How Hard Can It Be To Make a Potato Chip ? (hint: Fly you fools!)
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- čas přidán 15. 03. 2024
- I tried to make potato chips for the first time. Go to dayoneapp.com/alex and use code ALEX to get limited-time offer of 2 month free trial with Day One Journal Premium
A potato chip, also known as a crisp in some countries, is a thin slice of potato that has been deep-fried or baked until crispy. It is a popular snack food enjoyed around the world.
The main difference between regular chips and kettle chips lies in their texture and cooking method:
1. *Regular Chips:* Regular potato chips are typically made using a continuous frying process. Thinly sliced potatoes are fried in a continuous stream of hot oil, resulting in a relatively uniform texture and shape. These chips tend to be thin, light, and crispy.
2. *Kettle Chips:* Kettle-cooked potato chips, on the other hand, are made in batches using a kettle or large vat of hot oil. The potatoes are sliced slightly thicker than regular chips and are cooked in smaller batches. This method produces a thicker, crunchier chip with more variation in texture. Kettle chips often have a rustic appearance and may be slightly darker in color due to the kettle cooking process.
In summary, while both regular and kettle chips are made from potatoes and fried, the main differences lie in the thickness of the slices, the cooking method, and the resulting texture and flavor of the chips.
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The color and bitterness you're getting is from reducing sugars in the potato (Maillard Reaction). The crisp comes from the glass state transition. What you're ideally looking for is a potato high in starch and low in reducing sugars (Cold stored potatoes will begin to convert starch into sugar and increase the browning.) As for the frying, what is happening is a dehydration reaction which replaces the water for oil. The soft chips haven't fully been dehydrated and made it to a glassy state. You're closer than you think but there is a lot that goes into it.
Source: Previous QA Director for snack food company which specialized in potato chips.
I was thinking that might be the answer; dehydrate the slices before frying, but obviously you have actual knowledge on how to do it.
Thats awesome insight. I initially thought you would want to go less starch to get less browning. But apparently my thought process was wrong.
Is it still a maillard reaction outside of proteins?....i thought starches would be dextrinizarion.
Commercial potato chips are made from a special single variety of potato that has been bred to be low sugar, low moisture and high starch. You will never see this variety in a supermarket, but it's the most commonly grown potato in europe. Lays use a custom bred potato called FC5.
Thanks for reminding me. Cold potatoes, not good for chips.
Did you guys fry them in 2 stages ?
i followed a recipe a loooooong time ago and made very nice chips by first "cooking" them on a lower temp and then frying them again to get the crisp.
Similar to how fry shops do french fries (at least in the Netherlands)
I miss when your sponsored segments had a progress bar across the top. It was a really nice bit of style that you don't see in other youtubers' videos and it really made yours stand out.
Yes, we then knew how many times we'd have to push on the 10 seconds fast forward key 😀
@@pbourlart I mean the sponsored sections are still a consistent length so you can just do that anyway, that wasn't even a factor for me lol
@@LemmaEOFI know, it's still not a big deal, it just helped, that's all 🙂
It probably wasnt his decision but his sponsors.
Just use the SponsorBlock extension you will get a progress bar or if you want just skip the sponsors automatically
Fry, you fools!
the comment i was looking for :D
Comments like these can lead to bad hobbits.
@@AndrewJens Hey, I had nothing to do with Amazon's The Rings of Power... 😄
This is the episode in which Alex pretends he hasn’t read the Internet where all the answers are.
@@KikiThaerigen he just conveniently forgot to check Kenji's recipe where everything is laid out for a light non-kettle style chip. Then he took us on a "journey" of bad cooking making easy mistakes and faking not understanding a bit about potatoes. Such a waste.
@@dimoolia He is showing what it takes to make them at home, while I am sure some people who aren't satisfied with the selection of chips in stores, making and dusting them with flavor they find great, is easier than they thought.
Have a glass of water chief its just a video on crisps@dimoolia
@@dimoolia hate the game not the player. Video's are money. 10min + is money. Content is king. At least the preview icon wasn't him making a :O face
in a lot of his other videos - the mistakes are more reasonable - here, he just burns them 2 different ways and that's not very compelling to watch. So, yeah - I'm giving it to you.
The chip makers have many economies of scale. A major factor is they contract directly with farmers and storage houses for particular potato qualities that are not typical in supermarket potatoes.
