Microwaved chips

[greygarious]

On the Dr. Oz show today, there was a defatted version of fish and chips that looked disappointing as far as the fish was concerned (steamed naked in microwave). Instead of tartar sauce the chef used all its components except mayo so it was a green relish - that might be promising. But the intriguing idea was the chips. He used very thin mandolin-sliced potatoes. The slices were threaded onto a wooden skewer with close to a half inch between slices. The ends of the skewer were balanced over the ends of a pyrex baking dish which then was nuked for several minutes. I suspect that's asking for a pyrex explosion
but might try this with a different ceramic. If the cook is not married to totally non-fat, the slices could be lightly spritzed with cooking spray or other oil before microwaving. Anyone ever try either method for spuds?

[Kris in Beijing]

Tupperware sold a "Mr Crispy" potato stand for this in 2009 in LATVIA.

Here's a video link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnARKh...

EDIT: eBay has dozens of the "stands" ranging from $50 to $2.60 (with free shipping), most with a bowl and mandolin-style cutter.

[Emme]

my OH loves these done with yams/sweet potatoes. i will lightly spritz with pan spray, and sprinkle with sea salt and cracked pepper. done on the mandoline i use the microwave. occasionally, when lazy (or they've been on sale), i get the crinkle cut fresh sweet potatoes, nuke em in the microwave to soften, then spritz and salt/pepper and do in the oven til crispy.

[jbsiegel]

Made some last night - some with just sea salt and others with a mix of garlic salt and parmesan cheese. The family GOBBLED up the garlic/parmesan ones.

[tearingmonkey]

I love doing these chips.

Favourite flavour:
top each chip with small dollop of plain yogurt (strained if too runny) and then a dollop of cheapy caviar (I think it's salted flying fish roe). Have with vodka or Prosecco and I'm a Grand Dame on a dime.

My method:
Mandoline slices rinsed in water to get out some of the starch. Dry them. Then place on paper towel, sprinkel with salt cover with paper towel. Microwave 3 min high. Turn over and do another 3 min or til brown. Perfectly crisp everytime.

[Terrie H.]

I've been following this thread and bought some potatoes to try this method, but I was also wondering about a soak in water before cooking, like they do when making really good french fries. I think I'll try them both ways and see if there is any difference.

I was also wondering if vinegar could be added to the soaking water to introduce the flavor there, since we all seem to love those vinegar and salt chips. hmmmmm.......

[jbsiegel]

I haven't tried yet, but I'm planning a spritz of vinegar and some salt before the microwave part. I figure the additional moisture won't matter much (since my potatoes tend to be pretty "damp" anyway since I don't do the soak or anything - just cut and nuke).

[ritabwh]

i am a Lay's potato chip addict. this is delicious, and not as salty or oily. a great mix inbetween tims's cascade chips and lay's. i only need to make a enough chips out of 1 lemon-sized red potato and my cravings are put to rest.

[jbsiegel]

We made some more yesterday, and my one son said, "These save you lots of money. I had a bag of chips with 9 chips in it yesterday. That was 50 cents." So yes, the bunch of chips I made with one potato was a lot, but it took probably about an hour. Guess my time isn't all that valuable??? ;-)

But...the reviews are that these are REALLY good and taste much more "potato-ey" than purchased chips (even with no oil or anything - just some sea salt). LOVE it!!

[GretchenS]

Thank god I do not have a microwave is all I can say, although this makes it frighteningly tempting to get one..... Potatoes are my favorite food and I am not supposed to eat them. :( I wonder if the red bliss souffléd and the russets did not due to the very different consistency and cell structure? This thread is mouth-watering, keep it up everyone!

[pine time]

My volume-eating tendencies are one reason I love the microwaved chips: the microwave just doesn't hold all that many, so it's built in portion control.

[greygarious]

My second try was with an all-purpose potato, not russet. AP and RB should be pretty similar in terms of texture and liquid content, I think. Not a big deal, in any case.

[scubadoo97]

Just did these. Sliced paper thin. Worked best on parchment paper. No sticking at all

[foreverhungry]

Holy cow! Reading about this, I thought, there's no way this can work. I had an old potato laying around, so figured it's worth a try - low time and energy investment. And dang, but it worked great!

