Tricks to preserve chips (french fries)?
Since I can remember I've always been crazy about chips (french fries for the Americans). As a result I always make too much when I make them for me. The problem I have and have always had is that they never seem to keep very well. The minute they cool off they become floury and stale. I find that this even happens with oven chips.
When I was a kid my mother used to reheat chips for me in the morning, melting some butter over it, which help rehydrate them somewhat and give them a bit of flavour, but this never really worked all too well.
What I'd like to know is if any of you know of some tricks to help preserve the chips? And also for interest's sake why this happens? This never seems to happen with baked potato or mash. They do lose some of their flavour sometimes, but not in the same way chips do.
Best Answer
Here is an excellent recipe by the guys over at Cooking Issues (and also a follow up report) with almost everything you'd ever want to know about chips. That first recipe is supposedly good even after they've cooled off:
Our standard fries are good even when cold.
Another option is to cook a lot of chips but stop after their first frying and freeze them; when you want to eat them, simply put the frozen chips into the fryer for the second frying. This also has added benefits:
Freezing acts like partial dehydration. When the frozen fries are finished, they liberate water freely, leading to rapid dehydration and good crust formation with a porous interior. Pre-frozen fries are crunchier than fresh and stay crisper longer after they are fried, but they tend toward hollow fry.
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Quick Answer about "Tricks to preserve chips (french fries)?"
If you prepare a lot of chips and blanch them in boiling water for 5-7 minutes, then drain them well, you can freeze them and then just use them as you need them.How do you preserve French fries?
When storing french fries, they should be placed in a shallow airtight container. If you aren't sure if your container is truly airtight, you can tightly wrap food wrap or aluminum foil. When stored correctly in the refrigerator, cooked fries will keep for 3 to 5 days.How do you make French fries last longer?
First fry them till they are cooked, but still pale on the outside. Then let them cool off. Then fry them again, till they are crispy. This should improve overall crispiness, but also potentially keep sem good for longer, as you\xb4ll reduce water content.How do you preserve cooked chips?
To store leftover chips, Magda suggests the best way is to cool them down as quickly as possible, and keep them covered loosely in the fridge. Sealing them tightly can cause bacteria to grow, and you don't want a side serving of that with your chips!How do you preserve fresh chips?
The best way to keep chips fresh is to store them in a cool, dry place. If you can remove them from their original packaging and place them in an airtight resealable bag, that is the best option. Otherwise, you can purchase bag clips to help seal the chips in the original packaging.HOW TO FREEZE FRENCH FRIES OR POTATO CHIPS
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Answer 2
I've found that reheating Fries/chips in the toaster oven is the best way to reheat them. They're crispy and not dried. They end up just as good as before. if you don't have a toaster oven, maybe a standard oven would work for you?
Answer 3
If you prepare a lot of chips and blanch them in boiling water for 5-7 minutes, then drain them well, you can freeze them and then just use them as you need them. That is how they prepare frozen chips at the factory.
but they don't keep more than about two hours when they've been par-fried first - they lose texture and won't fry crisp.
I've known a lot of chip shops prepare chips by frying at low temperature first, then put them to one side and fry portions as customers ask for them, but with the waxy varieties of potato used for chips in the UK they don't keep more than about two hours when they've been par-fried first - they lose texture and won't fry crisp.
Not a lot you can do to revive them when they have been fried .
My mother would peel the potatoes and cut them into thin slices which she cooked in the frying pan - "frying pan chips" as they were called in our family.
Quite often she would peel the potatoes the day before, then leave them to one side in a bowl, covered with water. They always tasted better when she did that ...
Answer 4
I think we should just eat them when they come out or heat them back up in water. You can just put them back in the chip pan or boil at a flame under them.
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