Another cooking method of “less oil and more flavor”
In most kitchens where natural potatoes are fried, it’s common to give them a pre-cook that softens the potato and leaves it ready to brown during service in just a couple of minutes of strong frying.
This process is usually done in the fryer itself, using lower temperatures.
As always, everything is fine except for excessive oil consumption, constant supervision, and the difficulty of standardization.
What do we propose?
Cooking them in another kitchen equipment that allows us to replicate the cooking process over and over in the same way. Yes, we’re talking about the oven.
How do we do it?
Very simple, we put the potatoes on a tray and coat them with oil and salt. Each one should have a thin layer of oil, but there should not be excess oil on the tray. If possible, we will use a tray that distributes the heat well, not like those made of steel.
It’s also important not to pile them up, as it would force us to move them for even cooking and many would break.
Once they are ready, we cook them in two phases, the first one to create a crust around the potato (which will make them extra crispy after frying) and the second one to soften the center without losing juiciness.
- Dry mode, 190º-200º and 30% humidity. For at least 10 minutes.
- Mixed mode, 140º 90%. Depending on the cut, about 15-20 minutes more.
After this, it’s ideal to cool the potatoes in a temperature-controlled chiller to spend the least possible time at risk temperatures.
With this, we will reduce the reproduction of bacteria in the preparation and therefore, increase the shelf life of the product.
Once the potato is cold, it is available to finish with just one fry (which, by the way, can also be done in the oven).
Many people say that potatoes in the oven don’t taste the same as in the fryer, a statement that is totally correct. In our opinion, if done well in the oven, they taste better than in the fryer: they taste more like potatoes, they are tastier, retain less oil, and can be just as crispy.
We are willing to demonstrate this to anyone who needs it.
For now, here’s a short video where we show this process.
Remember that developing cooking processes in different equipment to achieve the same result is something complex that requires some attempts, but it is undoubtedly a worthwhile time investment that will allow you to have a more efficient, profitable, and delegable kitchen.
If you don’t have time, want to save on trials, and learn many more things, you can hire training with us so that we can come to your own kitchen.
We hope this article has been helpful, and as always, we remain at your disposal for any inquiries you may have.
