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The right potato for a fry station
Fries are where most kitchens spend their potato budget, and where a bad sack costs you the most. This is the grade we send to burger counters and fry stations across Lahore.
To be clear about what you are buying. We sell whole potatoes. Washed, graded, in a sack. We do not peel, cut, blanch or freeze anything, so your kitchen cuts its own. If you need ready-cut fries delivered, we are not your supplier today — but tell us below, because we are working out whether to build that line.
What makes a potato fry well
Which potato is best for french fries in Pakistan?
A large, uniform potato with high dry matter. Size matters because a mixed sack cannot be fried to one timing, and dry matter matters because a watery potato absorbs more oil and goes limp on the plate.
Size band beats size
Most kitchens ask for the biggest potato available. That is the wrong question. What actually costs you money is the spread — when a sack holds 40 mm and 70 mm potatoes together, no fry time is right for both, and part of every batch comes out either pale or dark.
We sort to a band, not a minimum. Grade A is 55 to 75 mm, so a basket cooks evenly and your fry cook stops guessing.
The yield you should be costing against
Peeling and trimming takes 35 to 40 percent off. So a kilo of fries on the plate needs roughly 1.65 kg of raw potato, and your real cost per finished kilo is the sack price divided by 0.6 plus your prep labour.
A uniform sack lifts that yield, because less gets trimmed away squaring off odd shapes. That is the quiet argument for graded stock: it is not about looking better in the sack, it is about how much of it reaches the fryer.
Two things that ruin fries and are not the potato's fault
- Cold storage. Below about 6 degrees the starch turns to sugar and the sugar caramelises. Dark fries, sweet taste. Keep sacks at 8 to 12 degrees, never in the chiller.
- Light. Sacks left in daylight green off and turn bitter. Dark store, off the floor, away from onions.
Common questions
Which potato is best for french fries in Pakistan?
A large, uniform potato with high dry matter. Size matters because a mixed sack cannot be fried to one timing, and dry matter matters because a watery potato absorbs more oil and goes limp. Our Restaurant Grade A is sorted to a 55–75 mm band for exactly this.
Does Aloowala sell ready-cut french fries?
No. We supply whole potatoes only, washed and graded. We do not peel, cut, blanch or freeze anything. Kitchens buying from us cut in house.
How many kilos of potato make a kilo of fries?
Roughly 1.65 kg of raw potato per kilo of finished fries, because peeling and trimming removes 35 to 40 percent. A uniform sack pushes that yield up, since less gets trimmed away squaring off odd shapes.
Why do our fries come out dark?
Almost always cold storage. Below about 6 degrees the starch in a potato converts to sugar, and sugar caramelises in the fryer. Move the sacks out of the chiller into a dark store at 8 to 12 degrees and the colour comes back within a week or two.