One of the most important steps in the cooking process is the ability to grind food properly. After all, there are no trifles in cooking, and such an action requires a certain skill. Take, for example, potatoes. In most cases, at the initial stage after cleaning, it needs to be cut. Depending on the specific dish, the crushed blanks must have a certain shape. Let's say that you need rectangular sticks like straws to work. What should be done in this case? How to cut potatoes into strips? It turns out that this can be done in different ways.
French fries
Nowadays, fast food has become so popular that many even try to cook their favorite dishes at home. The banal force of habit works. As you know, no fast food establishment is complete without the famous french fries. Moreover, it is not at all difficult to do it. The main thing is to give the appropriate form to the main product. Here the question arises: "How to cut potatoes into strips?" To do this, you can use the simplest method. All you need is a sharp knife and a cutting board.
To understand how to cut potatoes into strips, you must clearly follow these steps:
- The tubers should be peeled, washed and dried well with a paper towel.
- To make the straw long, the potato must be placed on the board so that the knife blade goes along it.
- Tubers should be carefully divided into even longitudinal rings.
- Each blank must be cut into strips no more than 5 millimeters thick.
After that, prepared potatoes can be sent in small portions to boiling oil.
The secret of the correct form
When ordering french fries in a cafe, people are often surprised at how even the sides of the fried pieces turn out. After all, this vegetable has an oval shape, and when cutting, part of the blanks should be slightly rounded. Here the chefs have their own secret. They know exactly how to cut potatoes into strips so that each piece has the correct shape.
The fact is that before grinding the tuber, it is necessary:
- First, cut off the side longitudinal edge.
- Rotate the potato 90 degrees along the axis and separate the same part from the other side. Two flat sidewalls are obtained.
- Put the product on one of them and divide into even pieces parallel to the second cut. Set the rest of the rounded part aside.
- The resulting blanks are divided into strips of the same thickness.
As a result, a neat large straw with regular, even sides will appear on the cutting board. And the cut pieces of potatoes remaining after processing can be used for cooking other dishes.
Preparation for frying
Fries are just one way to fry potatoes. But most housewives rarely use it at home, mainly due to the high oil consumption. It is much more economical to fry potatoes just in a pan. At the same time, it can also be crushed in the form of straws. In this case, it is better to use smaller or medium tubers. How to cut potatoes into strips for frying? The technology of this method is much simpler than the previous options. For work, you need a cleaned and washed product. It must first be dried to avoid unwanted splashes from moisture contact with boiling fat.
Processing of prepared potatoes takes place in three stages:
- First of all, the tuber must be cut off both tops. So it becomes like a small barrel.
- You should put it on one of the bases (wider) and, holding it with your other hand, carefully cut it with a knife into identical plates.
- Without lifting it from the board, turn the product 90 degrees and do the same.
It turns out a neat straw, the size of which depends on the chosen thickness of the plates. The remaining ends can also be cut. True, they will be shorter than the rest. But for frying it doesn't really matter.
Technique to help
Every housewife is familiar with the situation when, as they say, the guests are already on the doorstep, and there is very little time left for cooking. I would like, for example, to surprise them with thin fried potato strips, but there is absolutely no time to do neat cutting. What should be done in such a situation? How to quickly cut potatoes into strips? For such a case, the house should always have special household appliances. Today it is not difficult to buy it in the store. You will need a regular vegetable shredder with a julienned attachment. With its help, in a matter of minutes, you can turn any amount of potatoes into a mountain of thin, even pieces.
After that, all that remains is to fry them. If a side dish is planned in the form of french fries, then the semi-finished product must first be poured onto a napkin to remove excess moisture. The product should not be piled up. It must be spread out in a thin layer and blotted several times while the oil is heated in the pan.
Combined variant
Each dish has its own special ways of cutting the initial ingredients. For example, it cannot be argued that potato straws can only be made with a sharp knife. There are many other options, and each of them is good in its own way. Let's assume that as a side dish you need to cook a potato pie. This is a very tasty product that looks very impressive on a plate. How to cut potatoes into strips for such a dish?
Experienced cooks in this case proceed as follows:
- First, each peeled tuber is cut into thin plates. You can do this with a knife or use any mechanical grinder to work.
