    
Potato Chips
 Potato Chips
© Denzil Green
Even though potatoes are basically white, Potato Chips end up a yellowy-brown colour as the sugar in them browns and combines with amino acids in the potato during frying. A Potato Chip that looks brown or burnt isn't: very brown chips in your bag came from a rogue potato that had a higher sugar level, or from a potato that got stored at a low temperature, so that its starch converted into sugar. The excess sugar browned more deeply during frying. These can often be the tastiest ones.
Floury potatoes are better for making chips with. They have lower water and sugar levels, which makes whiter, crisper chips. Producers also look for potato varieties that are round, to make more uniform chips.
Potato Chips are never sold in clear bags, as light makes the taste go off.
Homemade Potato Chips actually make a very elegant side for a meal. Homemade ones are thicker, and are closer to what the original ones were, in the days before mechanical peelers came along to make them razor thin.
Marcelled Chips
Marcelled Chips are made by Ballreich's in Ohio. They are chips with waves in them. They are like ruffled chips, but the waves are broader. They have been made since the 1920s.
Cooking Tips
In cooking, Potato Chips are usually used crushed, as a breading or a starch.
To make your own Potato Chips: Choose floury potatoes. Peel potatoes, slice as thinly as possible. Soak the potato slices in ice cold water for 30 minutes up to two hours, replacing the water with more ice cold water halfway through. This process helps to make the chips crisp, and because it draws out some of the starch, helps prevent them from entirely sticking to each other while frying. Make sure that all potato slices are covered by the water so they won't discolour. Drain water thoroughly from potatoes; cook in oil heated to 380 F (190 C) until golden. Be careful of the splattering when you put the slices in the oil. Oil that has been used before will actually make them crispier than brand-new oil. Drain on paper.
To make ahead: heat oil just to 275 F (135 C). Cook the chips for about 4 minutes -- they won't brown at this low temperature. Remove from oil and put on a plate or in a dish, and repeat until all are cooked. Let cool, cover with tin foil until needed a few hours later. When ready to serve, heat oil to 380 F (190 C), put chips in, and cook until golden. Drain on paper. This will actually produce even crispier chips.
A slotted spoon or a frying basket will help you a lot. Ideally, you want to turn the chips over once or twice while they are frying.
Nutrition
Green chips or parts of chips that are green come from parts of a potato that was partially exposed to the sun while growing. Technically, green potatoes are toxic, but you'd have to munch your way through several pounds of just green chips alone before there started to be any effect on you.
Storage
You can actually freeze potato chips if you freeze them in their original foil bags, unopened. This will help to retain their freshness.
History
Potato Chips were invented in 1853 by a man named George Crum at Moon's Lake House resort in Saratoga, New York State. He sliced potatoes thinly, fried them up and served them to the guests at the resort. They were a hit. He called them "potato crunches" at first, but people began referring to them as "Saratoga Chips".
Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt did not play a role in the story until approximately 1976, when someone at the American Snack Food Association appears to have "written" him in as the restaurant customer first served the chips.
A mass market for potato chips, though, wasn't possible until the invention of mechanical potato peelers. Before that, they were mostly made in restaurants, and meant to be eaten with a fork. Small "mom and pop" operations also began making them small quantities by hand and delivered them fresh daily to stores in paper bags.
The first place outside America that Potato Chips were made was in the UK, in either 1913 or 1921 (two different stories exist). The Brits called them "crisps", in order to avoid confusion with chips, as in "fish and chips".
Also called:  Crisps Papas asadas, Patatas asadas (Spanish)
See Also
Floury Potatoes, Potato Chip Crumbs
Other entries for Potato Chips
Potato Chip Crumbs
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