Dutch institute for technological research TNO announced on Friday it has developed a special technique to deep-fry French fries with steam. The new method cuts the amount of fat in French fries in half, TNO says, according to dpa. The discovery evolved from a different research subsized by the Ministry of Economic affairs. The ministry had asked TNO to develop a method to deep-fry French fries in an energy-saving way. French fries are usually deep-fried twice. After the first baking round, the potato slices usually contain 6 per cent fat. TNO started out replacing the first deep-frying round with a steam-frying round. The researchers heated the fries with steam at a temperature of 180 to 200 degrees Celsius, similar to oil-fried French fries. But it was only when the researchers switched to using steam in the second frying round that they managed to produce the best French fries, with a crust similar to those that had been oil-fried twice. "Our steam-fried French fries contain half the amount of fat as regular fried potato-slices," says Henk-Jan Meijer, food technology and processing specialist at TNO. Meijer says TNO's steam-fried potatoes are also less fat than oven-ready fries for the consumer market. Those are pre-fried with larger quantities of oil than potato slices suitable for oil deep-frying. TNO has deposited a patent for its steam fryer technology at the Dutch Patent Authority. Next year, the company Steam Fry BV in Breda will start to sell the new steam deep fry machine, Hi Fry, to snack bars and restaurants. The steam fryer allows for 2 kilograms of French fries to be deep-fried per round. "We expect other companies to be interested as well," says Meijer, who added he would "not be surprised" if some companies will develop steam deep fryers for the consumer market. Meijer: "The same technology can also be applied to replace oil frying of many other food products, such as meat or chips. The steam deep fryer fits in a trend to reduce obesity." Meijer adds reducing fat consumption helps to avoid the risks of vascular and heart diseases, the most prevalent diseases in the Western world. The money TNO earns with its patent will be used for other research projects.
