Editing French fries (section)

==Preparation==
[[File:Flickr - cyclonebill - Pommes frites med salatmayonnaise.jpg|thumb|''Pommes frites'' with a mayonnaise packet]]
[[File:Hamburger and fries - Grape and Grain, Crystal Palace, London.jpg|thumb|A hamburger with crispy fries]]
[[File:20220602 puntzak friet schaftlokaal ulft.jpg|thumb|upright|Fries as a snack in a Dutch restaurant]]
The standard method for cooking french fries is [[deep frying]], which submerges them in hot fat, nowadays most commonly oil.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Amber|first=Fariha|date=17 August 2021|title=Top tips for making the perfect fries|url=https://www.thedailystar.net/life-living/food-recipes/news/top-tips-making-the-perfect-fries-2154141|access-date=17 August 2021|website=The Daily Star|language=en|archive-date=17 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817091453/https://www.thedailystar.net/life-living/food-recipes/news/top-tips-making-the-perfect-fries-2154141|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Vacuum fryer]]s produce potato chips with lower oil content, while maintaining their colour and texture.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=1 November 2002|title=Vacuum frying of potato chips|journal=Journal of Food Engineering|volume=55|issue=2|pages=181–191|doi=10.1016/S0260-8774(02)00062-6|issn=0260-8774|last1=Garayo|first1=Jagoba|last2=Moreira|first2=Rosana |citeseerx=10.1.1.459.6522}}</ref>

The potatoes are prepared by first cutting them (peeled or unpeeled) into even strips, which are then wiped off or soaked in cold water to remove the surface starch, and thoroughly dried.<ref name="stange">{{cite book|last=Saint-Ange |first=Evelyn |title=La Bonne Cuisine de Madame E. Saint-Ange: The Essential Companion for Authentic French Cooking|publisher=Larousse, translation Ten Speed Press |year=2005|isbn=978-1-58008-605-9|page=553|orig-year=1927}}</ref><ref name="ff">[[Fannie Farmer]], ''The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book'', 1896, ''s.v.''</ref> They may then be fried in one or two stages. Chefs generally agree that the ''two-bath'' technique produces better results.<ref name="stange" /><ref>{{cite news|last=Blumenthal|first=Heston|title=How to cook perfect spuds|url=http://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/cuisine/how-to-cook-perfect-spuds-20120417-1x4fp.html|access-date=12 October 2012|newspaper=[[The Age]]|date=17 April 2012|archive-date=2 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140902042322/http://www.theage.com.au/lifestyle/cuisine/how-to-cook-perfect-spuds-20120417-1x4fp.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Bocuse|first=Paul|title=La Cuisine du marché|language=fr|publisher=[[Groupe Flammarion|Flammarion]]|location=[[Paris]]|date=10 December 1998|isbn=978-2-08-202518-8|authorlink=Paul Bocuse}}</ref> Potatoes fresh out of the ground can have too high a water content resulting in soggy fries, so preference is for those that have been stored for a while.<ref name="Idaho"/>

In the two-stage or two-bath method, the first bath, sometimes called [[blanching (cooking)|blanching]], is in hot fat (around 160&nbsp;°C/320&nbsp;°F) to cook the fries through. This step can be done in advance.<ref name="stange" /> Then they are more briefly fried in very hot fat (190&nbsp;°C/375&nbsp;°F) to crisp the exterior. They are then placed in a colander or on a cloth to drain, then served. The exact times of the two baths depend on the size of the fries. For example, for 2–3&nbsp;mm strips, the first bath takes about 3 minutes, and the second bath takes only seconds.<ref name="stange" />