Storage conditions are a huge factor in browning due to the effect of temperature on starch←→sugar conversion(it goes both directions), many academic papers with substantial research have been written on the affect of different conditions of long term storage and pre-use storage (the final 2-3 weeks) on the frying qualities of potatoes, both fluffy fries and crispy.
Farmers don't even use the same type of fertilizer for supermarket and processing customers because it effects the starch and moisture ratios.
Supermarket potatoes are grown for maximum weight yield and tend to have high water content. Processing buyers pay based on a more complicated quality scale, or for some products like potato flour even by weight of extractable starch regardless of total fresh weight.
Thanks! Food science is fascinating and underrated IMHO.
Dehydrate them first. Works when i make beet, carrot, and parsnip chips.
That was my first thought. Also I know nothing about it but air frying ? Maybe that's the answer ?
@@Pomaufour i dont think they had air fryers when they invented chips tho..
@@onistgaming5177
They also didn't have the potato that Lays use...because they invented it.
Yeah. My Mum used to make potato chips often when I was a kid. She used to leave the potato slices out in the sun to dry completely and then store big batches of those dry slices away, ready to fry whenever you want a snack.
Those may not have been Lays equivalent, but the dehydrating sounds like an important step.
@@JustAnotherMeHow did she handle the potatoes darkening in color when in open air? If I just leave a slice of uncooked potato to dry out it starts changing color. I think especially the edges? It's been some time. Or maybe it was that being in the sun means higher temp and they dehydrated without becoming splotchy?
WASH THEN BLANCH YOUR SLICES!
WASH THEN BLANCH YOUR SLICES!
Just made some homemade sweet potato chips yesterday, and times before…and blanching is the key to maintaining color…I read somewhere suggest using vinegar in the wash or blanch boil, I used it in the boil.. about 3-4 minutes…..DRY…then fry.
Around 365⁰ oil, has to be quick or it absorbs oil and becomes soggy by oil
Yes this^ I also gently dry my potato chips in the oven at a low temp to draw out any remaining moisture without browning/burning further. Can also use dehydrator.
Agreed, although I use the freezer instead of a dehydrator.
@@zyxwvut4740 interesting! What do you do freezer wise to the chips?
@@mhkins First I sprinkle the vinegar, then put a single layer on a plate overnight. I got tired of making my chips and fries soggy by adding vinegar at the last minute. Then realized the vinegar flavor survives the freezing and the freezing removes moisture.
Hi Alex.
I think you miss two
Important things.
Suger get caramelized on 130 Celsius.
Water get evaporated in 100 Celsius.
You shuold stay on that range for having enough time to release the liquid but to stay on the right color.
I think there’s a video on CZcams- in which they throw the potatoes into a cold oil and yet the results are great.
Big love from a big fan.
Shaked
I think you have missed the magic that is time and editing.
Much respect for you videos as always, but this was the first time I could feel you actually knew the answers already during the filming of the trial and error phase.
Every time Alex embarks on a new cooking journey, it's like he forgot everything he learned and all the built up knowledge escapes him. I know it's for storytelling and a journey of discovery kind of plot but Alex floundering over the basics he should have figured out by now is kind of funny to watch.
Yes, the most obvious part is the mandolin one. He should have known that from the beginning (and I'm pretty sure he did).
Also, it's very weird for a "cooking engineer" to control the temperature of his oil with a wooden spoon... I've known him to be a lot more scientific than that 😀
You have a better attitude than I do. For you it's funny, for me it's exasperating. Feels wasteful, disingenuous, and a bit insulting to his viewers. idk, I know there's a reason he does it this way, but it's tiresome. Stopped watching for a long time, tried coming back just now: Nah.
My guy nerfing himself just so he can vist a potato chip factory 😭we know you could've done it first try .
Yeah it's entertaining to know that he's just dragging it out for content but I love the content so I'm not complaining
True lmfaoo
The last scene was bad acting, yes. I love everything about Alex except for the constructed plot.
@@peerhauser same, but I guess this the way if you want to make an entertaining content for mass media usage (and CZcams is one). I've tried several makers channels and these which were heavily scripted turn out more entertaining that the improvised ones. I call it fan vs. expert content.
I used a Japanese fixed blade mandolin designed to shave cabbage to make some awesome potato chips recently. Yeilded something resembling a very delicate kettle chip. I seasoned them with a dusting of a mixture of good chicken bouillon, toasted onion powder, white pepper, and msg to give em a flavor halfway between roast chicken and french onion soup.
this sounds brilliant
Mandolin is the way to go for consistency. Good move!
