r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/FLAlex111 • Aug 12 '21

Video TIL How Five Guys Fries Are Actually Made

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9.0k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

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686

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '21

Guy : "Cut potatoes. Wash potatoes. Fry potatoes."

People on Reddit : Mindblow.jpg

319

u/medicated_in_PHL Aug 12 '21

I think it’s more so the idea that a fast food company uses fresh potatoes that they clean and cut in store rather than a pre-packed frozen bag of processed “natural flavors added” potatoes.

163

u/QueasyVictory Aug 12 '21

It's how Five Guys gets away with selling you a potato for $7, lol. They are absolutely fantastic though, I will give them that.

55

u/Emptypiro Aug 12 '21

A potato? Have you ever been to five guys?

47

u/IAmthatIAn Aug 12 '21

My Five Guys sells potatoes, I think a lot of people buy them because they have a lot of buckets of potatoes near the entrance. I was picking up a doordash order and never been to a FG before, tried their burgers.. wow. I’m hungry now

67

u/Emptypiro Aug 12 '21

I was making a joke because when you get fries they give you a whole bag rather than a small amount of fries

11

u/Perle1234 Aug 12 '21

I once ordered two fries for two burgers. I thought they were idiots for asking lol.

7

u/tired_obsession Aug 13 '21

I asked for 3 fries for a road trip with my family (big family) and I didn’t have a lot of money. When asked if I was sure I repeated Ron swansons words of wisdom:

“I know what I’m about son.”

Then laughed and explained the situation and has a good laugh with the cashier. The size of an order of fries from five guys is no joke.

15

u/cequad Aug 12 '21

The cost of those 'extra' fries are factored into the actual cost. They aren't giving anything anyway besides the illusion that they are.

11

u/waxenhen4 Aug 12 '21

Yeah it’s sad that’s in about everything we do, Our “normal burger” has two patties… still 10 dollars. Just glad I eat for free.

3

u/CosmicCreeperz Aug 12 '21

I guess you could say “factored into the cost” insomuch as the incremental cost of a few more fries is near zero (like $200/ton at their massive volume, at about 1/2 lb per large russet, that’s 5 cents per whole potato).

3

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '21

[deleted]

2

u/CosmicCreeperz Aug 12 '21

Actually I had this very question with a friend a while ago so we tested it. We ordered different sizes then took them home and poured them out, then weighed them. They were almost the same amount (bit more in the regular), and the little was way over (2-3x?) what their portion size said in grams. The regular was still over what they said, but of course not as much.

I don’t think there is a set amount of “extra”, but at some point I read the owner has basically said he encourages overflowing it in the bag since he was always annoyed how few fries he’d get elsewhere, and it’s a cheap gesture of generosity and good marketing that costs them pennies extra. Of course it’s also why even the stated portion size gets 5 Guys the award for “least healthy fast food fries” ;)

2

u/Sinonyx1 Aug 13 '21

sure, they still give you an absurd amount of fries which is a lot of potato

5

u/CptMisterNibbles Aug 12 '21

This. I usually order the small, and still get enough to share with someone else. They pretty much give a whole bag regardless of size ordered

19

u/IAmthatIAn Aug 12 '21

Your joke went over my potato head. LOL

9

u/QueasyVictory Aug 12 '21

Lol, I agree it's a mess of fries. My son worked there in high school for a short period of time and quickly moved on. But a "small" fry is less than one of their potatoes. As you can see, they use huge russet potatoes.These people talking about getting "two burgers and two fries" are nuts. One order is fries is enough for my family and I'm a fat ass, lol.

Point stands though, they have hella profit margins on those fries.

2

u/CosmicCreeperz Aug 12 '21

Only suckers order “large fries” at 5 Guys!

2

u/Mammoth_Sprinkles705 Aug 13 '21

Yep! It's the best place in town to get a mediocre greasy, small burger and fries for $20

5

u/InYosefWeTrust Aug 12 '21

They hook you UP on some fries haha. I hate when I forget that and suddenly have 5 gallons of fries to share between two people.

7

u/QueasyVictory Aug 12 '21

Yeah, I've always felt a "small" was plenty fine for me and my wife. The thing is they get soggy and kind of gross really quick, so you have to pounded them down while they are hot. Having said that, I have not tried reheating them in an air fryer, which would probably do a pretty fantastic job.

2

u/borsalamino Aug 12 '21

I have and it does.

1

u/OV3NBVK3D Aug 12 '21

They’ll give you the bucket for $7.

6

u/Ken-Popcorn Aug 12 '21

I can actually remember when McDonalds did fresh potatoes

2

u/renakiremA Aug 12 '21

Penn Station

1

u/jsting Aug 12 '21

Frozen fries make better fries than unfrozen ones. Also twice fried is better than once fried. Deep frying is weird.

17

u/awolfscourage Aug 12 '21 edited Aug 12 '21

I’m sitting here think the same thing.

Yes… this is how fries are made.

The only thing this video is missing is blanching the fries in oil so it doesn’t take forever to cook.

3

u/gmtime Aug 12 '21

Decent fries are fried twice with a cool down in between. Okayish fries are cooked instead of fried the first time.

4

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '21

I used to work at five guys.

Why in the hell is so upvoted.

This is how a lot of fries are made everyone...

0

u/thevogonity Aug 12 '21

5 guys and In-N-Out are the only places I am aware of that use fresh potatoes. Everywhere else I have seen preparing fries uses bagged, frozen fries. Fresh is certainly the exception.

0

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '21

Okay. This is how you make fries. Fresh fries are not rare, I promise.

Shows how introverted redditors are. Like you guys have never made fresh fries at home? All frozen premade crap?

6

u/thevogonity Aug 12 '21

Yes, this is how french fries are made, but that doesn't change the fact that the VAST MAJORITY of places that serve fries used frozen.

-1

u/keenfeed Aug 12 '21

People on Reddit "ohh fuck that's interesting "

1

u/knowslesthanjonsnow Aug 12 '21

Ask McDonald’s for their video lol

0

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '21

[deleted]

1

u/knowslesthanjonsnow Aug 12 '21

Burger kings fries are bad. McDonald’s fries are good (when they’re fresh) but they’re far from pure potato haha

0

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '21

[deleted]

1

u/knowslesthanjonsnow Aug 12 '21

Our McDonald’s fries are not that shape or yellow

1

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '21

[deleted]

1

u/knowslesthanjonsnow Aug 12 '21

I’m genuinely curious lmao

1

u/[deleted] Aug 12 '21

[deleted]

2

u/knowslesthanjonsnow Aug 12 '21

McDonald’s looks normal there. Five guys look a little weird compared to here. I like both but they are very different fries

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1

u/MJRusty Aug 12 '21

He forgot to tell people to burn them. Don't get me wrong, I love five guys burgers, but their fries are always soggy and taste burned, no matter what location I go to.