french-friesstorage-method
I want to make French fry dogs. Basically, hot dogs that are battered and then coated with cooked French fries and then deep fried.
I have tried cooking them and then setting them aside for a couple of minutes, but they turn out to be cold and the crispness was gone.
The double fry process is to make a crisper potato chip. Tests have indicated that less oil is absorbed too, so this is a general health benefit
The blanch process is mainly for mass production reasons to stop potato chips from sticking together when packed. It removes all surface starch. Cold water rinsing is all that is needed for home, small scale production
Cooling and drying the chips between steps generally makes for a better chip
The quality, and suitability of the potatoes is still probably got more to do with it than the cooking process
Interesting experiments at http://www.macheesmo.com/2010/02/the-great-baked-fry-experiment/
Not to take anything away from the answers already existing for this question, but I want to add one more reference: Kenji Alt's in depth opus on creating the McDonald's style fry at home.
In summary, his method is to:
You will note this is a variant on the traditional double-fry method outlined in Kevin Dickerson's answer.
See the linked article for all of the science, the details, and a linked recipe.
Best Answer
Depends on what kind of fries you are using. If they're frozen fries— who knows. They're not all processed the same way— some have flour or batter coatings— aren't all made from the same material— some are made from formed, pureed potato and/or reconstituted potato flour— or cooked to the same level of doneness. If they're fresh potatoes which have been par cooked, they'll last in the refrigerator at least overnight before they dry out.
The other problem is your batter. If you're using a batter with baking powder, carbonation, or anything else like that to give it a little puff, it will flatten out if you hold it for more than a few minutes.
Generally, foods with batters are much better when you cook them immediately. If you only need to store it for a short amount of time, maybe less than half an hour, cook it then put it in an oven preheated to the lowest possible temperature (ideally there's a warming setting) on a sheet pan with a wire rack on it. It should keep the fries crispy, but the longer you keep it in there, the drier it will get.
Good luck!