For The Best Loaded Cheese Fries, Skip The Oven

There are few cooking tools that better facilitate mankind's love affair with food cooked over a flame than the barbecue grill. And while modern grill masters understand just how delicious smoke-flavored combustion makes steak, they may not know quite how amazing their grills' flame is at making loaded cheese fries.

If you opt for this cooking method instead of an oven, the cheese fries won't be cooked over the open grate. Instead, to ensure that you get more fries than your charcoal briquettes do, you'll want to use a griddle, like this reversible cast iron option from Lodge, on the barbecue grates. The griddle will prevent the fries from falling through the grates and into the fire.

And speaking of fire, this method can be a bit of a slow burn at first. More plainly, if you start with frozen french fries, be aware that there's such a thing as griddle shock. That happens when cold items get tossed on a hot grill without giving the grates time to warm up a bit. To get around this issue, start your grill on low. (If the fries aren't frozen, medium is fine.) Additionally, take the french fries out of the freezer to thaw a bit. Semi-thawed fries will reduce the temperature difference between the fries and grill, mitigating some of the griddle shock.

As for the fries themselves, there is an argument to be made for making loaded fries with steak fries. Because these fries are relatively flat, you're really only working with two sides of the spud. This helps you get a more thorough and even cook on each side.

Before you start cooking your french fries on the grill, add some oil or fat to the griddle to prevent them from sticking to the hot surface. Consider tasty options like using bacon fat or building your own compound butter to create layers of flavor on the spuds. Follow up with a spritz of cooking oil over the top of the fries. This will further help them turn crispy and golden brown.

Once you put the fries on the grill, spread them out to allow them to heat up some. You don't want any groups of snuggly french fry friends here, meaning that the fewer fries you have that lounge on top of neighboring ones, the better. A single layer of fries allows all of them to cook more thoroughly. Additionally, if you're using a gas grill and want to give your fries a smoked flavor, try a smoke box. This mimics the flavor of the smoke without the charcoal briquettes.

The spuds will turn the right amount of crispy if you allow them to cook for at least three to five minutes on each side. Use a pair of spatulas or tongs to flip the fries so that all the sides get cooked until they're a nice golden brown color before taking them off the griddle to season and dress them. While they're still hot, sprinkle your favorite seasonings on the fries. Good options include steak seasoning, Cajun rubs, and special flavored mixes, like Kinder's caramelized onion butter seasoning.

What you put on your loaded cheese fries comes down to your taste preferences, though if you're looking for inspiration, consider all the types of toppings you'd put on a loaded baked potato or serve at a french fry bar. Crispy bacon? Check. Pulled pork? Check. Green onions, tomatoes, and olives? Check. Banana peppers or jalapeños? Check. Anything goes, really.

As far as cooking your preferred protein goes, there's no need to heat up the pulled pork, ground beef, or what have you on the kitchen stove. The griddle will work for this, too. If you're opting for a topping of bacon, you can even cook that alongside the fries. This is a great option if you're planning on cooking the fries in bacon fat for some extra flavor. All you need to do is sweep the fries over to the bacon fat on the other side of the griddle.

Finally, no loaded potato recipe is worth anything without a good bit of cheese — okay, a whole lot of cheese. If you've opted for grated cheeses, like Pepper Jack or cheddar, the time to break those bad boys out is right when the fries come off the grill. The heat from the fries should be sufficient to melt the cheese. Liquid cheese sauce, like Tostitos queso, can be heated up and poured over the top of any grated cheeses, then topped with meat and veggies. To finish this meal off, serve it with a red wine-infused margarita and plenty of extra napkins to create the most excellent comfort food experience that your taste buds won't soon forget.