The frozen French fry demand in recent years have shown remarkable growth as it is served in fast-food chains and restaurants. Producing the finest frozen French fries following the state-of-the-art equipment from NSSPL is as below. The process includes:
- Cleaning and peeling - Potatoes go under cleaning using brush roller and peeling. The brush rollers are in soft nylon. The peeler leave a smooth surface keeping to minimal peeling losses. However, manually the eyes, skin, and the green portions are removed.
- The potatoes cutting machine cuts the potatoes. The thickness is adjustable in the ranges of 7mm to 12mm, while normally it is 10mm. The strips length is 5 to 7 cm, while discoloured, short and thin pieces are removed.
- Blanching - The blanching is set at 70 to 95 degrees. The strips are blanched to inhibit the active enzymes. It retain the fresh flavour of potatoes, softness, and offers uniform color on frying. This process mitigates the browning and reduces the sugar.
- Dewatering - The frozen French fry goes in a dewatering machine that eliminates the surface water after blanching. To fry it the water content requirement is 70-75&, to cook in an oven 65-70%, and for microwave frozen fries 65-70%.
- Par frying - The potato strips are cooked in 175-185 degree Celsius for two minutes. This par-fried potatoes are bought from groceries and is fried at home or even in a restaurant. The second fry is at 150 degree Celsius for 5 minutes or at 180 degree Celsius for two minutes.
- Freezing - This is an important step. The refrigeration of the French fries is in an instant tunnel freezer. It keeps them crispier and fresh. Thus it retains the flavour and does not stick.
- Packing and storage – An automatic packing machine weighs the frozen French fry, shape the bag, fill the bag, seal and print the date. It is then to different places.
