One of the most important skills in the kitchen is how to use a knife. Each week, we introduce the skills necessary to accomplish 1 task in a cleaner, more efficient way. Today we focus on knife skills for how to slice potatoes.
Slicing potatoes is the key to making delicious fries. Whether you’re making steak fries or shoestrings, it’s all about consistency. You can follow this guideline on how to slice fries, just make sure that most of your potatoes are roughly the same size. Always make sure you have a clean cutting board, a chef’s knife and a towel.
Let’s go!
Step by Step Instructions
Step 1: Lay the potato on its side and slice off 1 edge. Potatoes roll! So the first thing you want to do is create a flat surface for safe slicing.
Step 2: Rotate the potato so it’s resting on the flat edge and slice 5-6 even slices across the back of the potato. Again, once you determine the size of your fries, just make sure that you make even slices.
Step 3: Stack 2-4 potato slices (flat side down) and rotate 90 degrees. Then slice across in even slices. Potatoes start to release liquid, which actually helps them stick together.
Step 4: Slice the edge pieces, flat side down. You always want to place your potatoes on the flat side when slicing. That curved side is much more challenging.
Step 5: Boom! Potatoes are ready for cooking. If you don’t need them right away, store them in a bowl of water to prevent oxidation in the fridge. Oxidation is when your lovely potatoes start turning a mushy, gray color. It’s just want happens when they’re exposed to the air for too long. That’s why storing them in water helps keep them looking fresh and clean. Make sure to drain them well before cooking!
