Homemade Fries

by Jody

Ingredients

  • 4 or 5 Russet Potatoes (can substitute other kinds)
  • 32 oz bottle Pure Vegetable Oil
  • Salt
  • Seasoned Salt (optional)

Directions

WARNING! Vegetable oil will become very hot and can severly burn you or cause a fire. Be careful!

  1. Rinse potatoes
  2. If you don’t want the skin left on your potatoes, peel them.
  3. Fill a large pot less than halfway full with vegetable oil and place it on the stove at the highest temperature. The idea is to have enough oil to keep the fries submerged. Too much oil will result in an overspill when you add the fries, which can be very dangerous.
  4. Slice up the potatoes, not too thick, but not too thin. About 1/4" square and the length of the potato. Be sure to cut out any bad spots.
  5. When the oil is hot enough (after about 10 minutes) start adding the fries. Don’t just dump them or you will get splattered with hot oil and it will not be fun. Let the fries sort of slide off the edges of the pot so they make as little of a splash as possible.
  6. Stir with a metal (do not use plastic) spooned spatula (a regular spatula can work, but not as well) every few minutes, but keep the fries under the oil.
  7. After about 10 to 15 minutes, the fries should be somewhat browned. Start scooping the fries out with the spatula, letting the excess oil drain back into the pot before placing them on a plate layered with 2 paper towels.
  8. You may want to get just a few out and let them cool just enough to see if they are done.
  9. Salt generously. These aren’t very good without enough salt. You’ll know when it’s enough. If you have seasoned salt, use less table salt and add the seasoned salt for a Bojangles like taste, but not so Kick-you-in-the-pants

Comments

Four medium sized potatoes was just enough for three of us, but had we not been eating 2 burgers I’m sure we could have handled more.

As I mentioned above, deep frying needs extra attention to avoid potential problems. Don’t put too much oil in the pot, and don’t dump the fries in all at once. Those two things should keep you straight. Another key point is to keep the oil hot. Many flat surface ranges do not let the oil get hot enough, but you can still cook the fries. Gas or coil top electric ranges work best. Just keep the temp on high the whole time and you’ll be good to go.