Classic Potato Crisps

Why This Classic Potato Crisps Works

Thin slicing is what lets these potatoes crisp up instead of staying soft. Once the slices go into the hot oil, the heat hits that big surface area right away. Water inside the potato starts to steam and push out. As that moisture leaves, the slices dry out and firm up instead of boiling in their own water.

Rinsing the slices in cold water and then drying them keeps extra starch and surface moisture from hanging around. Too much starch on the outside makes slices stick and brown unevenly. Too much water makes the oil bubble hard and keeps the potatoes soft. Dry slices go into the oil and start browning in a more even way.

During frying, the outside of each slice browns and hardens into a thin shell while the inside finishes cooking. Small batches keep the oil hot, so the slices don’t sit and soak up grease. By the time they come out, they are crisp all the way through, and the salt sticks better while the oil on the surface is still warm.

Mistakes To Avoid

Cutting the potato slices too thick means the outside browns before the inside dries out. The chips look done, but they stay chewy in the center instead of crisp all the way through.

Skipping the rinse in cold water leaves a lot of surface starch on the slices. During frying this starch turns gummy, so the chips stick together in clumps and end up hard in some spots and soft in others.

Putting damp slices into the oil causes trouble fast. The leftover water on the potatoes makes the oil spit and foam, and the steam keeps the chips from drying out properly, so they come out blistered and bendy instead of light and crisp.

Letting the oil get too cool, often from crowding the pot with too many slices, leads to greasy chips. The potatoes sit in warm oil instead of hot oil, soak it up, and turn out heavy and limp instead of snappy.