How to Prevent Fries from frying too Brown

[Octang]

I like to make french fries from scratch. To do so I twice fry them... 325 once and 375 the second time. This seems to be the most agreed upon method. However my fries turn out to be much darker than fries I eat elsewhere.

Are there any tricks to keeping fries a light golden color?

[Hank Hanover]

When I was a kid, I worked at McDonald's back when we actually skinned, sliced, blanched and fried the fry's.

We blanched at 275°F to remove most of the water. We didn't want them to brown in the slightest. We would let them sit for at least 15 minutes and sometimes a lot longer. Then we would fry at 350 - 375°F.

For a home situation, I would blanch them at 275°F and let them sit covered for 15 minutes. I would then fry them at 360°F until they were light brown and take them out, salt them and serve.

Basically a combination of Todao's and mlou72's advice.

[ebethsdad]

I have been on a quest for the perfect french fries for years. My latest effort is almost there: after cutting the fries soak them in brine, not water, for several hours. They will be limp. Then fry at 280 for three minutes or so. Careful as the brine seems to bring out the sugars and they can brown when you don't want them to. Cool for at least 30 minutes. Finish at 350 until desired golden color is reached. Crispest fries I have ever done. Sorry for resurrecting an old thread, but I was shocked at how good these turned out. Oh, be careful about salting - they are plenty salty from the brine.

[jaykayen]

The first fry should be practically colorless when done.

[chefj]

What variety of potato did you use?
Some have pretty high sugar content and brown much more quickly that others.
Storage also effects the starch to sugar conversion in all potatoes.
The Russet,Kennebec or other dry starchy variety work the best for obtaining a crisp but lightly colored fry.

[jcolvin]

Personally I would much rather eat a browned, semi-soft fry than a crispy "McDonald's style" fry. This may be cultural....Americans tend to prefer their fries crispy and light, English prefer them soft and browned. Browned fries are brown because of the caramelized sugar. I think this is a good thing. But to each his own.

[chefj]

And how does that relate to the original post?

[chefj]

or my post?

[jcattles]

On another thread last week, I saw a link to this website:

http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2...

I was short on time so I didn't double fry or freeze the fries. They were light & crispy though. Next time I'll try the recipe exactly & see how they turn out. Everyone thought they were better than my usual fries. Guess the recipe is a keeper in my house.

[RealMenJulienne]

I like darker fries myself, but you can lighten them up by rinsing and patting very dry after you cut the potatoes. This removes some starch fom the outside which tends to burn when deep frying.

[mlou72]

They keep cooking a little after you take them out, just take them out when they're approaching the color you like. A few tries and you'll know exactly what you want them to look like when you get them out of the oil.

[hill food]

mlou - that makes a lot of sense

[todao]

Fry them at a temperature of about 275 - 300 degrees until they're fork tender. Remove them from the oil, drain and cool. Return them to fryer at 350 - 375 degrees until golden brown.

[iluvcookies]

Watch the oil temp and don't fry them so long?

[wekick]

Send them to my house-That's how I like them!