French fries are a fast food that is popular among consumers and has a wide market demand. But how to make fries from raw potatoes? Below we will introduce the main process of french fries production.
Main Production Process:
- Cleaning: The first step in production is to thoroughly clean the raw potatoes. Potatoes are often covered with mud, sand and impurities after being picked, so they need to be thoroughly cleaned using high-pressure water and a special drum-type cleaning machine. In some production lines, food-grade disinfectants such as ozone water are also added to ensure hygiene and safety.
- Peeling: After washing, the potatoes need to be peeled to ensure that the french fries have a neat appearance and uniform color. Factories often use steam peeling, which is efficient and has low waste.
- Cutting: Cut into standard size french fries. The size of french fries is usually 7mm×7mm, 9mm×9mm or thicker, depending on product positioning and customer demand.
- Blanching: After cutting, the potatoes need to be blanched for a short time (usually 60–90 seconds at a temperature of 75–85°C) to remove excess starch, prevent oxidation and discoloration, and initially inactivate the enzymes remaining in the potatoes to improve the color stability of the finished product. In addition, blanching helps the french fries form a crispy shell during frying.
- Frying: This is the key step that determines the taste and color of the finished french fries. After blanching, the potato strips need to be fried for the first time (such as 150℃, 90 seconds) to set the shape, and then they can be frozen according to product needs, or directly enter the second high-temperature frying (such as 180℃, 60 seconds). The oil temperature should be kept stable during frying, and the edible oil used should be replaced or filtered regularly to prevent oil oxidation from affecting the taste.
Production Precautions
- Raw material selection: The production of high-quality french fries is inseparable from high-quality raw materials. Generally, potato varieties with rich starch and moderate sugar content are selected. Too high sugar content will cause the color to be too dark during frying.
- Equipment cleaning and maintenance: Potato fries production equipment must be cleaned and disinfected regularly to prevent cross contamination. At the same time, key equipment such as cutters, fryers, conveyor belts, etc. should be kept in good condition to ensure stable operation and production efficiency.
- Oil quality management: The edible oil used in the frying process is easily deteriorated due to high temperature oxidation or contamination by food residues, so the oil change cycle and oil quality testing need to be strictly controlled. It is recommended to use frying equipment with automatic filtering and temperature control functions to extend the service life of the oil and improve the quality of the finished product.
How to Ensure Taste of Potato Fries
To achieve a stable and high-quality taste, you need to pay attention to the following aspects:
1. Control moisture and starch: After cutting potatoes into strips, the blanching and air-drying process helps to remove surface moisture, reduce the oil absorption rate during frying, and form a crispy structure on the surface. At the same time, retaining a certain amount of moisture can ensure the softness of the inside.
2. Accurately control the frying time and temperature: Reasonably setting the frying temperature and time can make the potato fries golden and crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.