378235 Tue Mar 06 19:30:08 -0800 2007 66 31 Home Cooking 0 2360108 I tossed them in olive oil and cooked them in a 400 oven. They became mushy, stuck to the foil, burnt on the side on the foil, just an overall mess! Tue Mar 06 19:30:09 -0800 2007 15229 Suzie 1 2360132 were your pans really crowded? They tend to "steam" when that happens, and prevent the nice crispiness. Tue Mar 06 19:38:30 -0800 2007 2360108 17714 alex8alot 2 2360703 It was one pan and it was a bit crowded . I bet you that was it. Thanks! I will try less next time. Wed Mar 07 03:30:09 -0800 2007 2360132 15229 Suzie 1 2360163 Was anything else in the oven with them? Moisture from another dish will prevent them from getting crisp. For example, they will never get crisp if you cook them with a bird in the oven. Tue Mar 06 19:46:46 -0800 2007 2360108 18017 Captain 1 2360517 Was it a bag from Trader Joe's?? Both my sister in law and I had the same problem. We even tried without evoo. I decided the have to be dimped in hot oil and cooked on the tradition. Tue Mar 06 22:35:52 -0800 2007 2360108 11934 Kitchen Queen 1 2360859 My dad uses an egg white to coat his and is happy with the results, I haven't tried that method yet. Wed Mar 07 05:50:44 -0800 2007 2360108 12813 Katie Nell 1 2363150 I've made sweet potato fries only a couple times, but mine didn't get crispy either. Still were very good, I think there's just something about sweet potato that is inherently not going to get as crispy as a regular potato. They were plenty browned though and think if I kept them in there they'd just have burnt like yours but stayed soft. Do spray your foil with pam or use baking paper like you'd use for cookies. Wed Mar 07 14:56:06 -0800 2007 2360108 37800 tarabell 2 2959025 I was told once by an owner of a Fish and Chips place, when I gently suggested they have SP fries, that the water content of sweet potato fries was too high to properly cook them until very crispy, like regular fries. Thu Sep 20 08:20:42 -0700 2007 2363150 11053 thenurse 3 2968919 But it can be done!! Redfish Grill and Bar (one in Chicago, two in Phoenix), El Paso BBQ (Ahwatukee, AZ), Stax (Scottsdale, AZ), and Rumba Grill (Ahwatukee, AZ; although the SWFs here aren't very crispy) all serve crispy fries. I do make sure to order them "extra crispy." I saw on a couple of food channel shows where the fries are parboiled first and then lightly oiled and then "oven-fried," and supposedly came out crispy, but I haven't tried this method myself. I recently bought a bag of pre-cut sweet potatoes and tried two methods: pan-frying a cupful of fries in a 1/2 tsp. of oil and lightly spraying a cupful of fries with PAM and then baking them in a toaster oven. Needless to say, the pan-fried version was much better (crispy!) than the toaster-oven version (hard and dry on the outside, mushy on the inside). I'll try the oven next time. Sun Sep 23 18:02:05 -0700 2007 2959025 106866 starlightjulian 1 2363157 Just a thought... I wonder if you blanch them first for a few minutes, and then pat them dry, coat them in whatever you want, and bake them? This is what I do with my pan-fried hashbrowns, and they are always perfectly done on the inside and crispy on the outside. Wed Mar 07 14:58:42 -0800 2007 2360108 12813 Katie Nell 2 2363313 I second Katie's reply to blanch first - I do this with my sweet potato fries and my regular potato fries -- they turn out great. Wed Mar 07 15:36:50 -0800 2007 2363157 65199 Marianna215 3 2363506 I always soak my regular potato oven fries in warm water for 10 minutes before baking, it removes some of the starch. I'll have to try it with sweet potatoes! Wed Mar 07 16:34:49 -0800 2007 2363313 63002 atomic 4 5183696 I'm using a recipe I found on this site. The recipe did call for soaking the sp sticks in cold water for 30min, before draining, drying, and then coating w. olive oil, kosher salt, garam masala, cinamon. We'll see how it goes. Sun Nov 15 14:24:27 -0800 2009 2363506 1090797 CookieLee 2 2363922 Blanch them in oil or water? Wed Mar 07 18:49:11 -0800 2007 2363157 15229 Suzie 3 2364602 water Thu Mar 08 05:25:00 -0800 2007 2363922 12813 Katie Nell 4 2364625 thanks Thu Mar 08 05:38:33 -0800 2007 2364602 15229 Suzie 1 2363390 I concur with the others that say it is hard to get sweet potato fries crispy in the oven -- even deep fried, they never get as nice a crisp exterior as regular fries. I think it's the sugar in them. To get them as close to crispy as you can in the oven, cook at high heat, use lots of oil, and don't crowd them. Wed