Comments on Junk Food Blog: Frispos - Original Carl's Jr. Fries

I worked in a Carl's Jr. (Beach at Yorktown, HB, C...

2009-07-30T16:52:37.878-07:00

I worked in a Carl's Jr. (Beach at Yorktown, HB, CA) in 1985 for a summer, and as I recall, the packaging and machinery read "Frispo" -- never pluralized as "Frispos." One would indeed haul a sack of Frispo pellets from dry goods storage, pour the entire thing into the hopper of the Frispo machine, press one button to mix and another to dispense. If you didn't shake the fry basket a bit, you would end up with a Giant Block o' Fries.

My best guess for those wishing to try home production is to get mashed potato mix, add water and create a stiff paste that will hold a peak. Then find some way to extrude the "fries." I'd try a pastry bag with a 3/8" or so piping tip (but work fast or your fries will all come out with different levels of done-ness. Maybe you could pipe them out ahead of time onto an oiled cookie sheet or something, but you'd probably mess them up trying to scrape them into the oil.

I don't recall if Carl's used vegetable shortening with added beef tallow like McDonald's, but having cut up my fair share of giant blocks of shortening on commissary days, I can definitely vouch for it basically being shortening.

Those roast beef sandwiches, by the way, were microwaved. Now you know why the buns were invariably soggy.

Those Frispos were nasty. I was a cook at Carl's J...

2009-06-12T14:54:45.213-07:00

Those Frispos were nasty. I was a cook at Carl's Junior back in the seventies. One of our closing rituals was to throw the remaining Frispo dough in the fryer to make one giant Frispo Fry. I never liked to eat them as much as regular fries, but you could sure toss a giant Frispo fry a long distance.

Go to Carls Jr. website and leave a comment about ...

2009-03-22T00:25:00.000-07:00

Go to Carls Jr. website and leave a comment about how you want Frispos to come back! Tell them that you think that their sales will go through the roof if they put Frispos back on the menu!

http://www.carlsjr.com/contact

They MUST bring back the Frispos!!!! They were the...

2008-12-21T18:32:00.000-08:00

They MUST bring back the Frispos!!!! They were the best! Their sales would sky-rocket if they had a special promotion.

O.k. I'm serious now.. so they were reconstituted...

2008-11-28T18:38:00.000-08:00

O.k. I'm serious now.. so they were reconstituted potatoes.. was there a company they purchased from? How to duplicate them? I know sound a little obsessed... but they were sooo good! I too have called Carl's Jr. Corparate offices and have asked about them and got no answer.. just an offer of coupons.. there has to be an answer folks... someone start a petition.. they could do a marketing campaign to all us "back in the day" people not nearly as consumed with this but.. oh yes.. the roast beef sandwich was so delicious too.. o.k. let's see a little action and maybe possibly some results? lol
(yes, I do have a life) smile

Hi,I was a manager for Arby's in MD.We used Frispo...

2008-11-03T18:37:00.000-08:00

Hi,

I was a manager for Arby's in MD.

We used Frispo's too. I believe Basic Home Foods was the maker of the product.

they tasted great hot, but once cold, terrible. they looked like Christmas trees when done.

Mike Marmer Germantown, MD

So... Is there any way possible of finding those f...

2008-01-17T21:25:00.000-08:00

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!

Oh my goodness, I miss those fries. I used to wri...

2008-01-16T20:59:00.000-08:00

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.

That's interesting! I, too, fondly remember the "...

2008-01-16T01:28:00.000-08:00

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.