While writing our ‘ultimate’ guide to develop your* perfect French Fry we came across a few tips and tricks that we couldn’t do justice in the article. They required more extensive experimentation and evaluation. As such, we decided to dedicate a separate post for those with just a summary in our overall guide.
One of those topics was whether or not your needed to soak (in water or sugar water) or rinse your potatoes before attempting to fry them. There are a lot of (strong) opinions out there, some extensively tested (see our references below), some less so. Since some of these methods do involve a lot of extra time and work, we decided to put them to the test. Could we notice a difference? Or not so much?
*Yes, yours, there isn’t one perfect French fry out there, there can only be one that is perfect for you. But maybe not so perfect for someone else and that’s ok ;-). Table Of Contents
There are a lot of ways to make good (and even more to make bad) french fries. Roughly speaking, the ‘traditional’ standard way to make a french fry involves four steps:
There are a lot of ways to tweak this basic scheme. Some may use an air fryer, others may replace the first fry with a microwave. Others freeze the fries that have been fried once. For this test we decided to focus on an often mentioned suggestion to add a step between step 1 and 2. We’ll call it step 1B.
Soaking potatoes in water helps remove excess starch. Excess starch can inhibit the potatoes from cooking evenly as well as creating a gummy or sticky texture on the outside of your potatoes. Cold water is used because hot water would react with the starch activating it, making it harder to separate from the potatoes.
Good news for chips lovers everywhere — new research in the journal Science of Food and Agriculture shows that pre-soaking potatoes in water before frying can reduce levels of acrylamide.
Dr Rachel Burch said: “There has been much research done by the food industry looking at reducing acrylamide in products but less so on foods cooked at home and we wanted to explore ways of reducing the level of acrylamide in home cooking.”
Materials provided by Society of Chemical Industry. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
The study found that washing raw French fries, soaking them for 30 minutes and soaking them for 2 hours reduced the formation of acrylamide by up to 23%, 38% and 48% respectively but only if they were fried to a lighter colour. The jury is still out on chips that are fried to a deep, dark brown.
There has been growing concern that acrylamide — found in a wide range of foods — may be harmful to health and may cause cancer in animals.
Why soak potatoes before frying?
Before looking at what came of these results, let’s have a look at why we even wanted to soak or rinse these potatoes.
Aside from water, the main component of potatoes is starch. Starch is a large carbohydrate, made up of a long chain of sugar (glucose) molecules. Potatoes also contain a small amount of protein, some sugars that aren’t tied up in the starch, and a few other minor ingredients. The composition of the potato depends a lot on the potato variety, as well as on how the potatoes were stored.
Most of these components are locked in place within the cells in a potato. However, once you cut them, you break some of these cells. This releases some of the inner ingredients. By rinsing (as well as soaking) you remove these newly freed components from the potato. This prevents them from possibly interfering with your potato frying process. Two bowls of potatoes. Both have been stored in the fridge overnight and have been cut to the same size, from the same lot of potatoes. The sticks on the right hand side have been rinsed with water before storage, whereas those on the left haven’t. Notice the whitish flecks on the left-hand side potatoes? That is dried up starch.
When you fry potatoes several crucial processes take place. First of all, water within the potatoes evaporates, slightly drying out the potato. This is especially important if you’re after a crispy crust. You will only get crispiness if enough water has left that outer part of your fry.
Secondly, the starch in the potato cooks (which we’ve elaborated on in far greater detail here). Upon cooking the starch absorbs water and swells up. The other major process taking place is the Maillard reaction. This is a reaction between the proteins and sugars in the potato that causes the potato to turn brown during the last fry. All those bubbles you see just after submerging your potatoes in hot oil? Those are water vapor bubbles, rising through the oil.
It is said that excess starch on the outside of the potato can cause potatoes to stick to one another, because of the gelatinization of the starch. Also, it is said that rinsing of some of those excess sugars will reduce the risk of your fries burning and turning black (because of the Maillard reaction).
Interestingly, some actually call for adding sugars by soaking the fries in sugar water. The soak should even out the sugar concentration on the outside of the potato and should help potatoes turn a nice brown.
Tips for Frying Potatoes⎢Martha Stewart’s Cooking School
FAQ
How long should I soak potatoes in water before frying?
Should you soak potatoes before pan frying?
What happens if you fry potatoes without soaking?
Why do chefs soak potatoes in water?
Why do potatoes need to be soaked in water?
Soaking potatoes in water helps to remove excess starch from the potatoes. This is important because too much starch will result in soggy, greasy fries. That’s typically a result of the potatoes taking in too much oil during the frying process. So, if you want your fries to be crispier, and less greasy, then soaking them in water is the way to go.
What are the benefits of raw potatoes blended with water?
Potatoes are an excellent source of antioxidants, vitamins and minerals such as vitamin C, potassium, calcium, iron, zinc, phosphorus, vitamin B and copper. Potatoes can also be consumed in various ways, one of which is used as a drink such as raw juice. Raw potato juice contains natural sugar which acts as a natural energy booster. It can also help improve your digestive tract because it contains a lot of alkaline. It helps in reducing acid reflux and alleviate symptoms of stomach problems. Vitamin C contained in potatoes helps protect the immune system from harmful pathogens that can lead to chronic disease. The presence of B vitamins and antioxidants in potato juice can help improve blood circulation, which in turn, helps nourish skin cells and reduce the appearance of wrinkles. Drinking potato juice after a meal can suppress your hunger, which will prevent you from overeating and leading to weight loss.
Do you soak potatoes before frying?
The secret is in soaking the potatoes before frying them! Soaking potatoes in water helps to remove excess starch from the potatoes. This is important because too much starch will result in soggy, greasy fries. That’s typically a result of the potatoes taking in too much oil during the frying process.
Should you soak potatoes in saltwater before cooking?
Soaking your potatoes in a saltwater bath can help them release a lot of their moisture before you cook them, and this allows them to crisp up nicely when you cook them in the oven without overcooking. You should soak your potatoes in a saltwater mixture for 15 minutes before removing them from the water and drying them thoroughly on paper towels.