Mar 07 15:58:38 -0800 2007 2360108 11028 DanaB 2 3498684 DanaB: yes Did them this way last night. They were done and tender 10 minutes before doing any "browning", but still not crispy-crunchy like white potatoes. Lovely with a crushed coriander-salt-red pepper-flake dredge. Used a 425 oven in a steel baking pan, no non-stick or foil. Sun Mar 16 15:02:00 -0700 2008 2363390 11234 toodie jane 1 2363418 I had the same problem you did. I used the precut sweet potatoes from Trader Joes. I used plenty of oil and didn't overcrowd the pan. I'm not concerned with crispness, but they stuck to the foil badly so I had to scrape them off leaving the browned crust. Otherwise they tasted great. I will be willing to try again with the blanching or any other method that you've found that worked. Wed Mar 07 16:08:39 -0800 2007 2360108 39764 coconutz 1 2363981 They're really easy to overcook, which turns them mushy. But I've done the egg-white thing with some success. Wed Mar 07 19:11:45 -0800 2007 2360108 10681 piccola 1 2363996 Tried this once and it was pretty successful. Not 100% crispy but most of them were. Instead of foil, used parchment paper. Baked at something like 400degrees or 450 in convection oven. I'll try blanching to see if it'll crisp better. Wed Mar 07 19:15:11 -0800 2007 2360108 43811 mellie 1 2364961 I stir/turn mine every 5 minutes or so, and that really helps with the sticking. And spread them out. Thu Mar 08 07:45:41 -0800 2007 2360108 77683 Lazy Susan 1 2365250 I grill the crap out of everything including potatoes and I've taken sweet potatoes out of my grilling repertoire for this reason. No matter what I do, they come off the grill limp and mushy and very un-toothsome. Thu Mar 08 08:55:18 -0800 2007 2360108 13609 Scagnetti 1 2805311 I soaked em in warm water for 10 mins, blanched em for 5 mins, paper towel dried them and then rolled them in egg whites before deep frying the crap out of them. To no avail, the gooey mess tasted ok, but I'll never go there again. Wed Aug 01 18:12:44 -0700 2007 2360108 37758 shanghaieats 1 2809665 Okay, so I tried the recipe today after reading all of these suggestions and I tried a couple of them out. My first batch, I blanched and then dried the potatoes then tossed them in 1 tablespoon of evoo and salt. I placed them out flat with enough room for each fry. I put them in for 15 mins and was disappointed when they were almost burnt to a crisp. (I cut mine quite thin.) The second batch I did the same thing but turned them after 5 mins. After about another 7 mins I took them out and though not all of the fries were consistently crispy, many of them were. I felt that it was pretty successful in the end. Thu Aug 02 22:29:25 -0700 2007 2360108 116432 KappaVi 1 2956842 i gave up on them and make sweet potato stick-pie...as we call them...cut 'em into american fry size wrap 'em in fillo (phillo) and bake 'em (follow the distructions on the phillo dough)...yummie-yummer mowarsh Wed Sep 19 14:00:13 -0700 2007 2360108 128602 mowarsh 1 2956867 I spoke with a friend of ours that is a chef and their restaurant only makes sweet potato fries in a convection oven. That's how I make them now and they come out great about 425 with olive oil and a little bit of salt Wed Sep 19 14:05:47 -0700 2007 2360108 126246 mcastle 1 2957313 jfood makes them all the time as wedges. no need for frying either. 425 oven, pray a rimmed cookie sheet with pam into the oven for 25 minutes. use a steel spatula and loosen from bottom and turn. return to oven for 15 minutes, then turn oven to convection roast for 5-10 minutes. crispy and carmelized. oooh. aaah. and no oil. Wed Sep 19 16:11:45 -0700 2007 2360108 11290 jfood 2 2957371 And if you use the newish Reynold's Release foil, they don't stick at all. I recommend this product all the time, so it might seem like I own stock, or work for the company, but it really is superior when you absolutely don't want something to stick. Wed Sep 19 16:28:10 -0700 2007 2957313 11995 pikawicca 3 2957560 wow, thanks p, never would have thought of that. have to grab some at the grocer. Wed Sep 19 17:41:21 -0700 2007 2957371 11290 jfood 3 2968805 MAJOR THANK YOUS TO PIKAWICCA the jfoods just finished dinner and sweet potato fries on Reynolds Release was a side. Little jfood looks at jfood and says "these are great, what did you do? They were easy did not stick and the ability to season freely was fantastic. Major addition to jfood repetoire. Sun Sep 23 17:15:40 -0700 2007 2957371 11290 jfood 4 2968825 You are more than