The Battle For The Best Steak Fry Potato Has Been Decided (Kinda)

It may not be a great foodie battle like the Coke versus Pepsi debate, but when it comes to making a delish platter of steak fries, the war of words about which spud makes for a better steak fry seems like a good argument to take part in, particularly if you have an as-of-yet-naked prime steak cut on the line. The spirited convo around this topic seems to revolve around two types of potatoes primarily. Are russets better? Or are Yukon golds? While the jury's still out, there are arguments for using both, so in the interest of conducting an entirely unscientific study, we'd like to present you with the reasons why tater eaters choose one or the other. Your palate will likely decide the final outcome of this experiment.

First up is that Swiss army knife of a potato, the russet. The argument for it as a steak fry boils down to it being a starchy potato that boasts a good bit of water content. This makes for a steak fry that's crisp on the outside and soft and moist on the inside.

The russet brings an additional advantage to the table here. From a size perspective, it's not uncommon to see russets that have grown quite long. If you're after a big finger of a fry, as opposed to a wedge, russets usually work better for this. There's a reason that the steak fries you find on your plate in restaurants are of the russet persuasion. They just look plain impressive on the plate, particularly if they've still got some skin on them. If you're a traditionalist, then this is the way to go.

On the other hand, there are steak fry makers who swear by their Yukon golds. These spuds boast both a waxy and a starchy interior, which means they'll hold their shapes better than a russet will. This combo also promotes an interior that's not just soft, but actually creamy. The skins tend to be thin. This translates into a steak fry with crispy skin and a melt-in-your-mouth (almost) creamy, a total mouthfeel experience just waiting to be had.

And for those who like their steak fries to be wedges, Yukon gold wins here, too. Because the potato is smaller and rounder than the russet, it lends itself to being cut into wedge shapes instead of the flat plank-like form of the russet steak fry. This leaves only two sides of the fry to cook instead of the quad of sides you get with other types of fry shapes. 

Finally, if after studied consideration you haven't landed on the right taters to accompany your hamburger or steak of choice, you may want to think about a third option. There's no rule that says you can't make a platter of steak fries from more than one kind of spud. A russet and Yukon gold mash-up may just be the combo you need to make an epic plate of steak fries to accompany that lonely steak of yours.