Home made chips. Healthiest, safest and tastiest way to cook them...

oldscoil

Hi Folks.

I’ve been getting a serious goo on me for chips these days…but the standard of chipper in my locale is terrible. Really bad!!!! :mad:

With that in mind I was thinking back to when my Mam would cook fresh chips and fry them in a pot of boiling oil. Usually on a Friday.

Thankfully my wife is an amazing cook, however she has never made me home made chips.

Would anyone have any ideas on the best way to make them. The healthy would be a bonus be not a necessity. :P

So what are the best taters for chips?

I also hear chippers use peanut oil, is that correct?

I bought some chip shop vinegar up D' North two weeks ago. Seriously good!!!

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance Folks,

RobAMerc

I always microwave them cooked first.

By cooking the inside of them they don't soak the oil up and therefore all your actually doing is crisping the outside, while the inside is already cooked.

oldscoil

RobAMerc wrote: »

I always microwave them cooked first.

By cooking the inside of them they don't soak the oil up and therefore all your actually doing is crisping the outside, while the inside is already cooked.

Thanks for that Rob.

Do you mean cook as you would if you were doing them as "baked potatoes" in the microwave, i.e. 10 minutes etc etc.

And then throw them into the boiling oil?

olaola

This was in the paper a few weeks ago:
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/magazine/2010/0313/1224265837848.html

I've used groundnut oil with good effects. I think they use animal fat in the proper chippers for that great flavour.

Mellor

oldscoil wrote: »

I also hear chippers use peanut oil, is that correct?

Nah they don't. Peanut oil has a distinct taste, you'd notice it immediatly. I'd say vegtable oil is most common by 99% of chippers. Olive oil isn't suitable.

Del2005

oldscoil wrote: »

And then throw them into the boiling oil?

Never use a pot of boiling oil. Use a deep fat fryer or get oven chips.

_blank_

Del2005 wrote: »

Never use a pot of boiling oil. Use a deep fat fryer or get oven chips.

Ah here!

My mother still uses the chip-pan method and makes the best home-maders I've ever had.

Certainly, I'd make sure there were no kids around, and I wouldn't leave the pan-handle sticking over the edge of the cooker, and keep a wet teatowel nearby, but this advice of not using a chip pan is Health & Safety gone mad, imo.

Seaneh

perfect chips.

Maris Piper spuds (or any spud with more than 84% solid content).

Oil at 120c, cook chips in that for 7-10 minutes, they shouldnt colour much but should be cooked through fully. turn them out onto a kitchen towel and pat them dry, leave aside.

heat oil to 170c. put the now dry chips back in, cook for like 2 minutes or untill they get the the colour you want.

I use rapeseed, ground nut or veg oil for the second part and either goose fat or beef dripping for the first stage.

AntiVirus

Seaneh wrote: »

perfect chips.

Maris Piper spuds (or any spud with more than 84% solid content).

Oil at 120c, cook chips in that for 7-10 minutes, they shouldnt colour much but should be cooked through fully. turn them out onto a kitchen towel and pat them dry, leave aside.

heat oil to 170c. put the now dry chips back in, cook for like 2 minutes or untill they get the the colour you want.

I use rapeseed, ground nut or veg oil for the second part and either goose fat or beef dripping for the first stage.

I do it very similar to that except I heat the oil to 170c, leave them in for about 4 minutes, take them out, turn the heat up to 190c and leave them in for 2-3 mins.

Suddenly I feel like chips! :pac:

dromarka

The 2 previous posters have the secret
the the longer you leave between the visits to the chip pan the better
hungry now:D

John Mason

myself and des have this argument a lot - he wants a chip pan or a deep fat fryer - i wont have either in the house.

as far as i am concerned you can beat home made wedges but then again, i dont like chipper chips, a chip butty with 5 chips is as much as i can take before i feel sick

Sigma Force

Baked spuds are a nice alternative with a smearing of olive oil and salt and then baked slowly in the oven for an hour.