welcome, jfood. If you make brittle or candied nuts for salads, this stuff is a godsend. Greetings to the little jfood. Sun Sep 23 17:23:05 -0700 2007 2968805 11995 pikawicca 5 3497264 Couldn't you just use parchment paper? Sun Mar 16 00:00:24 -0700 2008 2968825 162977 sarah galvin 2 2959080 What kind of oven Jfood? I'm liking this very much. What cut, make wedges, thin fries or circles and how thick please? Sounds great! Thanks! Thu Sep 20 08:35:11 -0700 2007 2957313 50431 chef chicklet 3 2959461 GE Monogram made by bosch. Convection roast puts on both top and bottom elements for a speedy hot air bath and the convection blows it like a banchee. Convection Broil should be fine as well. Jfood usually peels the SP, slices the long way and makes for wedges per half of the potato. He likes some substamce to the wedge. He first tried evoo before placing in rows on the sheet but did away with the oil when he wanted to loose weight and it was fine. S&P and some smoke paprika and maybe some garlic powder is all he places on the wedges. For quicker SP fires (also known as mommy fries in casa jfood) he juliennes the SP and broils them (mrs jfood invented these 20 years ago for the little jfoods), but you have to stay close to the oven/broiler or you have a sheet of used matchsticks. Thu Sep 20 09:58:05 -0700 2007 2959080 11290 jfood 4 2962598 Thanks, gotta commercial quality convection oven, I know juuuuuuust what to do now. I love sweet potatoes thanks for your tips! Fri Sep 21 07:36:51 -0700 2007 2959461 50431 chef chicklet 5 2962749 if you really want some complex flavors sprinkle some five spice powder on them when they com out. Fri Sep 21 08:22:30 -0700 2007 2962598 11290 jfood 6 2962896 Chili powder works well too. I like to cut the potatoes in matchstick size and make Nid oiseau and sprinkle them with chili powder and fill them with lightly sauteed tiny green peas. hey make a great accompaniment to roast pork Fri Sep 21 08:56:00 -0700 2007 2962749 106255 chazzerking 7 2964233 yikes, it's all good! Fri Sep 21 14:03:44 -0700 2007 2962896 50431 chef chicklet 2 3965682 who's Pam and why are you praying with her. Sweet potato fries are hard, but not that hard.apparently I have greater confidence in Jfood's ability to get e crust he does. Mon Aug 18 07:28:20 -0700 2008 2957313 106255 chazzerking 3 4701595 that is "spray" Pam, not "pray" Pam. Pam is that spray anti-stick stuff. And jfood never said that SP fries were hard. Read further down the sub-threads about Reynolds Release. Now jfood only uses that method, thx pica. Wed May 20 14:20:27 -0700 2009 3965682 11290 jfood 1 2958797 I cut them pretty small, instead of wedges, so they don't need to be blanched. I don't think they ever get as crispy as I like, so I use this trick: I toss them with just a bit of oil, then top them with salt, pepper and cajun seasoning. Once they are cooked through, I sprinkle with just a small amount of brown sugar and toss. Back in the oven very high, 425-450, and in just two minutes the sugar caramelizes and forms a nice crispy crunch. Because of the salt, pepper and seasoning, you have a nice salty/spicy/sweet combo that is delish. Thu Sep 20 07:20:43 -0700 2007 2360108 87249 katecm 1 2958971 another tip is to line your sheet pan with parchment paper. No sticking so you can easily toss/turn them for more even browning. The high sugar content tends to make them go from brown to black in short order so watch them carefully. Maybe back off on the heat but cook them longer. Thu Sep 20 08:06:36 -0700 2007 2360108 89493 scubadoo97 1 2962614 I cut mine on a mandoline in matchstick size aand spread them on paper towels and salt them like eggplant. deep fried, they will crisp. when cut thick they just hold too much moisture to get crisp. Fri Sep 21 07:44:15 -0700 2007 2360108 106255 chazzerking 2 2964870 I agree, there's a little bar in a small town in Louisiana that makes delicious, crispy, salty, sweet, sweet potatoe french fries. They cut them thin like shoe-string fries salt and deep fry them. Fri Sep 21 18:14:24 -0700 2007 2962614 120398 winkchow 1 2964810 Did it not occur to you to deep fry them? You want fries, not roasted potatoes. Fri Sep 21 17:39:17 -0700 2007 2360108 44071 AbdulSheikhMohammed 1 2990393 My method for crispy SP fries involves blanching them in hot water for about one-minute. Then I give them a few spins in one of those plastic (cheesy) salad spiiners lined with paper towels. Coat with eggwhite seasoned with garlic powder and paprika. Then dip in Japanese 'panko' breading. Panko