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My mrs is pregnant and she has decided she wants chicken, proper chips, peas and gravy for dinner 2nite. I havnt had proper chips since i was a kid, too easy to do micro/oven chips etc.
Also, i dont want the healthiest but the tastiest.
Cheers Rigsby.

Hmmmmm, well I've used good 'ol canola oil for years to do chips and I like the taste. Canola oil used to be called 'rapeseed' oil but they had to change the name for obvious reasons.

Healthiest would be Olive Oil but the tastiest would be those big old blocks of Lard/Fat that they use to melt in the fryer.

You want an oil that won't burn at high temperature, so Olive Oil is not an option.
Best results, parboil your Maris Piper potatoes, drain them and slice them and then cook in a decent vegetable oil. If you want them a tad crispy, sprinkle plain flour over them prior to frying

I am told that the best combination is a good quality vegetable oil and lard.

As others have said, par-boil them first. Some people believe in double frying which means you can prepare them a little while in advance and then give them a second go in the fryer just before serving.

Olive oil should NEVER be used for high temperature frying.

Thanks for the advice everyone, gone for a mix of lard and veg oil, let you know if they turn out Gordon Ramsey or Gordon Brown!

Rigsby.

Might be a bit late but here's my two-pennorth....

Decent spuds, chunky cut ( none of your crinkly nonsense ) about 1.5cm
thick

Rinse in cold water ( twice if you're really anal ) and dry between kitchen towels

Do them in batches of 300g or so... in at least 500ml of oil.

Set the deep fat fryer to 140C - cook the chips for 8-10 minutes.

Drain the chips well, put aside to cool, crank the fryer up to 190C

Cook for two minutes, shake the oil off, let it get back up to 190C, then bang them in again for another 4-5 minutes

Drain again and serve with, er, chicken

I fry fish & chips in olive oil, you do have to do it at a low temperature which of course takes longer but its a great flavour if you like olive oil.

Thanks again for all the advice, the chips were superb.
Par boiled some maris pipers for about 8 minutes after proper rinsing them under the tap to comments of (my mum dosnt do them like that ) Into a mix of 60/40 veg oil and lard. Then fried for about 12 minutes, they were excellent..... but then she spoiled her whole meal with a huge dousing of vinegar, who in their right mind has vinegar with gravy ? Women, cant live with em, cant shoot em.
Cheers Rigsby.