How Martha Stewart Cuts Perfectly Uniform Fries (No Knife Skills Necessary)

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Of course, Martha Stewart knows how to make flawless-looking french fries; after all, we're talking about the doyenne of domestic life here. But you don't need to be as perfect as Martha to steal her methods for homemade fries that rival restaurants with the highest quality french fries. And you definitely don't have to be great with a knife. Stewart has a simple technique that gives you the best french fries: She uses a mandoline.

If you're not familiar with a mandoline, it's an incredibly sharp tool that can slice potatoes, as well as fruits and veggies, into uniform pieces, saving you a lot of time in the kitchen, since it does multiple cuts at once. All you need to do is slide the food across the cutting edge, and you're left with perfect slices. To get her ideal fry size, Stewart uses her mandoline slicer fitted with a french fry cutting blade, which has blades that are a quarter inch apart. You can also buy mandolins that have adjustable thicknesses to help you achieve this size at home, such as the ONCE FOR ALL Safe Mandoline Slicer. This slicer rotates to change the blade size rather than you having to change the blade by hand.

While a mandoline can make it easier to slice large batches of fries and other fruits and veggies, you must be careful while using this tool. The blade is incredibly sharp, and you'll want to avoid even a small nick. To use a mandoline slicer without losing a fingertip, Martha Stewart prefers to grip the potato with a small cloth while slicing. You may also want to consider investing in a pair of cut-resistant gloves. They can protect your fingers as you slide the food across the blade, which is especially worth considering if you're new to using this tool. Take, for instance, the NoCry Premium Cut Resistant Gloves that are made with cut-resistant glass fibers to help keep your hands safe and are machine washable. 

Many mandoline slicers have built-in safety guards, like a food holder or non-slip base. You can also purchase hand guards separately, like the Safety Hand Guard for Mandolin Slicers. Once Stewart has protected her hand, she slides the potato on the mandolin firmly yet smoothly, and then immediately dumps the pieces into ice-cold water to soak before eventually drying then frying them in hot oil twice to get the best texture.