I love steak frites, and cooking a steak as I like it is a snap. So are things like Bernaise and mayonnaise, but fries at home are a huge challenge. I have yet to have good air fried fries. Deep frying gets good but not great result. Ditto for pan frying. Best results have been shoestrings in an inch of oil in the wok. How do you handle this challenge?
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Trader Joe’s Fries, pan fried. 
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Double fry yukons.
Cut, soak in water, fry at low temp, remove let rest then fry at high temp.
I use a adjustable tfal fryer.
Low temp is 325, high temp is 375.
The fryer uses almost a gallon of oil, about $30. The fryer was about $100.
Hard to clean the fryer in a kitchen sink.
I am able to source Sysco fries, 20-30 years ago, they were generation 7, then there were sold by size: shoe strings, now I purchase 3/8 “. About 3# bags. Cooked at 350, in the tfal.
The Sysco are russets.
Become a regular at a place that sells the fries you like, if they use Sysco, they may sell them to you. I have not triedCostco, but I suspect they sell similar products.
In my experience, grocery store potatoes require a double cook and a soak prior to cooking to remove starch.
I may cook Sysco fries a couple of times a year, when I have to feed a crowd. I also recommend Sysco onion rings. I have a fry daddy, but it is not adjustable, 375 temp.
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Have you tried double frying the fries in the air fryer? There’s links and video but to get to the point, double frying might make them crispier, also using duck fat might help. Basically you toss frozen fries in duck fat, a few table spoons, fry it once. Let sit for half an hour or more and then fry them again. You could cut your own fries but then you have do the soaking and prep.
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Oven frites are easier and tastier than deep frying at home. Turn oven to 400 on convection and put in a sheet pan. While it comes up to temp, cut your potatoes into chips (russets work best for this) put in a bowl with a good glug of olive oil and shake to coat. Remove pan from hot oven and dump fries onto it, spreading them out into a single layer. Put back in hot oven for about 15 minutes, then take out pan, flip fries over and spread out again into a single layer. Return to oven for about 10 minutes or until cooked. Salt to taste. Done.
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Lots of ideas here, but I think I might try this one first.
That is pretty much how I make mine as well, I use a silpat usually for quick clean up.
I also use russets but wash the starch off with cold water and pat dry well prior to the oil.
I might even go a little higher in
temperature , convection bake, when I’m in a hurry.
Depending on the size of potato slices, I find it takes less time, so keeping on eye on them is important as ovens do vary.
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We buy frozen oven chips. Twenty minutes or so at 180. They’re usually McCains. Ad I’ve driven past some of the fields in Northern France where the spuds were grown, at harvest time. And, in the hotel bar, got chatting to the McCains guy who was overseeing the harvest operation for the company.
Occasionally, the love of my life makes “proper” chips, cutting up spuds and deep frying. None of the “triple cooking” lark - this is only a mid week dinner for goodness sake.
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Absolutely proper frites are hand cut and fried twice.
I eat far too many fries as it is (sales so lots of meals on the fly) so I almost never have them at home.
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Air fryer Lamb & Wesson. Small batches, fiddle with the temp and time. (I do a little lower and longer). Flip a lot.
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I’ve had good results with the cold start method: https://www.americastestkitchen.com/articles/3102-for-restaurant-quality-french-fries-start-with-cold-oil
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Came here to also endorse the cold oil method. If you happen to have beef fat in your freezer, once it is thawed and melted in your Dutch oven, add Russets cut to the desired thickness and go from there. Really, really awesome.
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Came here to say that.
I absolutely agree. I have always done them that way with restaurant level facilities, but my ancient KA stove is the definite weak link in my kitchen. A pot of boiling oil into which potatoes are dropped loses incredible amounts of heat pretty fast and rebounds very slowly. Although I have, other than the stove, an embarrassingly well equipped kitchen, it lacks something with serious thermal mass, a big benefit for deep frying. I am torn between option A) buying a deep fryer, B) getting a cast iron DO, or C) finding a good alternative technique. Right now I’ll fiddle a bit with C. Of course the end game is a better stove. I know others do fine with their kitchen stoves, but the output on this old POC is truly pathetic. There is only one putatively high output burner, and I need that for the steak. Option A might be on the table. I wonder which, if any , home kitchen deep fryers work well.
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This is another link for the ATK recipe, for those looking to avoid registering for the site:
https://archive.ph/wJryl
One note I would give on their instructions - it’s less about waiting 15 minutes for the fries to finish and more about being aware of when the last of the moisture in the fries bubbles out and dissipates (and being mindful of overbrowning - adjust heat down as needed).
This Washington Post version is more specific about oil temperatures:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/recipes/cold-fried-french-fries/
And here is a link for anyone who encounters a paywall or need for registration:
https://archive.ph/6V8vL
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I would offer an induction burner as Option D - they make single-burner standalone units that, while not as powerful as a full induction range, can put out some serious heat.
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Nice idea. I would also need some sort of induction compatible pan. My wife might be distressed by adding a pan. I already have a large number. Probably too large.
Cast iron would work on both. 
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Yep. The problem is that the pot shelves and racks are full! 
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Yet another cold start enthusiast. My only complaint is that you can only make one batch. After that, you don’t have cold oil!
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