Kennebec fries

[Vanisle_BC]

Websites say Kennebec ('KB') is THE chosen potato for making 'French fries' (chips ) That's not working for us with our home grown KB. Our usual way to make fries is to boil the potato 'fingers' 10 minutes in water with a little vinegar, before deep frying. We learned that a while ago - it tends to make them crispier. When we did it with KB, the fries were just crisp-crunchy layers of 'skin' all the way through like flaky pastry, with no 'real potato' on the inside.

So we tried cooking some in our older way - straight into the deep fryer with no preliminary cooking. Yecch! - they had no crunch at all and were also tasteless - completely insipid! (Yes,I've done the Covid test twice and I'm in the clear )

What's others' experience with Kennebec? Ours were very white-skinned at harvest but have turned darker in storage - with indirect daylight, at ambient home temperature. I'm sorry I grew them. Good old russets were fine before I read all the KB hype.

[webmaster]

I've never heard that Kennebec were preferred for fries.
I use Russet potatoes. Boiling for 10 minutes sounds about right.

I also do very thick cut and boil those for a little longer then roast them in the oven with oil on a half sheet.

And lately I've simply been boiling for about 15 - 20 minutes, allow them to cool off and release moisture then cut into halves and quarters and smash them onto an oiled half sheet so that they're intact but now have flaky soft interior exposed. Then pour some oil on top and salt. Bake it for about a half hour at 425 to 450, flipping potatoes halfway through. My wife and daughter are crazy about those!

[Vanisle_BC]

https://specialtyproduce.com/produce/Ke ... 6421.php[I]
'Kennebec Potatoes are a gourmet potato variety with white flesh and smooth thin brown skin. These potatoes have a smooth yet fluffy texture and are well-suited to baking, boiling, frying, or stewing. This variety from Maine is known as one of the best for making French fries or potato chips.'[/I]

It says "This variety from Maine" so maybe there are several different Kennebecs.

We, too, love those boiled, smashed & oven-roasted or baked spuds. We call them 'Jamie's' because we first saw them on a Jamie Oliver show.

[webmaster]

Okay! I will look out for those because I have seen Maine potatoes around.

[Gary350]

Kennebec is the our favorite potato but I have not learned best way to grow it yet, they are suppose to be a hot weather potato. Online says, Kennebec is the chosen potato for fast food, chips & fried. Left over potato pieces become Tots. Reason you never see Kennebec potatoes for sale in grocery stores big companies have contracts with growers to buy every potato they grow.

YouTube shows Kennebec potatoes being sliced for fries. Fries go into boiling water 7 minutes then dried & frozen in bag to be sold in grocery stores.

My experience cooking fries from any potato is to get oil hot enough that it starts to smoke. Then never put too many potatoes in the oil, oil temperature needs to never drop below 400 degrees F or you don't get crispy fries.

[Vanisle_BC]

Gary do you heat your oil over a stove - like my mother used to do with her unlidded 'chip pan'? (pretty dangerous as I once proved). She never boiled them before frying. Nowadays we have a stand-alone deep fryer that's thermostatic - we can't heat the oil till it smokes. A good thing/bad thing. I think it's why I can't make dry puffy tempura.

It seems weird that we'd have difficulty making decent fries just because we used a different potato - and one that's recommended for them. None of our other varieties has been difficult to deal with. Back to good old russets ....

[Gary350]

Gary do you heat your oil over a stove - like my mother used to do with her unlidded 'chip pan'? (pretty dangerous as I once proved). She never boiled them before frying. Nowadays we have a stand-alone deep fryer that's thermostatic - we can't heat the oil till it smokes. A good thing/bad thing. I think it's why I can't make dry puffy tempura.

It seems weird that we'd have difficulty making decent fries just because we used a different potato - and one that's recommended for them. None of our other varieties has been difficult to deal with. Back to good old russets ....

Wife has a deep fryer but I use a cast iron skillet. Deep fryer only heats to about 400 degrees but cast iron skillet gets hotter maybe 420 degrees F when oil starts to smoke. Be careful not to put too many fries in the hot oil it will cool the temperature below 400. Once potatoes are in oil water cooks away that lowers the temperature also. I'm not sure which works best electric fryer or cast iron skillet the trick is not to lower the oil temperature below 400 F. My grandmother use to dip sliced potatoes in salt water, salt is suppose prevent potatoes from turning black, then she placed cut potatoes on a towel to dry before she cooked them. Dry potatoes cook crispy easier. Method of cooking is the trick if I put more that 10 fries in the skillet oil temperature drops too much. I bought a laser thermometer to test oil temperature. Harbor Freight has laser thermometers on sale this weekend $19 not sure if that is a good price they change prices up & down all the time. I have not eaten anything fried in oil for a long time I have been trying to get cholesterol down below 110.