Another option would be to make chips out of sweet potato

John Mason

Guineapigrescue wrote: »

Baked spuds are a nice alternative with a smearing of olive oil and salt and then baked slowly in the oven for an hour.

Another option would be to make chips out of sweet potato

oh i love sweet potato wedges:)

Sparks

RobAMerc wrote: »

I always microwave them cooked first.
By cooking the inside of them they don't soak the oil up and therefore all your actually doing is crisping the outside, while the inside is already cooked.

That's not what stops them soaking up the oil. What stops them soaking up the oil is having the oil be hot enough when you put them in and not putting in too many.

The way this works is that the temperature of the oil turns the water in the frying food to steam; that steam pushes out of the food; and that pressure keeps the oil on the outside of the food (and the food steams to cooked in the meantime).

But overload the pan (and drop the oil temperature) and the water won't go to steam, and the oil soaks into the food.

(and if you leave the chips in there too long, all the water will go to steam and exit the food and then there's no more steam pressure and the oil leaks back into the food as well).

Sparks

irishbird wrote: »

myself and des have this argument a lot - he wants a chip pan or a deep fat fryer - i wont have either in the house.

Butbutbut - chips! southern fried chicken (deep fried style, not pan fried style though that's great too)! deep fried plantains! tempura! battered fish! doughnuts!

John Mason

Sparks wrote: »

Butbutbut - chips! southern fried chicken (deep fried style, not pan fried style though that's great too)! deep fried plantains! tempura! battered fish! doughnuts!

i dont eat any of them except for plantain but we dont get good plantain in ireland so thats not an isse:)

Sparks

irishbird wrote: »

i dont eat any of them

You are dead to me...

dh0661

OP - try Dunnes "simply better" chunky oven chips.

I'm sure other supermarkets have their own varieties of these, but the Dunnes variety are the only ones I am familiar with.

IMO - they are UMMY

Del2005

Des wrote: »

Ah here!

My mother still uses the chip-pan method and makes the best home-maders I've ever had.

Certainly, I'd make sure there were no kids around, and I wouldn't leave the pan-handle sticking over the edge of the cooker, and keep a wet teatowel nearby, but this advice of not using a chip pan is Health & Safety gone mad, imo.

Ask a fireperson.

Mellor

Des wrote: »

Certainly, I'd make sure there were no kids around, and I wouldn't leave the pan-handle sticking over the edge of the cooker, and keep a wet teatowel nearby, but this advice of not using a chip pan is Health & Safety gone mad, imo.

The reason for this isn't because a kid might knock it over, the handle sticking out has nothing to do with it. Oil combusts when heated. Fryers have a thermostat to prevent this happening, a pot of oil doesn't

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Mellor wrote: »

The reason for this isn't because a kid might knock it over, the handle sticking out has nothing to do with it. Oil combusts when heated. Fryers have a thermostat to prevent this happening, a pot of oil doesn't

Seriously?

I've been getting home-maders from my mother for 30 years and she hasn't so much as singed an eyebrow.

If your careful, there's no chance of spontaneous combustion.

Just don't walk off in the middle of cooking them and it's fine.

Mellor

Are you serious, you've never seen or heard of this. Youtube it, its pretty aggressive.
Standing there won't stop it happening. Obviously your mother used this method for years, and was able to do it with confidence.
But I won't suggest anyone else try it without knowing what that are doing. Them an oil thermometer at least

Sparks

Oil combusts when heated past a certain point. Granted, that point varies from oil to oil and granted it lowers every time you fry in that oil, but it's not some hollywood bomb. Chip pan fires happen because of poor technique. Don't go to the smoke point of the oil, never ever leave it unattended and pay attention to what you're doing and don't use a damp teatowel, buy a fire blanket and a non-water extinguisher.

