How frozen french fries are made in a factory or home?
Answers
The potatoes are next moved into large holding tanks filled with water before going to the strip cutter. There are two types – one for straight cut fries and one for crinkle cut. For the straight cuts, the potatoes are pumped through a “water gun” and cross hatch of knives to give the square shape.
After the potatoes are cut into strips, all the slivers (thin slices) and nubbins (short or broken pieces) which do not meet McCAIN’s specifications for length or size are separated out and used in one of several by-products (such as Hash Browns).
Once cut, the fries go to defect removal equipment to identify and remove any further defects, then to the blanchers. These are long cylindrical tanks holding water at 82°C.
The fries stay in the blancher for several minutes (depending on the time of the year). This destroys enzyme activity and removes excess sugars. The starch in potato slowly turns to sugar during storage, so the blancher helps maintain a constant sugar level at all times to ensure the fries have a consistent texture and colour.
After blanching and drying, the fries go into the fryer which has a temperature of 200°C. Each fry is par fried from ½ minute to 5 minutes depending on the type of potato.
The strips are then shaken on a vibrating conveyor to remove any excess cooking oil. Following this they are sent to the freezer, which has a temperature of -39°C, and kept for 20 minutes.
After this the fries are finally ready for packaging. The packaging machine weighs out fixed batches (1 kg, 1.5 kg, etc) and drops them into poly bags. The machine then folds, seals and cuts the bag from the roll.
The bags of fries are packed into cardboard boxes and stored in refrigerated rooms at -23°C.
The process of making French fries at McCAIN Foods is almost completely automatic. The only times they are touched by human hands are during the trim and inspection processes.
The efficiency of the French fry process line at McCAIN Foods allows thousands and thousands of tonnes of fries to be shipped out each day.