82gradDLSdad said:
LunchTime said:
The fries at McDonald's are just normal (well, large variety - 5 guys uses one of the varieties) potatoes that they rocket through a cutter with waterjets. Thats why they are uniform.
They use several chemicals to do thinks like prevent the potatoes from greying during the freezing, and they also add some sugar for color. The only real odd thing they do is add a flavoring to make up for not using beef tallow for frying (they moved to plant oil for health reasons). The basic potato part of the french fry at McDonalds is critical enough that when opening in new countries, they make a significant push to have farmers change production to ensure they have a supply of the right varieties, and typically build a facility close by to control the process before they open up shop.
My point is only that GOOD fries need like 5 things:
1. a good Potato (almost everyone manages that now)
2. Washing the potato's starch away (in-out doesnt do this)
3. a low heat fry to cook the inside to that fluffy texture (in-out doesnt do this)
4. a rest to let the fry cool (in-out doesnt do this)
5. a second short fry at higher heat to get the outside "crispy"
That is why mcD fries seem "manufactured" is they control all but the last step in big controlled facilities, so they are almost perfectly uniform from store to store. But aside from beef flavoring (again, to substitute for loss of flavor from switching to healthier fry oil) and offsite preparation, they are made the same way as the good fries from other places.
Until I went to Belgium after learning about fries, I didnt realize how ubiquitous the Belgium method had become. Almost no restaurant does it the old cheep lazy way anymore. They do the labor intensive way of washing, frying, resting, and refrying. Except in-out.
So if you are ever wondering why they suck, that is why. They know people think fires are manufactured, so they cut the potato in your face and you think its how "fresh" potato tastes. If I go, I just dont get the fries, because what is the point of terrible fries? All the unhealthiness and none of the flavor or texture.
I only post this because the ignorance around some aspects of food can be easily explained, and I think that is important, because in this case, you can do it at home (with some effort) and have AWESOME home cooked fries.
I dont have any defense for McNuggets. I dont know much about that process, but I suspect it is gross.
They should go back to beef tallow. Much better than vegetable oil, in all respects.
I've been telling anyone who'll listen that In-n-Out fries are terrible for exactly the reasons LunchTime elaborated. I was on a hike with the sierra club in Altadena last year and talked to a guy who works at In-N-Out corporate and even he conceded they were terrible. He suggested "well done" but they're just oilier and harder (not necessarily crispier) when ordered that way in my experience.
I seldom go to McD's nowadays but their fries were not as good as I remembered from my youth the last time I had some. The talk of the beef tallow reminds me of the lawsuit around 2000 where vegetarians sued them for essentially assuming they were a vegetarian item. If I remember correctly, the gist of the suit was McDonalds saying they never made the claim it was vegetarian and winning the suit or having it dismissed/withdrawn.
Pollo Campero is excellent, btw. I didn't see it followed up on but I used to take long lunches at their location on Olympic when I worked in downtown LA.
I only got to try the Popeye's chicken sandwich one time before it went on hiatus and even my Popeye's-hating gf conceded it was a good sandwich. Not sure it's going to be a staple of my diet but it more than lived up to the media hype while it was around. I can't wait to try my nearly-the-path-of-least-resistance "food hack" of ordering coleslaw as my side item and putting it in the sandwich. I prefer it to the CFA offering. Wendy's is a very close contender in this race.
This thread in particular though has me wondering where in my newly adopted home town of Portland I can get some good fries. Anyone have some pointers?
