TheScienceBehindCrispyFrenchFries
JonathanSmithLukeStetler
Abstract:
Thepurposeoftheexperimentwastodeterminethetemperatureatwhichfrench
[Link],wedecidedtocookBatch1at300degrees,Batch
2at350degreesandBatch3at400degrees.Theywereallcookedfor4minutesinthe
sametypeofoil,[Link]
[Link],afterfrying
[Link]
[Link]
[Link]
inourmethodology,[Link]
youseeinthetables,[Link]
peoplethoughttheyweretoosoftwhileothersthoughttheywerecrispyenough.
Althoughourexperimentwasnotperfect,wewerehappywiththedatathatwegotand
thefeedbackthatwereceived.
Introduction:
FrenchfriesareanAmericanicon,
andfriedfoodingeneralmakesupa
[Link]
theaverageAmericanconsumes
twentyninepoundsofFrenchfries(1).
Forthatreason,weasconsumerscanbe
veryparticularwhenitcomestothetaste
[Link]
restaurantmadeFrenchfriesaredeep
friedinoil,whilehomemadeFrenchfries
[Link]
delicious,butcantheytasteevenbetter?
Theearliestknownreferenceto
friedpotatoesisfromtheEnglish
literature
ATaleofTwoCities
byCharles
Dickens(2).Frenchfriesbeginwiththe
mostbasicingredient,thepotato.
PotatoescametoNorthAmericafrom
SouthAmericawiththeSpanish
[Link]
onlytotheIncaEmpirewasspreading
aroundtheglobe,beginningwithSpainin
[Link],
[Link]
quickandeasygrowthrate,theIrishfood
culturewasbasedonthesmall
[Link],asIrishimmigrants
flockedtoAmericaafterthePotato
Famine,theybroughtwiththemtheir
spuddelicacy.
Soonafter,itwasdiscoveredthat
ifyoucutthepotatoesandsimplydrop
theminboilingfattheoutcomewas
[Link]
werequickandeasytoproduceand
[Link]
whocreatedthefirstfry,itisknownthat
bythe1830sFrance,Belgium,andeven
theUnitedStatesofAmericawas
developingfriedpotatoes(3).
Everythingfromthesizeand
lengthofthepotatotothetemperatureof
theoilisresearched,experimentedwith
andoveryearsofconsumerfeedbackis
solidifiedtoformthecommonAmerican
frenchfry.
Thegoalofthisexperimentwasto
identifywhatfryingtemperaturecreates
theFrenchfrywiththehighestmoisture
[Link],thepotatoholds
[Link]
hotoil,mostoften325degrees
Fahrenheit,thewaterturnstosteamand
leavesthepotatoleavingholesinthe
[Link]
surfaceofthepotatofilledwiththeoil.
Becauseofthis,theholesthataredeeper
[Link]
fluffyorcrispyFrenchfrydepending
onhowlongthefryisallowedtoremain
intheoilandhowhottheoiltemperature
[Link],itwasthefastfoodindustry
thatperfectedthefryingtechnique
Methodology:
MaterialsNeeded:
1. Potatoes
2. CanolaOil
3. Large/DeepPot
4. BakingPan
5. Oven
6. Stove
7. SpringScale(3)
8. FryingThermometer(at
minimumupto400degrees
Fahrenheit)
andcreatedtheequipmentweuseto
[Link]
temperature,themoremoistureis
releasedfromthepotatoandthecrispier
[Link]
oilthemoremoistureremainsinthefry.
Thisalsomeansthatthehigher
temperature,[Link]
adelicatebalancebetweenamoist
FrenchfryandacrispFrenchfry.
AnotherchangeintheFrenchfry
industrywasbakingtheFrenchfriesvs.
[Link]
dehydrationreaction,theamountofoil
usedinfryingisfardifferentthanthe
bakedfrenchfries.
Also,thedistributionofheatis
differentasthebakedfrieshavecontact
toabakingsheetunderneaththemwhich
couldunevenlytransfertheheatas
opposedtothefriesbeingsuspended
entirelyinthehotoil.
InourefforttoexamineFrench
fries,wesplitourexperimentintotwo
[Link],wequantitatively
examinedthemoisturecontentofthe
Frenchfriesthatwerefriedatdifferent
[Link],wemadetwo
batchesoffrenchfriesboiledandbaked.
Thegoalwastodeterminewhichfries
werelikedthemostbyourtastetest
subjects.
Tostudythemoisturecontentofour
frenchfries,weusedaspringscaleto
measuretheforcerequiredtobreakthe
[Link]
potatoesintoanequallengthandsize.