[obvious]And whatever the hell you do, never ever throw water on it, unless you don't particularly like being alive. The water is heavier than the oil so it submerges, but then superheats and the resulting steam release blows burning oil all over the place...[/obvious]

Mellor

Sparks wrote: »

Oil combusts when heated past a certain point. Granted, that point varies from oil to oil and granted it lowers every time you fry in that oil, but it's not some hollywood bomb. Chip pan fires happen because of poor technique. Don't go to the smoke point of the oil, never ever leave it unattended and pay attention to what you're doing and don't use a damp teatowel, buy a fire blanket and a non-water extinguisher.

Sparks, its perfectly safe if you know what you are doing. Chips aren't difficult.
But, it somebody needs to ask on a message board how to cook chips, then to me it conveys an image that they maybe don't know what you are doing.

Which is why I wouldn't recommend to anyone here to do it. Obviously, if they feel safe or confidant , they'll ignore me. FYI, i've been living abroad for a year. I don't dont eat chips, but if I was going to deep fry for a treat, i'd do it in a pan.

[obvious]And whatever the hell you do, never ever throw water on it, unless you don't particularly like being alive. The water is heavier than the oil so it submerges, but then superheats and the resulting steam release blows burning oil all over the place...[/obvious]

Never under estimate the stupidity of man. I'm sure you seen silly thing with guns over the years. When the kitchen is on fire, the physics of oil and water go out the window.

anthony4335

Chip pan, not a deep fat, blocks of fytex, cut up any spud, roosters always worked perfect as did pinks .
Heat up until the fat is metlted and lower in chips. occasionally shake.
There is no subsitute, crispy and tasty.
I really miss them, do not own a chip pan.

Sparks

Mellor wrote: »

Never under estimate the stupidity of man.

True; but in a kitchen surrounded by knives, hobs, ovens, blenders, coffee/spice grinders, hammers, skewers, glasses, hot pans, hot liquids, chillis, blowtorches and so on, you have to assume some degree of competence or you'll end up needing a licence to make toast...

I'm sure you seen silly thing with guns over the years.

Yes, but never from people who shot them, always from customs/airline staff/gardai/press people/politicians and so on.

To retranslate back to cooking from the analogy: for good cooks, there's nothing unusually dangerous about a chip pan, they use dozens of equally potentially dangerous items every day. For cooks who aren't quite so comfortable, there are automatic, sealed-while-frying, lots-of-safety-features, temperature-controlled friers.

Vodkat

This is an amazing recipe for wedges... i made them for a group of friends i had over for movie night. They all asked for the recipe they liked them so much.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2hK9FI/purplefoodie.com/2009/04/garlicky-baked-fries.html

One tip though... this recipe really is 1-2 portions. So be careful if you want to double it dont use to much cornflour.... i ruined the first batch!!

the beer revolu

Vodkat wrote: »

This is an amazing recipe for wedges... i made them for a group of friends i had over for movie night. They all asked for the recipe they liked them so much.

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2hK9FI/purplefoodie.com/2009/04/garlicky-baked-fries.html

One tip though... this recipe really is 1-2 portions. So be careful if you want to double it dont use to much cornflour.... i ruined the first batch!!

In the oven as I type - will report back!

Edit:
Pretty good wedges alright!!
Had them with rare roast beef and gherkin sandwiches!

Goodne

I had chips in my mam's house at the weekend cooked in a Tefal Actifry. They were really, really good. It only uses a spoonful of oil; it constantly turns the chips around to coat & cook. Tasted like the real thing to me. Also has the added advantage of no steam clouding up the kitchen & there was no smell from it either. They are a bit pricey but definetely the way to go!

John Mason

Des wrote: »

Seriously?

I've been getting home-maders from my mother for 30 years and she hasn't so much as singed an eyebrow.

If your careful, there's no chance of spontaneous combustion.

Just don't walk off in the middle of cooking them and it's fine.

seriously, never going to happen in our house. you are going :Dto keep going to your mams for this dish

Vodkat

the beer revolu wrote: »

In the oven as I type - will report back!

Edit:
Pretty good wedges alright!!
Had them with rare roast beef and gherkin sandwiches!

I messed up the first batch... and they really stunk out the house but other than that it is a great recipe!!