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Monday, August 30, 2010

REAL kettle cooked potato chips














I've always liked Zapp's potato chips, which are made and sold right here in cajun country.

They started out being made one batch at a time, in peanut oil, in a cast iron kettle; I'm not sure if they're still made that way now.

Today we buy "kettle cooked potato chips" at the store, but 100 years ago, people made their own.

This should be done outdoors, for safety reasons.

You want a potato slicer or food processor, or you'll be slicing potatoes for a long time.

As the potatoes are sliced, let them soak in ice water. This is important for a crispy chip.

As you remove each batch from the water to fry, dry on paper towels before dropping in the hot oil!

Since I haven't actually done this, I'll redirect you to the best instructions I could find, at this link.

These instructions call for blanching* the potato chips first, at 300 degrees, and then heating the oil to 350 degrees, and frying each batch a 2nd time.

*Blanching = partially frying or boiling for a couple of minutes and then removing.

What I would do differently from those instructions, is use peanut oil instead of canola oil, and be sure they're soaked in ice water, not just cold water.

Also, the recommended thickness is 2 mm, but I like thicker potato chips.

If you don't want to do the 2 step process, there are "one step" instructions here.




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