Potatoes are one of the best tasting carbohydrate-rich foods, when cooked. (Well, raw potatoes are hardly digestible, in the first place). This is especially true if they are fried (French fries, anyone?) A good reason for this is that cooked potatoes are rich in umami compounds. For a quick review, umami is the 5th basic taste that is best described as brothy, meaty, and savory. This taste is associated with seaweed, meat, mushrooms, aged cheeses, tomatoes, among others. For more on umami, visit this article.

To date, studies have identified at least 220 aromatic molecules that contribute to the flavor of a cooked potato. To bring out their best flavors, potatoes can be boiled, fried, mashed, and even roasted. But no matter the cooking method, it is advisable to soak them first in water. Sliced potatoes can be soaked in water for several hours up to a couple of days (in the refrigerator). And soaking them is for good reasons.

SOAKING OF POTATOES GET RID OF EXCESS STARCH

We do not cook whole potatoes, right? When we cut them into smaller pieces, we also release those components originally locked within the inside of the potato. But some of them may interrupt during the cooking process. To better explain this, let’s take a quick look at what comprises a potato.

According to the United States Department of Agriculture, a typical raw potato is 79% water and 16% starch. Starch is our main source of carbohydrate, the macronutrient that provides energy to our body. While sugar is a single carbohydrate, starch is a complex one—it is composed of a long chain of sugar molecules. When we slice a potato, we are exposing some of the starch, along with the other components. The problem is that excess starch may interfere during cooking, making the potato slices sticky on the outside.

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One type of starch in potatoes is amylose, the one responsible for the gluey texture of mashed potatoes. In the presence of water, amylose molecules break down, whereas amylopectin molecules, another type of starch in potatoes, remain compact. So during washing and soaking, amylose is what we are removing. If excess amylose is not removed, the potatoes may be cooked unevenly. During cooking, heat makes the starch to swell in a process called gelatinization. This makes the potatoes to more likely to stick together. But proper soaking will prevent this to happen, resulting in potatoes that cook or fry much better— not sticky, but crispier. Just make sure potatoes are soaked in cold water. Soaking them in hot water will only activate the starch. Remember that starch gelatinization activates in the presence of heat.

SOAKING ALSO REDUCES ACRYLAMIDE FORMATION

In 2002, a group of scientists was studying the Maillard reaction when they found acrylamide in foods. Acrylamide is a compound that forms when food is cooked at a temperature of 284 °F (120 °C). A product of the Maillard reaction, acrylamide usually forms when the amino acid asparagine and reducing sugars react. Studies have found it to occur in foods such as potatoes, biscuit, cereals, and coffee. However, acrylamide forms at high levels in highly processed food like French fries and potato chips. One study has found that French fries and potato chips can have up to 1325 and 2762 parts per billion of acrylamide, respectively.

Acrylamide is feared because it is a potentially carcinogenic compound. Although present studies have not yet known its full impact on the human diet. Since its discovery in 2002, efforts have been made to reduce its levels in various foods. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommends cooking food until golden yellow. Generally, foods cooked until brown tend to contain more acrylamide. When toasting bread, a light brown color is better than dark brown color.

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Prior to cooking potatoes, one way to reduce acrylamide formation is soaking them in water. According to the FDA, soaking potatoes in water for 15 to 30 minutes is sufficient to reduce the levels of acrylamide during cooking.

In the March 2008 issue of the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, a study involving soaking potatoes in water proved this to be true. The researchers washed and soaked raw French fries for 30 minutes, and then for 2 hours. This decreased the levels of acrylamide by 23% and 48%, respectively. But this is only achievable if the fries were lightly fried.

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French fries are one of the most popular food items all year-round. It is every fast- food chain goer’s go to item every time.  For people who do not fancy fast food chains, they opt for frozen French fries readily available for purchase or simply, make their own French fries from scratch. But making French fries isn’t that simple. You gotta find a way to perfect it. And choosing which potatoes to use is already quite a challenge alone. Here’s a blog post about French fries and the Science behind.

A little history first

French fries or Belgian fries?

France has been credited to be the birthplace of pommes frites, French for fries. But the fries didn’t really originate from here, as most historians claim.

In the 17^th century, frying up fish for their meals was once a norm for the people of Belgium. But when the rivers became frozen in ice, they needed to find an alternative as it became difficult to fish. And they did by frying up long slices of potatoes, which they later called frieten.

