A pile of the crispiest, simplest oven-roasted fries.

A pile of homemade French fries.

A pile of homemade French fries.

These bootleg french fries emerge from the oven with uncommonly crisp edges thank you to a simple trick: soaking the cutting potatoes in hot water for x minutes before baking.

A pile of homemade oven fries.

Every summer, when the potatoes start arriving in our CSA, I am blown away by their flavor, by how they demand zero more than olive oil and salt, by how many potatoes we consume as a family each week. When I was at the farmers market last calendar week, I asked the woman at the Barber's Farm table why the summertime potatoes were and then good. She responded: "Considering they're fresh!"

Makes sense.

I mean, if well-nigh — all? — vegetables taste their best at their pinnacle season, why shouldn't potatoes, besides? They should, and they do, but I think that because potatoes have the added virtue of storing well, which allows us to enjoy them well past their harvest, we often acquaintance them with winter cooking.

And with many a gratin and mash on the horizon, it's certainly easy to overlook potatoes this time of twelvemonth. But thinly sliced or julienned, coated in olive oil, showered with table salt, roasted until crisp, summer potatoes couldn't be more irresistible. Or could they?

After weeks of making completely delicious, no-fuss, oven "fries" and "chips," I decided to explore the affair further. Could the chips be crispier? Better? After finding little guidance in a few of my favorite vegetable-focused cookbooks, I turned again to the e'er-reliable America's Test Kitchen Family unit Cookbook , a book that has been open on my counter for weeks. And, of form, they had a trick. And fortunately, the play tricks was simple.

A pile of the homemade French fries.

How to Make Crispy French Fries at Abode

The ATK method calls for soaking the cutting potatoes in hot h2o for 10 minutes earlier baking them. When developing the recipe, the Examination Kitchen sought inspiration from the technique used when making traditional French chips, which is a brief blanching in hot oil or water before the terminal fry.

This blanching step "non merely disrupts the starch molecules within the irish potato (encouraging a fluffy interior), only also washes away some of the starch on the outside of the potato (preventing a leathery outside)."

Here's the method, in sum:

  1. Wash potatoes and cut them, lengthwise, into pocket-size, even wedges or sticks.
  2. Place the potatoes into a big bowl, cover them with hot tap water, and allow them soak for 10 minutes.
  3. Drain the potatoes, dry them thoroughly, and so toss with olive oil and salt.
  4. Accommodate the potatoes on an oiled baking sheet and comprehend tightly with foil.
  5. Bake for v minutes, remove foil, and keep to bake for xx to 25 minutes, rotating the pan after 10 minutes, until the fries are golden and crisp.
  6. Sere immediately, seasoning with more table salt every bit necessary

When I made the potatoes this mode for the beginning fourth dimension, everyone around the table agreed that these were particularly skilful, especially crispy on the edges, especially creamy on the within. I haven't looked back since.

A bowl of potatoes.
A board of cut potatoes.

Update: I now cut them a bit smaller: more similar 1/four inch thick:

A bowl of soaking potatoes in hot water.
drying the potatoes in a tea towel
A sheet pan of cut potatoes ready for the oven.
A sheet pan of homemade French fries.
A pile of just-baked homemade French fries.
A pile of homemade oven fries.

Impress

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Description

Slightly adapted from The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

A note on potatoes: Russets are most often cited as the best frying potato. Unlike many potatoes, Russets will release their starch (which is what causes potatoes to blot oil) upon being soaked or rinsed. I've had success with Russets but besides with a handful of others from our CSA and the farmers' market, including Salem, Cherry-red Chieftain, and Kuka Golden.

Updated Method/Notes:

  • I at present always piece up 3 Russet potatoes — I look for smallish ones and I aim for a total weight of 2 lbs. or simply nether — which is perfect for my family unit. For this corporeality of potatoes, you lot'll need an extra-large sail pan.
  • If you are using a standard sized sheet pan, ii Russet potatoes sliced volition likely fit in a single layer.
  • Instead of pouring 3 tablespoons of oil direct onto the sheet pan, I at present line the sheet pan with parchment newspaper and I toss the potatoes with all of the oil (ane/4 cup) as opposed to splitting upwardly the oil between the sheet pan and the potatoes.
  • I roast at 450ºF convection — I observe that my potatoes cook a little more evenly when I melt them at a slightly lower temperature for longer.
  • I don't stir the potatoes once.
  • 2 to 4 Russet potatoes, well-nigh i½–2 pounds full, encounter notes above
  • 1/four cup olive oil
  • ane teaspoon kosher salt
  • squeamish flaky bounding main salt such as Maldon for seasoning at the stop
  1. Suit an oven rack to the lowest position, and preheat the oven to 475ºF (or 450ºF convection — this is what I do at present). Cut the potatoes lengthwise, into ane/iv-inch thick sticks: it's helpful to cutting the potatoes into 1/4-inch thick slabs showtime; and then into one/4-inch sticks.
  2. Place the sliced potatoes into a large bowl and cover them with hot tap water. Let them soak for x minutes.
  3. Drain the potatoes and dry out them thoroughly with a tea towel (a bath or embankment towel gets the task done better!). Line a sail pan — extra big if yous have it — with parchment. Place the potatoes on top of the parchment, drizzle with the 1/iv cup olive oil and sprinkle with the teaspoon of salt. Toss to combine.
  4. Spread the potatoes in a unmarried layer on the baking sheet and cover the sheet tightly with foil. Bake for 5 minutes, then remove the foil and continue to bake for 20 minutes or until the potatoes are golden and well-baked. Bank check on the potatoes after 10 minutes — if they are not browning evenly, rotate the pan. Note: previous versions of this recipe call for flipping the potatoes, which I always found problematic, and so blistering for some other 5-10 minutes or and then. If you've fabricated this recipe and didn't have trouble flipping, you can keep to do so. Otherwise, bake until the fries are gilded and crisp, rotating the pan equally necessary to help them brown evenly.
  5. Remove from the oven, and season with more bounding main salt and/or whatsoever other seasonings y'all wish. Serve immediately or every bit presently as they are absurd plenty to eat.

  • Prep Time: 25 minutes
  • Cook Time: 35 minutes
  • Category: Vegetable
  • Method: Oven
  • Cuisine: American

Keywords: crispy, oven, chips, roasted, simple