French Fry Diary 727: Copper Crisper

This As-Seen-on-TV product promises to transform your oven into an air fryer. There's no added oil or butter, it eliminates turning food, and allows heat to circulate around food. No sticking, no burning, sounds amazing, right?

Well, maybe. I am always skeptical of this infomercial stuff, especially when pitched by loud obnoxious after-midnight infomercial guys like this Copper Chef dude. That said, this copper color painted basket raised over a copper color painted bake pan does kinda do what it says it does.

Like a convection oven the hot air circulates around the food cooked all sides and eliminating the need to turn it. Five to ten minutes more is needed however to cook the food. That's just what I got from the two batches of steak fries I tried to cook this way. The slight crisp on the outside and fluffy potato on the inside works well for the thicker fries like steak fries, but I immediately wondered what shoestrings might be like in this thing, so the next time that opportunity came, I tried it.

Over the next few days, there was much experimentation. If nothing else, shoestrings worked better, and chicken nuggets and other breaded goodness worked as well, even refrigerated dough biscuits. Onion rings however, and anything you might want a bit of a crunch to - not so much. Five to ten minutes longer than directions tell you is the hard and fast rule though, sometimes longer.

The Copper Crisper is no air fryer, and neither is it a convection oven, but for an infomercial product, it is pretty darn good. I'm happy with it.

French Fry Diary 694: White Castle Frozen Fries

The day before I found these, I had been watching an episode of Jon Hein's "Fast Food Mania" talking about Valentine's Day at White Castle, and lamenting that there was no longer any White Castles nearby any more. Toms River is quite the road trip for a sudden slider craving. Now these frozen fries, along with the grocery freezer version of the brilliantly microwave-steamed sliders, might just be able to approximate the White Castle experience at home.

I had thought in my passing acquaintance with White Castle fries that they were simply standard frozen crinkle cut fries, but examination of the contents of the bag made it clear these crinkle cuts are smaller. Not quite pixie crinkles, but larger than shoestrings, and

just as long. I'm not sure I remember the real thing being like this, but I'll pay more attention next time.

They came from the oven quite tasty. Crisp and hot and tasty, yes, but not all that much like real White Castle fries. Not that they couldn't be, of course. Follow the cooking directions, but keep a sharp eye on them while in the oven. You can have these just like in the restaurant, or however you like them. These are good fries, well worth it.

French Fry Diary 678: KC Steak Fries

When I write I usually have to have something on in the background. I used to have one of the 24/7 news channels going. My rage at them (all of them) being more opinion than actual news stopped that. Then I tried CourtTV, but once the Jodi Arias trial started, that too proved a distraction.

And then there was QVC, which worked for a while with its innocuous programming. While the recent Isaac Mizrahi moon-is-a-planet kerfuffle is typical of the channel, the foodie in me was soon seduced by their cooking shows. The Kansas City Steak Company sells their wares on QVC often, including their juicy Steakburgers and huge hot dogs, both tempting, but I never broke down and ordered anything until they sweetened the deal with... wait for it... French fries.

The package arrived just a few days later, a big styrofoam box with dry ice in it, along with three smaller black boxes marked Kansas City Steak Company. One box had the burgers, another had unusually large hot dogs, and the third - two big white label-less one pound bags of French fries. I couldn't wait to try them, and by them, I meant the fries.

From what I saw on television, KC Steak Fries (TM) are seasoned steak fries, long planks of natural cut potato, with a golden brown sprinkling of spices. They could be deep fried, but everyone knows that frozen fries are best baked. The reality of the situation was a bit different.

But first, a word about the other stuff in the package. The hot dogs are made from 100% beef, and are huge, approximately an inch longer and twice as thick. They will make most rolls seem puny. These dogs take a little longer to cook, but wow. The burgers, excuse me, Steakburgers, are also huge, and pretty good too, a five ounce patty of corn fed ground beef from western Kansas. Thumbs up.

At first sight, out of the blank white bag, they were natural cut steak fries, some coated in Kansas City's special 'old bay' seasoning, and some not, very uneven. I have to be honest, as excited as I was when I first saw them on QVC, I was a little disappointed when I opened the bag. We'll see how they cook. After all, the dogs and burgers were great, why wouldn't the fries be as well?

The directions were not quite right, so keep an eye on your fries, and cook appropriately. I had to keep cooking them for an additional five minutes. The crispier and crunchier these fries were, the better they were. The fries are certainly seasoned, but I have to say I wasn't getting an Old Bay vibe. They were good, but not that good. I would definitely get the dogs or burgers again, but maybe not the fries.

