This Is Actually the Best Way to Reheat Potatoes.

It would be unfair to say that I bought a deep fat fryer just to heat up the fries, but it would be insincere to say that my desire to reheat the fries has nothing to do with the purchase. Back in the early part of this year – when we were young and the air was sweet – I wrote a little blog claiming that waffle sad cold fries were a great way to warm it up.

Comments began to appear almost immediately. “You are a fool, you are an absolute idiot,” they said. “The deep fryer is the only tool you should use to heat up your fries, and you’re an idiot if you think otherwise.” (I’ll paraphrase, but it felt like a commentary, at least as far as I can remember.)

Maybe I should buy a deep fryer, I thought, before waiting another eight months to buy one. (I finally got the Instant Pot Vortex Mini because it’s small, red and costs $ 50.)

A tiny, powerful convection oven that doesn’t technically roast anything is very convenient. I already have a whole list of things I plan on air-cooking, but I started with cold fries (and ate them for breakfast) because that’s what got us to this point.

My friends, you (and everyone who yelled at me) did not lie. When it comes to restoring soft, cardboard-like fries to their former crispy golden sheen, the deep fryer is tearing the waffle iron’s ass off (although I think leftover waffle fries are a great breakfast potato).

The leftover potatoes look sad and soggy due to moisture migration and the deep fryer will solve this nonsense in no time. As soon as the roast begins to cool down, the water inside the fluffy starch granules moves towards the crust, making the inside of the roast grainy and the outside soft. The deep fat fryer cannot rehydrate these starch granules, but it will certainly revitalize the wet appearance of the fry. The hot circulating air removes moisture and causes all the dormant fat to move and furrow the potato rind during frying. And while the insides aren’t as soft and fluffy as when you first take them out of the deep fryer, they’re pretty darn close . The ones I ate for breakfast this morning were almost indistinguishable from fresh fries, although it’s worth noting that they felt “freshly cooked, just cooked,” so this may have been their second (not third) reheat.

Aside from reheating completely cooled fries, this is a great way to revive take-out fries that may have sat in a paper bag or plastic container for too long. Just a couple of minutes in a deep fat fryer at 375 degrees will make them cheer up again. Times will vary from deep fryer to deep fat fryer, but unlike the Instant Pot or sous-vide circulating pump, it is very easy to check air fried food in the middle of cooking – just slide out the small basket. It took my deep fryer only five minutes at 375 ℉ to bring the cold, lifeless, rather thick breakfast fries back to their former glory, which is dangerously fast, especially in a family prone to over-ordering fries.

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