- Then each plate must be chopped with a grater for Korean carrots. Small straws with a thickness of no more than 2 millimeters are obtained. In addition, they will all be the same size.
After that, the prepared product can be further used for its intended purpose.
illustrative example
Recently, designers have developed many unique devices that greatly simplify the work in the kitchen. For example, not so long ago, original potato cutters appeared on sale. A simple device invented by Chinese craftsmen. It is a plastic case, in the center of which steel knives are fixed in the form of a lattice. Looking at him, it is easy to figure out how to cut potatoes into strips. The photo will help to understand this issue in more detail.
The principle of operation of the device is extremely simple:
- The peeled tuber must be placed on a cutting board.
- Install a potato cutter on top of it.
- Holding both hands at your sides, press hard on the device.
As a result, blanks of the same size and section are obtained. By placing the potato in a vertical position, you can get large straws in a matter of seconds with minimal physical effort. In the instructions, the principle of operation of the device is shown using photographs that clearly demonstrate the simplicity of its operation.
Perhaps the most popular dish on the tables of the Russians was and remains fried potatoes. One of the main conditions for the preparation of this dish is the correct cutting of root crops. Each housewife has her own secrets on how to cut potatoes for frying. If you are still unfamiliar with them, then our material will be very useful.
Cubes or sticks: options for slicing potatoes
Nutritionists, gastroenterologists, and adherents of a healthy diet loudly repeat that fried potatoes are a very dangerous dish for our stomach. They categorically do not recommend indulging in such a delicacy to anyone, especially people with digestive tract problems.
But then a simple person comes to mind the time-worn phrase: "Forbidden fruit is always sweet and captivating." So why, if you want, then you can not? It is very possible, but not always and necessarily in moderation. And in these rare moments, you should also think about what kind of potatoes you want to cook. Perhaps fry in a pan or simmer in a large amount of sunflower oil? Or maybe bake with spices in the oven? Although this option is difficult to attribute to really fried potatoes.
From the chosen method of cooking the dish will depend on how to properly cut the potatoes for frying. There are only three options:
- cubes;
- straws;
- cubes.
These cutting techniques are quite simple and even a child can do it, the main thing is that he does not injure his fingers. Let's consider each option separately.
Comfortable strips
So, let's figure out how to cut potatoes into strips for frying:
- We wash the roots under a stream of cool water. If the potatoes have eye sockets, then it is better to do this with a brush.
- Then peel the potatoes and set the tubers sideways on a cutting board.
- Cut a slice of potato at least 1 cm thick.
- Then turn the circle flat on the board and cut into strips equal to the thickness of the slice.
- Rinse the straw well in a bowl of water. This will remove excess starch from the vegetable.
- We send the potatoes to a heated pan with sunflower oil.
This option allows you to achieve deep frying of potatoes and is ideal for deep-fried dishes in a large amount of sunflower oil. In this case, a dish called "fried potatoes" will miraculously be renamed overseas "french fries."
Simple sticks
This method of slicing potatoes also does not require special skills and manual dexterity. All you need is a cutting board, a sharp knife and peeled potatoes. And then follow the instructions:
- Place the peeled tubers on a cutting board and press down with your fingers on the side of the center.
- Cut the potatoes into 4 equal parts with two movements of the knife - lengthwise and across.
- Now cut each quarter into two parts again so that neat crescents come out.
- Rinse the potatoes in a bowl of water, dry and start frying.
Potatoes cut into cubes are very tasty if fried in a pan with oil and spices. Quite often, “Rustic Potatoes” are also prepared from half-moon pieces.
Favorite cubes
The easiest and most understandable way for everyone to cut is neat squares. It is these potatoes that housewives add to soups and salads. But no less tasty it turns out in a fried form.
Not only the appearance, but also the taste of the dish depends on the form of slicing potatoes: if the pieces are the same, then they are boiled or fried evenly. Homemade slicing potatoes is different from the restaurant. In restaurants, chefs do everything to make the dishes look as impressive as possible, so they sacrifice savings in favor of beauty. The hostesses are trying to clean and cut the tubers so that there is less waste. Restaurant methods of slicing at home are used only in preparation for the holidays.
