A perfect French fry should have a crisp crust that breaks
instead of bending.- Perfect Fry Factor #1: The exterior must be very crisp
but not tough. In order to achieve such crispness, the
surface structure of a fry must be riddled with
microbubbles. It’s these tiny crisp bubbles that increase
the surface area of the fry, making it extra crunchy.
Ideally, this layer should only be as thick as it needs to be
to add crispness. Any thicker, and you start running into
leathery or tough territory. - Perfect Fry Factor #2: The interior must be intact and
fluffy and have a strong potato flavor. Fries with a pasty,
mealy, or gummy interior or, even worse, the dreaded
state known as “hollow-fry” (when the interior is missing
entirely) are an automatic fail. - Perfect Fry Factor #3: The fry must be an even light
golden blond. Fries that are too dark or are spotty have an
off-putting burnt flavor. Light golden but perfectly crisp is
how I want my fries to be. - Perfect Fry Factor #4: The fry must stay crisp and
tasty for at least as long as it takes you to eat a full
serving. Fries that comes straight out of the fryer are
almost always perfectly crisp. The true test of a great fry is
whether or not it is still crisp and edible a few minutes
later, after it’s been sitting on your plate. The bendy fry
pictured above fails that test.
First, a few decisions. For potato variety, russet is what you
want. Its high starch content means that it’ll fry up crisper