Do you ever feel guilty reaching for a basket of fries?
This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.
French fries are America’s favorite sidekick! Crispy, salty, impossible to resist! Sadly, they soak up LOTS of oil.
Yash Shah and colleagues at the University of Illinois wanted a solution. Could fries be crispy AND less greasy? What about microwave frying? How? They put the whole pot in the microwave. Fries and oil included!
The MICRO WAVES heat the water inside the potatoes. That creates steam and extra pressure. The pressure keeps more oil out! Result? Crispier fries with less grease!
So don’t feel guilty, get some fries for the table. And a few microwave burritos…
Reference: Shah, Y., Zhou, X., Tang, J. and Takhar, P.S. (2025), The Effect of Conventional and Microwave Frying on the Quality Characteristics of French Fries. J. Food Sci., 90: e70441. https://doi.org/10.1111/1750-3841.70441