Preliminary preparation
Before cutting the potatoes, the tubers must be washed well. If the potatoes are subsequently going to be peeled, then you can simply wash the skin with your hands so that damage and eyes are clearly visible. But for the preparation of tubers in their skins (boiling in their uniforms, roasting in a rustic way), they are washed especially carefully: rubbed with a brush under running water.
Even slightly damaged tubers are not suitable for boiling in their skins. If there are rhizoctonia black specks on the potato (similar to tiny lumps of dirt), they must be removed with a brush. Perfectly clean tubers of the correct shape should remain, without damage. If such potatoes are boiled or stewed in a rustic way, they can be eaten with the skin: after brushing, the skin becomes thin, like tissue paper.
Potatoes that will be cooked without peel are peeled after washing, eyes and damaged areas are cut out, then they must be dipped in cold water so that the flesh does not darken. You should first cut all the peeled potatoes, then put them in a container for cooking. If you cut one potato at a time and transfer it to a hot pan or pot of boiling water, the pieces will cook unevenly.
Easy ways to cut potatoes
Simple ways of slicing potatoes include those that are easy to do with any knife, and without first “cutting” the tuber: circles, slices, sticks, cubes, straws, slices, shavings.
Circles
A peeled and washed potato can be cut into circles 1–1.5 cm thick (Fig. 1). This cutting method is called paysanne. Pieces with a thickness of 1.5, sometimes 2 cm, are used to make "rustic" soups, stews, and bake in a rustic way. Mugs 0.7–1 cm thick are deep-fried.
Fig.1. Potatoes cut into slices To fry potatoes in the usual way, the tubers are cut into circles 2-3 mm thick, and for making chips - even thinner, about 1-2 mm. Usually small and medium tubers are cut in this way: it is difficult to separate a neat thin circle from a large potato with an ordinary knife. Therefore, for making homemade chips, it is more convenient to grind potatoes with a shredder (Fig. 2).
When restaurant cutting, circles of approximately the same diameter are selected from the middle of the tuber, and the rest are used for mashed potatoes.
Fig.2. Universal shredder for vegetables slices
If the circles are cut into 2 or 4 parts, you will get slices (Fig. 3). The tuber is cut lengthwise into 2 parts. If it is large, then each half is also cut lengthwise into 2 parts. These pieces are cut across. While one half of the tuber is being cut, the other half is lowered into the water.
Fig.3. slices Slices 1-2 cm thick are suitable for making soups, baking. For frying, potatoes are cut into slices 2-3 mm thick. The rule for restaurant cutting is the same as for circles: choose slices of the same size.
Slices
Slices are cut into medium, less often - small tubers. First, the potato is cut into 4 parts (as for slices). To get slices, each quarter is cut in half (Fig. 4). This is an excellent form of cutting for baking with duck stuffed with apples, stewing with meat, cooking potatoes in a rustic way. The slices are also deep-fried.
Fig.4. Slices The restaurant form of cutting differs from the home one only in that tubers of approximately the same size are chosen for festive dishes.
Blocks
Restaurant cut:
- Choose tubers of approximately the same size, wash them and peel them.
- Cut off a piece on each side of the tuber to make a rectangular parallelepiped.
- Cut it into plates.
- Stack the plates one on top of the other and cut them into sticks.
When restaurant cutting, the bars should be the same (Fig. 5). The cross section of the bar is a square with a side of 6–7 mm. This cut is called a batonnet. These sticks are deep fried.
Fig.5. Homemade slicing potatoes 
Rice. 6. Restaurant slicing potatoes into cubes When cutting at home, the tuber is not pre-cut, so some of the bars are irregular in shape and differ from others in size.
For soups, shorter sticks are used, cut in the prentanier method: 3–4 cm long and 0.7–1 cm thick. Prentanier sticks are fried (in the usual way and deep-fried), stewed.
There are slicers on sale, with which you can easily and quickly cut potatoes into cubes, even for a very large company.
Fig.7. Slicers for slicing potatoes Straw
Straws are very thin sticks.
Straw types:
- julienne (julienne) - bars 2 mm thick and 2.5 cm long;
- share - length 4-5 cm.
Straws are most often deep-fried, used to make Korean salads.
