These do fry up great. But some canning tips we discovered between batch 1 and batch 2. Batch 1 was mixed reds and yukons, aged 30 days from our garden, cut with the large size FF cutter and all the pieces packed - unfortunately over packed in the jars. Ended up with fair amount of mushy potatoes and many broke during processing. When opened, drained, rinsed and fried they were great but about 1/3 of the quart were broken into smaller pieces and so wasted. Batch 2 was with store-bought Russets that had been matured well for several months in storage. Peeled, cut with FF cutter but this time we didn't include the slivers, edges, and small ends that the cutter leaves. Just the best fries pieces. And the jars were more loosely packed too. They processed great. No mush, no breaking, just several quart jars of nice looking french fries suspended in clear hot water with a bit of salt added. They fry up a nice golden brown, crunchy on the outside, soft on the inside. Definitely worth doing but with home-grown potatoes we suggest Russets and only after storage for a couple of months. Hope this info helps. Dave

Jill - the simple answer is I fudged it. :-) Keeping in mind that with that particular batch they were well aged spuds already (store-bought and over winter stored) so the enzyme-stopping and starch conversion aspects of blanching was nullified by time. That leaves only the heating aspect. While not approved, I decided that given the narrow size and loose packing (both allow for fast heat penetration) in the jars and the hot boiling water the processing in the PC would be sufficient. My choice. What would be a better option probably would be to make the fries and steam blanch them for 2-3 min. before filling the jars. Dave

Has anyone made Deep Fried Mac & Cheese balls...I've still drooling over a recipe recently found while googling left over recipes! I knew there had to be more to life than extra butter, milk and a microwave!

I like them both, if they are made well. Generally speaking, I like onion rings, but not the pre-fab, frozen ones you get at fast food places. I like to make them at home. I also like home made french fries. My husband makes the best ones. He cuts the potatoes in rounds and then in pieces about the size of your little finger. He doesn't peel them. And he puts too many in the oil at once, which by the time they heat back up, results in french fries that are like twice fried...the way the old recipes always called for. They are crispy on the outside and dry and fluffy on the inside. I also like to use a waffle cutter and make waffle fries. Those are great with malt vinegar and ketchup. Love home made potato chips too.