is shredded dried bread crumbs, but zero moisture or oil content. It's what makes tempura crunchy. Deep fry the SPs or bake in a 450 degree oven. Always crispy! Sun Sep 30 11:31:41 -0700 2007 2360108 131147 Retiredoldcookie 1 3206387 tonight I made them for the first time (ate too much) and I cut them in good sized slices and layed them in a non stick pan - sprayed the pan with pam then sprayed the potatoes and they didn't stick at all - added fresh ground salt and sprinkled them with cumin ---they were great - also here where I live in South Dakota we dip them in apple butter - try them, you might like them! Thu Dec 13 17:12:46 -0800 2007 2360108 149924 mel1963 2 3206807 I never would have thought of that, but apple butter sounds like it would taste great! Thanks for sharing that idea. Thu Dec 13 20:09:35 -0800 2007 3206387 111267 meatn3 1 3346159 I found a recipe on MarthaStewart.com for Parmesan Sweet Potato Fries and they are the only sweet taters I've ever gotten to come out crispy ... and they were so delish! Preheat oven to 400. Spray tinfoil lined pan with cooking spray. Cut potato into wedges, leaving skins on. Dip each wedge into flour, egg white and shredded parm. Set the wedges upright if you can and bake away for 15 minutes. Sooooo good. Tue Jan 29 16:26:25 -0800 2008 2360108 161797 aebowles 2 3965609 After reading this post I looked up the recipe online and tried it this weekend with an oven roasted pulled pork. It was really good! The insides were soft and tender and the outsides crisp and flavorful. Very easy to make! Now, mine took longer than 15 minutes to bake... more like 25-30 but I followed the recipe and the pieces of potato may have been larger. The recipe says to quarter them but mine were pretty large so I did less than quarter sizes but they were still pretty much "wedges" and not so much really thin like fries. VERY GOOD! This is the parmesan sweet potato recipe I used: http://www.wholeliving.com/recipe/parmesan-coated-sweet-potato-fries Mon Aug 18 07:00:16 -0700 2008 3346159 218386 dzdigits 1 3346550 To get them crisp you have to give them a light dusting of flour. Don't ask me why. It just works. Tue Jan 29 18:35:30 -0800 2008 2360108 153975 bw2082 2 3497254 what kind of flour? all purpose or cornstartch? what type of oil should at deep fry it in and what degrees? I had some at a restaurant tonight and they were soooo nice and yummy and crispy. Sat Mar 15 23:52:57 -0700 2008 3346550 17063 vanity021 1 3556451 i had this problem, too; my sweet potato "fries" were more like soft wedges. that's until i read one of mollie katzen's recipes for oven "fried" sweet potatoes. She starts out like we normally do, cooking them in a 375°F oven, flipping a couple times to prevent burning, until fork tender. but THEN, she turns down the oven to 200°F and lets them "dry out" for 20 minutes -- the results: a crispier, more toothsome texture. Thu Apr 03 06:45:48 -0700 2008 2360108 179561 ceenote 2 3684182 Hi all - love this thread, read the whole thing,(totally sympathize w/jfood), so thankful for the suggestions - trying to synthesize.... So, would this make sense?: blanch, coat with evoo, salt and pepper, cook on parchment or non-stick Reynolds, 375 deg. oven. turn every 5 minutes (but dunno for how long), then into a 200 deg. oven to dry out. (Can't do a flour dredge cuz we're GFCF; any other guidance available?) thanks in advance! Tue May 13 16:14:08 -0700 2008 3556451 192007 AmyZSD 3 3684342 There is a really yummy recipe for crispy sweet potato fries in the new Cook's Country magazine. It includes a good spice mix for "sweet and hots". -Becca www.porterhouse.typepad.com Tue May 13 17:05:56 -0700 2008 3684182 11259 Becca Porter 4 3691726 Do you mind posting the link or emailing me the link, I can't seem to find it. BTW- Love your blog. Thanks Thu May 15 16:38:15 -0700 2008 3684342 17063 vanity021 5 3691754 It is in the newest print issue. I do not have an online membership to CC. Thanks, Becca www.porterhouse.typepad.com Thu May 15 16:50:27 -0700 2008 3691726 11259 Becca Porter 6 3692368 Thanks anyways! maybe i'll go and take a look at it at the bookstore. Thu May 15 21:00:40 -0700 2008 3691754 17063 vanity021 3 3948860 I just made these and used brown rice flour for the dredging. They were wonderful! Of course, I am a parmesan fanatic and used a wee bit of ketchup for dipping. It can be fun to eat GF. Mon Aug 11 19:02:04 -0700 2008 3684182 217729 repthe480 1 3692532 I worked in a restaurant (cooking and serving) where sweet potato fries