By Jillian Dara

These 'perfect' fries take three days to make

Not Your typical fries

In a world of instant gratification, three days to make a french fry may seem unfathomable.

image courtesy of Jonathen Adkins

...but to chef Avishar Barua of Service Bar in Columbus, Ohio, it's simply a labor of love.

“The perfect fry is super crunchy on the outside but soft on the inside. If the fries aren’t perfect, why bother ordering them?”

The Steps:

✓ cutting ✓ cold water bath ✓ brining ✓ air drying ✓ frying ✓ draining ✓ freezing ✓ frying

Cutting:

"Cutting the potatoes alone takes about a day of labor," says Barua, explaining that the restaurant shuts down on Tuesdays in order to cut up about 240 potatoes.

A warm bath...

The excess starch is removed by submerging the potatoes in a cold water bath, followed by a brine of glucose, salt, baking soda and water.

Dry overnight

The team then removes the cuts, one at a time, and dries them on a wire rack, before placing them in a walk-in cooler to air-dry overnight.

First fry

On the second day of production, the potatoes are fried in a grape seed and canola oil blend for 68.5 minutes.

Freeze those fries

The fries are yet again dried and drained on a wire rack before entering the freezer; first until the fries are frozen solid, then chamber sealed in a vacuum bag.

“They need to freeze through, so that when they thaw, the interior is slightly mushy.”

Twice fried

On day three, when the fries are made to order, they're placed directly from the freezer into the 375°F fryer for two and a half minutes.

"The aim of this last fry is to build as much crust as possible; they look like they’re burning on the outside, but they’re still fluffy on the inside."

IMAGE COURTESY OF JONATHEN ADKINS

To finish, the team sprinkles "just a touch" of coarse salt atop the approximately pound of potatoes served alongside the Service Bar burger.