Baking your potatoes before frying them makes fries that are crispy on the outside and creamy on the inside.
ingredients
directions
12 hours and 30 minutes includes cooling time
Special Hardware:
Heavy pot or large Dutch oven
Fry/candy thermometer
Large hand strainer or “spider”
At least 12 hours before frying: heat oven to 350°F and position rack in top half of the oven. Set an empty sheet pan on a lower rack.
Using a dinner fork or paring knife, poke several holes in the potatoes to allow water vapor to escape during cooking. Coat each potato lightly with 2 tsp of the peanut oil and sprinkle generously with salt.
Bake directly on the oven rack for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until tender or until an instant read thermometer inserted into the center of a potato reads 185 to 195°F.
Cool to room temperature and then refrigerate overnight, unwrapped if possible.
The next day, heat the 2 quarts peanut oil to 375°F in a large Dutch oven fitted with a deep-fry thermometer. (As the temperature crosses 350°F, turn down the heat so that you don’t shoot through the target temp.)
Slice the cold potatoes into half-inch-thick batons, leaving the skin attached. Boost the heat slightly before adding the first fries and cook 8 to 10 at a time until golden brown and delicious, 2-3 minutes. You’ll have to adjust the heat to maintain the oil temperature, so keep an eye on it. Use a spider to fish the fries from the oil to a cooling rack set over paper towels. Sprinkle with additional salt while hot and devour.
Cook’s Note: Since the fries have already been cooked by baking, they’re won’t be as much bubbling and foaming in the oil, which is nice. Even better: the fries will be ridiculously crisp on the outside while still cream-soft on the inside.