How do you make nice chips?

KnowItAll

They home made chips I make are horrible compared to the chips in some chippers. I usually cut up some spuds instead of using chips from a packet as they are nicer by still not the same quality as in the chippers.
Could it be the oil? Or the spud type? Or the temperature and time they are cooked at? Does anybody have any tips?

memphis

I'm not a chef or professional in this area as I'm sure you are already aware, nonetheless I'm thinking it may have something to do with the mosture in the spuds! I notice that any time we do homemade chips at home, the oil goes mad cos of the wetness in the spuds.

Have never managed to come across a solution, but I'm guessing if you left the spuds for awhile after cutting em up so that the dry out to an extent, yu'd have fine chips.... though you need to have the time to do that!!!

Give it a try, hope it works!!! (just my 2 cent)

noby

I always thought it was the moisture too. A lot of people I know pat the chips dry with a towel. But as I make chips I put them in a bowl of water. Then I tip them into the basket, over the sink. A quick shake, and in they go.
Probably has more to do with the quality of the spud, and the oil. Make sure your oil is clean, and hot. I set it to 190.

Alun

There are several things that go towards making the perfect chip, but probably the most important is the double cooking. Once at low temperature to cook the inside of the chip, and a second cooking at high temperature to crisp them up.

You need floury, not waxy potatoes, which isn't a problem here in Ireland fortunately. Cut them into chips and leave them soaking in water while you heat up the oil. Drain them and dry them in a dry tea towel.

When you first put the chips into the hot oil, the temperature of the oil drops dramatically, so instead of the chips crisping up, they just cook on the inside and go slightly mushy. If you leave them in this not warm enough oil until they brown, they'll end up brown, but very soggy and uninviting.

So, what you do is first to heat the oil to a low temperature, say 150-160, drop the chips in and cook for about 5 minutes, and lift the basket out. At this stage they'll still be pale, but reasonably well cooked on the inside.

Then heat the oil up to 180-190 (this will take a few minutes) and then return them to the pan for 3-4 minutes to brown, giving them an occasional shake.

Tip them out into a bowl lined with kitchen paper, give them a good shake and season with salt.

Enjoy

The Sweeper

I get cravings for the sort of chipper chips you get in ireland - the ones that almost form a solid ball of stodgy chipness. And curry sauce!! You don't get those here. You get chips that come from a frozen pack. And no curry sauce. They do 'gravy chip' here, not curry chip. It's an offence.

noby

Alun,
Depending on the thickness of your chip, really. I cook them in one go at 190, and they're cooked on the inside, and nice and lightly coloured and 'crisped' on the outside

Alun

noby wrote:

Alun,
Depending on the thickness of your chip, really. I cook them in one go at 190, and they're cooked on the inside, and nice and lightly coloured and 'crisped' on the outside

Well in Belgium, the spiritual home of the chip, they do them this way, and in pretty much every cookery book too, including those by Nigel Slater (my hero, so I believe him!). In the chippers in Belgium (and Holland too), you see huge piles of chips that have been par-cooked in this way, waiting to go into the hot oil to be crisped up. Only takes a few minutes, so each customer gets nice hot crispy chips, not the soggy mess you often get here.

One thing though is that if, god forbid, you're using frozen chips, they've already been par-cooked before being frozen, so you can skip that stage.

BaZmO*

Alun wrote:

In the chippers in Belgium (and Holland too), you see huge piles of chips that have been par-cooked in this way, waiting to go into the hot oil to be crisped up. Only takes a few minutes, so each customer gets nice hot crispy chips, not the soggy mess you often get here.

Nearly all chippers do that, including Irish chippers. It's more to do with the fact that customers won't be waiting ages for their chips to be ready. But yeah, as a result you get a crispy outside to your chips.

B.

Shabadu

Alun wrote:

There are several things that go towards making the perfect chip, but probably the most important is the double cooking. Once at low temperature to cook the inside of the chip, and a second cooking at high temperature to crisp them up.

You need floury, not waxy potatoes, which isn't a problem here in Ireland fortunately. Cut them into chips and leave them soaking in water while you heat up the oil. Drain them and dry them in a dry tea towel.

When you first put the chips into the hot oil, the temperature of the oil drops dramatically, so instead of the chips crisping up, they just cook on the inside and go slightly mushy. If you leave them in this not warm enough oil until they brown, they'll end up brown, but very soggy and uninviting.

So, what you do is first to heat the oil to a low temperature, say 150-160, drop the chips in and cook for about 5 minutes, and lift the basket out. At this stage they'll still be pale, but reasonably well cooked on the inside.

Then heat the oil up to 180-190 (this will take a few minutes) and then return them to the pan for 3-4 minutes to brown, giving them an occasional shake.

Tip them out into a bowl lined with kitchen paper, give them a good shake and season with salt.

Enjoy

^^ This is the way to an ideal chip, to get a really crispy chip, rinsing the chips well to remove some starch, and then patting them dry on a tea towel is crucial.

There is a truly luxurious way of making chip which involves cooking the chips in a mixture of sunflower and olive oil, at a very low temperature, to which you have added a good few sprigs of rosemary and thyme, and some sage leaves.

Cook at a low heat until almost cooked through, then blast the temperature up to crisp them- no need to drain inbetween temperatures. While you are turning up the temperature, directly season the oil with some good salt crystals. Plenty.

It is a real luxury as the salt ruins the quality of the oil, so you can't re-use it, however the chips will be the most flavoursome perfectly seasoned frites you have ever had.

Alun

Shabadu wrote:

^^ This is the way to an ideal chip, to get a really crispy chip, rinsing the chips well to remove some starch, and then patting them dry on a tea towel is crucial.

I thought everyone knew that, so I didn't mention it, but, yes, you're right

Cook at a low heat until almost cooked through, then blast the temperature up to crisp them- no need to drain inbetween temperatures.

I was always told that you should take them out of the oil in between, as the coldness of the chips when you put them in initially really drops the temperature of the oil down, and you need to give the oil time to recover and get up to temperature. In the meantime, of course, the chips will continue to cook on the inside from their latent heat.

Shabadu

It does actually work- but i'm talking about the initial cooking being *really* low, as in 120 degrees, and then cranking it up to 180. I think the long slow cooking helps the herbs flavour the chips.

Tar.Aldarion

Woah people put a lot of effort into chips.I peel the potato,chop it up(real fast like) and put it in a bowl of water while I chop up the others.Then I proceed to erm make chips.I find them to be much better than any chips I have had...apart from mollys in sligo of course.