But why French fries?

According to history, the Belgian army served and introduced deep-fried thin-sliced potatoes to American, British and Canadian soldiers during the First World War. Since the Belgian army’s official language was French and they spoke it, the word “French” became associated with fries since then.

What potatoes make good French fries?

Although potatoes can be processed into French fries, not all potatoes make good French fries. Processors and manufacturers set specific criteria to funnel which potatoes go for French fries making, and which do not. This is to ensure high out-turn, if possible.

Potatoes must be large enough and long-oblong for French fries making, long to long-oval for baking, round for canned new potatoes and round-oval for prepacking.

Dry matter should be high in potatoes

The moisture content is the amount of water found in potatoes while the dry matter is what remains if water is removed—this is where the feed nutrients are found. Stem tubers like potatoes are 80% water and 20% solids. This is the reason why they easily disintegrate when cooking. But dry matter content this high (although 20% to 25% is preferred) is good to achieve good fry color in fries.

Minimal after-cooking darkening (ACD)

Since a steadily growing industry, manufacturers and potato-processing entities have been looking for ways to prevent after-cooking darkening. This ACD happens when ferri-chlorogenic acid is oxidized in French fries.

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To fight ACD, potatoes can be soaked in cold water for about 3 to 4 hours— this also enhances the texture of fries when fried.

If one prefers blanching, adding sulfur enhances the process. After washing, additional blanching can be done by adding low concentration of glucose. This way, the level of reducing sugar is adjusted too, thus, resulting in a more stable color when fried.

Reducing sugars should be low

Reducing sugars, like the name suggests, are sugars that act as reducing agents (carbohydrates) that contain free aldehyde or ketone group. They are responsible for the color of food when cooked and must be defined to be within limits. The limits vary depending on how the potatoes are processed. In French fries making, these reducing sugars must be low (must not be higher than 0.5%).  Other processes require these reducing sugars at even lower amounts.

Other considerations

Through visual inspections, one can tell if potatoes are good to use at all. Infected potatoes usually have dry and sunken spots. If cut open, some potatoes may have very visible fungal growth.

How to make the perfect French fries

It’s kind of tricky to cook on first attempts if someone hasn’t cooked fries before. You want them to be golden and crispy.  Here are a few tips to achieving that.

The oil

There are many varieties of oil that people prefer. But a study showed that corn oil is what most fast food chains used to fry their fries. Corn oil is low in saturated and monounsaturated fats.

Regardless of what oil you prefer, you should have your oil pre-heated.

The main key to frying fries is temperature and time control. Cooking them at high temperature and short time may end in cooked exterior but uncooked interior. However, Cooking at low temperature may result in soggy fries.

Double frying

If you’ve never tried double frying your French fries before, you’ve been left behind. It’s time to upgrade your method.

See the sizzle that happens when you put your potatoes in the pan? You may think that it is the oil boiling—It’s actually water that is starting to evaporate, a hint that temperature isn’t yet high enough. But not all evaporates and expands, but gets trapped instead during the first fry. You can easily leave your potatoes longer in the oil, but they could be overcooked and you don’t like that.

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The trick here is by freezing to turn the water in the potatoes into ice crystals then fry it again.

It works every time because the moisture in the center of the potatoes goes to the exterior after they cool. Since the moisture is already on the outside, it’s now easier to eliminate during the final fry.

Not convinced? McDonald’s once revealed that they make their fries by blanching them in 170°F (76°C) water, frying then freezing before sending them to their branches, where they are fried again before being served to customers.

Anyway, after freezing, fry your fries at 375°F (190°C) for 4 to 5 minutes or until they’re golden in color. Another way to tell if the fries are done if they float in the oil for around half a minute.

Fast food chains and most restaurants just make their fries’ quality the same every time became they use commercial deep fryers. These deep fryers are equipped with thermostat to better observe temperature control.

Why do French fries get soggy and how to prevent it

Fries contain a lot of starches. These starches are hydrated during the cooking of fries. This hydration helps to obtain that brown and crispy appearance on the outside. And these starches are also the reason why you do not want them in fries. When the fries are starting to cool, the starches begin to discharge moisture and make the fries soggy.

If you buy fries from a fast food chain and intend not to eat it in the next 20 minutes, do not pack your fries in any way that will prevent moisture from escaping. If the moisture from your hot fries is trapped, it will just go back on your fries to make them soggy and taste bad, obviously.

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