The Perfect Chip is my Eiger. For many years I have been trying to perfect it. There are so many different things to consider, the type of potato, the thickness of the cut, skin on/off, soak or par boil or neither, twice cook, thrice cook, freeze, chill, rest etc…. However I think I have come full circle now as I have cut out a lot of unnecessary steps and fine tuned the remaining steps and I am getting some good results 🙂

So this is what I am doing right now: –

1. Use the Maris Piper Potato if you can, if you can not get this, check the packaging to see if the potato is suitable for chipping.
2. Peel and cut them in to chunky 12mm chips, if you are feeding 4 hungry adults use 6-8 medium sized spuds
3. Soak in cold salted water for about 1 Hour, you put a good load of salt in the water, this will draw out some of the surface starch giving you a nice crispy chip.
4. When your chips have been soaking for about 50 mins, pre-heat your fryer to about 160°C to 170°C. I use vegetable oil here but would prefer to use lard, however it’s just not practical for me at home.
5. This next step is the most crucial to get good chips, do not overload the chips in the basket, if you do they will come out soggy, I sometimes have to do 2 x batches to get enough chips for 4-6 people. When dunking the chips for the first time do it slowly, I drop the basket in to the oil empty and then drop in a handful of chips at a time, if you do it too fast the temperature of the oil will drop too far and take too long to recover and the chips will come out soggy. Also occasionally shake the basket.
6. Your chips should take 10-15 minutes to cook but you really have to judge this by your own eye, when they get the nice golden colour take them out.
7. Put in a bowl with some kitchen towel in the bottom to soak off any excess oil. Add salt and vinegar, then you are ready to serve 🙂

My chips are nearly there but still not perfect, there is always room for improvement,  If I do get it perfect I’ll let you know

This video shows a really simple effective way of doing it very similar to my method but still not perfect. One thing is for sure, if you are cooking a quantity of chips the fryer you use needs to have a really good heat recovery otherwise you will have to endure soggy, greasy chips.