The soaking, Mr. Nasr said, is the secret to the crisp texture of the fries. It draws out the starch, making them more rigid and less likely to stick together.
The reason is to prevent the potatoes exposure to air, which causes dehydration, oxidation, and discoloration. Immersing cut potatoes will also help rinse off excess starch.
Soaking the sliced potatoes in water helps to draw out some of the starch from the middle of the potato, resulting in a sturdier, crispier French fry.
Soaking peeled, washed, and cut fries in cold water overnight removes excess potato starch, which prevents fries from sticking together and helps achieve maximum crispness.
Make sure that you soak the potatoes for at least 2-3 hours. Soaking the sliced potatoes in cold water is one of the main steps to prepare perfect French Fries. The cold water removes the starch present outside the potatoes so that you get perfectly crispy fries.
They're then briefly immersed in hot water to remove excess natural sugars for color reasons. According to McDonald's, blanching also eliminates enzymatic activity which prevents spoilage and develops a fluffy interior, similar to a baked potato, for better texture.
How long can peeled and cut potatoes sit in water before cooking, before they begin taking on too much water? A: We usually recommend no more than 24 hours. You can keep the potatoes from absorbing the water by making sure the water is not salted, and is chilled (you can even add ice to the water).
I wouldn't bother doing potatoes from the raw state, without soaking. It will take about a half an hour and the texture won't be nearly as rewarding. They just don't get very crispy without that cold soak.
Allow them to soak, 2 to 3 hours. (You can also stick them in the fridge and let them soak overnight.) When you're ready to make the fries, drain off the water and lay the potatoes on 2 baking sheets lined with paper towels. Blot with paper towels to dry them.
Soaking the sliced potatoes is the fundamental first step of making proper french fries. The soaking process removes the troublesome starch on the outside of the potato, which will help the fries achieve the perfect crispness.
Soaking potatoes in water helps remove excess starch. Excess starch can inhibit the potatoes from cooking evenly as well as creating a gummy or sticky texture on the outside of your potatoes.
Prior to cooking potatoes, one way to reduce acrylamide formation is soaking them in water. According to the FDA, soaking potatoes in water for 15 to 30 minutes is sufficient to reduce the levels of acrylamide during cooking.
Vinegar causes the potatoes to form a thin crust that further helps in retaining their shape. Vinegar increases the acid pH levels of water which further helps the potato just like when you add a little salt to the water while boiling eggs.
Rinsing or soaking cut raw potatoes helps to wash away a very small amount of amylose. But the potatoes must be cut into one-inch pieces to expose enough surface area to wash away any significant amount of amylose.
Soak the potato strips in water with a dash of apple cider vinegar. Soaking the potatoes draws starch to the exterior of the potato. This prevents fries from sticking together and helps them get crispy. Vinegar delays potatoes from turning brown and also speeds up the starch extraction.
Rinsing or soaking the potatoes for an hour (or, even better, overnight) will remove some of the starch from the surface and prevent the sugars from browning before the potatoes are cooked.
Removing the starch reduces the carbohydrate content, which is helpful when you're following a low-carb diet. In addition, cooking high-starch potatoes makes them soft and crumbly. Remove the starch when you want to cook crispy potato dishes, such as chips, French fries or hash browns.
Potatoes will be firmer and crispier if you soak them in salt water before frying or cooking. Although it may seem like an extra step, this process will help you prepare the potatoes in advance.
A: You can store peeled potatoes in water in the refrigerator for about 24 hours. Peeled potatoes left out by themselves at room temperature, on a refrigerator shelf or wrapped in foil or plastic wrap will still get dark overnight, so submerge them in a bowl of water, cover and refrigerate.
Your potatoes need to take two separate dips in hot oil to reach restaurant quality. Oil-blanching is a two-part process that reduces the moisture and starch content in your fries, helping them crisp up.
Their website states that “The suppliers we work with first peel, cut and blanche the potatoes. They then dry, partially fry and quickly freeze the fries for our restaurants. Once in our kitchens, we cook them in our canola-blend oil so you can have them crispy and hot—just the way you like them.”
Image courtesy of McDonald's. To make their fried menu items healthier, McDonald's began cooking potato sides with vegetable oil in 1990. But the fast-food joint wasn't willing to sacrifice that signature flavor: McDonald's added natural beef flavoring to the oil to preserve the taste customers had come to love.