Why it's (almost) impossible to make Crispy Sweet Potato Fries in the oven.
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There’s many a recipe out there touting crispy baked sweet potato fries, but chances are if you’ve actually tried one or many …
Sweet potato fries time, recipe on my website (also included a note if you do want deep fried ones): https://www.ethanchlebowski.com/cooking-techniques-recipes/kinda-crispy-baked-sweet-potato-fries
SOURCES:
► On Food & Cooking by Harold McGee: https://amzn.to/3gzYOja
► What's Eating Dan? video: https://youtu.be/tXe46NpwA6k
► Russet potato – https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html…
► Sweet potato – https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html…
OTHER:
► Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/EthanC
► Music by Epidemic Sound (free 30-day trial – Affiliate): http://share.epidemicsound.com/33cnNZ
Use a Air fryer. Open and close every few minutes to let out steam.
How the hell do you add a splash of vinegar to boiling water? Doesn't that create toxic fumes?
you added all your tools in the links except the glass bowl. which one is it?
This is amazing info thank you! I'm thinking of trying this and then batch freezing then after the slurry and then just pull out what I want to air fry from the freezer. Would that work?
Amazing recipe and all the info about how it works 👍👍👌😊
Thanks for experimenting for us and sharing the method 😊👍🏽
I just discovered Ethan. His weight loss story and food knowledge is inspiring. I’ve been trying to get crispy sweet potatoes fries for years. This method was amazing. Like no oil! Mine were maybe a little too thin. Or, I missed the part when he said less time for a convection oven. I’ll for sure do them again. Thank you. I made them with your smash burgers. Ridiculous. Never go to a restaurant again.
Excellent lesson!
Thanks
What if I use potato starch?
I accidentally pressed thumbs down and immediately thought “oh sh1t, change it!!!”.
Is it possible to use tapioca starch?
Why does butter + brown sugar = crispy cookies, but not these fries?
blanch and coat with corn starch slurry before baking at 475 or fry, or air fry. thanks
can I use apple cider vinegar?
Trying this method tonight. I find your insights and research informative and engaging. Thanks Ethan
It's actually happening with regular potatoes too, albeit to a lesser degree.
try making them with the skin, it's delicious
Great video!
Just tried to replicate this recipe with minor changes: I made wedges rather than fries, eight of them from a single sweet potato, and used potato starch for the slurry (12.5 g starch to 20 ml water, though I added some extra starch and water afterwards).
I took the wedges out of the boiling water with a slotted spoon and tossed them right into the slurry, and they stuck together. The heat of the wedges quickly turned the slurry into a gel-like mass. The wedges were crispy in the end, but with white chunks all over them.
So what should I do to fix this? Does potato starch have different characteristics than corn starch (and if so, how should I address those)? Was the slurry to thick, or did I possibly use too much? Should I let the potato wedges cool down a bit before tossing them into the slurry?
It's amazing, the total number of grams of carbohydrates grew from 20 to 21 grams (3:32) 🙂
Ooohhh that crunch at the end sounds soooo good!
Dust them lightly with semolina first, it crisps them up a bit. The problem is the potato itself, the clue is in the title……too much sugar, not enough starch, As a result they will always come out soggy no matter what you do with them and that can't be fixed. The best thing to do is to not eat them to begin with as they are fucking disgusting…….stick to the tried and tested format of normal fries with normal ketchup and you will be just fine!
Thank you so much for making this video!!! Masterfully tested all the possible ways! I am so pleased as this have been a long time dream of mine and now, I can not wait to try this! I am sure to give it a good try, because after understanding the science behind this, I can adjust this to my oven/kitchen! The job well done!!!
One method I saw was to soak the cut sweet potato bits in water for 15-30 minutes, then drying them with paper towel well, then oil and coat them slightly with starch (like dry bread powder) and cook them in the oven in very high heat. Found that it really depends on how well you soak and especially how well you dry them (supposedly the effect is that it soaks unwanted stuff out of the sweet potato, and then you add the starch to replace it). And it takes quite a bit of paper towels, if you try to skip corners and not dry them further after spending a lot of papers, you'll be in for a sad surprise when they didn't turn out too crispy after all the effort. And you need to eat them when hot, they will get softer when you let them sit and cool down. I'll try this method for sure.
