THE ULTIMATE QUINTUPLE-COOKED THICK AND CRISP STEAK FRIES I’ve never been a fan of steak fries The ratio of crisp crust to fluffy interior is all off for me I like that crunchy, slightly greasy crust, and with a thick steak fry, you get so little of it compared to the vast expanse of relatively bland interior But what if there were a way to increase the crispness of the exterior? To build up a crust even more substantial than with my regular thin and crispy fries? Here’s a thought: if double-frying fries gives them a nice thick crust, would triple-frying or even quadruplefrying improve them even more? Only one way to find out I made several batches of thick-cut fries (I’m talking ½ inch thick), using my thin-and-crispy fry technique as the baseline The first batch I made exactly according to the directions For the second, I fried them once at 360°F for 50 seconds and allowed them to cool, then fried them again for another 50 seconds and allowed them to cool, and finally fried them a third time until completely crisp and golden brown For the third and fourth batches, I increased the total number of frying stages to four and five respectively ¶ ¶ ¶ Turns out that indeed you can increase the crispness of a fry with repeated fryings See, with each stage of the fry, you burst more and more starch granules The starch molecules fly out and gelatinize when they come in contact with water from the potato Subsequent cooling allows those gelatinized starches to recrystallize, in effect staling like old bread (see “Drying Versus Staling,” here) With repeated fryings, these layers of crystallized starches build up into a substantial layer Cooling the potatoes between fries also prevents them from overbrowning with each subsequent fry Only during the very last fry do you leave them in the oil long enough that the gelatinized/crystallized starch layers are fully dehydrated, rendering them crisp and golden brown I’m not going to lie: these fries are a pain in the butt to make They are a project, and you’ve got to devote a significant amount of time to them But man, are they killer This is a path you don’t want to start down unless you are prepared to be eternally spoiled for regular French fries You’ve been warned NOTES: For best results, it’s imperative that you use an accurate instant-read thermometer and timer during frying After the optional freezing in step 3, the fries can be stored in a zipper-lock freezer bag in the freezer for up to 2 months; cook them directly from frozen, as in step 4 Peanut oil is the best oil for deep-frying, but canola, vegetable oil, or shortening will work as well (see “All ... Only during the very last fry do you leave them in the oil long enough that the gelatinized/crystallized starch layers are fully dehydrated, rendering them crisp and golden brown I’m not going to lie: these fries are a pain in the butt to... bread (see “Drying Versus Staling,” here) With repeated fryings, these layers of crystallized starches build up into a substantial layer Cooling the potatoes between fries also prevents them from... instant-read thermometer and timer during frying After the optional freezing in step 3, the fries can be stored in a zipper-lock freezer bag in the freezer for up to 2 months; cook them directly from frozen, as in step 4