Fry/Chip Cutting Gadgets

Thargor

Hi, has anyone bought any decent chip cutting device recently? I've tried a couple of simple ones from the pound shops but they've been too weak and end up broken, I need something with a bit of lever action. We had one years ago that was perfection but no clue where it is now.

Gloomtastic!

Thargor wrote: »

Hi, has anyone bought any decent chip cutting device recently? I've tried a couple of simple ones from the pound shops but they've been too weak and end up broken, I need something with a bit of lever action. We had one years ago that was perfection but no clue where it is now.

I wouldn’t expect anything from the pound shop to last very long but I wouldn’t let that put you off buying something a bit more expensive. Google Chip cutter and you’ll find all sorts. Anything stainless steel should last a long time but expect to pay for it - €30+
Something about €15 should be ok for a few months.

CelticRambler

Resurrecting this oldish thread as my question is exactly the same!

Well, kind of. I planted Charlotte potatoes this year specifically for making chips, and through a stroke of good fortune had a couple of Belgians turn up at exactly the right moment and offer to make proper Belgian "French" fries. They took charge of the whole process, from digging the spud through the cutting and the frying (for ten :eek: ) and the chips were delicious.

The Belgians have gone home now, but we made a second batch that turned out almost as good as theirs, and they freeze and cook from frozen really well so I want to process all the remaining potatoes as soon as possible.

Now when I google "chip cutter" I get an awful lot of results that look suspiciously similar to the cheapish plastic thing that I found in the back of the press this morning, and so far as I've seen even the expensive models don't say what maximum size of potato they'll take.

And so back to the question: does anyone have a recommendation for a good, solid chip-cutter that can handle a good solid potato of about 15cm long? I'd be planning to work through about 25kg of spuds, and more than that next year (and the years after).

Dizzyblonde

This reminded me of the old chip cutters years ago so I had a look on Nisbets. The second one in looks good, and is reduced

https://www.nisbets.ie/search/?text=chip+cutter

CelticRambler

It does look good ... but again, it doesn't specify what size (length) of potato it can handle. Just looking at it, it seems like at least half its 260mm length is empty space, and then you need space for the blade and the pusher, so ... a potato of 10cm max? That's not great.

tayto lover

A good sharp knife does it for me.

CelticRambler

Ah yeah - that's what we've been using. But when you're only on your second 10l bucket and you still have 20kg to go ... :pac:

RasTa

Ask your chipper can you use their one. If not you can rent them in the UK anyway, not sure about back home.

Captain Red Beard

Practice with a good knife, you'll never look back.

CelticRambler

RasTa wrote: »

Ask your chipper can you use their one. If not you can rent them in the UK anyway, not sure about back home.

No chippers in France! And McDo get theirs pre-cut!

tayto lover

CelticRambler wrote: »

No chippers in France! And McDo get theirs pre-cut!

Are McDonalds real chips though?
They taste like a paste. I made a rhyme 😁

the beer revolu

tayto lover wrote: »

Are McDonalds real chips though?
They taste like a paste. I made a rhyme 😁

Yes they are.
It's a myth that McD's chips aren't cut from potatoes .

Muahahaha

I had one of these a few years back
https://www.amazon.co.uk/KitchenCraft-Potato-Chipper-Vegetable-Machine/dp/B0001IWVO4/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=CHIP+CUTTER&qid=1598993247&sr=8-6

Wouldnt recommend it. The square blade was smaller than most potatoes so you would have to cut the potato down to fit it and put it though in 2 or 3 different pieces, it wasnt a time saver from that perspective.

Then after about 3 months use the blades became very blunt and you needed the strength of an ox to force a potato through it. I didnt both looking for new blades and it went in the bin.

I wonder what machine Italian chippers here use, anyone know? No doubt it is some sort of industrial sized unit for the quantity of chips that they get through.

CelticRambler

Well, several rabbit-holes later, it looks like anything under 50€ is a waste of money, or just not up to the job. The same criticisms crop up over and over again - blades pinging out, needing to cut or trim bigger potatoes before they'll fit, or so much effort needed to keep the thing from moving around that you've none left for the cutting action.

I've found two that look like they mean business - one for 65€, another for 115€, both can be wall-mounted (even recommended), and both specify that they can handle the 15cm-long potatoes I'd be working with. I'd be more inclined to go for the cheaper one because it'll cut the chips to a nice chunky 15mm, whereas the more expensive one stops at 12mm.

Decision pending, though, because 65€ is still 65€ ... :eek:

Captain Red Beard wrote: »

Practice with a good knife, you'll never look back.

Good advice for me, but this is the kind of work that'll get subcontracted to my guests (Belgian or otherwise) - so I need something that won't also require a detailed H&S assessment and a bulk order of band-aids! :pac:

lab man

The wan for 115 looks a beast

Muahahaha

I think a lot depends on the blades that are in them too. In the case of the cheap one I had I would say that around 15 maybe 20 potatoes went through it and then the blade became blunt and putting more spuds through it took lot of elbow grease. Because the blade is in a criss cross grid pattern I dont think there is any way of sharpening it and when it goes blunt its only good for the bin.

Before buying either of those I would be checking out how much replacement blades cost and checking the reviews to see how long the blades are lasting before they go blunt. Becasue if a new blade is something like 10 euro but it is only chipping around 20 potatoes before it goes blunt then you'd soon be questioning the efficiency of it compared to the costs. On the other hand if the blade is really well made and lasted 100 potatoes then you would think it is worth it.

the beer revolu

Muahahaha wrote: »

I think a lot depends on the blades that are in them too. In the case of the cheap one I had I would say that around 15 maybe 20 potatoes went through it and then the blade became blunt and putting more spuds through it took lot of elbow grease. Because the blade is in a criss cross grid pattern I dont think there is any way of sharpening it and when it goes blunt its only good for the bin.

