Achieve Perfectly Crispy, Golden Fries Every Time With This Simple Trick

What is it about french fries that make them so good? Is it the starchy, fluffy interior? The perfect amount of salt that adds a savory punch to that nice potato flavor? The crispy, golden-brown exterior that offers the ideal amount of crunch? Or what about the fact that it can be paired with almost anything as the perfect (and portable) side? Maybe it's just all of the above.

Whatever the case, one of the best features of a good french fry is the crispy, golden outside that provides the perfect contrast in texture to the soft, fluffy interior. Achieving that texture, though, isn't just a matter of dropping some hand-cut fries into oil for a few minutes. Some of the best fries you eat are double-fried, which is putting the fries into hot oil twice — but at different oil temperatures with each drop.

Ideally, the basic process starts with soaking the fries in cold water after you hand-cut them (we suggest Martha Stewart's technique). This removes some of the starch to make your fries crispier and less oily when they're finished. Dry them off and drop them into your fryer, or a large pot, full of canola or peanut oil at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for about five to seven minutes. This process cooks the interior of the fries, but doesn't produce the crispiness we're looking for — it's the next part of the process that takes the fries to another level.

After finishing the initial fry, let the potatoes rest and cool for a few minutes. If you have a little extra time, you can place them in the freezer to speed up the process. After resting, place the fries back in the oil — heated to 375 degrees Fahrenheit this time — and cook until the outside is crispy and golden-brown. One thing of note: We suggest canola or peanut oil for two reasons. First, both are neutral oils and don't get in the way of the flavor we want. Secondly, these oils have higher smoke points, meaning you can cook them at higher temps before the oil starts to burn and bring in an acrid, bitter, burnt flavor. Pull them from the fryer once done, sprinkle with the appropriate amount of salt, and you have the perfect french fries.

For the truly adventurous, chef Heston Blumenthal created a triple-cooked "chips" recipe at The Fat Duck, his three-star Michelin restaurant, in the early 1990s. This involved an initial parboiling, followed by two separate drops in oil — each separated by a cooldown in the freezer for at least an hour. When done right, these are some of the crispiest, fluffiest french fries you'll ever eat. 

While even soggy french fries aren't all that bad, the best versions of this delicious side are double-fried to give them those contrasting crispy and soft textures. That's how most restaurants prepare their fries, and it's an easy enough process you can do at home.