To cut the tuber into strips, you need a very sharp knife. It is much easier to chop potatoes on a grater for Korean salads or using a special tool (Fig. 8).
Fig.8. Devices for cutting tubers into strips Cubes
To get cubes, the tuber is cut into sticks, then a stack of sticks is cut across (Fig. 9).
Types of cubes:
- brunoise (brunoise) - face 1–2 mm;
- jardinier (jardinière) - 3-4 mm;
- Macedonian (macédonienne) - 5 mm;
- Peizan - parallelepipeds with a base of 1 × 1 cm and a height of 0.3–0.4 cm.
Raw tubers are cut into cubes for soups, boiled - for salads.
Fig.9. Cubes Shavings
Potato chips are long thin ribbons 1–2 cm wide. They can be cut with an ordinary knife, but there is also a special device that allows you to make very even and neat chips (Fig. 10). Deep fried potato strips.
Rice. 10. Knife for planing potatoes
Ways to "grind" whole tubers
To make whole potatoes look the same and look more beautiful in the finished dish, they are given various, sometimes intricate shapes.
Kegs
To make a barrel:
- Cut off the top and bottom of the potato.
- The sides of the tuber are "turned", forming a barrel (Fig. 11).
The barrels are stewed whole or the middle is taken out, stuffed and baked. Barrel-shaped tubers are stable and can be placed compactly in a baking dish.
Garlic
To make garlic, the barrel is cut into slices. A little pulp is cut off from the sharp edge of each slice (Fig. 12).
Fig.12. Garlic "Accordions"
Deep transverse cuts are made on the tubers at a distance of 3-4 mm from each other (Fig. 13). Pieces of bacon or cheese are inserted into the slots and baked.
Fig.13. Baked potato "accordion" "Pears"
The tuber is "turned", giving it the shape of a pear. Such potatoes are usually baked (Fig. 14).
Rice. 14. Potato "pears" "Lapti"
Medium tubers are washed and cleaned. A transverse incision is made on the tuber. With the help of a knife and a spoon, a “bast shoe” is formed (Fig. 15). On the "toe" make shallow transverse and longitudinal incisions. Bast shoes are stuffed, greased with butter and baked in the oven.
Rice. 15. Potato "bast shoes" "Mushrooms"
On a tuber washed with a brush, a circular transverse incision is made. One half of the potato is left in its skin (this is a “hat”), the second is hewn, forming a “leg” (Fig. 16). "Mushrooms" are smeared with butter and spices and baked.
Rice. 16. Potato "mushrooms" Curly slicing potatoes
Curly cutting requires special tools.
Wavy Chips
The peeled tuber is cut in the same way as in circles, using a special knife with a wavy blade (Fig. 17).
Rice. 17. Chip knife Balloons
To make potato balls, you need a special spoon. It is thrust into the tuber and the stalk is rotated around its axis. The result is neat identical balls the size of a hazelnut (Fig. 18). They are baked or deep fried.
Rice. 18. Potato balls Spirals
A metal skewer is pierced into a raw tuber. Then a device with a sharp blade is screwed onto it (Fig. 19). The knife cuts the potato in such a way that one long ribbon 1–2 mm thick is obtained, twisted into a spiral.
Rice. 19. Potato spirals Spirals are not removed from skewers, but immediately deep-fried (like chips). These "kebabs" look very impressive.
Slicing for cooking potatoes in a rustic way
Students at the University of Essex found that when baking, the largest area of \u200b\u200bthe pieces will be covered with a golden crust if:
- Cut the tuber lengthwise.
- Cut each half at an angle of 30° (fig. 20).
Fig.20. tuber slicing Perfectly even slices of fries, sauce and a soft drink are frequent attributes of fast food brochures. And if the last two components of the banner cause few admiration, then potatoes are the peak of culinary perfection. How to cut potatoes into strips at home? There is nothing easier! Let's hone our skills together.
How to create potato masterpieces quickly and easily?
Slices of raw vegetables are easiest and fastest to cut with a special device - a square vegetable cutter. Fortunately, there are plenty of such devices today. They come in the form of a removable nozzle on a plate or a jar, are part of a manual combine, and are also represented by a special tetrahedral grater with a pointed edge.
