jon B. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacKenzie Posted March 27, 2018 Report Share Posted March 27, 2018 Awesome fries cutter and those fries look pretty tasty to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tucker Posted March 27, 2018 Report Share Posted March 27, 2018 Watching Triple D, a place showed how they make theirs using a press like that; they fried them twice. Once to sort of blanch them, then when an order was due, they'd drop them back into the oil for second fry. super crispy and not soggy all the way thru. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted March 27, 2018 Report Share Posted March 27, 2018 4 hours ago, Tucker said: Watching Triple D, a place showed how they make theirs using a press like that; they fried them twice. Once to sort of blanch them, then when an order was due, they'd drop them back into the oil for second fry. super crispy and not soggy all the way thru. Proper technique for making true "frites." A bit of a PITA to do at home, but I'll splurge and do them for a special occasion or for guests, especially if I do them in duck fat! First fry @ 325F, then the second fry @ 375F. Jon, you're on the right track, except I do the blanch cook in the sous vide with the duck fat. Then, let cool/drain on the rack, season, then into the air fryer. Not quite as good as the double fry technique, but close enough for government work, as they say, and a whole lot easier - especially the clean up! 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacKenzie Posted March 27, 2018 Report Share Posted March 27, 2018 Hey, Tony, that sounds wonderful. I do pre cook mine in water on the stove first but the technique you use sounds great. What temp. and for how long are they in the SV bath? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted March 27, 2018 Report Share Posted March 27, 2018 Bath temp = 190F; time = depending upon the thickness of cut - standard cut (20 mins), wedges (30 mins); small/shoestring cut (15 minutes). Then, the air fryer time is basically until golden brown. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacKenzie Posted March 28, 2018 Report Share Posted March 28, 2018 Bath temp = 190F; time = depending upon the thickness of cut - standard cut (20 mins), wedges (30 mins); small/shoestring cut (15 minutes). Then, the air fryer time is basically until golden brown. Thank you very much, Tony. I'll be giving this a try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syzygies Posted March 28, 2018 Report Share Posted March 28, 2018 15 hours ago, tony b said: I do the blanch cook in the sous vide with the duck fat. Then, let cool/drain on the rack, season, then into the air fryer. A contender for our favorite use of sous vide is to cook plain peeled, quartered potatoes sous vide > 85 C for 75 to 90 minutes starting cold. Then dry on a rack, perhaps involving a fan. Then pan fry with attitude in ghee. My intuition runs against using fat in the sous vide step. They certainly won't dry the same. Have you tried this both ways? I see how this could be your best opportunity to introduce fat, using an air cooker later. For anyone not using an air cooker, one should at least ask the question. Tonight I made Niçoise Stockfish, and the recipe called for cooked potatoes. I did this, making a second packet at the same time to chill in the fridge for a different meal. (Ok, I misread the recipe.) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tekobo Posted March 28, 2018 Report Share Posted March 28, 2018 21 hours ago, Jon B. said: One of these days, I'm going to fire up the oil deep fryer and make some french fries the old fashion way, in memory of George & Spiro!!! Don't wait! I am a big proponent of deep fat frying. Having the oil at the right temperature means you get the good crunch with (a little) less fat and maximum pleasure. I too love my French fry press. Here are some photos I took last year. The easiest, and tastiest, way to process my excess of home grown potatoes was to chip them with the manual press (my Kenwood attachment didn't do anything like as good a job as doing it the old fashioned way). I then did double frying the easy way. Did the first low temp fry, laid the chips out on a tray to freeze them and then vac packed them loosely in bags so they were available for the second fry whenever I was ready. I was so ready that they are all gone now! Nothing beats home made double fried chips. And yes, I am mixing terminology - you say fries and I say chips. Table mounted fry press. This year's planned over supply of chips, sorry potato seeds, going in last weekend. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacKenzie Posted March 28, 2018 Report Share Posted March 28, 2018 I did Tony's method today and the results were pretty good but I would like more crunch. I might have to try the SV without the oil and see what I think. It's tough doing all these fries tests. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted March 28, 2018 Report Share Posted March 28, 2018 Tough job, but someone has to do it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tekobo Posted March 29, 2018 Report Share Posted March 29, 2018 On 28/03/2018 at 11:33 AM, Syzygies said: A contender for our favorite use of sous vide is to cook plain peeled, quartered potatoes sous vide > 85 C for 75 to 90 minutes starting cold. Then dry on a rack, perhaps involving a fan. Then pan fry with attitude in ghee. Going to have to try this. I love the idea of pan frying with attitude. And ghee. Or goose fat. And no, @MacKenzie and the legion of people on this site who appear to have bought an air fryer (and not used it @Bruce Pearson?), you can't persuade me that an air fryer is ever going to cut it. I'd rather have fewer, deep fried chips. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Pearson Posted March 29, 2018 Report Share Posted March 29, 2018 I use my air fryer all the time 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacKenzie Posted March 29, 2018 Report Share Posted March 29, 2018 Going to have to try this. I love the idea of pan frying with attitude. And ghee. Or goose fat. And no, [mention=2394]MacKenzie[/mention] and the legion of people on this site who appear to have bought an air fryer (and not used it [mention=2647]Bruce Pearson[/mention]?), you can't persuade me that an air fryer is ever going to cut it. I'd rather have fewer, deep fried chips. It does make the best twice cooked baked potatoes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted March 29, 2018 Report Share Posted March 29, 2018 Are the air fryer chips better than traditional frying - no, but almost, and without the guilt. MacKenzie is spot on about the baked spuds in it. I love hushpuppies and the air fryer actually does a better job (IMHO) to the deep fryer on those. Tater tots are a toss up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tekobo Posted March 29, 2018 Report Share Posted March 29, 2018 55 minutes ago, Bruce Pearson said: I use my air fryer all the time Oops, sorry @Bruce Pearson! @tony b, no guilt here and @MacKenzie, the first crop of potatoes should be ready in a couple of months and I am going to need all the potato recipes I can find. Oh yes, and a lot of exercise! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacKenzie Posted April 1, 2018 Report Share Posted April 1, 2018 (edited) I tried Syzygies' fried potato wedges today. SV the potatoes wedges for 70 mins at 185F. Let them cool and dry off then pan fried with Ghee and served them with smoked meat on rye. The smoked meat was previously done on the KK sliced and frozen for days just like this one. One thing that stands right out is the creaminess of the inside of the potato. I sprinkled with cayenne pepper and salt. They are delicious. The creaminess does not show in the pix but it sure does in the mouth, awesome. Thanks Syzygies. The lettuce is looking a little ragged but that's from being in the oven under the broiler when I melted the cheese. Edited April 1, 2018 by MacKenzie 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tony b Posted April 2, 2018 Report Share Posted April 2, 2018 Winner looking spuds! Thanks Syz & MacKenzie! On my radar now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Pearson Posted April 2, 2018 Report Share Posted April 2, 2018 Oh boy another great looking meal! What is ghee? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amusedtodeath Posted April 2, 2018 Report Share Posted April 2, 2018 11 minutes ago, Bruce Pearson said: Oh boy another great looking meal! What is ghee? Ghee is clarified butter. All the milk solids gone, so higher smoke point closer to oil. Like pure butta... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