French Fry Diary 676: McCain Craft Beer Battered Potatoes

I'm not a beer drinker, never have been. I'm not fond of beer battered onion rings or battered French fries either. So know that when I picked up this package of McCain Craft Beer Battered Potatoes, Thin Cut style, I did it for you folks. I'm trying these so you won't have to.

McCain maintains these frozen battered shoestring fries are real potatoes with no artificial colors or flavors, and made with the finest quality American pale ale. I was impressed that the fries were shoestrings as you don't usually find that style battered often. Burger King notably tried it for a while, and they were terrible.

The directions are a bit off, so you may want to keep your eyes on these fries as they cook, as they crisp up pretty quick. Watch them. The fries are pretty long, some seven or eight inches long. The batter adds a nice crisp and I didn't actually taste the 'craft beer' flavor, at first at least. After eating a half-dozen fries, I began to get it cumulatively, but not offensively.

I didn't expect to like these, but I really did. Thumbs up.

French Fry Diary 664: Ore-Ida Bold & Crispy BBQ Oven Chips

Folks who are regular readers of FFD know that I'm a barbeque guy, both the grilling and the flavoring. If I find a new potato chip and BBQ is available I will always lean toward that flavor, so when I heard that Ore-Ida's new Bold & Crispy line had a BBQ French fry, I was all in.

When you open the bag there is a wonderful aroma, almost that of good barbeque potato chips. The 'fries' are rather thin for this type of disc-shaped fry, rippled like Ruffles, and heavily seasoned to a bright orange. They were not yet even cooked and I had very high hopes for these 'chips.'

Okay, first things first, the directions are more like suggestions. About half of what I got were cooked perfectly, and the rest were black burnt. So keep an eye on the oven while cooking and use your best guess. The burnt chips were inedible but the others were very good, like a very thick potato chip with a soft hot inside. There's a bit of heat, but it's good heat, and hot enough to have a beverage handy.

I liked these Oven Chips quite a bit, so far the best of the Bold & Crispy bunch, highly recommended.

French Fry Diary 650: Ore-Ida Bold & Crispy Zesties!

Even though Ore-Ida's Bold & Crispy line is new, at least two of their styles are just rebrandings. Zesties! and Zesty Twirls have been around for a long time. Ore-Ida has even trademarked the phrases, and rightly so, these seasoned fries are unique in the fry world.

The Zesties! are just a little larger than usual regular cuts with a spicy battered coating of seasoning, pretty traditional stuff like pepper, onion powder and paprika along with other stuff at add heat. That said they aren't hot as much as they are seasoned. It's a bold taste, with just enough kick to get your attention.

The batter gives them a bit of a crisp while the insides are baked potato-ey and hot, temperature hot that is. The Zesty Twirls are much the same, only in skinnier curly fry form. However, be sure to watch these fries as they cook. The directions can be shaky with your particular oven, and if they get too crispy, they're not so good. Watch them!

Zesties! is a good name for these fries, they're very good, with a kick, even with their new rebranding.

French Fry Diary 648: Ore-Ida Bold & Crispy Garlic and Pepper Steakhouse Fries

One of the new fries in Ore-Ida's new Bold & Crispy line are these Garlic and Pepper Steakhouse Fries. They immediately got my attention because of their lengthwise crinkle cuts, closer to the old Gulliver's type than Famous Dave's. I was looking forward to trying these.

When you first open the bag, the garlic aroma is very strong and will remain so as they bake, but not so much when they're done. Your kitchen will smell nicely garlicky for about ten minutes or so, but it's a good thing.

These lengthwise crinkle cuts allow for extra crispness, but I would watch and adjust the heating directions as appropriate for you. My fries were done with seven minutes to spare by their instructions on the bag.

While the smell is good, I thought I had cooked the garlic out of these fries. Mind you, you'll still need a breath mint after having some, but nowhere near as garlicky as one might think. And while I can see the pepper and seasoning on the fries, they don't have much of a kick, so I get the 'crispy,' but not the 'bold.'

French Fry Diary 617: Old Bay Seasoned Fries

Like Kleenex and Xerox, Old Bay Seasoning is very conscious of their trademark, and in recent years has been taking back its territory. For instance, rather than the traditional silver foil edition, Herr's Old Bay Potato Chips now bear the image and logo of Old Bay Seasoning, same for their Old Bay Popcorn and Cheese Curls. When I first saw these Old Bay Seasoned Fries in my grocery store's frozen section, I thought it was much the same situation.

Old Bay Seasoning dates back almost eighty years to Maryland where bars often offered crabs for free as they were so plentiful. This special blend of spices that make up Old Bay Seasoning when put on the crabs made patrons thirsty, and therefore they bought more beer. Just like peanuts in the rest of the country, don't you know. Now the blend is one of the more popular seasonings around, especially on variations of the favorite fried food.

