How to keep fries hot while fish cooks?
Posted on July 8th, 2009 by admin
Fish
I got a deep fryer for making fish and chips. Potatoes cook at a hotter temp than fish and it takes a while for the oil to cool down. I have tried putting chips (not skinny fries, but sliced “chip” shaped potatoes in the microwave on “hold warm” in a bowl lined and covered with paper towels, but they get soggy/tough.
The fish cooks at 280 degrees for 8 mins and the potatoes at 340 degrees for 10 mins plus 2 more.
I can do the fish first, it would speed things up (oil heats faster than it cools) but still the fish would need to sit for 12-15 minutes before the potatoes are done.
What is the best way to keep fried food hot and crispy? And would you do the fish or potatoes first?
The oil is not fishy, this is fresh caught Ling Cod, that was frozen in fillets within 1 hour of catching them. So I think I could do either first….
Please hurry, dinner is in about 2 hours!
Thanks.
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I got a deep fryer for making fish and chips. Potatoes cook at a hotter temp than fish and it takes a while for the oil to cool down. I have tried putting chips (not skinny fries, but sliced “chip” shaped potatoes in the microwave on “hold warm” in a bowl lined and covered with paper towels, but they get soggy/tough.
The fish cooks at 280 degrees for 8 mins and the potatoes at 340 degrees for 10 mins plus 2 more.
I can do the fish first, it would speed things up (oil heats faster than it cools) but still the fish would need to sit for 12-15 minutes before the potatoes are done.
What is the best way to keep fried food hot and crispy? And would you do the fish or potatoes first?
The oil is not fishy, this is fresh caught Ling Cod, that was frozen in fillets within 1 hour of catching them. So I think I could do either first….
Please hurry, dinner is in about 2 hours!
Thanks.
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Filed under: Cooking & Recipes
The Mexican Flu – Swine Flu
put them in the oven on warm, This should keep them crisp and not soggy. Sounds good have a great dinner.
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I would do the chips first and put them in a warm oven to remain crisp. They will fare far better in the oven than the fish that will (the fish will tend to over-cook).
Have great meal – it sounds good.
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I would do it the same way you are.. Just put the chips in the oven on 300-350F to keep them hot while the fish cooks.
Another option is sticking them back in the deep fryer for a couple seconds, after the Fish is done cooking.. Crispy fries!
Sounds really good about now too =)
The Mexican Flu – Swine Flu
Okay i dont know how to do fish or chips…but put the cooked fries in the oven for like 400 degrees…to keep em warm. DONT USE THE MICROWAVE for anything except like popcorn adn heating up pasta.
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Preheat your oven – after draining the potatoes on paper towel to get off excess grease, remove paper towel, place chips on a metal platter or cast iron pan and keep in the oven while the fish cook (which is quick)-they should stay crisp and even crispen up some in those few minutes. Microwave definitely will not work!!
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Cook the potatoes ALMOST done first. Let them cool on paper towels while you do the fish. Turn the heat down but don’t wait for it to cool, the fish will cool it quickly enough. Cook your fish and keep it warm. Turn the heat to high, drop the chips back in for 1-2 minutes to re-heat and crisp them (You shouldn’t need to wait for the oil to re-heat all the way) and your’re ready for dinner!
Twice-cooked chips are crispier anyway so even if you are not trying to juggle two fried foods at the same time, that is a good way to get really crispy chips.
Bert
I would do the fish first, because the poatoes also clean up the oil a little. And, as you say, it would speed things up.
I’d heat the oven to 150C/300F, and pop the fish on a paper-towel-lined baking tray, and keep them warm in the oven. It will also add a little extra crispiness. You could go lower on the temp — even down to 100C/200F. The point is to keep them warm, and give the oil a chance to drain off a little bit.
To tell the truth, though, I’m hopeless at frying potatoes. I usually bake shoestring potatoes in the oven at 200C/400F for 12 minutes (toss them in olive oil and add some season salt first). Then I fry the fish up on the top of the stove.
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OK, there is a secret (from Julia Childs) on how to cook French fries at home. This works!
Always cook the fries in two steps. It’s impossible to get them right in one step. They will either be raw in the middle and crispy outside, OR they will be done in the middle in burned on the outside.
The commercial food people all know this so they do the two step thing always. It’s just that the first step happends at the factory.
Step 1: Set your fryer to 325 degs (no higher). Cook the fries (possibly in batches) until they are cooked in the center. They will be softw and light on the outside though. That’s OK.
You don’t ned to keep them warm. Just leave them out (Or freeze them like the pros do).
Now you could cook your fish.
Bring the oil up to 375 deg. The fries need only a few minutes now to cook and get crispy on the outside.
PERFECT!
This really works and is why commercial fries are always better than what most people make at home.
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Set the oven to 300, put the fries on a cake rack on a cookie sheet in the oven. They’ll stay hot and crisp. Restaurants do this all the time. If you fry the potatoes in the same oil after you’ve fried the fish, the fries will taste of fish.
Hey Brando, if you are any kind of cook, you’d know that the grand dame of cooking is JULIA CHILD, not Childs.