How to Make Homemade Potato Chips

Image Gallery Fresh homemade potato chips are easy to fry at home, and taste loads better than anything you can find commercially. Plus, they're hot, fresh and free of additives and preservatives.

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When the junk-food junkie blues hit you on a cold, snowy night... 

One night last winter — after a freak blizzard left us snowbound on our farm — my husband and I found ourselves craving a nice big batch of potato chips. And since neither of us felt adventurous enough to strike out (on snowshoes!) to purchase some, the only alternative was to attempt to fry our own.

Now I don't know about you, but if there's one thing I've never thought about making for myself, it's potato chips. Generally, we try to keep such junk food out of the house. And when we do occasionally succumb, it's always as a result of a weak moment while we're at the grocery store. So I had no recipe — nor any previous experience — when I walked into the kitchen on that cold, snowy night.

Well, about an hour later I carried a bowl of hot, fresh potato chips into the living room ... surprised that they had been so easy to prepare and wondering why more people didn't try do-it-yourself chips.

ONE TUBER GOES ALONG WAY TOWARDS POTATO CHIPS

I found that one large potato will produce enough chips to fill three small, delicatessen-sized chip bags. And the only implements needed to make the snacks are a deep pan and an old-fashioned food grater that has a slicing blade on one side. (If you don't own such a tool or a nice mandoline slicer, a good sharp knife — and a steady hand — will do.)

Cut up the potato (or potatoes, if you're really hungry) into nice, uniform, thin slices. I don't peel my spuds, because many of the vitamins are in or near the skins. You can — if you like — crisp your accumulated cuttings a bit by rinsing them in a bowl of cold water, then spreading them on a towel to dry, but the water will dissolve out some of the nutrients.

While you're going through the cutting process, heat the pan filled with any kind of vegetable oil on the stove. The cooking vessel must be deep enough to allow the slices to turn freely. And be sure your oil is hot — very hot — before you begin frying. (If your first batch stays light in color after a long time in the fat and then turns out too greasy, your oil isn't hot enough. Turn up the heat until the shortening or oil begins to bubble and pop, then slowly turn down the heat until the action stops  ... and you're ready to fry!)

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