The fries are coated with a little batter and that same Old Bay seasoning with 'the iconic blend of eighteen spices.' Also notably some of these natural cuts are really long, a couple measuring eight or nine inches long. Wow, those must be some huge potatoes. The directions gave two cooking options - baking and deep frying. I went with the baked option.

I did find that the directions were a bit off however. When I pulled them out halfway through to turn the fries, they were brown on one side and nearly done. I gave them a few more minutes and took them out, cutting about eight minutes off the recommendations. They were just right, your mileage may vary, but keep an eye on them in the oven.

I was expecting an overpowering seasoning like with Chickie's & Pete's Crab Fries or the Herr's potato chips, but these are quite pleasant, with just the right amount of Old Bay. I was very surprised, and liked these a lot. I wanted more. Old Bay Seasoning should definitely be protective, and proud, of their trademark on these fries. Recommended.

French Fry Diary 609: McDonald's Shakin' Flavor Fries

I finally got a chance to go over to the local McDonald's and try their new Shakin' Flavor Fries. The first thing I noticed was that there was no difference in price for a regular size fries and a regular size Shakin' Flavor version. That's a definite plus.

Shaker fries are a big deal in Asia and the South Pacific, usually with exotic flavors like seaweed. The flavors available at American McDonald's are Garlic Parmesan, Zesty Ranch and Spicy Buffalo. Guess which one I chose? I went with the buffalo as it was the closest to barbecue. I wish they had just a regular barbecue, or a cheddar like Burger King had when they did their Shake 'Em Up Fries.

The special shaking bag comes with directions that are fairly simple, and trust me, when you've done it once, you won't need to consult the directions again. It's easy. Put some fries in the bag, put some seasoning in, close the bag, shake it up, baby, and you're done, easy-peasy.

The shaking process gives the fries a pretty thorough coating. The Spicy Buffalo has a solid bite to it. I wasn't expecting that kind of heat based on how pedestrian Mickey D's nugget dipping sauces are, for instance. There's more burn to this than actual buffalo flavor. The fries of course are just as good as always.

As I mentioned above I wish there were more than just the three flavor seasonings available, but let's see if they last first. The trend these days with fast food is to only offer the good stuff on a temporary basis.

French Fry Diary 546: Red Robin Seasoned Steak Fries

I have a soft spot in my heart for Red Robin. It is, after all, the home of the Bottomless Steak Fries. So when I saw that they had frozen fries available to make at home, I quickly snagged a bag of these frozen fries. The bad news, of course, is that they are not bottomless.

With Arby's, Checkers, and Burger King all competing in the frozen fry game, why not Red Robin? They do make good fries. Their natural cut seasoned steak fries are awesome, and in the restaurant, always good for at least one refill, if not two. The package itself promises Red Robin's signature blend of seasoning salt, as well as quickie recipes for two different dipping sauces.

They are only directions for baking, so that's how I did them. I have to admit being a bit surprised at the high temp (425 degrees) and longer than usual time (30 minutes), but I always gotta follow the instructions for a first time cooking. And I also had a little concern over the amount of seasoning on the fries, it seemed like a lot. As they cooked, the whole kitchen was filled with the aroma.

To be sure, next time I will make adjustments to the time and temp. There were more than a few crispy critters, still edible, and mostly small pieces, but still more crispy than I like - and I like crispy. They were overcooked, but steak fries being thick and 'meaty,' it's hard to ruin them that way.

All that said, these were pretty good steak fries, but very spicy, spicier than I remember them being at the Red Robin restaurant. I would definitely get these again, adjust the directions, have a cold refreshing drink nearby, and enjoy... until I hit bottom, of course.

French Fry Diary 412: Ian's Alphatots

Now I've talked about Ian's Natural Foods before, specifically their wonderful Panko Onion Rings. This time I'm looking at another of their products - Alphatots.

Alphatots are one of those potato products that are shaped, sort of a hybrid of extruded or formed potato mash, but with a crisp shell. In the case of the Alphatots from Ian's, they are formed into small letters.

Allergen free alphabet shaped Potato Fries. No wheat or gluten, no milk or casein, no eggs, nuts or soy. Ian's has no artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives... ever. And yeah, that's their trademark after that snazzy but true slogan.

This is a fun way to eat your fries, and maybe a fun way to teach young kids their letters, but much like alphabet soup or Alpha-Bits cereal, it's almost impossible to find enough, or the right, letters to spell anything specific for a cute effect. I'm sure it would have taken several bags to spell out 'French Fry Diary' if I wanted to.

