Chips - the bastards!

Post by **peter** » Sat Dec 21, 2013 11:43 am

Not the most pressing of issues confronting humanity, but when I cook chips in the oven, why does one random chip [out of the same potato and covered in the came oil and sitting in the same pan] always cook to crisp brownness while the others are still in a white and pasty semi-cooked state. Just one. I mean c'mon guys.....!

Post by **lorin** » Sat Dec 21, 2013 1:17 pm

Don't you think this should be in The Tank so all the important questions can be answered?

What is motivating this chip to be different and stand out in the crowd?

Can a chip actually stand alone from the crowd, have it's own opinions on doneness and not succumb to social pressure?

Is this chip being treated differently because of it's color?

In a crowd is this chip being selected before other chips?

Is this chip actually genetically predisposed to react to the oil differently than the pasty chips?

Or did this chip get a better place in the pot ?

Post by **peter** » Sat Dec 21, 2013 1:30 pm

This is right thinking.

Post by **peter** » Sat Dec 21, 2013 1:31 pm

This is right thinking.

[Double post with no delete option - why do these things always happen to me?

]

Post by **lorin** » Sat Dec 21, 2013 2:28 pm

don't know

Post by **lorin** » Sat Dec 21, 2013 2:28 pm

don't know

Post by **Savor Dam** » Sun Dec 22, 2013 6:13 am

Not the Loresraat, nor the Tank...this belongs in the Galley, where the mod is suitably daft enough to know how to answer.

As it happens, I made Ultra Crisp Oven Chips this evening and had a consistent result; none over-browned and none pasty. Here's the method, which I have adapted from J. Kenji Lopez-Alt:

I start with potatoes cut to the desired size and shape. We prefer to take russets, quarter them lengthwise, then cut about 2 inch (50 cm) chips from the quarters. This yields the raito of crispy exterior to fluffy interior that Dam-sel, Savor-Rhee and I prefer (Dam-et was too tired to come down to eat...)

The chips get covered with water with about an inch (25 cm) extra depth. Add 2 T kosher salt and 2 T vinegar to the water, then bring to a boil. The vinegar aids in keeping the potatoes from getting mushy and falling apart if the par-boiling should go too long...but four or five minutes from boil to drain is all it really takes.

Once the potatoes have drained, but not cooled, toss them vigorously with your choice of fat (bacon grease, chicken schmaltz, olive oil...or my recent favorite, shallot oil) as well as kosher salt and freshly-ground pepper, the roast for 20 minutes in a 500 degree oven, turning once.

Post by **Avatar** » Sun Dec 22, 2013 6:36 am

That's 5cm SD, otherwise you have 20 inch chips.

--A

Post by **I'm Murrin** » Sun Dec 22, 2013 9:20 am

2.5cm

Post by **peter** » Sun Dec 22, 2013 11:04 am

Damn - here's me tackling such dense subjects as the random behavior of the Universe and you guys get caught up in a sidetrack of how to establish a universal system for the siize referencing of chips - Show some respect will you; we're trying to have a serious discussion here!

[Actually SavorDam - thats a damn usefull tip about the use of vinegar to aid in the prevention of potato crumbling in chip making; how many times have I finished up with a bowl of slush through over boiling my chips!

Post by **Savor Dam** » Mon Dec 23, 2013 4:37 am

Thanks all. Clearly, this Yank misplaced his metric decimal place.

Post by **Icarus Unfallen** » Mon Dec 23, 2013 4:48 am

Silly me. I saw this thread and assumed the original poster was either a Californian who got a ticket for speeding on the motorway or someone who saw (and did not care for) some retro TV showing of an old Erik Estrada action drama series.

Post by **peter** » Mon Dec 23, 2013 8:45 am

I can only assume that the silence of 'the big guns' on this debate to date implys that as we speak they are respectively scratching their heads and looking at their writing pads from all angles, laying on couches in darkened rooms talking to their analysts or furiously organising international conferences with a view to future Nobel prize winning award ceremonies.

Post by **Hashi Lebwohl** » Mon Dec 23, 2013 3:34 pm

Ovens, like microwave appliances, do not heat evenly throughout their interior volume so there will be "hot spots". Perhaps that particular chip was in a hot spot and thus it crisped faster than the others.

Post by **peter** » Tue Dec 24, 2013 9:34 am

Hi Hashi - yes, this one had occured to me to - but the effect seems [when it occurs] so localised to a few square centimeters - the space in fact that one chip occupies. Perhaps even science will have to bend the kneee to this insoluble mystery of the Cosmos

.

Happy Christmas to all on the Watch by the way.

Post by **Hashi Lebwohl** » Tue Dec 24, 2013 4:19 pm

Then perhaps we have a Schrodinger situation here--there are a variety of states in which each chip could exist inside the oven (uncooked, undercooked, just right, overcooked, burnt to a crisp, etc) and the waveform of each chip collapses into only one state upon opening the oven to take a peek. This particular chip at random happened to actualize the "burnt to a crisp" state.

Merry Christmas
Happy Yule
Happy Hanukkah
Happy Kwanzaa
Merry Festivus
and whatever other holiday I might have missed--the list seems to grow every year

Post by **sgt.null** » Wed Dec 25, 2013 9:24 pm

why are there no healthy chips that satisfy my diet requirements?

Post by **peter** » Thu Dec 26, 2013 3:10 pm

There are Sarge - you just have to stretch your dietary needs to the shape where a good cholesterol dripping chip slots into the space like a jigsaw peice into a puzzle.

Post by **sgt.null** » Thu Dec 26, 2013 5:56 pm

peter wrote:There are Sarge - you just have to stretch your dietary needs to the shape where a good cholesterol dripping chip slots into the space like a jigsaw peice into a puzzle.

maths are hard!

Post by **peter** » Fri Dec 27, 2013 10:21 am

Tell me!

Kevin's Watch

Kevin's Watch

Chips - the bastards!

Chips - the bastards!