were one of the specialties (local celeb chef from here is "famed" for creating them, his sous chefs operated the restaurant I worked at). This is how we prepared them: Peeled and then sliced with a mandoline, about 1/2 in thick Kept the raw fries in water (no specific time, but usually it was a day or so depending how many orders we went through) Tossed fries in cornstarch, no oil, the water was a perfect bonding agent - make sure that all fries are evenly coated Fry until done, salt to taste!! Story goes that our local chef and his assistants went through much trial and error in order to perfect sweet potato fries. They are really good, and our town is completely obsessed over them (link to menu and pic of SPF http://www.restauranteur.com/slates/menu.htm#Starters%20&%20Tapas). Thu May 15 22:36:13 -0700 2008 2360108 87968 cocktailqueen77 1 3694179 I fry them all the time & they are never mushy. You need to fry them twice- Fry intitially at 350, remove them & turn the oil up to 375. When you fry them the second time they crisp up in under 2 minutes. Fri May 16 12:20:03 -0700 2008 2360108 135484 Teraesa22 1 4175089 well, i had a huge sweet potato to experiment with tonight. did it three ways: 1. in the oven, using the 200 degrees drying time idea. uninspiring. limp. chewy. stick to my teeth. 2. in oil, trying to starting with cold oil method discussed elsewhere for french fries. cooked until nice and brown, but not burnt. were good, crisper than any oven ones i have made. but not that exciting, nonetheless. con: only making one batch this way. 3. in oil using the cornstarch method suggested here. brilliant! they were almost like a lightly battered tempura. crunchy on the outside, soft and a little fluffy on the inside. my husband LOVED them, even better than regular fries. took less time than any other method. Fri Nov 14 20:17:55 -0800 2008 2360108 171576 dani_k 2 4388623 I just used the restaurant cornstarch method outlined by cocktailqueen above, and it worked beautifully...no par boiling, no baking, just cut, soaked in water for about 20 minutes, dredged in cornstarch and fried..in minutes, wonderful sweet potato crunchy goodness! Wed Feb 04 18:57:17 -0800 2009 4175089 263420 teneya 1 4388645 I've never blanched, nothing special to mine. I line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and cook at 425-450 which is very important, also separate on the pan too many and they steam. Also I do not cut mine too thick. I dredge in olive oil in a bowl. Important they are all coated with oil, salt and pepper. I use chili powder and cumin too. Fresh herbs sometimes can cause a little moisture. I use dried for these until they are cooked. Bottom rack always in the oven and always crispy ever time. I hardly make regular potatoes any more. Also cutting them thin like regular shoestring fries works too. Wed Feb 04 19:06:43 -0800 2009 2360108 232829 kchurchill5 1 4452331 I just made some pretty successful oven sweet potato fries based on some of the rec's from this thread. I mixed a couple of tablespoons of cornstarch with some paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, cayenne, salt and pepper, and tossed it with medium-width fries and then a couple of tablespoons of canola oil. I preheated a cookie sheet in a 400 convection oven, and then added a couple more tablespoons of canola oil and let the oil get hot. (I saw Tyler Florence do this, and he said that putting the fries in hot oil helped to create a crust and prevent sticking. I don't know if this helped or not). The fries cooked for between 15-20 minutes, and then I turned them and cooked for about 10 minutes more, until browned on both sides. They were crispy and flavorful, and only a few dried out and burned slightly. I'd definitely do this again. Wed Feb 25 17:17:05 -0800 2009 2360108 77061 bear 2 4701491 Thank you, thank you, thank you for this entire post & everyone's feedback on trying the various methods!!! I have been trying to get these right for months now & am having a BBQ Sat with BBQ ribs & Jerk chicken both of which sweeet potato fries are fantastic with (even though mine have never quite turned out as I wanted, they still tasted great with the two dishes). I don't have a convection oven (DRAT!) but am going to try the cut, place in water 20 minutes, mix the seasoning with the cornstarch & place the fries in a paper bag and coat them. I'm very enthusiastic that they will come out great thanks to all of your hard work!!! :) Wed May 20 13:50:20 -0700 2009 4452331 294587 BRichar