I’m gonna come right out and say something that I’m sure you won’t all openly agree with: McDonald’s french fries are great. At their best, they are everything a french fry should be: salty, crisp, light, and not greasy. Granted, you get the occasional odd franchise that lets’em sit under the heat lamp for a couple hours too long, but on the whole, I find it remarkable that the bigwigs have discovered a way to create a frozen fry that even a one armed eyeless chimp has trouble screwing up. And I know, because they’ve got one working the fry station at the franchise on my corner.

To be absolutely honest, I’ve never been able to make fries as good as theirs (shhhhh!). Sure, my thick-cut pub-style fries are super-potatoey and fantastic, and when I’m in the mood for them, my seasoned steak fries can’t be beat, but for thin, super-crisp fries (I’m talking the kind that only appear in fast food restaurants and French bistros under the name frites)? I’m always better off running down to the take-out window than bothering to fry them myself at home.

Until now.

I’ve been literally giddy with the quality of the fries that have been coming out of my kitchen for the last two days. My wife won’t hear the end of it. Even my puppy is wondering why his owner keeps exclaiming “Holy s**t that’s good!” every half hour from the kitchen. I’ve cooked over 43 batches of fries in the last three days, and I’m happy to report that I’ve finally found a way to consistently reach crisp, golden Nirvana.

Read the whole thing, even if you’re not into McD’s french fries. Excellent food geekery going on in there.