Miam
This sounds very Alex like
my mind immediately went to the thought of frying the potatoes under vacuum, basically the opposite of how pressure fryers are used to increase the temperature and retain more moisture for fried chicken, fry the potatoes under vacuum to lower the boiling point of water and promote dehydration/crispifying while keeping browning low. Doesn't sound like the most uhhh, practical thing to do at home, but you've built a lot of impractical kitchen appliances over the years!
Definitely catch up in the next one. Really cool idea for a video series
I have a strange feeling that a paid partnership with lay's is comming
I think it’s already here
Who cares he’s about to reveal how we can make our own lays at home for mere pennies
@@1992djg it’s not a criticism, just an observation.
You can make your own, but not for pennies.
or Salut Company chips with flavors based on various ramens and mother sauces and other things that make sense with the channel history
Soon: I am growing my specialiced potatoes for making chips
You nailed it !! LOL
I've had good luck with Yukon gold potatoes (semi waxy) and slicing them super thin with a mandolin. Still much closer to kettle chips though. Also interesting results blanching them in beef tallow (draining and patting after) before frying.
Yes! Starting your potato chip video(s) right as I’m obsessing over making crazy fun flavors at home.
Can't wait to see more of this journey!
Classic Alex! Love it!
I love the series format ❤
I'm so excited for another series!!! Which reminded of the ramen series. You'll end up doing all the snacks we know and love!!
Nous sommes connectés Alex, tu te poses exactement les mêmes questions que moi que ça soit sur la pizza, Ramen, et maintenant les Chips c'est fou. Merci de te lancer sur cette thématique :)
this video was an art form of a cliff hanger! I like your stuff! also my familie likes all the meals I learn from you! Salute!
Ahahah I knew where this video was going! 😂 That will be interesting to see how the factories make the chips but my two cents would be that they start with a high quality potato species and not the crap that is sold in every supermarket. And maybe you gave us a hint with the double frying? Like the biscuits are baked twice (bis) for longer preservation and super crunchiness. I guess we'll have to wait and see!
I was about to say you should have tried to double fry the second batch, but writing the comment with the video still playing I managed to notice my mistake.
You're the chef here after all, not me. Haven't finished the video but I'm guessing that'll do the trick :p
Love your content, Alex!
Wow, surprised you don't like kettle chips. There is a company here in the Eastern part of the US called Utz. They make a kettle chip called "Utz Kettle Classics Potato Chips Dark Russets". OMG, they are so good. I swear they salt them with crack. If I'm not careful, I can eat an entire bag in one sitting.
When I lived in PA my favorite were Martins, or Goods (the blue Goods, not the red). I always preferred those over Utz
I'm down in MD. I don't think I've seen either of those brands in my local stores..
Dark potato chips are the exact opposite of what he's looking for.
you should use 2 temperatures. first temp about 150 C then 180 C. Let them rest between cooks. The resting time is tricky because main objective is to dehydrate and therefore lower the next cooking time. Times and Temperatures are suggestions but they worked for me. It should be different for you since we dont use the same raw materials, etc..
That's how we did it when I worked at a fast food place that made French fries from actual fresh potatoes. A longer cook in oil at a lower temperature, then we'd store the fries until needed, and cook them quickly at a high temp.
I cannot wait to see what seasonings Alex will be coming up with once it's done
Ooooooo can’t wait to see the next one!!!
Dear Alex, excited for this new series. But I am left wondering, will we ever get closure on pasta?
You have very expressive eyes. Best of luck on your crisp creations.
I recently experimented a bit and marinating the potatos in corn starch and making them a litttle thiner than you yielded amazing results. The closest i have ever goten to crispy pale chips.
I dont have a dehydrater but i am quite sure if you dehydrate them a little ( like 30% of the water ) i think you would get a realy close result to fabric made chips.
I dont have a clue about anything tbh but ive been frustraded with makin chips for a long time now, this is my best take on them. Oh yeah and i use Puree potatoes. Others dont get as crispy from my experience.
Looks like it's time for a trip to Pennsylvania. You can get some footage for an upcoming hard pretzel series while you're at it. ;-)
I'd go to Martins in PA. Very old company and have mastered the process.
