How to Make Shake Shack Crinkle Cut Fries

French Fries are something most people don’t think about making at home unless it’s from the frozen aisle or maybe baked, but it can take those at home meals to another level with a small amount of extra clean up.

If you aren’t familiar, Shake Shack is a dominant burger joint that has spread throughout the country with 249 locations at the time of this posting! Ridiculous burgers, amazing buns (which they don’t make in house, fun fact! Otherwise I would have done a post on it), and awesome fries.

I think something that makes Shake Shack iconic besides the burger is their crinkle cut fries. Ever thought how they make them that way? Well, with an $10 Amazon purchase, you can be on your way. Definitely one of the more pointless kitchen items I have gotten in a while, but it’s worth it IMO.

Making the iconic fries at home is not all that bad, let’s go through the tools and steps needed to make them…

Cookbook – Shake Shack – Recipes and Stores: A Cookbook

Ingredients:

Oil for frying
Russet Potatoes
Salt to finish

Tools –

Large dutch oven, stock pot, or deep fryer for deep frying – I use a big stock pot like this one
Crinkle Cutter – Only $8 on Amazon

Step 1 – Peel potatoes

Self explanatory

Step 2 – Start Crinkle Cutting the potato

Using the crinkle cutter and a little force, cut the potato long ways to get wafers, about 3/8 -1/2 wide. Once you have your first slices, slice the other way with the crinkle cutter, getting both sides.

Step 3 – Rinse in cold water, then simmer

Simmer over medium until just tender, once you can poke through with a fork, take them out. Transfer to a cooling rack to cool and air dry

Step 4 – Heat Canola Oil and Fry

Heat to 350 F. Working in batches, start placing the fries into the deep fryer. Cook until golden brown, about 10-12 minutes, place on another cooling rack when done. Top with salt and enjoy!

At the end of the day, the fries were good, but I would probably prefer the double fry technique as opposed to one deep fry for 10-12 minutes. What the double fry technique does it you cook the fries for about 5 minutes at 325, and take them out then raise the temperature to around 360-375 for 1-2 minutes to get them crispy. I thought the texture of the Shake Shack fries did not quite match those of the double fry, which I can cover on another post!

And for the ratings –

Difficulty of ingredients to find – 3/5 stars – simple run to the store for potatoes
Perceived difficulty going into recipe – 3/5 stars – crinkle cutting and frying can be intimidating to some people
Difficulty after recipe – 3/5 stars – Requires a little effort, frying is always a little messy
Time taken – 2/5 stars – Less than an hour
Taste – 4/5 stars – Who doesn’t like a french fry, let alone a good crinkle cut
Make again – 3/5 stars – on a certain occasion for sure!