**Creating the Perfect French Fries: A Recipe Experiment**
In this article, we'll explore the process of creating perfect French fries from scratch using a unique recipe inspired by the original McDonald's French fry formula. We'll delve into the preparation of the potato mixture, the rendering of beef tallow, and the frying process.
**The Potato Mixture**
To start, combine 2 cups of sugar, 2 tablespoons of corn syrup, and 1 1/2 cups of hot water in a bowl. Whisk this mixture together until all the sugar and corn syrup dissolve. Next, add your potatoes to the bowl and mix well. Place the bowl in the refrigerator to cool for 30 minutes. This step is crucial in allowing the potato mixture to set and become easier to shape.
**Heating Up the Oil**
On the side, we have six cups of Crisco shortening that's been heated up to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. It's essential to use a thermometer to ensure the oil reaches the correct temperature. Once the oil is hot, carefully add the potatoes to the pot, making sure not to overcrowd it. This will prevent the potatoes from sticking together.
**The First Fry: Oil Blanche**
After adding the potatoes to the hot oil, wait for about a minute and then gently nudge them to separate. This step is called an "oil blanche." The result should be a light, crispy coating on the outside of the potato. Remove the fries from the pot with a slotted spoon or skimmer, and drain off excess oil.
**Cooling Down and Second Fry**
To prevent the French fries from becoming greasy, we'll cool them down in the refrigerator for 10 minutes to set. This step is called "par-cooking." Once cooled, add the fries back to the hot oil (375°F) for a second fry. This will give the fries a crisper exterior and a fluffier interior.
**Rendering Beef Tallow**
For an added layer of flavor, we'll be using beef tallow in our French fries. To render the tallow, cut up small pieces of beef fat from a roast dinner into a saucepan and heat it over low-medium heat until melted and rendered. Strain the tallow through a coffee filter to remove any impurities, resulting in a clear, golden liquid.
**Adding Tallow Flavor**
Add the warm beef tallow to the hot oil (375°F) for the second fry. Stir well to combine, and ensure the fries are fully coated with the tallow flavor. This will give our French fries a rich, savory taste that complements their natural sweetness.
**Frying Time!**
Once the tallow is hot, gently add the potatoes to the pot, making sure not to overcrowd it. The result should be a delicate, golden-brown crust on the outside of the potato. Fry for about 3-4 minutes or until golden brown, then remove with a slotted spoon or skimmer.
**Seasoning and Serving**
To season our French fries, sprinkle them with table salt and toss to coat. Serve immediately while hot, and enjoy! For comparison, we'll also be serving classic McDonald's French fries, cooked to their signature specifications.
**Comparison Time**
It's time to taste the difference between homemade French fries and commercial ones. We'll be comparing our shoestring potato-style French fries with the iconic McDonald's fries. While both are delicious in their own right, there's an undeniable difference in texture and flavor. Our homemade fries have a more complex, sweet, and salty taste, while McDonald's fries are thicker and less crispy.
**Tips and Variations**
For those looking to try this recipe at home, we recommend using a mandolin slicer to achieve the perfect shoestring potato shape. To take it up a notch, experiment with different seasonings or herbs to give your French fries an extra boost of flavor. Remember, practice makes perfect, so don't be discouraged if your first batch doesn't turn out exactly as expected.
**Conclusion**
Creating perfect French fries from scratch requires patience and attention to detail. By combining the right ingredients, using precise temperatures, and experimenting with different seasonings, you can create a delicious and unique French fry recipe that rivals the original McDonald's formula. Whether you're a food enthusiast or just looking for a new twist on a classic dish, this article provides a comprehensive guide to making mouthwatering homemade French fries.
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en♪ Da Doo da ya ♪♪ Da doo da ya ♪♪ Da da doo da ya ♪♪ Da da doo da ya ♪- Greetings, my beautiful lovelies.It's Emmy.How are you?It's great to see you.And welcome back.Today's video is sponsored by HelloFresh,that brings seasonalpremeasured ingredientsright to your doorstep,so you can make a mealin about 30 minutes.Great way to get out of recipe ruts.They have so many recipes to choose fromand it's super convenient.The food comes right toyour doorstep in packagingthat is almost entirelyrecycled or recyclableand it saves you so much time.Did you know that onaverage we spend 41 minutesat the grocery store?HelloFresh is super flexible.If you want to change yourdelivery date or make changesto your food preferencesor even skip a week,HelloFresh makes it simple.And our favorite meal this weekwas the Lemon Spinach Ricotta Ravioli.If you'd like to tryHelloFresh for yourself,head over to hellofresh.comand use my code 10EMMYMADEto get 10 free meals,including free shipping.Big thanks to HelloFresh,for sponsoring this videoand for their continued support.So today, I'm going to becooking what I think might bethe original McDonald's French fry recipe.I was inspired to makethis recipe by an articleI read an Atlas Obscura,written by Luke Faterand his quest to find the original recipe.Now what's so interestingabout this recipe,which I had heard before,was that the original, original recipe,the fries were cooked in beef tallow.Beef tallow of course, is beef fat.Now a little history about McDonald's:McDonald's was originallyowned by the McDonald brothers.Richard and MauriceMcDonald had a burger standdating from 1954 in SanBernardino, California.And they cooked theirfries in beef tallow,which, in the 1950s and prior to,which was very, very common,and, if you can imagine,very, very delicious.And several years later, Ray Kroc,who at the time was themilkshake machine sales person,decided to buy McDonald's andthe rest is sort of history.He made it into a franchiseand now we have a McDonald's everywhere.But, Ray knew that the fries were the keyto the success of McDonald's.People loved the fries.At the time, the potatoeswere peeled and cooked freshand they were cooked in beef tallow.In order to reduce costs,McDonald's came up withsomething called Formula 47,which was based on the McDonald'smeal price of 47 cents.But it was a combination ofvegetable oil and beef tallowto fry the fries in.So fast forward to the 1990s,a fellow named Phil Sokoloffmade it his ambition,after having a heartattack at a very young age,to combat fat and wenton this huge campaignthat was self-funded toobliterate saturated fats and fat.So in the 1990s, there werehuge fads of non-fat this,non-fat that, and McDonald'sof course was not excludedin that campaign.And in July 1990, they changed the formulain which they fried their fries.And now they are fried in the combinationof soybean and canola oil.So the recipe that I'mgoing to be using alsohas a little mystique and mystery.It's called the McMenu andit is a 33 page documentthat has the recipe for allkinds of things from McDonald's,including the big Mac, thehamburger, and the fries.The author is anonymous, butclaims to be a former managerin the 1980s.It also includes a McRib recipe.So, so so very fascinating tonot only test out this recipe,but to also compare it to thefries of McDonald's today.And I'm also very curiousabout the homemade Big Macand the hamburger as well.I have very fond memories of eatingthe McDonald's hamburgers as a child.They were a treat andthey were my favoriteand I am not surprised in the least.When I was pregnant with my first child,I craved McDonald's hamburgers.I was living in Japan atthe time and every Fridayon my lunch break, I wouldride my bicycle to McDonald'sso I could have a McDonald's burger.So interesting how the mindand food connections work.At any rate, let's goahead and make these fries.First thing you're gonnado is take two largerusset potatoes and peel them.And next, you're going to slice themand the best tool to use forthis to get nice even cutsis a mandoline.So mandolines are great tools,but they're super dangerous.Make sure to use the included guard.You want to have friesthat are a quarter inchby a quarter inch and aboutfour to six inches long.Next you're gonna make a sugary bath.This is gonna help getthem nice and brown.So in a large bowl, adda quarter cup of sugar,two tablespoons of corn syrup,one and a half cups of hot water.Whisk this altogether,so all the sugar andthe corn syrup dissolve.And then add your potatoes.Place this bowl in the refrigeratorand let it cool for 30 minutes.Also on the side here,I've got six cups of Crisco shorteningthat I'm heating up to 375 degrees.Here are the drained potatoes.Since I'm not wearing my glasses,it's probably not a bad ideato have some safety measures.Okay, safety first.This reaction's gonna be furious.Here we go.Ah.(oil sizzling)Right?Holy camolies.Make sure there's a lotof room in your pot.Jeez.Give these a nudge.After a minute, we're supposedto take the fries out.That was some reaction.I only have my pot filledto one-third capacity.And when I added the fries,that went right to the top.Ooh!So what we're gonna do iswe're gonna fry these twice.This is just the firstkind of oil blanche.Now, we're gonna coolthese off for 10 minutesin the refrigerator.So, beef tallow of course is beef fatand I rendered this from the roastthat we had for Christmas dinner.Super easy.You cut up the bits of fat.You put it in a small saucepan, and put it on low,medium, low, and let it melt.Once it's all rendered andmelted, I took a coffee filterand I filtered the fat and gotthis beautiful cup of tallow.So this is great for frying in,and of course it's a saturated fatbut, you just don't use asmuch, but full of beefy flavor.Now we're gonna add this to our oil.Safety first.So, here we go.(oil sizzling)Oh, they float right up.Much gentler fry this time.Nice.Wow.Look how quickly they fry up.They're turning golden so fast.These take no time at all to fry.Put them into my bowl here.Take some regular table salt.Give those a toss.Alrighty, let's eat it while it's hot.Here we go.Itadakimasu!Mm, mm, mm.Slightly sweet, nice and salty.Such a great potato flavor.Clean, distinctive, potato flavor.A bit sweeter than what Irecall McDonald's French friestasting like, which.(Emmy vocalizes)We're gonna do a side-by-side comparison.This isn't exactly fairbecause these are notpiping hot like these.But these are scrumdiddlyumptious.Here's the OG McDonald's fries.We see that the McDonald'sis actually a much thicker than mine.Mine is more like ashoestring potato, very thin.And McDonald's don't seemto be as golden as mine.Mine are much more golden in color.See that?These have been sittingaround for a little while.So they've got kind ofthat spongy dryer texture.It's not really a fair comparisonbecause I just fried these.And these are warm,and crunchy and delicious.McDonald's fries arenotorious for going stalevery, very quickly.They should be only eatenwhen they're very hotand right out of the fryer.And then they're delicious.I don't taste the specifictallow flavor per se.These are just more delicious.They have more complex flavor.They're both sweet and salty and potatoey.It should be noted that thisis a very particular typeof French fry.It's a shoestring potato style.If you like big fat wedges of potato,this is not the French fry for you.So the next time I make these,I'm gonna look for a mandolin slicerthat can cut potato slicesa little bit fatter.These were a little bittoo skinny for my taste,although they were delicious.I want a little bit moreof a substantial bite.So there you have it.I tested what might bethe original McDonald'sFrench fry recipe.Absolutely delicious.I wish I could say with 100% certaintythat this is the correct recipe,but since I wasn'talive to have them then,I'll just have to go with the factthat they are stinking delicious.Mhmm.Alrighty my lovelies.Thanks so much for joining meand big thanks to HelloFreshfor sponsoring this video.If you'd like to try HelloFresh yourself,head over to hellofresh.comand use my code 10EMMYMADEto receive 10 free meals,including shipping.Alrighty!Thanks again for watching.I hope you enjoyed that one.I hope you learned something.Please share this video with your friends.Follow me on social media,like this video, subscribeand I shall see you in the next one.Toodaloo, take care.Bye!(upbeat music)I'm walking on sunshine.\n"
