What's on the Menu

[Pezzza]

3 hours ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

Late Dinner last night

Where do you @Classic Brewing Co Phil and @stquinto Sainter magic all these beautiful looking french-fries/hot potato chips from all the time - is it Air Fryer thing or just hot ail in pan?

Edited January 14, 2022 by Itinerant Peasant

[Classic Brewing Co]

1 hour ago, Itinerant Peasant said:

Where do you @Classic Brewing Co Phil and @stquinto Sainter magic all these beautiful looking french-fries/hot potato chips from all the time - is it Air Fryer thing or just hot ail in pan?

I usually buy Coliban, Sebago or Royal Blue Potatoes for chips, the secret is to cut them the same size & soak them in cold water for at least 30-60 minutes to remove the starch & then rinse, pat dry & cook them at 160c for 3-5 mins but do not brown them. 

A thermometer is best inserted in the oil to guarantee correct temperatures.

Place them on paper towel until needed. Reheat the oil & cook for 190c for 5-8mins until golden & crisp, drain & season ( I love Chicken-Chippy Salt )

Vegetable Oil is the better choice as it is nuetral & has a high smoke point as Peanut/Canola/Sunflower/Rice Bran oil.

I have always done this & they always turn out great. Cheers. 

 

 

Edited January 14, 2022 by Classic Brewing Co

[stquinto]

1 hour ago, Itinerant Peasant said:

Where do you @Classic Brewing Co Phil and @stquinto Sainter magic all these beautiful looking french-fries/hot potato chips from all the time - is it Air Fryer thing or just hot ail in pan?

I'm old school  @Itinerant Peasant mate 

Cut 'em thick, give them a rinse under the tap for a while, then put them in cold water, quite a bit of salt. bring them to the boil and boil them for about 4 minutes. Dry 'em off properly (I leave them on a wire rack for a bit).

Then two lots of cooking in chip oil for 5 minutes each time. I read about the first cooking at 160° and the second at 180°, but if I cook the first one at 160° the oil temperature drops immediately do I do twice at 180°.

I also drain/filter back the oil into a cuppla wine bottles when it's cooled down, get the bits of tatty out. That way you get at least a dozen rounds of chips before you have to change the oil. Also I lose very little oil when I pour it back in the bottle as you can see in the photo so they can't be that unhealthy. That's my line on it anyway...

I did read that beef dripping was the best, but as I filter the oil it wouldn't work for me.

Try not to do them more than once every fortnight but it tends to work out at once a week 

[Pickles Jones]

2 hours ago, stquinto said:

I did read that beef dripping was the best, but as I filter the oil it wouldn't work for me.

We use Beef Dripping or Rice Bran Oil depending on what we want to deep fry. The Tefal fryer as below,  filters the oil/dripping removing the bits out of the oil/dripping as it drains into the container (blue) below. I bought an extra container so we can use oil or dripping what ever is best. The cleaned oil/dripping lasts for months when the containers are kept in the fridge. You may not need to fridge depending on the ambient temperatures.

[terminal2k]

39 minutes ago, Pickles Jones said:

Tefal fryer

that drainage tray looks awesome. had a fryer years ago but dealing with the oil was too painful. 

[stquinto]

4 hours ago, Pickles Jones said:

We use Beef Dripping or Rice Bran Oil depending on what we want to deep fry. The Tefal fryer as below,  filters the oil/dripping removing the bits out of the oil/dripping as it drains into the container (blue) below. I bought an extra container so we can use oil or dripping what ever is best. The cleaned oil/dripping lasts for months when the containers are kept in the fridge. You may not need to fridge depending on the ambient temperatures.

Mate, that looks like an awesome fryer 

For anyone interested, I very much recommend the triple cooking (water + oil + oil).

I alos read a Hestor Blumenthal recipe where he put them in the freezer in between cookings to really dry them out. I tired it once, but A. it cooled down the oil immediately, and B. it was a monumental pain the the a*se... FFS, I only want a few chips 

[Classic Brewing Co]

19 hours ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

Where do you @Classic Brewing Co Phil and @stquinto Sainter magic all these beautiful looking french-fries/hot potato chips from all the time - is it Air Fryer thing or just hot ail in pan?

 

I sometimes cheat & use the Air Fryer with Coles Beer Battered Steakhouse Cut Chips from the frozen section.

