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Frispos - Original Carl's Jr. Fries

by Steve
1/15/2008 03:58:00 PM

Most people have never heard of "Frispos", but they were quite popular in Orange County, CA, when they were the original french fries that Carl's Jr. served up during the 1970s and 1980s.

The french fries were crinkle-cut in shape, and had a consistency like mashed potatoes on the inside, with the crispy outer shell formed during deep frying. They were quite delish.

Actually, I've learned that Pup-n-Taco used to have them too.

Anyways, a few days ago when Carl Karcher passed away, I posted an article here on JFB announcing his death. Well, I also happened to post a similar article on another blog I write, "OCThen", but more geared to Orange County readers. (Link to that article).

Today someone posted a comment on that article that explained the secret of those unusual french fries, and the process by which they were made. He also gave the name, "Frispos"...
That french cry product was called "Frispos". My recollection is that the Frispos pellets came in a large bag, not unlike a bag of oats. We poured the dry Frispos into the top of the machine. When you pushed the button, it measured an amount of Frispos into a tube, injected warm water to form a paste and then it was pushed through a grate (think squeezing play doh out of one of those play doh machines) and as the Frispo "dough" came out the grate, a cutter went back and forth shaving off the "fries", which were then put into the fryer.
So with the name, I did a Google search, and found an article in the Riverside Press Enterprise, which also explained why Carl's Jr. stopped using Frispos. Basically, it was a logistical problem...
"Every step of the process was conducted in the kitchen (mixing, forming, cooking), which made it operationally labor-intensive and too difficult to sustain during times of heavy volume, which ran the risk of degrading the quality of the food presentation.

The crinkle-fries were phased out in favor of the conventional, shoestring French fries you find in our restaurants now."
So there you have it all you Carl's Jr. fanatics! The story of those fantastic crinkle-cut fries.

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3 Comments:

  • That's interesting! I, too, fondly remember the "frispos" and the amazing roast beef sandwich (with the entire pepper slapped on top) and miss both of 'em. They used to have weird, enormous soft drink containers for their largest size that looked almost like milk cartons.

    God, those fries were good.

    By Anonymous billoxi, at 1/16/2008 01:28:00 AM  

  • Oh my goodness, I miss those fries. I used to write the company once a year or so and ask what happened to them, and never got a reply. I didn't realize it was actually specialized equipment -- I just figured the fry company went out of business or something. Wow.

    I used to love the little ketchup tubs they had, too. You could stack 'em.

    By Anonymous Michaela, at 1/16/2008 08:59:00 PM  

  • So... Is there any way possible of finding those fries (anywhere) again? was there a manufacturer of the product that Carl's Jr. made? I swear that if they marketed that the "old fries" were back there would be a rush on them... You're right those fries were good!

    By Anonymous Kathy, at 1/17/2008 09:25:00 PM  

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