Probably one of the key things not easily replicated in local home kitchens is the wire rack, just having to use a baking sheet and it'll definitely make a difference.
One change I'd make to your method is leaving the peel on, the peel on potatoes is just too nice when fried/cooked in high heat.
Thanks bro at last I have got the recipe to make the best sweet potato fries,I prepared it out crispy & yummy.Guys please go ahead and prepare it.👌👌👍
the reason I'm addicted to your vids is because I don't want recipes. I'm starting to regain my health and now want to pick up helping my wife cook for us. I want to know why and how. I can then work out the flavours I want afterwards. I don't have the health to waste on experiments but watching your conclusions it makes it so much easier for me to know why something works or doesn't work. I love sweet potatoes, but I don't think I've had a single order of SP fries that I've enjoyed. Now you've armed me with the info I need to bust out some yummy SP fries. Thanks very much!
ottolenghi puts some polenta on the outside, recommend
I was not prepared for the science😂
Why are they considered healthy when they contain so much sugar
I did frozen sweet potato waffle fries in an air fryer and they came out pretty crispy, but you need to eat them fast, otherwise the steam coming out of the potato interior will soften it.
Followed this recipe to a T and it turned out not good at all… the potatoes weren’t crunchy at all… this video gave me so much confidence but when I saw the end result my ego was crushed. I don’t recommend
Is less fat (oil) but more carbohydrates (corn starch) a good tradeoff if reducing calories is the objective? How big is the difference?
I just fry it using vegetable oil
Man I wish I saw this when it came out… I tried Adam Ragusea's recipe for oven fries (with regular potatoes) with sweet potatoes, and didnt realize that it wouldn't work. Tasted ok, but a very disappointing result
i feel like im the only person who loves soft bendy fries >.> …
I tested this method out on regular potatoes, and it works well to make regular French fries too! 👍🏽
I made these today, and they were amazing! So crispy! I made these without a wire rack, and I also did not flip them over halfway between cooking, but they were still evenly cooked and crisp all the way through.
I really appreciate the time and effort you put into explaining the science behind this process. This absolutely puts every other sweet potato fry recipe on the internet to shame!
475 Fahrenheit = 246°C degrees celsius
Thanks for burning my fries Lmao
Definitely will try this. What sucks is, is that I wanted to incorporate these fries into meal prep. Can't boil them ahead of time, nor cook them ahead of time without losing any of the promising end results. Sigh
Finally got a chance to try this recipe, here in the UK at least to my knowledge we don't have corn starch but cornflour. What the difference is between them idk but I used cornflour instead and got less than desirable results. Maybe I messed up the measurements but with corn flour there wasn't any thickness in the slury. Was just kind of a lose liquid that just faded off the fries when I tried to coat them.
Thanks for the tip. I’ll give it a try! Do you have to use peanut oil? Can olive oil work?
I had no cornstarch left so I used arrowroot which worked just fine!
I use kalorik air fryer, no problem, crispy all the time.
weird
everyday i cut up one sweet potatoe and use 10g of egg whites and 5ml of avocado oil and toss in a bowl then place pepper, salt, garlic powder, chili powder and lots of smoked paprika and place them in a pre heated air fryer for 16mins at 400 degrees fahrenheit and they turn out PERFECT, i place them on my breakfeast burger and ugh they are so good and filling
never had any issues with them being floppy and yucky
always crisp and always perfect
none of this other hassle needs done imo
Please figure out another good oil. Using peanut anything in recipes that don't revolve around peanuts is not a good choice these days.
Same with corn starch. Like potato starch or something instead.
I had froze some fresh sweet potatoes and they turned out mushy and stuck to rack. Complete mess lol
bro just commit to metric. 15g of oil on top of 1/3 inch sweet potato fries??