Going to Detroit would be better, in my very biased opinion 😅
After all, most of the potatoes that are used to make Lay's chips come from Michigan. And Detroit is home to Better Made potato chips, which is the only sole-surviving chip maker from the early 20th century.
@@johnnymossville Johnny's got it right. As a Lancaster County boy, we'd even take field trips in middle school to go see Martin's in York or Snyder's of Hannover. That southern part of PA has Martin's, Gibbles, Snyder's, Bickel's, Utz, Herr's, and a bunch more I can't remember off the top of my head, spanning from 1909 (Snyder's) up to 1950 (Gibble's). Not sure how @HelenaOfDetroit that makes Better Made "the only sole-surviving chip maker from the early 20th century." ;-) It's potato throw down time!
Knowing you put the camera in that greasy bag was painful
Maybe he cut the bag on both ends and just put a couple of chips next to the camera
Filmmakers must make sacrifices
@or camera could have be in a plastic bag/wrap. or he could just wipe it down
Put it in the sink and washed it😊
@@ematise right? These people make it a way bigger deal than it is!
Hahaha. Such confected drama and you know why - but I still love it hahaha
Dry the chips into a towel before frying. Adding some dextrose will make the color more uniform. Use a fruit-dryer when fried for at least 2 hours at 60 degrees Celcius. (I was living close to a factory in Belgium..)
Hey Alex! I love the way your footage looks! Of course lighting and set and skill is a huge part of why it looks so good, but im very interested in what camera you are using. If anyone else knows please tell me! Thank you!
We use a Sony Fx3 & a Sony A7siii.
@@Loufilmmaker Thank you so much! It just looks so crisp!
I know you're after chips and I'm excited to see how you make out. I will say my Mom used to cut them a little thicker and fry them up as an occasional treat. Some were thick, some were thin so you'd have crispy but also potato'ey ones too. They were dark like your first batch, sprinkled with a little salt. I really enjoyed them. They were a cross between a homefry and potato chip.
The stuff i did not know I needed.😂
I didn't expect a potato chips series 😮😅
Alex for seasoning things like these, I like to use shrimp and/or lobster shells dehydrated and then powdered mixed with salt and rosemary. It's so good. Great video by the way. It might be the potato variety? Too much start. The starch is what makes it brown easily. Factory potato chips extract the starch I believe.
This is a very timely video for me because I’m researching the exact same thing right now. The America’s Test Kitchen video on kettle chips shown in your search results mentions cooking the chips in oil for five minutes at 240F in what they call the “gel zone”. I know that you’re not trying to make kettle chips, but I think that there’s something to this. You’re basically dehydrating the chips in oil and infusing oil where the water used to be. I’d try partially dehydrating the potatoes in a way that makes sense in a large chip processing plant and then fry them in 240F “gel zone” oil. You definitely don’t need to go above 260F because that’s where they start to burn for me.
Also, there’s the fact that the chip companies use proprietary (or difficult if not impossible for the consumer to buy) potatoes and they test each batch for a wide variety of factors and then adjust their well researched cooking instructions accordingly on the fly. This may be a holy grail that’s not worth your considerable talents, Alex. I’ve made great kettle chips using the ATK method, but my results have been inconsistent. I’m leaning towards saying that making potato chips at home isn’t worth the trouble unless you just want to do it a few times for fun just to say you did. All things considered, I don’t think cooking them yourself even saves that much money considering how much cooking oil costs these days.
Alex, when doing something where you are seeking a time, consider putting in a quantity, say 8 of them, then cooking at a set temperature, take one out at 1 min, 1at 2 mins, 1 at 3 mins, etc until all are out. This is similar to how they used to gauge exposure time when optically printing photographs from a negative.
congrats on dropping better help. good on you
I went on my own little rabbit hole about potato chips, I believe it's pretty much impossible to make a 1:1 recreation of the regular commercial chips
I think you can achieve it reliably by a 4 step process. You slice them, cook them (boil or steam I guess, maybe you can omit this step, but it think it will improve things), then you dry them in a food dehydrator for a very specific amount of time that I can only guess, then you fry them in hot oil. It is what my intuition/experience tells me right now. The drying step is the most important, and the more you dry the more easily they get crispy, until the water is so little it will burn easily. I am willing to try it if you do it please let me know the results. I will let you know of mine.
@JanusXX its funny that you mentioned that the thought of dehydrating the potatoes also comes to my mind. That's the same principle behind prawn crackers. Unfortunately, I don't have a dehydrator, so I can't put that to the test myself.
