Which Potatoes are Best for Fries?

Potatoes for fries – floury or sticky? The good news first: French fries work well with most types of potatoes. But if you like it crispy, it’s best to use waxy potatoes. They tend to keep their shape because they don’t fall apart as easily due to the low starch content. Bintje or Friesländer are particularly suitable as potato varieties. However, the special trick for crispy homemade fries lies in the preparation. First, soak the sliced ​​potato strips to draw the starch out of the inside of the potatoes.

Tip: Now sprinkle three teaspoons of cornstarch over the sliced ​​potatoes – and toss them in it. As a result, the fries remain stable on the inside and keep their shape, but become nice and crispy on the outside.

Cut potatoes into fries

If you want to prepare untreated organic potatoes, you can easily process them with their skins on. It is better to peel all other potatoes. For a sweet touch, we recommend delicious sweet potato fries. However, note the subtle differences in preparation. The fresh potatoes are first cut into slices – and these are then stacked on top of each other in sticks. Classic French fries should even be cut a little thinner than one centimetre. Regular and hand-cut fries can be cut about 1.5 cm wide. Then place the potato strips in a bowl of water and let them rest for two to three hours. Then dry the potatoes first before adding the cornstarch, which absorbs and draws more moisture out of the potatoes.

Double fry fries

A special secret for the perfectly crispy fries is to fry them in two batches. First, the fries are fried at around 150 degrees Celsius for eight minutes, the second time at 190 degrees. If you want to prepare your fries in the oven instead of in a deep fryer, bake them on a baking tray lined with baking paper at 230 degrees for about 25 minutes. Halfway through the baking time, you should turn the fries so that all sides are nice and crispy. For the classic spice mix, add some salt, pepper, and paprika powder.

Would you like to find out more about the culinary all-round talent of the potato? Then we will put our expert knowledge at your disposal on the question “Floury or waxy – which potato is suitable for which dish?” to the heart. So that everything from casseroles and gratins to homemade gnocchi and croquettes to creamy puree is a success.