Wechose3inchesaourpredetermined
lengthandhalfacentimeterasour
[Link]
keepthesemeasurementsasexactas
possiblesothatthereisonlyonevariable
[Link]
temperatureoftheoilinwhichwefrythe
[Link],wefriedabatchof
potatoescanolaoilthathada
temperatureof300degreesFahrenheit.
[Link]
thatbatchwascomplete,weraisedthe
temperatureoftheoilto350degrees
Fahrenheit.
350degreesFahrenheitisthe
recommendedfryingtemperaturefor
makingfrenchfriesathome(4).The
sameprocessoffryingthepotatoesfor4
[Link],weraised
thetemperatureoftheoilto400degrees
[Link],thefryingsteps
[Link]
Frenchfrieswerecomplete,oneFrench
fryfromeachbatchwaschosentobe
[Link]
1.5incheswerehangingovertheedgeof
[Link]
measuredtheforcerequiredtobreakthe
Frenchfry.
Thistrialwasrepeatedwithfivedifferent
frenchfriesfromeachbatch.
Tofindqualitativedata,wemade3
[Link]
[Link]
onlythingwechangedisthetemperature
[Link]
[Link]
blindtastetestmeansthepeopleeating
thefooddonotknowwhereitcamefrom
andthepeopleservingthefooddont
[Link]
administeringtheexperimentknowwho
[Link]
foodcantknowbecausetheymayact
differentwhengivingpeoplethe3
differentfoods.
Iftheytrulyhavenoidea,thereis
[Link]
givethetestsubjectsthe3typesof
frenchfriesandhavethemvoteonwhich
[Link]
blindfoldedsothattheydontdevelopa
biasthroughthelookofthefrenchfries.
Wewillhavetheconsumersratethe
tasteonascaleof110foreachtype.
Thiswillgiveusanideaonhowmuch
theylikeeachkindoffrenchfry.
Results:
Thevariablethatwaschangedin
ourexperimentwasthetemperatureused
[Link]
[Link]
forcerequiredtobreakthefrenchfries
alsoshowedconsiderabledifferences
[Link]
frenchfriesfromeachbatchweretested,
and
Figure2
showsthatBatch3tookthe
mostamountofforcetobreakthefry.
Table1
showsthatinTrial2,whichused
afryfromBatch3,[Link]
[Link],ittook
only.001Ntobendorbreakthefrench
friesfrombatchone.
Thevaluesforthequalitative
analysisofthefrenchfriesandtheir
[Link]
surveyaskedtwoquestionsforeachof
thebatches,eachansweredonascaleof
[Link]
thesubjectenjoyedthefrenchfry,one
beingnotatallandtenbeingextremely.
Thesecondquestionaskedhowcrispy
thefrenchfrywaswithonebeingnotat
allandtenbeingextremelycrispy.
DiscussionandConclusion:
Theresultsofourexperiment
showusthattherearemanydifferent
factorstoconsiderwhenthinkingabout
[Link]
tests,theonlyvariablewhichwas
changedwasthetemperatureinwhich
[Link]
Asshownby
Figure3
,themajority
oftastetestsubjectsgaveBatch1a1or
2onthecrispnessscale.
ThefriesinBatch2wereagoldenbrown
andmostof,ifnotallof,thefrenchfry
[Link]
darkbrown,andblackinsomeplaces.
Batchnumber2,shownon
Figure4
,also
hadanaverageof1onthecrispyscale,
with7peopleoutofthe12answeringthat
theywerenotcrispy.Batch3,whichwas
cookedatthehighesttemperature,hada
widerrangeofresults.
Asshownon
Figure5,
three
peoplegavethefriesfromBatch3aone
andthreepeoplegavethefriesafive.
Therestoftheresultswerescattered
between1and5,withthehighestrating
[Link]
testsubjectshadanequalopinionabout
thecrispinessofBatch1and2,and
[Link]
askedhowtheyenjoyedthefrenchfry,
theresultswererelativelythesame,with
arangeofanswersbetween2and6.
Batch2containedthemostoutliersasit
wasgivena9aswellasa1.
showusthatthismakesalarge
differenceinthemoisturecontentofthe
[Link]
one,whichwascookedat300
Fahrenheit,barelychangedcolorand
fromourevaluationsstilltastedlikearaw
[Link]
showedusthatthenoamountofforce
wouldactuallybreakthefry,sowe
measuredhowmuchforceitwouldtake
[Link]
[Link]
remainedinsideofthatpotatoasitwas
soggytothetouchandonlytook.1Nto
[Link],results
showedthatthemajorityofsubjectsdid
notthinkthatthefrywascrispyatall.