@@JanusXX Sadly, in this case, he is right. You can't make a 1:1 recreation of commercial potato chips by buying supermarket potatoes. It basically comes down to starch to sugar ratio on the potato which is influenced by growing and storage conditions. For commercial potato chips you want very low sugar content, which means high starch, ideally with low water weight. Supermarket potatoes will have high water weight for better yield, high sugar and low starch due to cold storage.
Higher sugar = higher browning which makes it bitter.
It's possible to cheat a little bit due to a temperature differential in which the browning reaction happens and the glassy (crispy) transition happens, but it will still be different than commercial chips without the right potatoes.
As soon as I started the video and saw you didn't at least soak the potatoes to remove the starch I knew the outcome of the first set. Such a good video.
Alex, I'd love to see some sort of fry oil calibration experiment using those ikea induction hobs. Like you said you can always use the old fashioned way but it'd be fun to know how much more or less power is going into the oil at each power number.
Formula for chips: Slice them at exactly 2mm (to thin = brittle, to thick = to much potato flavor. The oil needs to be 160 degrees Celsius(sunflower oil) The potatos need to have alot of starch( 15% or more) and as you did you need to wash and dry the slices
"Too much potato flavor"
They're POTATO chips. They're supposed to have that flavor.
@@grabble7605 not really, no
They are crispy because the water has been replaced by oil, so really you are mostly getting fat and salt flavors.
I've had a similar experiene with french fries. I followed someone's copycat of McDonald's french fries and I think it would help here. The issue, if I recall correctly, is the pectin. The solution with french fries is to first cook them for like 10 min in 180F water. Then you double fry, once around 350F for a few min, then again hotter. Lots of work, but those come out pefectly pale. I suspect the chips won't need a double fry, but the pectin gets rendered out in that blanching stage and stops the browning.
i also started this chips frying journey same as you, cut them thin, boil, fry but still they gets thick, stays soft. some of those “chip” are perfect but its not what i was satisfied with and wasn’t acceptable. i fried a lot, ate a lot of those mid soggy, sometimes crispy chips but to this date i couldn’t master it. its been like 2 years. Its been a long time since i made potato chips at home. maybe i will try again if you get a good way to make it.
San Carlo ricetta classica 1936, some of the best chips you can buy. They are still supermarket chips but they are a fancier version of the normal “san Carlo classiche”. They have been around just for few years in supermarket but they are definitely worth trying if you are are a fan, like me 😊
So timely that I'm eating a bag of Kettle chips as I watch this :D
I wonder what brand you tried for you to say that taste bitter, cause I love Kettle brand chips made here in the UK, and they're beautiful :D They have a little more substance and a little more snap than regular crisps, and are so flavourful. I'd try those as your baseline!
This is crazy...I was eating chips an hour ago thinking "Ive got to look up a recipe I can make for chips"...and HERE You are!
When will we get the new studio tour? It’s been months!!! 😭
medium high heat, wide pan(so you can fit more every time), small batches at a time(one layer, no overlap of slices or they'll stick, one potato will need 3-4 batches depending on size ) will work just fine i've been making them the past 3 days, works every time
I remember a friend suggesting using plain/lightly salted crisps as a vehicle for caviar many years ago. I thought he was a bit mad, but wow it was good. Took the caviar snob right out of me. Then a couple of years later I saw Alton Brown doing the same & felt vindicated that it was acceptable. Nice with the game chips/crisps I explained in my previous post on this video.
Anecdotally, washing the potatoes helps tremendously - and a touch of white vinegar in the wash helps to remove surface starches (the ones that convert to sugar and brown via maillard). this will help them keep their golden color while being cooked/crisped through.
I think I would buy the apron if it crossed from the neck to the hip instead of from one side of the hip to the other. (so that you have a cross on the back, stopping it from pulling on your neck) Your locking mechanism looks incredible for this. I don't know if others would like it.
ooooh finally a potato chip series
Most use a Heat and Control production line, such as PC50 in case of Lays. They have videos on their web site that might help, or perhaps they can give some info!
day one journal has Alex on gun point!
From the Walkers/Lays website
"What type of potatoes do you use?
