A recipe developer and “bona fide french fry fanatic” has shared her favourite simple cooking trick for ensuring the most “wonderfully crispy” homemade oven chips
If the idea of making your own chips is daunting, then this stress-free cooking method was made for you. One food writer has shared a tried and tested way to ensure the crispiest homemade oven chips every single time.
Ann Taylor Pittman, and independent food writer and recipe developer, has shared her expertise for all things chips with The Kitchn. Self-described as a “bona fide french fry fanatic”, it is safe to say Pittman is passionate about potatoes, though she admits oven fries can be tricky to master.
“They’re trickier to get right than potatoes that are dunked into hot oil,” says Pittman. “Oven fries can easily end up soggy, or they can burn or dry out in the arid heat of the oven. If you’re not careful, they can also stick to the pan, leaving all their crispy goodness behind.” This comes after a writer claimed ‘I tried butter from Tesco, Aldi, Lidl and big brands – and the winner is not Lurpak’.
READ MORE: You’ve been making pancakes wrong – home cook’s tip ensures you’ll never mess upREAD MORE: Jamie Oliver’s guide to cooking the ‘perfect’ steak – key step you can’t miss
After extensive web research, she says she found seven different methods to try, including one standout which features an unlikely ingredient. Pittman says she found success with her homemade oven fries after boiling them in salted acidulated water first.
Using the instructions from Eating Well, she says this one-hour recipe produced “wonderfully crispy” fries and gave it a 10/10 rating.
How to try it yourself
For this method, you start by preheating a sheet in an oven set to 220C or 425F. While this is going, add a small portion of cider vinegar and salt to a large pot of water and bring it to a boil.
Once you’ve cut your potatoes to your desired size, add them to the water and let them cook for a few minutes. Pat the potatoes dry and toss them with a combination of oil and seasonings before spreading them out evenly onto the now-hot sheet pan (which Pittman says she coats with cooking spray).
The potatoes should bake for about 40 minutes total, but be sure to flip them after 20 minutes. This is a sure-fire recipe for crispy chips, says Pittman.
In her review, she writes: “The exterior crunch was irresistible, while the fries’ fluffy, baked potato–like interior was deliriously good, too. The potatoes cooked evenly, with no scored bits, no softer or lesser-cooked fries.”
She said they were even a hit with four-legged family members. “I gave one fry to my dog, and it sounded like he was eating a Cheeto (this is a sound with which I’m admittedly very familiar).”
According to her, the extra step of boiling the potatoes is worth the extra effort because the salt helps extract excess moisture from the potatoes. Additionally, the vinegar strengthens the chips’ exterior and helps them hold their shape.
She also says the direct contact of the potatoes on a pre-heated and unlined pan enhances their crispiness—and none of them stick thanks to the cooking spray coating.
While this method took a bit longer than some of the others she tested, Pittman says the “results are superior”.