I'm always torn on this. I love french fries, but I can't decide which I like more. I like to bake my french fries because without oil they are much healthier. When I bake them in the oven I usually add seasonings and salt to the pan of fries. I've always liked the way they have turned out, and they always come out crisp and golden brown. On the other hand, I really love french fries that are cooked in oil. I have a deep fryer that I have started to use more often, and the fries taste amazing once they are done cooking. I feel that sometimes the french fries are more crispy, and the insides are cooked better. What do you prefer? Do you add any seasonings to your french fries? Any special recipes?
When I make fries at home I almost always bake them. I only make them for myself and it seems like a waste of oil fry a bunch of them at once. They also never turn out as good as at restaurants. I actually liked baked fries so I don't mind. I'll save eating the deep friend ones for when I'm out
I always bake my fries as well. Its healthier that way. I also like the taste of them. It might also have something to do with the fact that I'm a tad bit afraid to cook with hot popping grease.
I fry my homemade fries. I don't deep fry them though. They don't require very much oil. I fry them in grapeseed oil. Grapeseed oil is very light. I rarely make fries so I want to enjoy them when I fix them. Cajon salt is my secret ingredient. Oven fried fries are also very delicious and crunchy. They require a lot of preparation so I haven't fixed oven baked fries in a few years.
I try to cook as healthy a sI can. Sometimes it's hard because I really love fresh fries from oil. I just don't want to eat it them all the time. They can be extremely greasy and messy. I don't mind cooking with the oil, I just have to make sure that I am careful when I am using the deep fryer. I'm always paranoid that I'm going to get burned with the oil. Luckily I haven't done that yet.
I've never heard of grapeseed oil for french fries before. Is it healthier than regular oil? I agree, when I cook fries in the deep fryer I want them to be good. I'll have to try the salt that you mentioned. I'm always looking for new ways to fix my fries. I really love oven cooked french fries. I find that they are just as easy to prepare, but they do taste different from fries cooked in oil. I usually just wash, cut, and arrange the fries on a pan, and I make sure it is lined with foil beforehand. Then I sprinkle different seasonings over the fries and then I cook them. It's not a very long process for me.
I am not big on french fries. But on the rare occasion when I do make some, I like to bake them in the oven and season them with vinegar, sea salt and herbs. I don't really like deep fried food, so I don't think I would ever invest in a deep fryer. Oily food tends to sit heavily in my stomach, that's why I prefer baked to fried foods. One of my favorite dishes is baked sweet potato, seasoned with basil and tahini.
I have the same problem. My french fries never taste the same as the restaurants. I've tried and tried, but I've never been able to get them to taste or look the same. I've come to really like my homemade ones. It's cheaper and I can make as much as I want. No matter how long I deep fry the fries they never turn out the same. I will bake them whenever I can. It's easy to do and I can put my own personal touch on the batch. I usually season them and I've tried many different versions. Baking really is healthier because I'm not using the oil.
That baked sweet potato sounds really amazing! You bake your fries like I do. I absolutely love french fries with vinegar. I'll season them with vinegar sometimes, or I will cook the fries and then drizzle vinegar on the top. Vinegar is a great addition to french fries. I like it with baked or deep fried fries. I'm really interested in that sweet potato idea that you posted. I might make sweet potato fries and use basil and tahini as a seasoning. Thanks for the idea!
I love grapeseed oil. It has a light flavor which doesn't overshadow the food. It also have a high smoke point which makes it prefect for frying. It's great for making salad dressings. I also use it for baking. I also use it on my cuticles and hair. My hair runs on the dry side and it has done wonders for it. My sister puts it on her skin. I dip my oven fries in egg white or rub them with an egg wash to make them extra crispy and brown. I don't like that part. Next time, I will make them without the egg wash to see if there is a noticeable difference.
Taste wise I pretty much always prefer some freshly cooked fries in fresh oil, especially if it's peanut oil. So I always try to hit up places that make hand cut home made fries in peanut oil when I go out to eat, it reminds me of the fries I would get at amusement parks and festivals. If they've got some malt vinegar on hand, even better. At one of the Italian restaurants I would eat at, they had cider vinegar at all the tables as well as a parmesan cheese shaker, so I loved putting parm and vinegar on my fries there. When cooking at home I pretty much only make baked fries. I hate wasting a whole pot of oil, plus it's hard to test for the correct temperature which is critical. It's also a pain in the butt to dispose of the oil, and while you wait for it to cool down enough to do so, it stinks up my place. I almost always keep a bag of frozen fries in my fridge, to pop in the oven. I also really like those new microwavable french fries that come in the special packaging to crisp them up in the microwave. It really does work! Sure I pay a little more for those, but they are very convenient and a huge time saver. I've only had moderate luck trying to make completely home made fries from scratch in my oven though, often time they cook up very unevenly and the insides of the fries are too starchy and pasty rather than moist and steamy like the restaurants, or even the commercial frozen fries cooked in the oven.
My home-made French Fries are deep fried. I like the taste and can get them to be as tasty as the ones I'd pay for in a restaurant. In fact, when I started making my own French Fries, I began to prefer them over restaurant made fries which saves me cash because I spend less when I make my own. Since I hate to add seasonings to food once I'm done [cooking], I usually soak the chipped potatoes in a salt solution before frying them.
I prefer deep fried over en baked almost always because it just gives a sort of crispy texture that baking cannot replicate. I've tried both methods not only for french fries but also for hash browns and although oven baked still tastes good, it just doesn't compare to the flavor and texture of deep fried. What I like about baking in ovens though is that I get to leave them to do other stuff.
