French Fry Question

I think you can get away with 2 fryers.  Use one for the proteins and one for the veggies.  For par cooked fries you par cook them before service begins and let them cool, and cook them again a la minute.  Therefore you can use that same fryer for them.

I think your problem is going to be more with oil degredation than anything else.  Bread, cheese, potatoes all break down oil VERY quickly while also imparting flavors.  What I would suggest is to try and par boil your french fries and cool them a day ahead of time, gets rid of some of the protiens that break down the oil and leaves you with a creamy interior and a crunchy exterior a la McD's while not burning them like many end up doing at home.  Use one fryer ONLY for your FF's and the other for everything else, it will cut down on wasted fry oil and keep the flavors out of your fries.

I thought it was going to be a question for me.... 

Your big problem here is the breaking down of the fat. Try not to buy the cheapest one, buy the best one it last longer and long term cost less.

     All the items you are frying are high liquid, that kills the fat.. As far as imparting flavors, no matter what you do this will slightly happen. In fact Nathans Famous in Coney Island used to  fry raw onions in the fat before the fries., as they felt it improved the taste.

       The cheese will cause fat to brown faster. You dont need it. I would suggest straining fat daily and turn down temps in off time. As someone above mentioned steaming fries or boiling day prior is good idea(more work but pays off)  Same thing with chicken (almost all commercial fried chicken is steamed first  )

      Fish will flavor anything so try and put together a batter that seals quick possibly add some cornstarch. You have a lot of experimenting ahead but good luck.

First of all, icgSteve, you need a real good spanking on your bare a$$...

If you're taking your ambition serious, you should know by now that there's no such thing as "french" fries. They are Belgian.

Anyway, I'll try to help a bit if I can.

We have "friteries" in the smallest villages and they are now controlled quite often and heavily by the government on hygienic rules.

The basis of those rules are written down in a guide that is made by the national union of friturist Navefri. I have no idea if they are able to give you a good answer on your questions in english, but you could contact them. I would guess they will suggest that you get over here and learn the business from another friturist. Happens all the time! They may even bring you in contact with a skilled friturist for a hands-on training?

Here's the union's website, there's an e-mail adress to be found; http:// www.navefri-unafri.be/

You could even learn to become a real pro. There's a 1 year training available to become a friturist. Costs 350€. Very intensive, also organisational and commercial aspects teached.

http://www.syntrawest.be/opleidingen/horeca_en_voeding/horeca/frituuruitbater.html

What to do with the fat and change it, can even be answered by the appliances available. Take a look at this "machine": 3 pots to fry the potatoes, 2 baskets for other things. I know these guys organise training too, you could ask; http://www.perfectafrit.be/producten.php?product=pre

Found this thing on the internet. It's about starting a fries franchise...; http://www.belgianfries.com/bfblog/?p=1849

I know there is/was a succesful Belgian friterie in New York, but I don't know them personally. Google came up with this; http://www.pommesfrites.ws/

This is as far as my help goes since I'm still so very mad with you... It's Belgian fries!!

I would reccomend frying your food and then using a Parm based topical seasoning to finish the item.  Not burn to the cheese, no flavor loss or impating of flavor to the oil and you can use a higher quality cheese in the "finish" step.

As to soaking, the reason to soak is to get the starch out before you put them in the oil.  This does 2 things, it saves your oil(keeps costs down) and it makes for a crispy exterior/creamy interior fry.  Both are EXTREMELY desirable from an operational and customer view point.

Quote:

Originally Posted by icgsteve 

Thanks to those above....does anyone have guidance on the advisability of using a bit of Parm Cheese in breading of fryer foods? My concerns are that it will cause too much browning and destroy the oil faster, but I have never tried it and I dont have a place right now. I can find home cook recipes that call  for doing this but that does not mean that it works in the restaurant.