Can I Cook The Tuscan Fries In A Deep Fat Fryer?

Our answer

Nigella's Tuscan Fries (from NIGELLISSIMA) are cooKed in a very different way to regular fries or chips as the uncooked fries are immersed in a pan of cold oil and then the oil is heated to cooking temperature. The potatoes do not absorb excessive amounts of oil while cooking and the resulting fries are golden, dry and crispy. Nigella uses a large, deep saucepan to cook the fries.

We suspect that the recipe may be suitable for some types of deep fat fryers (deep fryers). However, it needs to be a fryer where you can see the fries as they are cooking and also easily add the cloves of garlic and the sage during cooking and without any risk of burning yourself. So some of the more enclosed electric deep fat fryers may not be suitable nor the type that have a rotating basked and the fries will not work in an air fryer. It is important to see the colour of the fries as they are cooking, as this is the main indicator of when they are ready. With a deep fat fryer you should be able to set the target cooking temperature and once you have put the potatoes into the cold oil we would suggest setting the fryer to 160c/325F and once it reaches this temperature turning it down to 150c/300F for the remainder of the cooking time. However, please note that as we have not tried the cooking the Tuscan Fries in a deep fat fryer ourselves, we are unable to guarantee the results.