‘The fries are the bomb!’ How this diner turns local spuds into a customer favorite
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EDITOR’S NOTE: “From the Field” is a weekly feature bringing you the latest agriculture news in eastern Idaho.
SUGAR CITY – Before they’re piled next to a burger at Ole’s Diner in Sugar City, the potatoes behind its popular french fries begin their journey in an eastern Idaho field. EastIdahoNews.com is taking you from the farm to the fryer to show how locally grown spuds become a customer favorite.
It all begins down the road at Sun-Glo of Idaho, a fresh-pack potato warehouse. The company grows thousands of acres of spuds every year throughout the area.
Cade Crapo, a managing partner at Sun-Glo, says harvest season gets underway around mid-September and lasts about three weeks.
“We try to be done by … mid-October. The weather starts changing around here at this time, and we try to be done before the weather turns and winter starts to set in,” Crapo says.
Crapo says they process about 2 million pounds of potatoes a day.
During spud harvest, the harvester puts the spuds onto a truck. They’re hauled to a nearby cellar, eventually loaded onto another truck, and delivered to the Sun-Glo fresh-pack facility.
“We have multiple different varieties and brands that we pack here,” says Crapo. “A potato will typically only be in this building one day. We’ll bring them (here) in the morning and by the nighttime, most of the potatoes we brought in will be sitting on the (shipping) floor or will be on a truck or train car on the way to the grocery store.”
On arrival, the spuds are unloaded, washed and sorted.
“They’re sorted by an AI electronic sorter,” Crapo explains. “It separates them to a certain size and grade at that point. That goes through a final sort by hand to make sure that final grade going into the box looks the way we need it to look.”
The potatoes are then packaged before being put on pallets.
‘It’s something we take pride in’
Once the potatoes are packaged and ready to ship, they’re delivered to customers across the country — one of which is Ole’s Diner.
Bryan Harris, the owner of Ole’s Diner, says he picks up six 50-pound boxes every week, for a total of 300 pounds.
“I always get what they call a 70-count. There’s about 70 in a box. It makes the size difference,” Harris says. “They’re (several inches) long, and they just make really good french fries.”
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Restaurant manager Michell Egbert starts making french fries about an hour before the store opens every day.
“We bring them over here (to the french-fry cutter), press down and it makes the shape of a french fry,” Egbert says.
Once the fries are rinsed and drained, they’re placed in a basket and tossed into the fryer to blanch.
“We blanch them, and then we’ll set ‘em out and let them sit for a minute. When people come in to get food, we’ll put them in to cook. (Doing this) makes them crispier,” she says.
Once they’re cooked, the fries are salted and served hot for customers.
“(Customers) love them. Every time they comment, they always say, ‘the french fries are the bomb’ or ‘the french fries are great! You gotta go for the fries.’ We like that, and I think that’s why they keep coming back,” says Harris.
Harris says they’ve bought spuds from Sun-Glo for more than a decade. He enjoys his association with the Crapos and plans to continue doing business with them.
“They’ve treated me really well,” he says. “I’m happy that I can get them local. I know that the quality is there and I know where they come from … and that’s a good thing.”
Crapo echoes that sentiment, saying he appreciates Ole’s Diner and all their local customers. His goal is to do what he can to ensure they get the best deal possible.
“We like to help them out … and give them a pricing break that they wouldn’t get somewhere else,” says Crapo.
Crapo says serving customers has been a family tradition for four generations, and he’s happy to have a product that customers enjoy.
“Our family loves to do it, and it’s exciting for us to go all over the country and see our products in the stores and the restaurants,” Crapo says. “We get a lot of pictures from customers all over the country, Mexico, showing our products. It’s something we take pride in.”
SEE WHAT IT’S LIKE IN THE VIDEO ABOVE.
AG AT-A-GLANCE
UI Extension hosts equine hoof workshop
The following is an excerpt of a news release from the University of Idaho.
GRACE – University of Idaho Extension’s Caribou County office will host a workshop designed to help veterinarians and farriers work together to properly trim, balance, and shoe equine hooves so they bear weight evenly.
The workshop will be held on Nov. 19 from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the UI Extension Caribou County Office, 117 West First North, in Grace. It will be led by Utah State University faculty members Danny Smith and Karl Hoopes, who regularly present similar training programs throughout Utah.
The workshop is open to veterinarians, farriers, and horse owners, with space available for up to 30 participants. For more information, contact Extension educator Justin Hatch at (208) 547-3205 or JLHatch@uidaho.edu.
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