They cook at a very high heat, 475 degrees, the highest I've ever seen for a frozen fries product, and they actually cooked quite quickly, some overdone by the time suggested in the directions. Crispy on the outside and soft and hot on the inside, they were very good. Eat 'em while they're hot though, they're not so great when cold or reheated.

Like Ian's Onion Rings they definitely required seasoning and were good for dipping. As usual I did barbecue sauce. They are a nice change of pace for fries from a quality company.

French Fry Diary 411: Ore-Ida Grillers

These new for the summer frozen fries from the fine folks at Ore-Ida - Grillers, Golden Thick Cut Potatoes - not only promise to give you that right off the barbecue grill flavor, but can actually be cooked on the grill. While this is no easy trick, it is a tricky statement.

There are directions on the bag for cooking these extra thick crinkle cut natural cut potato slices on the grill, but it's a gas grill, where you can control the temperature. As I have no gas grill, I had to skip this attempt.

As tempting as grill marks on a potato slice are, I baked them instead. The directions were pretty standard, 450 degrees for 14-16 minutes, so I was worried they might not cook through. As I said, these Grillers are very thick, almost a half inch thick. Time will tell, I guess.

I do like one of the two topping suggestions made on the bag. The Jack Daniels BBQ sauce I'm down with, the shredded cheese, bacon bits and sour cream for a loaded baked potato taste, not so much. But that's me, I'm sure it would work for those that dig that. I did get my BBQ sauce out however.

Once done, the slices look very crisp almost crunchy. But that is just on the outside, inside they are soft, hot, and almost mashed potato-like. Most of them are very good but some of the bigger slices have the same problem as a medium rare steak, the middle is raw. But as I said, most of them are well cooked and very good. And the BBQ sauce definitely helped. Good stuff.

French Fry Diary 407: Cascadian Farm French Fries

I'm usually not a fan of organic frozen French fries. Because they're organic they have limited keep time, and I tend to forget stuff in the freezer sometimes - not a good combination. They also tend to be tasteless and easily freezer burned. Still, I do dip my toe into the water from time to time. Such is the case with Cascadian Farm Crinkle Cut French Fries.

As promised on the bag, these are indeed "tender, delicious french fries that bake up crisp and golden." Be careful though, and follow the directions closely, they can burn pretty easily too as I found out the hard way with my first batch. The second batch was quite tasty, if needing a bit of seasoning. I added salt and barbecue sauce, my usual weapons of choice.

Healthy as heck, and unlike the standard organic fries, these were very good. No transfats, no cholesterol, and low salt, these are recommended.

French Fry Diary 379: Alexia Onion Rings

I've mentioned these dozens of times but I don't think I've ever actually reviewed them. Other than Mrs. Paul's Onion Rings, which I don't think they make any more, Alexia Onion Rings are my favorite grocer's freezer rings.

Now I've talked about Alexia's beer battered rings, but these are the real deal - 'Crispy Golden Onions with Sea Salt' and the Panko bread crumb covering. Alexia does it best. No cholesterol and no transfats either, so how can you lose?

There are deep frying instructions, in small print, probably because they are not great done that way. Of course if you like extra crispy and crunchy, go for it. It's not my preference, especially when baking them is healthier, and tastier. Unlike a lot of frozen grocer side snacks I talk about here, Alexia's directions are perfect as far as timing and temperature.

I sometimes open the bag, add various seasonings, then coat them Shake N Bake style in their own bag. But that's just me. I love these rings and dip them in barbeque sauce, or you can even make your own dipping sauce from the recipe on the side of the bag.

Alexia Onion Rings rock, period, recommended.

French Fry Diary 291: Ore-Ida Extra Crispy Fast Food Fries

I usually get the store brand of this variety of the favorite fried food as it's less expensive, but this was an impulse buy, so I gotta roll with the punches.

Surprisingly, on the package for Ore-Ida Extra Crispy Fast Food Fries, other than that name, there is nothing that describes the product or explains why they are called that. Oh, it says they're made from Grade A potatoes and that they have zero grams of transfat, but nothing about the product itself.

Curiously the baking instructions are for a half a bag, and three quarters of a bag. This bothered me. What about instructions on how to cook the quarter bag that's left after you make the three quarter bag serving? I mean, come on, if you're doing instructions for dummies, be complete. So, ignore the instructions, they won't do you any good. My suggestion - twenty minutes at 450 degrees, stopping once halfway to turn.

The fries come out a bit crisp, as they do have a slight batter covering, but not enough to be offensive. They are excellent for dipping or dripping. The accompanying pic has them with Chick-fil-A Polynesian barbecue sauce. Yum. Not fantastic, and not exactly a good semblance of actual fast food fries (other than being shoestrings), but still very good.