Debate: basket shake vs no shake for homemade fries?

I made two batches of fries last night to settle this. First batch I shook the basket every 5 minutes at 400F, second batch I just let them sit the whole 15 minutes. The shaken ones came out way crispier on all sides, but the unshaken ones had these soft potatoey centers that were honestly pretty good. My wife liked the shaken ones better but I'm leaning towards the lazy approach. What do you all do - shake or no shake?

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2 Comments

chen.james4mo ago

Oh man, I've been down this exact road before. I mean, I tried both ways last summer and honestly the shake method won for me just because I hate soggy fries. Those soft centers are nice and all, but idk, I'd rather have that crunch everywhere since I dip them in ketchup anyway. Maybe it's just me but I found that shaking them halfway through and then again near the end gives you the best of both worlds - crispy outside but still a little tender inside.

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roberts.troy4mo ago

Used to be a hardcore no shake guy, but @chen.james is spot on about that halfway shake method. Tried it over the weekend and the fries had that perfect crunch on the outside but still some potato softness inside that I love. My old method of just letting them sit gave me too many floppy fries that got sad in the ketchup. Now I'm converted, guess I'll be doing a little more work for better fries from now on.

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