[PaulF]

Just for interest. Across the Missouri River from us in the flood plain there are several potato farmers who contract with Frito-Lay to grow potatoes they use for their potato chips. While harvesting with the huge potato digger equipment the general public is allowed to follow behind and pick up the leftovers for a nominal fee (a few cents per pound if I remember)

I have no idea the variety because it is supposed to be proprietary information to Frito-Lay. Great for chips and french fries and American fries...not so good for baked potatoes. Still a good price at about a dollar for a five gallon bucket.

We have not partaken for a few years because of the Missouri River floods recently but I think the US Geological Survey is finally figuring out how to control the river flows with some help from the general public and a few good politicians more concerned with farming and food production than a species of minnow.

[Vanisle_BC]

American fries; never heard of them - different from so called 'French fries' or are you just joking?

[PaulF]

Not kidding. Raw potatoes sliced like potato chips then fried in oil seasoned with salt and pepper. Cooked much like hash browns (if you know what that is). Stirred and turned until brown and a little crispy. Every independent mid-west diner will serve American Fries as a choice of potatoes...mashed, french, American, hash browns.

[Vanisle_BC]

How are those different from what North Americans call 'potato chips' - is it just that they don't come out of a factory?

We (in UK) never spoke of 'hash browns', Just fried potatoes - sliced, cubed or mashed (hashed?). Restaurants here - Canada - use the same expression, hash browns, for all 3. Generally you don't know what form they'll be in unless you ask .

It's Sunday morning. Will you be having them; or is Sunday breakfast of bacon, egg, etc. not an American thing? Whatever - enjoy!

[webmaster]

So cool! I'd never heard of American fries, either! I'm going to give those a try!

[Gary350]

I love to make a French Crisps for Breakfast & Dinner sometimes. Use coleslaw grader to grade a raw potato into a hot skillet with about 1 tablespoon of hot oil. When cooked golden brown flip the pancake shape over, cook golden brown on the other side. Place on paper towel for 60 seconds to cool while paper soaks up oil. Sprinkle on some salt then eat it like a 5" diameter potato chip.

[PaulF]

What the British call crisps is what we call potato chips and they come in a bag or packet. American fries are fried in a pan

[Gary350]

This is a French Crisp. I used 3 small Kennebec potatoes. If you think you have too much graded potato it is probably perfect because potato is 80% water they get smaller. I am out of practice I over cooked it but no problem I like it extra crispy. I have electric stove on #4 cook with no lid so steam can escape. When it starts to look golden brown turn it over. It cooks several times faster after its turned over so be ready to remove it from the skillet very quick then place it on a paper towel to soak up oil. I like it with plenty of salt.

[Vanisle_BC]

So 'American chips' are fried potato slices ? I speak both versions of the 'common language that divides us' although Scots vernacular is what I grew up among - a LONG time ago.

I've made crisps/potato chips myself. They didn't come in a bag; just on a plate . I confess they were not as good (thin & dry) as the factory ones. After a couple of tries (fries!) I gave up on them.

Potatoes are very versatile. We're fond of the crunchy, squashed & roasted version we first saw on a Jamie Oliver show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1bXQlWLl7U

[Gary350]

So 'American chips' are fried potato slices ? I speak both versions of the 'common language that divides us' although Scots vernacular is what I grew up among - a LONG time ago.

I've made crisps/potato chips myself. They didn't come in a bag; just on a plate . I confess they were not as good (thin & dry) as the factory ones. After a couple of tries (fries!) I gave up on them.

Potatoes are very versatile. We're fond of the crunchy, squashed & roasted version we first saw on a Jamie Oliver show.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1bXQlWLl7U

The YouTube video reminds me of German fried potatoes my grandmother use to make, she was from Sweden, not far from Germany. Wow those are so good it has been a long time since I cooked those.

My grandmother & mother use to make fried potatoes like PaulF picture shows. We never called them American fries, we called them, Fried Potatoes. Slow fry in a skillet 30 to 45 minutes.

[Gary350]

First pic is skillet fried potatoes for dinner in 1 tablespoon of oil.

Second, skillet fried potatoes for breakfast with omelet.

Third pic, German skillet fried potatoes these are very good fried in 1 tablespoon of oil. Boil potatoes first until almost done then fry them golden brown.

[PaulF]

Gary's French Crisp is what my family calls Hash Browns. Never have tried them fresh but from a bag of frozen pre-prepared potatoes...hash browns.