When it comes to choosing the right spuds, there’s a lot to consider! Our British-grown potatoes are carefully chosen for their texture, how well they store, and whether they can be grown in large numbers. Our main varieties are Lady Rosetta, Hermes, Saturna, Brooke and Arsenal. Don’t look for these in the shops though, they’re only used for crisps!"
The potatoes in supermarkets have too high a sugar content.
Just watched your video and then the Tasting History session on potato’s chip history popped up😮
Oh, Alex! Kettle chips are sooooo good! But honestly, all chips are awesome. Easily the best salty snack.
I think allowing it to dry for a few hours after you've fried it will improve the texture. when you think about it the packaged chips have been sat at room temperature for days before you eat them .
alex you are SLEEEPING on kettle cooked chips. they are King
Thin slices with the mandolin.
Bring a 5% salt solution to a boil.
Pour the hot salt water on the slices and let them sit in the hot water for 5 minutes.
Pour out the water.
Lay the slices on a sheet with paper on bottom and let them dry for a day. (Try to get rid of as much moisture as you can).
Fry.
@Alex What model fidlock product do you use for this apron? I work in a michelin restaurant and I'm interested in updating our aprons, that clip looks incredible!
Good quality kettle chips are excellent. There is a brand on the west coast of the US called Tim's Cascade and they are wonderful!
A tip is to try double frying the chips to solve the whole dehydration issue. It's a common method in fried chicken to get that ultra crispy exterior with the starch. Cause as explained by many other comments, you're not trying to "cook" the chips, you want to dehydrate them, the oil pulls out all the moisture from the potato slices and replaces them with oil. Just a small period of letting them rest will let all that remaining moisture get pulled to the surface without running the risk of burning the chips in the oil so you can then quickly fry it till perfection for that crisp texture and flavor.
So in short, you were way on the mark than I think you realized.
You should have come to Switzerland and try Zweifel Chips, literally the best
Alex ,you should try to use air fryer, normally they use fan to dry the chip before oil fry it at around 350 degree. And dont forget to double dry it! It made a huge change!!!
Satisfying is an understatement
If I make chips myself, I wash them beforehand, but not once like you, I do it 2-3 times. I also let them float in the last water bath with a pinch of salt for about 30 minutes. THEN I bring a pot of water to the boil. When the water is really bubbling then I put the chips from the salt water directly into the boiling water for ONLY 1-2 minutes.I don't cook them through! I just cook them lightly. then I do the same as you I dry them on paper towels heat the oil and fry them. Due to the parboiling and the salt water bath, the potatoes have significantly less starch and become crispy instead of rubbery and then your crispy chips are ready. And very important, as soon as you take them out of the oil, salt them! This helps to bind excess oil which makes the chips soft again
Bought a mandolin today, just for this purpose.
And here you are, with a video about it.
About the same result as my first attempt, with the slice cutter on my box grater.
Double cooking them is my next idea.
Hi Alex, when it comes to make some amazing chips I use to let the potato slices rest in cold water in the fridge for at least 24 hours, so that they'll change their shape to some curvy-irregular one. They'll lose as well as much starch as possible, so then I fry them as you've done and then just let them dry out at 60 deg for half an hour. Just now add some salt and ENJOY MAN!
Love the fact that, well I don't know where I'm wrong, let go copy an industrial factory.
Love your videos men
Russet potatoes soaked for a few hours in cold salted water with a dilution of about 5% white vinegar, sliced extra thin, fried in very small batches (unless you have a designated deep fryer) at about 350 degrees f will get you that golden crispy chip that you're looking for. I've played around with this for years and that's the process.
Ask the covered bridge chip company near(ish) me, they would answer really expensive to do, since they had a fire start, and whats the one thing you don't want in the event of a fire? Huge vats of oil, and oily product in storage as well. The whole factory burned to the ground about a week ago. Firefighters just couldn't do anything about it. Thankfully, no one was hurt.
I'm surprised alex is having a hard time with this, considering his cooking knowledge, skills and his scientific approach to cooking. I've made potato chips before the same way with oil in a pot without a thermometer and it turned out with perfect color and crisp-ness. All his attempts had potatoes sliced too thick, which takes longer for all the moisture to evaporate, allowing the chips to become crispy like store-bought chips. On relatively low temp oil (I'm guessing around 150-160), with almost paper thin slices (logically chips manufacturers will also want to maximize nr of chips per potato for consumer's visual quantity per bag), fry for quite a decently long time depending on how big the batch is; around 6-8 mins in my memory, and you will get chips with similar or better quality than store-bought. As for the issue of potatoes sticking together, you could wash off the starch or put them in one by one, but I just sliced them on the mandolin over the pot and had no issues, unless it piled up too much. Making chips at home is actually very very easy imo
I worked at a potato chip factory for a bit, im pretty sure they would let you in. The factory is named taffel and is in Finland.