However,theystillgavethefry4
and5ontheratingscale,whichis
[Link]
thatqualitativelythereisnotaconnection
betweencrispinessofafryandthe
overalltasteofthefryinourspecificlab.
Batch2wasalsonotconsideredcrispy
duringthetastetest,asitreceivedalmost
thesameamountof1sonthescaleas
[Link]
[Link]
meansthatmoremoisturewasdisplaced
fromthepotato,asshownbyourbreak
[Link].5Ntobreak
thefriesfromthatbatch,meaningthatit
wasalmost.4NstrongerthanBatch1.
ThefriesfromBatch3showedtobethe
strongestofthefriestakinganaverageof
1.25Ntobreak.
Theseresultsshowusthatthe
higherthetemperatureinwhichthe
potatoiscookedit,thestrongeritiswhen
[Link]
surprisingasourhypothesisstated
thatthecrispierthefrenchfry,theweaker
[Link]
offofthefactthatfryingisadehydration
reaction,whichremovesthewater
moleculesfromthepotatoandleaves
[Link]
[Link]
therewaserrorinourresultsbasedoffof
thefirstbatchsmeasurements.
Becauseitwouldnotbreak,itcan
beinferredthatittakesanextremelyhigh
amountofforcetoactuallysnapthe
[Link]
themostisbasedaroundtheconditionof
thefriesduringtheactualtastetest.
Whenwetastedourfriesjustafterthey
werecookeditwasveryclearwhichhad
beenundercooked,overcookedorjust
right.
Duetothetimingofthetastetest
andthetimethefrieswerecooked,
severaldayspassedbeforetheywere
[Link]
necessarytoreheattheminamicrowave
aswellaskeeptheminarefrigerator.
Thisallowedwatermoleculesto
reintroducethemselvesintothepotato.
Thisaccountsforthecrispyratingsthat
[Link]
fromBatch3wereobviouslycrispy,even
[Link],we
couldhavemadethefrenchfriesright
before,orevenduring,thetastetest.
Mostfrenchfriesthatweeatarefried
withintenminutesofconsumption.
Ourresultsweresignificant
becausefriesseemtocookdifferently
[Link],the
longeryoucooksomethingthesofterit
becomes.
However,whenyoucookafrenchfryata
highertemperaturethancalledfor,thefry
becomeshardertobreak.
Theresultsofourqualitativedata
alsohadseveralerrorswhichaffectedthe
[Link]
surveyweaskedtwoquestionsforeach
[Link]
showedthatourtestsubjectsenjoyed
[Link]
resultsalsoshowthatthoughtthat
neitherbatch1norbatch2were
[Link]
whaterrorscouldhaveoccurredduring
ourtestingprocess.
Theflawwhichstandsoutthemostis
basedaroundtheconditionofthefries
duringtheactualtastetest.
Whenwetastedourfriesjustafterthey
werecookeditwasveryclearwhichhad
beenundercooked,overcookedorjust
right.
Regardlessofhowourfrieswere
cookeditwasclearthattherearemany
differentopinionsabouthowaproper
[Link]
cannotadequatelyconcludewhatmakes
aperfectfrenchfry,butonethingis
perfectlyclearfryingtemperatureand
moisturecontentofthepotatoplayakey
roleinwhatmakesthefrenchfrythe
[Link]
temperatureoftheoil,thecrispierthefry
isgoingtobe,butitisuptotheconsumer
todecidewhatkindoffriedpotatoesthey
aregoingtoenjoywiththeirnextBig
Mac.
Figure1:ColorComparisonofFrenchFries
Table1:ForceRequiredtoBreakFrenchFriesinNewtons
Batch1
Batch2
Batch3
Trial1(N)
0.1
0.5
1.25
Trial2(N)
0.1
0.6
1.35
Trial3(N)
0.2
0.5
1.2
Trial4(N)
0.09
0.5
1.2
Trial5(N)
0.1
0.4
1.25
Figure2:ComparingtheForceRequiredtoBreakFrenchFries
Figure3:Batch1SurveyResults
Figure4:Batch2SurveyResults
Figure5:Batch3SurveyResults
References:
(1)
"WhattheAverageAmericanConsumesinaYear."FoodDemocracy.N.p.,19June
[Link].03May2016.
(2)Sloam,Natalia."ThingsYouDidn'tKnowaboutFrenchFries."[Link]
Network,[Link].03May2016.
(3)Stoller,Debbie."TheSecretHistoryofFrenchFries."TheSecretHistoryofFrench
Fries.N.p.,[Link].05May2016.
(4)"ChefJohn'sFrenchFriesRecipe."Allrecipes.N.p.,[Link].10May2016.