Using these devices is quite simple:
- Wash and peel potatoes.
- Cut off the bottom with a knife so that the tubers can be set upright on the table.
- From above, place the vegetable cutter with a sharp edge on the pulp of the vegetable.
- Press firmly on the handles, cutting through the tuber to the very bottom.
- Admire the result.
Perhaps the only drawback of this method is that it is impossible to regulate the thickness and length of the bars. And the length of the straw depends only on the pressure of the hand. So if physical strength is not enough, the vegetable cutter method is not suitable for you. But don't worry, there are other options as well.
Sleight of hand - and no vegetable cutters
Although potatoes are mostly round in shape, they can be easily cut into neat, thin strips with a sharp kitchen knife. True, this method is quite laborious, and the process itself will take a lot of time. But the end result is worth it. Shall we try?
So, we perform the following actions:
- Wash and peel the potatoes as you did before.
- Trim the ends of the tubers so that they are flat on all sides.
- Don't forget to remove the parts from the base as well. The result should be a perfectly even rectangle.
- Now cut the flesh into thin slices. Each cut should be no thicker than 4 millimeters.
- Lay the slices flat on a cutting board and cut crosswise into thin strips.
- Perfectly even and thin straw is ready. It can be flavored with seasonings and baked in the oven.
Such thin slices are suitable for salads, however, for this it is better to boil the potatoes first, and also as an Indian side dish with hot spices. But frying such a straw is unlikely to succeed. Thin strips will quickly boil, and as a result, instead of fried potatoes, there will be vegetable porridge in the pan. Although this is a matter of taste.
Slicing potatoes like at McDonald's
Fragrant and crispy french fries with garlic sauce ... Just thinking about it awakens the appetite. Of course, you can not bother yourself too much and just buy ready-made frozen potatoes in the supermarket. But who knows what kind of tubers they are, how long they are stored there and what they are made of?
Popular with farmers not only in Russia, but also in many other countries over the past 50-80 years in a row, the method of planting potatoes, cut into slices, has remained. The technique has its advantages and disadvantages and gives good results only if the cutting is correct.
Why cut potatoes
Potatoes are one of those vegetables without which it is very difficult for Russians to plan their weekly diet. Therefore, it is not surprising that many owners are so interested in the question: is it necessary to cut potatoes before planting. Of course, such an approach is completely optional. If you put a whole (or even better several) properly prepared potatoes in the garden, then the harvest also promises to be good.
Sliced potatoes for planting
It should be indicated whether it is necessary to cut the potatoes before planting at all. The main reason why farmers do this is the lack of planting material. Of course, if you grow a vegetable in an area of 5-10 acres, then there is no particular need for savings. If the farmer has several vegetable gardens or one with an area of 40-60 acres, then you should ask how to properly cut the seed potatoes. This method will reduce the cost of planting material by at least 1.5-2 times.
Another reason why owners choose to grow potatoes with this method is the propagation of elite varieties. Often, choosing a variety for testing, farmers are convinced of the quality of the crop and wish to increase its volume next year.
Such a method, as agronomists assure, can be called justified from the point of view of plant physiology. A healthy tuber is capable of producing from 4 to 16 shoots. Therefore, a too thick potato bush is formed. The stems begin to grow and create shade for each other, and this is the best environment for the reproduction of fungi. In addition, serious competition is noticed in the root system.
As world experience shows, cutting potatoes for planting is not carried out in every country. So, the Netherlands and the Nordic countries do not even know about this method. But in Canada and the USA, it occupies more than 90%. These countries even have special machines that can properly cut potato tubers.
Important! Using the tuber division method, it is better to select large potatoes.
When to cut
It is allowed to cut fruits for planting from late autumn until planting time. At the site of the incision, a protective tissue should form - the wound priderma. If cutting occurs before winter, the wound tissue is quite strong, it resembles an ordinary peel, however, with a slightly different color. Spring cutting also provides a protective film, but this will be much thinner.
It is worth starting such work only after the tubers have warmed up to a temperature of + 15-20 ° C. The cut parts will heal much faster if the air temperature in the room warms up to 25-30 degrees Celsius, because this way the moisture will leave the material faster.