[Pezzza]

Thanks everyone - most appreciated 

Now it seems everyone agrees on cooking twice in hot oil...

So how long do you have to wait between completing the first cook in oil - and then the second round of cooking in oil?

Length of Gap of time in between?

And does the 5/5-8 mins hot oil cooking time or also depend upon thickness size of chips?

I quite like the thin chip thing...pommes frites style

[Pickles Jones]

12 minutes ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

I sometimes cheat & use the Air Fryer with Coles Beer Battered Steakhouse Cut Chips from the frozen section.

I was very sceptical about Air Fryers however we bought one from K Mart. Used it for Beer Battered Steakhouse Cut Chips also.

I was really surprised how well it worked. Great if you need a large amount or small.

[Classic Brewing Co]

2 hours ago, Pickles Jones said:

I was very sceptical about Air Fryers however we bought one from K Mart. Used it for Beer Battered Steakhouse Cut Chips also.

I was really surprised how well it worked. Great if you need a large amount or small.

Yep they are good, mine is a Sunbeam, quite large thingo, it has heaps of functions, Air Fry/Pizza/Bake/Convection/Grill etc, I use it a lot.

[Classic Brewing Co]

2 hours ago, Itinerant Peasant said:

Thanks everyone - most appreciated 

Now it seems everyone agrees on cooking twice in hot oil...

So how long do you have to wait between completing the first cook in oil - and then the second round of cooking in oil?

Length of Gap of time in between?

And does the 5/5-8 mins hot oil cooking time or also depend upon thickness size of chips?

I quite like the thin chip thing...pommes frites style

Mate after you have done the first cook & place the chips on paper towel, you can keep them there for a reasonable time until you are ready for the second cook which is really the crisping up process. It does pay to have them the same size, I use a wooden skewer to test sometimes but you can tell by looking at them. Another thing I always put a pinch of tumeric in the oil to give them that nice colour, the same if you are making batter for fish, add some of that to the SR Flour for a golden colour. 

Edited January 15, 2022 by Classic Brewing Co

[Pezzza]

Gold

TXVM 

Very Good

[Pickles Jones]

1 hour ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

I always put a pinch of tumeric in the oil to give them that nice colour, the same if you are making batter for fish, add some of that to the SR Flour for a golden colour.

I give this ago next fish and chip night

[iBooz2]

5 hours ago, Itinerant Peasant said:

Thanks everyone - most appreciated 

Now it seems everyone agrees on cooking twice in hot oil...

So how long do you have to wait between completing the first cook in oil - and then the second round of cooking in oil?

Length of Gap of time in between?

And does the 5/5-8 mins hot oil cooking time or also depend upon thickness size of chips?

I quite like the thin chip thing...pommes frites style

Have to agree re @Classic Brewing Co & @stquinto , methods as I do huge batches, 20 kg spud bags all at once and freeze them into individual serve bags for later cooking.

My method is more toward stquinto's as I also par boil mine first for a few minutes too as this helps rid the starch.  The very important thing here is to let them completely air dry after the boil process to remove all traces of moisture otherwise you are screwed.  I spread them out everywhere on tea towels and leave for ages. 

I deep fry them in small batches (first fry) at about 180 C for a few minutes (cook but don't crisp them) then drain and also leave them out to cool on mesh racks until the whole big batch are all done.  This is where I bag most up in meal sized lots and freeze them.

When I want to cook them for a meal, its straight out of the freezer and into the rotating basket in my air fryer, 200 C for 25".

Edit: I only use Picky Picky Peanut Oil and get excellent results.  Comes in 3 L drum and 1 L bottles but it disappears off the supermarket shelves damn quick.  Supposedly more healthy than normal peanut oils from outside AUS.

Edited January 15, 2022 by iBooz2

[stquinto]

24 minutes ago, iBooz2 said:

I deep fry them in small batches (first fry) at about 180 C for a few minutes (cook but don't crisp them) then drain and also leave them out to cool on mesh racks until the whole big batch are all done.  This is where I bag most up in meal sized lots and freeze them.

That sounds like a great idea. Not sure if I can get the freezer space but worth trying

[stquinto]

5 hours ago, Itinerant Peasant said:

Thanks everyone - most appreciated 

Now it seems everyone agrees on cooking twice in hot oil...

