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Make Crinkle Cut French Fries & Waffle Fries At Home

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Make waffle or crinkle cut french friesHave you ever wanted to make your own french fries at home? Wouldn’t it be great to prepare a healthier fry with less fat and more of the seasonings you like best? Doing it yourself can be a  tastier and more beneficial way to enjoy this popular food, so many of you have probably thought about whipping up your own batch of golden deliciousness. If attempted in the right way, this can be a rewarding endeavor, but if you try to make them without knowing what you’re doing, you may quickly decide that homemade is a bad idea.

How would you ever be able to make those fancy cuts? Won’t it take forever to turn a whole potato into all kinds of thinly cut pieces? Don’t you need each one to be the exact same thickness? If you attempt this task with a regular knife, you will be in for a real challenge. Precision slicing is definitely the key to success, so regular tools and/or techniques may leave you frustrated as you choke down misshapen chunks of undercooked potatoes, or grumble under your breath due to the disappointment. Too impossible. Too much time. What a hassle.

The Wave Waffle Slicer [4] makes this job way easier, and it pretty much eliminates any possibility of bad results.  It can make waffle fries, wavy cottage fries, or traditional looking crinkle cut fries, and the simple operation is something that anyone can master. Technique and setting dictates your finished product, but any variety is simple to prepare with this tool. They’re German designed, and they have dangerously effective blades. When you slice with one, the sturdy build and easy operation lets you know that it will last for years. Similar looking tools may be able to do the same stuff, but Borner versions have proven to be a better value. At home, or in a professional kitchen, these things are highly rated because when in use, perfect, uniform results are no longer difficult to achieve, or time consuming to accomplish. Because they require no special skill to operate, and because they guarantee perfect slices with every use, a Wave Waffle Slicer is perfect for this task.

Crinkle Cut Fries

This type of french fry is the most difficult to cut, and requires a two step process. It is similar to a shoe string fry [5], but it is thicker overall, and has a wavy texture on all sides. For many people, this is their favorite variety. When cooked, they get crispy and golden on the outside, but remain hot and squishy on the interior. Dip one in some ketchup for the ultimate snack or side dish. To cut this type, just use your waffle slicer and follow these easy steps:

  1. To make crinkle cut french fries simply take your potato and secure it to the safety food holder.
  2. Set the slicer to the ridge or wavy cut.
  3. Once set,  just slide the potato along the device and past the blade. Be sure to apply even pressure in order to achieve the ideal thickness of slice. You will slice the whole potato into wavy slices.
  4. Once this is done, simply stack the pieces back together and place them back in the food holder sideways.
  5. Slice the whole batch again. Now when you slice the potato you will have perfect looking crinkle cut french fries as your result because you will be sectioning the flat wavy piece into sticks. This whole process takes just seconds once you are used to operating this slicer.

Waffle Fries

Often referred to as cottage fries, these large, round french fries offer a more hearty portion. They will be the size of full slices, and they will be circular in shape, but the characteristic that gives them appeal, is the waffle texture on the front and back. This criss cross cut increases surface area, and gives the potato a great look. When you cook it, they get nicely crisp and the larger size allows for ample seasoning to be applied. You can use the same technique on other vegetables to prepare garnish or add them to salads. Making waffle fries is even easier than crinkle cut, so you can prep them in about half as much time. Use the following steps, and the wave slicer to get perfect results.

  1. Set the slicer for the waffle cut and secure your potato in the food holder.
  2. Make a single pass along the slicer to make the first cut. You will notice ridges on the end of your potato.
  3. After the first pass, just make a quarter turn and slice it again. Your first waffle fry is now cut.
  4. Rotate back and forth, and slice once with each rotation. You will quickly develop a rock and slice technique that will allow you to speed through several spuds and still get perfect looking results with a  uniform thickness.

Wavy Chips

This is the easiest one to do. It will result in a medium thickness slice with a wavy texture on the top and bottom. This would be similar to a thick, wavy potato chip, or fish n chips style fries. The technique is simple, and it will be the fastest type to prepare. Use this to make hot fries, or cut with another vegetables for things like garnish or canning and pickling. Use the following steps to cut wavy potato slices.

  1. Set the slicer to wavy cut, and secure your potato in the food holder.
  2. Apply even pressure and use and up and down motion to slice.
  3. Hold potato with one hand, and slicer with the other. Tool will cut with downward motion only. There is no technique involved, just slide straight down the slicer and the advanced blade will do the rest. You will get perfect, professional looking slices quickly and easily.

Cooking

Once the cutting is done,  you will be  ready to season and cook your fries to your liking. They can be baked or fried, and flavored with any number of spices. Most people prefer the taste and texture when fried, but the results will be healthier if you bake. You can end up with crispy perfection with either method, but baking also offers the cleanest and most simple process. If you fry in a pan, the splatter can be difficult to clean, and not everyone has a deep fryer in their home, but pretty much everyone has an oven available and a baking sheet to place them on.

Bake In The Oven

Fry in a Pan

Deep Fry

For exact directions for this method, consult instructions from your machine. The basic technique is as follows:

Once you discover how easy it is, and how great the fries taste, it will be hard to go back to store bought versions again.

Tip Contents

Products Mentioned

[4]Original Wave Waffle Slicer [4] by Borner

This is the lowest priced version and the original. It has a single thickness setting, and a skinny frame that accommodates average size potatoes.

adjustable waffle slicer [10]Adjustable Waffle Slicer [10]by Borner

This one is the newest version and it has multiple thickness settings. If you want the ability to cut your food a bit thinner than average, this one is for you. The wider sizing will make it easier to work with larger spuds. Also features easy to grip handle, and safety blade setting for storage.

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5 Comments (Open | Close)

5 Comments To "Make Crinkle Cut French Fries & Waffle Fries At Home"

#1 Comment By James McDermott On 02/09/2010 @ 10:37 AM

I love my Henckels. I find the handle weighting and range of blade options is just perfect for the way I cook. I am hard on knives, I don?t take care of them as well as I should, but mine have held up for 20 years and will probably last a lifetime.

#2 Comment By Carmelo Nodurft On 04/23/2010 @ 5:49 AM

I guess I’m kind of an old fart, but I can’t get behind the concept of molecular cooking. Apparently, neither can Italy. They have introduced a ban on molecular cooking for italian restaurants. What do you think?

#3 Comment By Mr Fluff On 04/15/2011 @ 4:58 PM

I LOVE WAFFLE FRIES THEY ARE SO DELICIOUS AT T-REX AND WHEN THEY KINDA COLD

:~)

#4 Comment By SimplyGoodStuff On 04/19/2011 @ 6:09 PM

Delicious is right! Maybe it’s the shape that does it. Something about the way the criss cross pattern holds on to salt and other spices maybe. Whatever it is, one thing is for certain – waffle fries = yummy 🙂

#5 Pingback By Why Are There So Many French Fry Shapes in the First Place? | MEL Magazine On 07/16/2019 @ 10:00 AM

[…] crinkle and waffle fries can be cut with the same slicer?—?a mandoline. But the latter is also known by a French name, pommes gaufrettes, and a […]