Homemade Potato Chips

Or “Crisps,” if You’re in the UK

A lot of food decisions we make around here are spur of the moment. Having a large family means being flexible, and flexibility leads to creativity.

In this case, potato chips.

Long story short: we had a bag of potatoes poised on the verge of going bad. What to do? Fry them!

This time I enlisted the help of my three oldest children and we created an assembly line. The steps needed to create good potato chips are as follows:

Step 1: Slice the potatoes evenly and consistently. We accomplished this with the slicer part of our cheese grater, getting consistent thicknesses on each chip as they came out. Oldest Son was in charge of this particular task.

Step 2: Soak in brine solution to infuse with flavor and to get rid of extra starch hanging around on sliced potatoes. I don’t remember the exact brine ratio but I put quite a bit of salt in it. Oldest Daughter performed this task for me.

Step 3: Dry soaked potato slices on a towel, salt again on each side, then send to frying. This task I delegated to both Oldest Daughter and Second Oldest Daughter. They did a great job.

Step 4: Deep fry for 3-5 minutes. I performed this task, as I didn’t want my kids to have to deal with hot oil. I used vegetable oil in a small pot and turned the heat to a medium-high. The potato slices deep fried vigorously until golden brown.

Step 5: Remove chips from oil and let dry on a plate with a paper towel underneath. Add a pinch more salt to finish flavoring. Once dry, enjoy!

If you make these at home, I urge you to please be careful, hot oil is no joke and it will burn you if it splashes. We kept a lid and a container of salt nearby to douse it if any flames happened to appear.