So how long do you have to wait between completing the first cook in oil - and then the second round of cooking in oil?

Length of Gap of time in between?

And does the 5/5-8 mins hot oil cooking time or also depend upon thickness size of chips?

I quite like the thin chip thing...pommes frites style

Don’t forget the first cook in water IP mate. As for time between the two oil cookings, I often just sit the basket over the fryer till the oil’s hot again. If you need to wait a long time, take the basket off though. I left it sitting over the fryer for a long time and the chips got dried out and shriveled.

Thin ones are good too - but best to get one of those hand held chip cutters so they’re all the same size, lot less work too. 
As for cooking time, I stick to two times 5 minutes, bit occasionally pull them out in the middle of the second cooking to get the oil hot again. You need a good rolling boil when the chips are in the second time  

 

[stquinto]

6 hours ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

Another thing I always put a pinch of tumeric in the oil to give them that nice colour, the same if you are making batter for fish, add some of that to the SR Flour for a golden colour. 

That sounds like an interesting idea Phil mate

Does the tumeric not taint the oil? Can you use it a few times?

Must give that a go. Or put it in the water when boiling the spuds, like the Indians do with Bombay Potatoes. Might end up tasting of curry, which in itself is not a bad thing, just not when you’re having steak and chips

[stquinto]

Sauerkraut- or choucroute as they call it here. My local butcher does vac-packed portions for one, I just boiled up some spuds. Normally beer I know, but I had a half-bottle of Riesling hanging around, so why not

[Classic Brewing Co]

On 1/15/2022 at 10:03 PM, stquinto said:

That sounds like an interesting idea Phil mate

Does the tumeric not taint the oil? Can you use it a few times?

Must give that a go. Or put it in the water when boiling the spuds, like the Indians do with Bombay Potatoes. Might end up tasting of curry, which in itself is not a bad thing, just not when you’re having steak and chips

No it doesn't taint the oil as you only need a small amount, you can actually buy Turmeric Oil as well which has great health benefits.

I just realised I left the 'r' out in my last post. 

They call it the poor man's saffron ! I use Turmeric in lot's of dishes especially curries, stirfrys . When I fry fish my method is to place the fish fillets/pieces in a plastic bag which contains flour, pepper, salt & of course Turmeric & any other seasoning you want, Basil Leaves, Chili flakes etc & gently shake everything until the fish is completely coated & then fry as normal. You can egg wash the fish before going into the flour bag but it can get a bit messy, I find the first method gives a nice crispy finish & colour to the fish.

Also the chips end up a nice golden colour. 

[Pickles Jones]

1 hour ago, stquinto said:

Sauerkraut- or choucroute as they call it here. My local butcher does vac-packed portions for one, I just boiled up some spuds. Normally beer I know, but I had a half-bottle of Riesling hanging around, so why not

You certainly can make some varied meals there. Nice choices. 

[Pezzza]

5 hours ago, stquinto said:

My local butcher

Beautiful @stquinto Sainter just beautiful.

What are the meats - and - saussies?

Pickled pork of some sort?  maybe a Kassler of some sort?

and some local festive snags? 

[ben 10]

7 hours ago, stquinto said:

Sauerkraut

Make your own lazy ass

1 hour ago, Itinerant Peasant said:

What are the meats

Speck perhaps? Frankfurt?

[stquinto]

3 hours ago, Itinerant Peasant said:

Beautiful @stquinto Sainter just beautiful.

What are the meats - and - saussies?

Pickled pork of some sort?  maybe a Kassler of some sort?

and some local festive snags? 

It was pretty awesome IP mate

There’s a Frankfurter, some belly pork, a slice of smoked sausage and some boiled cut of port, not sure, maybe shoulder?

Anyway, 10 minutes in the pan with a splash of my Duvel clone it was a beaut. A lot of people use wine when heating it up but with beer it’s less acidic and more digestible

[stquinto]

2 hours ago, disgruntled said:

Make your own lazy ass

Yeah, I keep meaning to, but not got round to it yet. These bags from the butcher are emergency meals I normally keep in the freezer and defrost and cook where necessary 

[ben 10]

40 minutes ago, stquinto said:

Yeah, I keep meaning to,

Get a vac sealer...

 

put that in a vac bag - seal.

a week later, empty into a jar in the fridge.