'proper' chips!! argh!

angeltreats

I fry twice, the first at 130 and the second at 190. After the first frying they should be barely coloured, but a knife goes straight through the middle easily, and then you need to drain them off. You can let the basket with the chips in drain over the fryer, or put the chips in a bowl with some kitchen paper. The second frying should only take a minute or two.

And yes, as hugebadger says (love the username btw!) you need to make sure you're not trying to fry too many at once.

I only ever buy Maris Pipers or King Edwards for chips. Estima are rubbish for frying.

natlie

Hi
What oil are you using? something like rapeseed,groundnut or sunflower would be best. The first time the oil is used it will make crappy chips with no colour in a deep fryer. I tend to do mine in the oven. I like to use roosters for chips
Nat

Emuchops

Thanks all- I will take on board all of your thoughts and suggestions. I use whatever oil is cheapest-the current one is sunflower. I thought new oil would do crisper chips-thanks for that Natlie-I will also try Rooster chips, and I may be guilty of putting too many in the fryer..... and doing the first fry at too high a temp and for too long...anyway lots of tips and advice-much appreciated.

WASHER

I used to fry the chips, but didn't like the smell of the frying, so I got one of these, I got mine from a pound shop, the best thing I have ever bought in terms of kitchen stuff, it really works. Crispy chips every time.

http://shop.planitproducts.co.uk/epages/es109145.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/es109145_shop/Categories/COOKWARE/%22cookamesh%20%26%20quickachips%22

DianneB

Earlier this year I turned to the dark side and brought a deep fat fryer (hangs head in shame) because I thought it would be nice to make the crispy jummy chips that you get when you eat out!! Home made were a disaster, tried all ways, all rubbish. Now I use a good quality thickish oven chip like Homefries or Aunt Bessies they come out perfect, just like Arbuckles (my nearest eaterie). Okay so the smell and the calorie content means it spends 99% of it's time in the cupboard but occasionally we have some really great chips!!

Emuchops

Thanks Washer-I think SOC mentioned those earlier-I do have 2 (from the £ shop), but I dont like putting the oven on unless Im doing a big roast or something that involves it being totally full.
Glad to hear its not just me Dianne-do you mean that you fry the Aunt Bessies-are they oven chips?

claregre

Hi
We had a deep fat fryer as a present just over a year ago. It is one of the oblong stainless steel ones, not a round one. We had a go a chips last year, but abandoned them after 2 unsuccessful attempts.

We tried again last night but they still aren't very good. Here is what we did:

Vegetable oil in the fryer
Maris Piper Potatoes (unpeeled) - 3 medium to large size
Cut chips into approx 1cm wide chips, various lengths
Rinsed off starch until water running clear.
Patted until very dry with kitchen roll.
Cooked in 2 batches for 9 minutes at 130 degrees until soft but not brown at all.
Took out of fryer, dried very carefully, left to cool to room temp and put in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Cooked again in 2 batches for 5 minutes per batch at 180 degrees.
Drained well and patted dry with kitchen roll.

We had to turn the temperature down to 170 during the second cooking for a couple of minutes as they were browning too fast.

They came out with crispy ends, very brown, but the edges were still soggy.

Does anybody have any ideas? We are willing to try anything different- from the fat to the potato to the method to the temperature.

We are going to try Heston's triple cooked chips at some point, but obviously this requires more preparation than just a bowl of chips on the fly!

Thank you!

A disappointed Deep Fat Fryer Owner.

cornishlady

i've got a similar fryer but don't have any problems. i part cook in 2 batches as 5 of us so cant do in one go .i dont dry off or refridgerate after part cooking just tip into a dish . i do find they improve after a couple of times as the oil loses its newnest .hth

s_b

lard is better for taste
i always drop them in to get them warm
pull out blanche at least twice
repeat till i think they are cooked properly in the middle
your problem might be your chips are too fat or your fryer doesnt get warm enough
you could try boiling the chips in a pan first too to stop them feeling under cooked

scaredy_cat

don't put them in the fridge ads they get moist again after you have gone to the trouble of drying them. keep them in a bowl covered with cling film and they will be ok for an hour or so til you refry then at a high temp.