I really like good french fries but my wife picks on me about the amount and quality of oil used so I decided to make a really good oven baked "fry".
In this case I was not after one of the big fluffy potato wedges that are more liked baked potatoes than fries. What I wanted was a thin 1/4" to 3/8" fry with a crispy skin and a dry fluffy interior.
Servings:
1 to 4 per potato
Preparation Time:
30 minutes
Tools
- cutting board & knife
- salad spinner
- water
- paper towel
- medium bowl
- baking sheet
- non-stick liner or spray
- broiler
- spatula
Ingredients
- 1 potato (russet or orange flesh sweet)
- 1 t. light olive oil
- 1 t. kosher salt
Cooking Instructions
- Carefully slice the potato into 1/4" to 3/8" fries.
- Cover the fries with water in the salad spinner and soak for 5 minutes.
- Lift the basket out of the water carefully. Do not stir up the starch.
- Dump out and rinse the salad spinner bowl and give the fries a good spin.
- Arrange the fries on the paper towel to finish drying for a few more minutes.
- Place the fries into the medium bowl and drizzle the olive oil over the fries and then the salt.
- Toss to coat the fries with oil and salt.
- Arrange the fries on the baking sheet so that they will be evenly distributed under your broiler element(s).
- Place a baking rack just above the middle of the oven. (For me this is 6" from the broiler element.)
- Center the baking sheet and broil on high for 8 to 10 minutes.
- Remove the pan and flip the fries over with the spatula.
- Return to the oven and broil for another 4 to 5 minutes.
Notes
Starting with the cold oven and keeping the fries a bit further away from the broiling element allows the centers of the fries to cook through. Using the broiling element also crisps the skin of the fry since they are coated with a thin layer of oil that will be quickly boiled by the broiler.
Your broiling times and shelf height may vary a bit depending on the temperature and type of broiler you have. Experiment with a couple of small batches until you get the crispy/fluffy fries that you are after.
I am not sure if this recipe will work with an electric broiler unless the boiler is started a bit before the baking sheet is placed into the oven.
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