Since the 1960s, most french fries in the US have been produced from frozen Russet potatoes which have been blanched or at least air-dried industrially.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thespruce.com/how-do-restaurants-make-fries-crispy-995934|title=The Making of French Fries|publisher=thespruce.com|access-date=8 December 2017|archive-date=10 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171210124315/https://www.thespruce.com/how-do-restaurants-make-fries-crispy-995934|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Idaho">{{cite web|url=https://idahopotato.com/dr-potato/french-fried-potatoes|title=Russet Burbank|publisher=idahopotato.com|access-date=9 January 2018|archive-date=6 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201106070024/https://idahopotato.com/dr-potato/french-fried-potatoes|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kirkpatrick |first=Mary E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MbUXAAAAYAAJ&q=home |title=French-frying Quality of Potatoes: As Influenced by Cooking Methods, Storage Conditions, and Specific Gravity of Tubers |date=1956 |publisher=U.S. Department of Agriculture |series=Technical Bulletin |volume=1142 |pages=3 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=A third of U.S.-grown potatoes become frozen french fries used mostly by food service |url=http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/chart-gallery/gallery/chart-detail/?chartId=99117 |access-date=15 May 2022 |website=Ers.usda.gov |language=en |quote=Typically, about one-tenth of frozen french fries are sold in supermarkets and other retail outlets. |archive-date=17 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220617234706/https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/chart-gallery/gallery/chart-detail/?chartId=99117 |url-status=live }}</ref> The usual fat for making french fries is [[vegetable oil]]. In the past, beef [[suet]] was recommended as superior,<ref name="stange"/> with [[vegetable shortening]] as an alternative. [[McDonald's]] used a mixture of 93% beef [[tallow]] and 7% [[cottonseed oil]] until 1990, when they changed to vegetable oil with beef flavouring.<ref>[[Eric Schlosser|Schlosser, Eric]] (2001). ''Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of All-American Meal''. Houghton Mifflin. {{ISBN|0-395-97789-4}}</ref><ref name="grace">{{cite news|last=Grace|first=Francie|date=5 June 2002|title=McDonald's Settles Beef Over Fries|work=CBS News|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mcdonalds-settles-beef-over-fries/|url-status=live|access-date=4 May 2011|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120729020325/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/06/05/national/main511109.shtml|archive-date=29 July 2012}}</ref> Horse fat was standard in northern France and Belgium until recently,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hesser |first=Amanda |date=5 May 1999 |title=Deep Secrets: Making the Perfect Fry; The potato of the moment is often a soggy disappointment. Time to take things into your own hands. |language=en-US |pages=F1 |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/05/dining/deep-secrets-making-perfect-fry-potato-moment-often-soggy-disappointment-time.html |access-date=9 April 2022 |issn=0362-4331 |authorlink=Amanda Hesser |archive-date=9 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220409194144/https://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/05/dining/deep-secrets-making-perfect-fry-potato-moment-often-soggy-disappointment-time.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and is recommended by some chefs.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Steingarten |first=Jeffrey |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YkkhgGoE3_cC&q=horse+fat |title=The Man Who Ate Everything |date=8 June 2011 |publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |isbn=978-0-307-79782-7 |pages=401–416 |language=en|authorlink=Jeffrey Steingarten}}</ref>

=== Chemical and physical changes ===
French fries are fried in a two-step process: the first time is to cook the starch throughout the entire cut at low heat, and the second time is to create the golden crispy exterior of the fry at a higher temperature. This is necessary because if the potato cuts are only fried once, the temperature would either be too hot, causing only the exterior to be cooked and not the inside, or not hot enough where the entire fry is cooked, but its crispy exterior will not develop. Although the potato cuts may be baked or steamed as a preparation method, this section will only focus on french fries made using frying oil. During the initial frying process (approximately 150&nbsp;°C), water on the surface of the cuts evaporates off the surface and the water inside the cuts gets absorbed by the starch granules, causing them to swell and produce the fluffy interior of the fry.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://foodcrumbles.com/science-making-perfect-fries/|title=Science of making perfect fries|last=Mal|first=Julie|date=26 October 2019|website=Food Crumbles|access-date=11 December 2019|archive-date=18 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201218190142/https://foodcrumbles.com/science-making-perfect-fries/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The starch granules are able to retain the water and expand due to gelatinisation. The water and heat break the [[glycosidic linkage]]s between [[amylopectin]] and [[amylose]] strands, allowing a new gel matrix to form via hydrogen bonds which aid in water retention. The moisture that gets trapped within the gel matrix is responsible for the fluffy interior of the fry. The gelatinised starch molecules move towards the surface of the fries "forming a thick layer of gelatinised starch" and this layer of pre-gelatinised starch becomes the crisp exterior after the potato cuts are fried for a second time.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://thecountertopcook.com/frenchfriesscience/|title=Ultimate Guide to Crispy French Fries|last=Kaushik|first=Nitisha|date=11 July 2019|website=The Countertop Cook|access-date=11 December 2019|archive-date=6 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201106142807/https://thecountertopcook.com/frenchfriesscience/|url-status=live}}</ref> During the second frying process (approximately 180&nbsp;°C), the remaining water on the surface of the cuts evaporates and the gelatinised starch molecules that collected towards the potato surface are cooked again, forming the crisp exterior. The golden-brown colour of the fry will develop when the amino acids and glucose on the exterior participate in a [[Maillard reaction|Maillard browning reaction]].<ref name=":1" />