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The premise is wrong. I mean, McDonald's fries are about OK as far as frankenfood goes, but they are really horrible compared to anything home-made with fresh potatoes, no question about it. They're too small, they have absolutely zero taste, they're greasy... This is supposed to be a model to follow? Gimme a break.

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This guys picked something he likes - McDonald's fries - and did some impressive food-hacking to revere-engineer and improve them. Regardless of your thoughts on the thing he's imitating, surely you can respect the rigor and discipline the author applied to the problem.

He's not saying "this is how you make the world's best fries" - he's saying "if you really like McDonald's fries (like I do), here's how to replicate them". If you don't like that type of fry, then don't make them.

I'm all for the food hacking and the article was quite interesting, however I shivers to the idea of McDonald's as a cooking reference.

He clearly defines the characteristics that make a good french fry and then explains how to match that consistently. He concludes that almost all of McDonald's practices (freezing the fries) are not simply economically important, but essential to the taste as he defines them.

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