Making chip shop "style" chips at home

[Vyse]

You know how the chips you get from you local taste different to say oven chips or even the fresh stuff you prepare yourself. So whats the secret of getting the chips have that squidgy texture. Is it a simple case of frying the chips and wrapping them in newspaper to steam?

[Simmo6pot]

Fry in beef dripping.

[cheddar]

Vyse said:

You know how the chips you get from you local taste different to say oven chips or even the fresh stuff you prepare yourself. So whats the secret of getting the chips have that squidgy texture. Is it a simple case of frying the chips and wrapping them in newspaper to steam?

That's what ruins them.

[steveo3002]

works out dearer than driving to the chip shop , but mcain posh chips in the silver bag aint too bad at all for oven chips , theyre done in beef dripping

[jas xjr]

if my memory serves me correct , the variety of potato to use is maris piper

[Frixturbo]

Maris piper potatoes cut to shape of preference..

Deep fried in sunflower oil...

Edited by Frixturbo on Saturday 12th July 23:55

[mph1977]

some chip shops do double cook - all the easier when you've got a big 'range' with multiple fryers in in

[jet_noise]

steveo3002 said:

works out dearer than driving to the chip shop , but mcain posh chips in the silver bag aint too bad at all for oven chips , theyre done in beef dripping

Oh yes /Churchill dog

[Oakey]

From memory when I worked in a café as a teenager we'd blanch the chips first before frying them.

[GTDNB]

the best chips i know come from Marlow fish bar near Anerly/Norwood, the only one i know in south London that fries in Beef dripping. discovered purely by accident and we now drive a good five miles to get our fish and chips there. walking into the shop always reminds me of arriving at my Grandma's for sunday lunch and the smell of her roast potatoes. pretty sure McDonald's chips were fried in dripping when i was a kid too. Hawksmoor used to do beef dripping fries that were simply off the scale but not on the menu the last couple of times i've been.

[Mastodon2]

Vyse said:

You know how the chips you get from you local taste different to say oven chips or even the fresh stuff you prepare yourself. So whats the secret of getting the chips have that squidgy texture. Is it a simple case of frying the chips and wrapping them in newspaper to steam?

Steaming them ruins them. A good chip shop chip should have a decent amount of crunch to the edges of it, with a fluffy-ish texture to the inside.

[Don]

The way to do chips is definitely the double cook. My fryer does them perfectly at 170C for fifteen, then lift them up the heat to 190C and drop them back in for seven minutes. Fluffy inside, crunchy outside. Mmm.

I prefer groundnut (peanut) oil. Since I don't have that particular allergy I can use it and it has the benefit of being utterly flavourless so the chips stay tasting of chips.

I've read Heston's triple-cook recipe and I just don't have the patience.

[Vyse]

Thats what I want from a chip, crispy on the ends, squidgy in the middle. I cant stand chips that are crunchy the full length of the chip.

Mastodon2 said:

Steaming them ruins them. A good chip shop chip should have a decent amount of crunch to the edges of it, with a fluffy-ish texture to the inside.

[evoivboy]

I am a chef and use these http://potatolovers.co.uk/content/products/chippin...

First peel with running water or they will ingrain with dirt
cut in to chips, wash and dry
cook @ 140c untill soft, chill till cold
when required cook @ 190c untill crisp
drain on kitchen paper, tossed with Malden salt........Chips Done!

[Du1point8]

If you have too many chip shop chips to eat in one sitting.

Put the remaining ones in the freezer, then cook them like oven chips when you want them, they go beautiful and crispy.

(obviously chips should always be eaten as soon as you get them, and this should only be used in complete emergency)

[Yazar]

Du1point8 said:

If you have too many chip shop chips to eat in one sitting.

Put the remaining ones in the freezer, then cook them like oven chips when you want them, they go beautiful and crispy.

(obviously chips should always be eaten as soon as you get them, and this should only be used in complete emergency)

I heard this recently, however the two times I have attempted to try this by getting an extra portion didn't work... as I scoffed the lot

[marctwo]

I've only done this once but fry them on a lowish heat first (to cook), then remove and rest, and then fry again on a high heat to crisp them up.

[Mastodon2]

marctwo said:

I've only done this once but fry them on a lowish heat first (to cook), then remove and rest, and then fry again on a high heat to crisp them up.

This is the key as the temperature needed to cook the potato is not the same as what is needed to crisp them. If they don't get the second, high temp cook, you get soggy ste. If you put them in the high temp without first going in the low temp, the outside will be done but the middle won't be.

Beef dripping, two stage cooking, belter. I'm no expert on potato selection though, but it looks like someone else has already stated the type to use.

[22s]

Don said:

The way to do chips is definitely the double cook. My fryer does them perfectly at 170C for fifteen, then lift them up the heat to 190C and drop them back in for seven minutes. Fluffy inside, crunchy outside. Mmm.

I prefer groundnut (peanut) oil. Since I don't have that particular allergy I can use it and it has the benefit of being utterly flavourless so the chips stay tasting of chips.

I've read Heston's triple-cook recipe and I just don't have the patience.

Interesting fact for you - I'm allergic to peanuts (i.e. I go into anaphylactic shock and die if I eat any, unless I stab myself with my Epipen) and I accidentally ate something cooked in peanut oil a couple of years back. Only found out afterwards how it was cooked, I then read up on it and apparently the proteins that the majority of allergic people react to are actually removed during the refining process! Which basically means most (but not all) peanut-allergic people can in fact eat food cooked in peanut oil (but not the cold pressed variety, which is very rare anyway).

[Don]

22s said:

Interesting fact for you - I'm allergic to peanuts (i.e. I go into anaphylactic shock and die if I eat any, unless I stab myself with my Epipen) and I accidentally ate something cooked in peanut oil a couple of years back. Only found out afterwards how it was cooked, I then read up on it and apparently the proteins that the majority of allergic people react to are actually removed during the refining process! Which basically means most (but not all) peanut-allergic people can in fact eat food cooked in peanut oil (but not the cold pressed variety, which is very rare anyway).

Indeed! Thanks for sharing. I most certainly would not have known that...not sure I'd risk it though. I'm allergic to bananas and the results ain't pretty if I get some in, say, a commercial fruit salad.