French Fry Guide

Written by Molly Nixon

First, let’s start with a brief look at the french fry. The most popular story of its invention is that an unknown French vendor in 1789 started selling them on the Pont Neuf Bridge in France, but it is also believed that they were invented in Belgium.

The French Fry’s origin story doesn’t matter. The point is that they’re here now and I like them. I’ll make this simple. I’m a french fry lover. I love french fries, hash browns, and tater tots. And these are my hot takes on some of the hottest taters in town.

So, how will I be ranking them? I’ll be rating them based on 4 characteristics.

1. Texture (crisp to mush ratio, oil, etc)

2. Ingredient integrity (are my french fries composed of chemicals?)

3. Flavor (spices used, salt content)

4. Shape

The fry will be rated out of 4 stars. I will also not be using ketchup or any other condiment for the ranking. To keep things simple, I will not be including heavily spiced curly fries, hash browns, or tater tots, as much as I love them. This is a war between simple fries.

Now, of course I can't buy or make every french fry, so I’ll be limiting the fry ranking to a few fast food places. No sit down places, like Steak and Shake, Max and Erma’s, or Red robin. If I happen to skip over your favorite fry place, please don’t get mad.

5. McDonald’s: ⭐⭐

McDonald’s is probably the classic fast food fry that you typically think of when the word ‘fry’ is mentioned. However, McDonald’s fries are surprisingly controversial. McDonald’s fries used to be cooked in lard, but in 2002, the company was sued by Harish Bharti for deceptive marketing and was made to donate $10 million to Hindu Charity Groups. The fries are now cooked in vegetable oil, but they still contain beef flavor, and it’s hard to tell exactly what that’s made of.

Texture: There wasn't much potato inside the fry. Also, the fry had a ‘skin’ around it that clearly wasn’t skin, but felt like it. The effect was plasticy at best.

Ingredients: Potatoes, Vegetable Oil (canola Oil, Corn Oil, Soybean Oil, Hydrogenated Soybean Oil), Natural Beef Flavor [wheat And Milk Derivatives]*), Dextrose, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate (maintain Color), Salt. *Natural Beef Flavor Contains Hydrolyzed Wheat And Hydrolyzed Milk As Starting Ingredients.

(6 ingredients total)

Flavor: Flavor was ok. I don’t remember anything that stood out to me.

Shape: McDonald’s fries are classified as a shoestring fry, due to the skinny width and relatively long shape. The shape allows you to eat multiple in a bite, but I don't really see how that’s a positive or negative thing. I had no complaints about the shape.

(The pictures included are of the fries I ordered, for a more honest look that isn’t from an ad) (unfortunately, I don’t have a professional light setup)

4. Sheetz: ⭐⭐⭐

I first tried Sheetz while on a road trip to Kingston, New York. I was impressed by the range of foods. Hard boiled eggs, keto chips, you can even find whoopie pies there. I ended up with a fresh fruit salad and some curly fryz. While Sheetz is more known for its sandwiches and curly fryz, their straight fryz are not to be overlooked.

Texture: Unlike McDonald’s, the ends had a little bit of skin on the tops and it had a very homemade look. They were also a bit flakier than McD’s.

Ingredients: Potatoes, Vegetable Oil (May Contain One or More of the Following: Canola Oil, Sunflower Oil, Cottonseed Oil, Palm Oil, Corn Oil, Soybean Oil), Modified Food Starch, Rice Flour, Dextrin, Salt, Leavening (Disodium Dihydrogen Pyrophosphate, Sodium Bicarbonate), Dextrose, Xanthan Gum. Fried in High Oleic Canola Oil with TBHQ and Citric Acid added to preserve freshness and Dimethylpolysiloxane added as an anti-foaming agent.

(8 ingredients total)

Flavor: The fries were a bit oily and left a classic ‘fast food’ aftertaste, and I wasn’t mad about it. I thought it was pleasant, but I wasn’t blown away.

Shape: Very similar to McDonald's shoestring fries.

3. Burger King: ⭐⭐⭐

Burger King fries are very underestimated. While Wendy’s only recently tried batter coating to keep them hot, Burger King has been doing this since 1998.

Texture: The texture was pretty good. The batter was crispy and allowed for a complete separation of the potato mush and the crisp outer edge.

Ingredients: Potatoes, Soybean Oil or Canola and Palm Oil, Modified Potato Starch, Rice Flour, Potato Dextrin, Salt, Leavening (Disodium Dihydrogen Pyrophosphate, Sodium Bicarbonate), Dextrose, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate added to preserve natural color.

(10 ingredients total)

Flavor: This particular batch was a bit undersalted. The texture really added to the flavor and allowed the potatoness to shine through.

Shape: The Burger King fries were by far the thickest fry of them all. I liked them, but you can only eat one at a time, and I know some people like to eat more than one at once.

2. Arby’s: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I never get crinkle cut fries from Arby’s, so I was trying these for the first time. They were surprisingly good and were one of the only fries that weren’t undersalted.

Texture: Lots of potato mash compared to crisp on the outer edge. Had a flakey outer edge that didn't hold together artificially.

Ingredients: I couldn’t find the ingredients list anywhere, and that’s a bit worrying to me.

Flavor: Very good. I really liked the salt content on this fry. It may have verged on too much salt on some of them, but it tasted a lot better than most of the other fries.

Shape: The thing about crinkle cut is that it:

1. Holds sauces and salt better (even though ketchup wasn’t allowed in the tasting).

2. Has more surface area to be fried and allows the potato mush to crisp ratio to be balanced.

3. Feels cool in the mouth.

1. Wendy’s: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Wendy’s recently came out with some new fries this year. In response to a rise in Grubhub delivery and more takeout, (where the fries have to travel before they get eaten) Wendy’s wanted to ensure that the fries would preserve longer after being cooked and served. The fries are now coated in batter to trap moisture and heat. These fries "put an end to disappointing and inconsistent fry experiences that other places still serve," says Wendy's President, Kurt Kane, in an interview with Today News.

Texture: The texture was balanced between mush and crisp. They weren’t greasy or anything. The only thing wrong with the fry is that it didn’t stay hot for as long as promised.

Ingredients: Potatoes, Vegetable Oil (contains one or more of the following oils: canola, soybean, cottonseed, sunflower, corn), Dextrose, Sodium Acid Pyrophosphate (to maintain natural color). Cooked in Vegetable Oil (soybean oil, vegetable oil [may contain one or more of the following: canola, corn, or cottonseed], hydrogenated soybean oil, citric acid [preservative], dimethylpolysiloxane [anti-foaming agent]. Sea Salt.

*Cooked in the same oil as menu items that contain Wheat, Egg, and Fish (where available)*

(9 ingredients total)

Flavor: Tastes very natural, unlike some fries that taste like chemicals. It was also seasoned beyond just salt. You could clearly taste some sort of umami flavor in the potatoes.

Shape: The shape technically counts as a steak fry due to its width being twice as big and its height. There was nothing wrong with the shape here.

Cover image credit: https://unsplash.com/photos/lpsbMRRqMQw?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditShareLink