Triple Cooked Chips…Here’s How To Do It.
First you need a good chipping potato. There are several varieties available in supermarkets, check the bag and it will say which are best. My preference is Maris Piper potatoes. They are widely available and also make good roast potatoes and mash (best with an abundance of butter mixed in!)
Next you need a good quality vegetable oil (although I have used lard in the past with excellent results) The two main oils are Sunflower Seed Oil and Rape Seed Oil
You don’t have to go to the expense of a thermostatically controlled frying pan, a large saucepan is fine to use. Ensure you don’t fill it more than a third full of oil.
The three steps involved in Triple Cooked Chips are:
Blanching, Pre-Cooking, Final Cook
Before that you will need to peel the potatoes and store them in water until ready to cut into chips. I prefer large chips instead of small, so I use large potatoes. Once you have peeled the potatoes, store them submerged under cold water. Remover the peeled potatoes and cut to size, return them to the cold water until all are chipped.
Blanching:
Half fill a saucepan with water and put on your stove to heat. As soon as it comes to the boil, use a scoop similar to the one in the photo below, add the chips in batches. When the water comes to a rolling boil, time for 1 minute only. Use a timer. After 1 minute remove the blanched chips into a colander to cool off, do not cool under water, let them cool and dry naturally. Once they are cool, place in another bowl in readiness for blanching another batch.
Pre-Cooking:
I find the best temperature for pre-cooking is 140 degrees C. Add the cooled chips to the oil in small batches, do not add large portions in one go as the oil could boil over. Using the same scoop as above, put that amount in the oil slowly. Wait until it starts to fry rapidly before adding more chips. Don’t overcolour them at this point. They are ready when they start to float. Remove them to a heat proof dish in readiness for the Final Cook.
Chips will start to float when ready after the pre-cook
The final cook is between 150 to 160 degrees C which gives:
