Does anyone cook real chips? Why do mine go soggy?

[MrsPuddleduck]

We are having a BBQ at the weekend. We decided just to do beefburgers and hotdogs to make things easy.

Then I decided to ressurect the Deep Fat Fryer and do some 'proper' chips to go with them.

I haven't used it for years so can't remember how long they take and secondly whenever I make them they go soggy.

Does anyone still make real chips that don't go soggy - or is that not allowed on mumsnet!!!

my chips dont go soggy. was your deep fat fryer hot enough? did you dry your chips with kitchen roll before putting into fryer? sometimes too if you put too many in at a time they go soggy

I make my chips in the oven and they're never soggy. I prefer to bake them as I think they taste nicer.

Perhaps I put too many in.

Do you still have to dry them if you cut them and put them straight in (as opposed to leaving them in water beforehand?)

do you rinse them before cooking? Do you cook them twice (once on low heat, once on high heat to crisp them up)

if you don't put them in water to rinse the starch off, think they may be more likely to go soggy

yeah i always dry them

the trick is to fry them at 140/150 until they are soft, then take them out and tip them onto kitchen roll and turn the fryer up to full whack and re-fry them until golden brown- def not soggy then!

Perfect chips:
Cut them,
Dry them,
Par cook them in hot oil, I can't remember the exact temperature but about 3/4 of your fryers capacity.
Drain them,
Heat the oil up to as high as it will go and then fry them in batches so the basket is not too full as this brings down the temperature of the oil.
Drain them on Kitchen paper and sprinkle with a little salt.
I defy you to resist, they are delicious.

Never heard of frying them twice.

Now here's a question....

We've got 30 people coming to the BBQ - do you think if I make a load of chips earlier in the day I can just re-heat them at a high temperature just as we need to serve them (obviously in a few batches) and if so for how long?

just do the first low temp fry- then they will be ready to flash fry at the top temp- it works really well!

go and peel the spuds woman!

Yes I used to do that in a restaurant I worked in, you fry them at the lower heat and then finish them at the higher heat as you need them. HOWEVER, that would be hell with a domestic fryer. IIWY I would do half home fries baked in the oven and half fryed chips as it would be less hastle. Well tbh I probably would do them all in the oven as they are much healthier. But that is because I am dieting.

Agree, it's the dryness and pre-frying that maks them crispy. When I dig out my chip pan, sometimes I don't use enough oil to cover them and just keep turning them through. They break up a bit and seem as if they're going soggy but it turns into a delcious pile of crispy chips in the end. That's probably not the best idea with lots of people though.

Thanks for the brilliant advice - that should save me some time on Saturday and I can concentrate on drinking!!

Better go and find the fryer - it has been hidden at the back of a cupboard for about 3 years......