Thread by @darth

welcome to my ted talk i have thoughts on these four french fry shapes

https://twitter.com/FoodNetwork/status/1377715254826782731

the classic is bar none the most reliable french fry you can order
it is difficult for any body to mess up the classic french fry
u have a very good chance of getting that cronchy exterior and that fluffy interior that makes a french fry to remember

the danger of the classic cut is when they make it too narrow (getting the interior texture is difficult)
and making it too wide (the dangerous steak fry territory)
always look for the optimal cross section my frens

my concern with the crinkle cut fry is they often come slightly under cooked to my taste

the crinkly ridges which are supposed to provide extra surface area for more cronch often brown faster than the rest of the french fry leading to them being taken out of the fryer too soon

this is not unlike those who score a steak or fish with a criss cross pattern on a grill spending too much time making the criss cross pattern look nice than actually getting a decent crust on the meat in question i am sure u have experienced this at some point

the curly fry like the crinkle cut fry also often suffers from a tendency towards undercooking and a soggy texture

this is due to the irregular shapes which make deep frying them evenly quite challenging

unfortunately instead of just taking the necessary time and care with the frying to ensure a proper balance many try to hide the inferior cooking by just slathering
spice mixtures and starches onto the curly fry in hopes u will not notice the shortcomings

the waffle fry often has the opposite issue from the crinkle cut and the curly fry-they are sometimes over aggressively fried leading to both a tough exterior and a greasy interior

the waffle fry benefits from a much longer gentle first fry and a much shorter hotter second fry

like the curly fry the waffle fry is also often overwhelmed by spice mixtures under the mistaken notion that the waffle fry is too thick or not savory enough on its own

let the potato speak for itself i say
(to the potato)

my issue with many garlic fry implementations is the use of preserved and processed chopped garlic instead of fresh chopped garlic

the processed chopped garlic has an off flavor and mush texture to me that interferes rather than complementing the potato

https://twitter.com/LGBJoey/status/1378150685015908356