Does that mean they're cold, hard, and inedible?
I'm sorry, I couldn't resist. I remember the last time I went to McDonald's (back in 2001) I ended up with fries that were cold and hard. The next time I went, it happened again. I stopped going there. Burger King was always my first love anyways.
But I'm going to give this recipe a try.
When McDonalds started, it wasn't the hamburgers that they focused on - they claimed it was the french fries that kept bringing people back time and again. The potatos were par-boiled, throughly dried, frozen and then cooked at 375 degrees in a blend of peanut and coconut oil. It was the coconut oil that was their secret ingredient until the "saturated fat people" complained.
For decades McDonald's cooked its french fries in a mixture of about seven percent cottonseed oil and 93 percent beef tallow. The mixture gave the fries their unique flavor -- and more saturated beef fat per ounce than a McDonald's hamburger.
The Metal Chef - I stand corrected - sort of - Yes, the original formula was 7% cottonseed oil and 93% beef tallow, but when they began experimenting with other oil combinations, coconut oil and peanut oil went into the blend in at least one store - My son worked at McDonalds, and his store was one of the experimental ones where they try new things (new hamburgers, salads, kid's meals, etc.) for the public, and I recall him talking about the F.F. oil blends, of which there were several, and some tasted better than others. I thought they had used the coconut oil, peanut oil, safflower oil blend nation wide since it created one of the better tasting fries, but I could be wrong.
The Metal Chef - I stand corrected - sort of - Yes, the original formula was 7% cottonseed oil and 93% beef tallow,
Mmmmmm beef tallow....
Tastes like McDonalds fries & cheaper than buying them!
Dissolve 1/3 cup of sugar in 2 cups of warm water. Place two large potatoes (peeled and cut fry size) and let set 15 to 30 minutes. Heat deep fryer to 350 degrees. Remove potatoes from water and dry off all excess water. Cook potatoes for one minute and remove. Allow oil to go back up to 350 degrees then place potatoes back in oil and cook until golden brown. Remove from oil, drain and salt to taste. (Even though they tastes good just like that I have a fry salt that I use which I mixed garlic pepper seasoning, sea salt, paprika and cayenne to taste)
From what I understand, the unique flavor of McDonald's fries is from a beef flavoring. I believe they used to use beef tallow instead of vegetable oil and when the pressure came down on them for health reasons, they switched to a beef flavoring and vegetable oil.
It's been a few years since I read the article.
Goes to show that everything we like in this world contains either SUGAR or FAT. Life isn't fair.