Before buying either of those I would be checking out how much replacement blades cost and checking the reviews to see how long the blades are lasting before they go blunt. Becasue if a new blade is something like 10 euro but it is only chipping around 20 potatoes before it goes blunt then you'd soon be questioning the efficiency of it compared to the costs. On the other hand if the blade is really well made and lasted 100 potatoes then you would think it is worth it.

I'd say on those larger ones, you'd be relying more on leverage and mass than razor sharpness to push the spud through.

rubadub

If I was spending big money I'd be looking at a high quality mandoline (some of the expensive ones are still crap). Some of these can do chips and it would be useful for many other things, while a dedicated chipping unit is a 1 job wonder and they are pretty big.

I have seen them use manual ones in chippers, usually bolted down to a table with massive levers.

Muahahaha

@rubadub can you link to a mandoline that does chips? Went looking for one before but could only find one that slices the spud into thin crisps

the beer revolu wrote: »

I'd say on those larger ones, you'd be relying more on leverage and mass than razor sharpness to push the spud through.

yeah would say so with the larger wall mounted ones. With the cheap countertop one I had from Amazon when the blades went blunt it was next to impossible to get a spud through it. At best it would get half way through and then just jam and it would take ferocious effort to push the rest through. I put it down to cheap blades that didnt last long.

Dizzyblonde

I had a food processor with a chip cutting blade years ago. The chips came out slightly bent but they were fab. If you have a Kenwood food processor you can buy the blade.

Roald Dahl

Muahahaha wrote: »

I had one of these a few years back
https://www.amazon.co.uk/KitchenCraft-Potato-Chipper-Vegetable-Machine/dp/B0001IWVO4/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=CHIP+CUTTER&qid=1598993247&sr=8-6

Wouldnt recommend it. The square blade was smaller than most potatoes so you would have to cut the potato down to fit it and put it though in 2 or 3 different pieces, it wasnt a time saver from that perspective.

Then after about 3 months use the blades became very blunt and you needed the strength of an ox to force a potato through it. I didnt both looking for new blades and it went in the bin.

I wonder what machine Italian chippers here use, anyone know? No doubt it is some sort of industrial sized unit for the quantity of chips that they get through.

The one I had was the same model, I think. It was useless. It could only accommodate potatoes up to a certain size and what's more it would push the potato up as well as forward, meaning that the cutting grid at the front would lift up and not align with the backplate, resulting in the potato getting stuck.

I use an ancient 'Euro Kitchen' brand mandolin that was given to me about ten years ago. It think it's an 'As Seen on TV' type job. It's really cheap looking, but still works great and is used almost daily. It has four settings; thin slice, thick slice, julienne and 'French Fries'. I would not mind having something that can cut thicker chips and so I am interested to see what you end up buying!

For cutting serious amounts of chips I would definitely think a device with a long lever would be the way to go. I was looking up Dutch Fries just recently (to go with Krokotten) and came across this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=st7kJh_N8us

You can briefly see what they use to cut their chips.

rubadub

Muahahaha wrote: »

@rubadub can you link to a mandoline that does chips? Went looking for one before but could only find one that slices the spud into thin crisps

An oxo one came up in lots of searches. I was looking a while ago for shredding cabbage and it said many are not up to the job or blunt too quickly. Certain Japanese ones got good reviews for the sharpness.

But now I think of it as the previous poster said they were only doing skinny chips so might not be what the OP wants.

This was one kept coming up but gets some poor reviews, talk of it going blunt, even though its 4.5 stars many will have reviewed it straight after getting it. On youtube I now look for 6month or 1 year reviews of items.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/OXO-Good-Grips-Chefs-Mandolin/dp/B0716HGWWK?th=1

CelticRambler

Roald Dahl wrote: »

I use an ancient 'Euro Kitchen' brand mandolin that was given to me about ten years ago. It think it's an 'As Seen on TV' type job. It's really cheap looking, but still works great and is used almost daily. It has four settings; thin slice, thick slice, julienne and 'French Fries'.

Couldn't see what was in the video as it's blocked in my country

... but I also have an ancient mandolin (probably thirty years old - I rescued it from my mother's kitchen drawer ) that does the same, and while I use it regularly for slicing potatoes for my gratin dauphinois, the "clamp" part forces you to slice chips the wrong way, i.e. across the width of the potato, not along the length. You can run them at an angle for longer cuts, but it's not very stable; and besides, the "wide" blade is only 10mm, so that's still skinny fries territory for me rather than proper chips.

Muahahaha

rubadub wrote: »

This was one kept coming up but gets some poor reviews, talk of it going blunt, even though its 4.5 stars many will have reviewed it straight after getting it. On youtube I now look for 6month or 1 year reviews of items.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/OXO-Good-Grips-Chefs-Mandolin/dp/B0716HGWWK?th=1

Thats an annoyance of Amazon the way people review stuff just a week after getting it. 6 months or a year would be better but it is what it is. Amazon also suffers from bot reviews, some say up to 30% of them. Chrome has an extension called Fakespot to analyse revews to see the fakes.

Think I'll just stick to the knife for making chips as Im mainly only making them in small quantities of 2 or 3 potatoes. Also with those skin on fries Aldi are doing I cant see myself making homemade chips very often again, for a frozen chip they are hard to beat.

Tree

I picked up a magimix 5200XL premium recently, came with a chip slicing doodad (if you use the food processor blade you can make cubes). Will report back if its any use when I finally get around to trying it (chips are too easy to cut for small batches by knife)