A detail I do remember is that the variety of potato is important, they were using a potato named saturna that resists burning quite well, and I was able to make really good potato chips at home using this potato variety. And as you figured out, temperature control is important.
Potato chips are tricky. They really are confuzzling the way they have the flavor and crispness from the Maillard reaction but none of the browning. I would suggest maybe doing an acidic marinade for the sliced spuds (maybe like 8 hours or overnight, not sure, will have to experiment) then fry them at high temperature (but within reason) for a short period of time. I recently learned that alkaline conditions accelerate the Maillard reaction, and conversely acidic conditions slow down the reaction. By imbuing the potato slices with acid, it might just buy the chips enough time in the oil for them to cook fully, without browning up too quickly. Penny for your thoughts, hope any of this helps on your chip making expedition, Alex. Cheers.
Hi there,
I totally recommend Jumbo Country chips with cheese flavor (my personal favorite).
You're going to remember it.
Gonna be like the dry pasta rabbit hole, when you find out it takes a lot to make something so simple 😅 looking forward to this.
Here in belgium we doeble fry our frys first on 150 boil them to make them done and then short on 180 to get them crispy. Maybe you need do double fry them. Or even 3 times. Letting it cool in between so it doesnt burn. Starch also makes the brown caramel colour its suggar
Try soaking the sliced potato in vinegary water overnight to reduce the browning.
There maybe videos on this but back home in india there are small scale bakery stores that make fresh potato chips manually and they retain the pale color and are super crispy. I've even seen the workers there make it over a big vat of oil. They make multiple flavors and are cheaper and arguably fresher. Maybe that would be relevant in trying to make them yourself without needed any fancy factory equipment or techniques
I literally JUST vowed to cut chips from my diet for weight loss reason... and you make a video about it??
Merci. Intriguing part 1.
I'm eating beetroot chips right now. Tasty and healthy.
Rinsing them does not only remove starch from the outside, it also removes sugars from the chip. Sugars build up when the potatoes get older. Starch is converted into sugar in order to grow again into a plant.
I went through this years ago so let me save you a trip. Use peanut oil at 350f, use Russet potatoes, slice them as thin as possible - the smallest setting on the mandolin, after washing them spread them on paper towels and microwave them for roughly 45 seconds(this drives out a lot of the moisture) and pull and salt them when they just start getting a little brown on a few of them. Also fry them in very small batches putting one chip in at a time so they don't stick(be careful, hot oil splashing), it takes me 4 batches for one medium potato.
I made potato chips once. It really turned out well on the first try, though I admit I didn't test them for sound quality. The second time I tried, the oil wasn't hot enough and I ended up with the oiliest mashed potaoes you've ever seen. I used a box grater. This is **exactly** the sort of thing the mandoline side is made for.
Has Alex done fries (chips)? I love his dedication! Fly on, Alex! (just to add, the fact that our favorite foods are sometimes made on, consistently, an industrial scale, gives me great hope for humanity)
The best at home chips I've made has been small quantity in the microwave, it works 1000% better than I expected. Little oil on a plate, cut/rinse/dry some slices, microwave for 3-6 minutes depending on microwave, salt and let cool.
Acid powder coating could help lessen the browning of fried foods or soaking in acid before drying and frying. Sometimes I put citric acid powder in my fried chicken flour to lessen the browning and get the KFC light golden colour as oppose to the dark brown crunchy coating.
The most obviously phoned in and least genuine video I've seen from Alex.
Yeah I hope he listens to the criticism. I've been a fan for awhile. This was really disappointing
It's been like 6 month's since i last watched a video of yours and i feel like your french accent has become thicker like a nice glaze
microwave them in a moist environment first then fry work’s amazing figured this out 20 yrs ago as a kid
In the US there is a grocery store shaun called Trader Joe’s which is literally loved by millions. Occasionally they get these chips called “Red Russet” . They are dark-mahogany reddish color, an earthy flavor with a very slight sweetness, yet very crisp. Eating a whole bag of them is pure bliss! When they do get them, they sell out quickly.