For at least 15 days after the “operation”, the cut particles should be stored separately from each other in a room with good ventilation, high humidity, away from sunlight, but at room temperature.
That is why, if it is autumn or winter outside, in the basement or utility room where this whole procedure will take place, you need to turn on the heating. A little later (in a few weeks), the tubers can be taken out to a regular cellar.
In the spring, it is allowed to carry out such cutting at least 4-5 days before the material is planted in the ground.
Process
Just like a medical operation, the cutting of planting material should be treated with particular care. When answering the question of how to plant cut potatoes, it should be noted that this process is preceded by several more stages that are especially important for a good harvest.
Disinfection and preparation
You need to stack cut potatoes on clean racks, in clean boxes. It is better to disinfect the room with copper sulphate. Its five percent solution is the least harmful to humans, but it can effectively destroy bacteria and viruses that can attack planting material.
Properly cut tubers for planting
Experts call an ordinary convenient kitchen knife the best tool for doing the job. Meanwhile, other sharp stainless steel tools can be used.
To disinfect tools, you can use a solution of salicylic acid, or lysoform, lysol, or you can simply sterilize knives over an open fire with high quality.
Important! The owner must properly protect himself: wear vinyl or rubber gloves. The thumb requires additional protection in the form of a band-aid or a fingertip, because it is easier to damage it.
We cut the tubers
Approaching the question: how to properly cut potatoes for planting, it is worth remembering the structure of the potato itself. The eyes in this vegetable are placed very unevenly. The crown has them the most. Significantly fewer eyes on the base, that is, the place where the fruit was connected to its mother plant.
As for the separation techniques themselves, the main ones are called the following:
- across;
- along.
Of course, in the first case, the potato planting material will be very heterogeneous. If you cut the fruits across, some of its parts will be strewn with dormant buds, while others will be without them at all. It is unlikely that it will be possible to grow a particularly rich crop from such material. Thus, experts recommend dividing along the potato.
Foreign cutting machines are designed in such a way as to divide one fruit into 2, 4 or 6 parts. Agronomists assure that the best option would be such a division, in which each particle of the potato will contain at least one bud of the top and several others (side ones).
Important! Pieces with round cuts are more likely to take root and give a good harvest.
Landing pattern
How to plant cut potatoes with the cut up or down is also an important issue for farmers. Experienced owners assure that the placement of potato parts has little effect on the crop, because even so it will be surrounded by earth on all sides. Therefore, you can plant potato particles both up and down.
It is allowed to plant potatoes in open ground after active germination has begun, and the earth has warmed up to at least +5 ℃. It is important that the sharp temperature drop is already completely over by this time.
Deep into the ground, potato particles are placed 6-8 cm (that is, less than when planting whole tubers). If the wound side has not yet healed completely, it is placed a little deeper - about 10 cm.
On a note. Landing should be carried out in loosened soft soil.
Planting potatoes with cut tubers
As for the distance between rows and tubers, it depends on the particular variety and, in fact, should be the same as when planting whole potatoes.
What varieties can be divided
Not all varieties of potatoes can be divided, so it is appropriate to tell in more detail which varieties of potatoes can be cut when planting.
Having checked on their own experience, farmers note that the following varieties give absolutely the same crop of cut tubers and whole ones: Panda, Symphony, Romano, Borodyansky pink, Nevsky, Berlichengen.
Important! It is even more profitable to plant such varieties: Krinitsa, Russian souvenir, Zador, Lileya Belarusian, Solnechny. If the particles are cut across, then the yield remains the same as when planting with whole tubers. If you cut along, then you can count on excellent potato profits.
More sense from cutting across than along will be from such varieties: Karlena, Yugana, Bellarosa, Platinum, Antonina, Zhivitsa, Saturn, Innovator, Asterix, Karlena. Most of them are characterized by an elongated tuber shape, which probably affects the quality of the cut material.
You should not think about how to cut potatoes for planting if the following varieties are used: Zhuravinka, Valor, Jelly, Mozart, Red Star, Courage, Yenisei, Darenka, Ideal, Yarla, Sappho, Bariton, Rosara, Fabula, Rogachev's Memory, Lugovskoy , Colet.
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