I really do not remember adjusting our fryers’ temperature downward for the blanching process. We fried at 365 and just blanched for 1-2 minutes at that same temperature. Then we’d put the blanched potatoes in those big grey dish pans and put them into the walk-in box. We’d use them the following day and just fry them at the same 365 till done. But, blanching them at 325 first and then frying them at 365 sure seems fine. We just never blanched and fried the same potatoes the same day.

I thought we made a great french fry and so did lots of customers, but the best fries I’ve ever had were at our competitor’s in Pittsburgh..The Original Hot Dog Shoppe. We used the same exact fryers, the same peanut oil, the same potatoes, but they never had to refrigerate their blanched potatoes. They sold so many that they just went from the blanching process to the final fry right there.

Personally, I believe that’s where the major diofference in taste was. We did not do the kind of volume that would allow us to do both processes at the same time. We had a battery of 3 Keating fryers…they had like 10 fryers!

If any of you are seriously interested in adopting the fresh cut fry for your place of business and you are anywhere near Pittsburgh, I highly recommend you check out this restaurant’s french fry process. I don’t think any place in the country serves more fries on a daily basis. The "Dirty O" as it is called has been featured on FoodTV several times.