The middle of the chips were a little soft, even after 7 minutes, so I think a quick shot on a cookie sheet in the oven would finish crisping them.

I love this. If we can make our own chips, low fat, and add whatever seasonings we want, and it takes 10 minutes, I have no reason to buy packaged chips. I'm going to try this with sweet potatoes too.

[scubadoo97]

Watch the sweets carefully cuz they have a tendency to burn easily

[Emme]

to give the middles time to "catch up," try starting with medium or medium-high power for a minute or two to start.

[scubadoo97]

I'll have to give this a try. I've been nuking tortillas cut into wedges with great success. Both corn and flour using similar techniques of spritzing with cooking spray and seasoning. No skewers yet but potatoes would have a lot more moisture do makes sense

[Spamsushi]

I've tried making microwaved chips from a FoodGal recipe [linked below] and it was pretty good, although the yield from one batch is pretty skimpy!

http://www.foodgal.com/2010/01/microw...

[hannaone]

Had to try this -

Brushed the slices with a light coating of sesame oil and just a touch of sea salt.

Unlike most bagged chips you could actually taste the potato with just a hint of sesame and salt.

Can't make enough at one time though.

[greygarious]

Yesterday I made some with a relatively fresh all-purpose potato (unlike the inital sprouting redskin) the size of a large lemon. That's about as large a spud as can be accommodated on 4 skewers set across a half-gallon Gladware plastic container. With my fingertip, I dabbed one side of each slice with the faux-type truffle oil. Nuked on high power for 6 minutes, at which point they were as dry and crisp as storebought potato chips. To my surprise and disappointment, they flopped over more than on my first try, so some of them stuck together as they came off the skewer.
And unlike the first time, none of them "souffled". I think the flopping can be prevented if in the future I skewer the slice nearer the perimeter rather than dead center. That way they should all hang with the bulk of the slice below the skewer. I could not taste the truffle oil in the finished chips.

[jbsiegel]

I did the "lay on parchment" method...no "flopping" issues! The only problem is that you can't fit too many in at one time. The toppings also stay on a little better...

[jbsiegel]

So now that we're all sold on microwaved chips, what are some good flavor combinations?

(...and please don't say "Chicken and Waffles" ala Lays!)

[youareabunny]

I haven't found anything I like more than salt and vinegar chips but the method to create the powder is a little too sciencey for my simple mind.

That and I cut the corners of my mouth and/or get canker cores from them.

[modthyrth]

I picked up some salt and vinegar popcorn powder at Target recently. It's not quite as tart as I'd prefer, but it's pretty good. And yes, I've tried it with microwave chips with success!

[jbsiegel]

I definitely need to find that...LOVE s&v chips. I want to try cheese powder on them as well. Onion powder and garlic powder also sound like good options.

[tastesgoodwhatisit]

In Canada you can buy Kernels brand shakers of salt and vinegar powder intended for popcorn.

[Emme]

fyi , the OH tried to recreate salt and vinegar chips (his FAVE) by soaking the thin slices overnight in salt and vinegar... IIRC, he did one batch of rice wine vinegar and one with balsamic. they didn't taste at all like he had hoped... the method i've been promising to try is to create a salted vinaigrette, then "powderize" it using tapioca maltodextrin (the oil being necessary as the TM absorbs fat...). when i try it, i will report back...

[Davwud]

I don't get omitting mayo. I make my own and it's actually pretty healthy.
Two egg yolks, 2 tbsp of mustard, 2 tbsp lemon juice and about 500ml of canola oil is all you need. It makes almost a full Helman's squeeze bottle. So the amount of yolk you'll get per serving is well below half of one. Very manageable.

DT

[modthyrth]

I have one of these gadgets: http://www.surlatable.com/product/PRO...

It works well, but I wish I'd heard about using parchment or skewers before I bought it last year! I hate storing single-use kitchen items.

[pine time]

Dang this thread! Had to make some more yesterday, and this time I sprinkled them with home-grown chopped dill. Now they're gone.

[mbCrispyBits]

I've been doing nuked chips for a few months and it works great! I use a mandoline to thinly slice yukon gold potatoes, and I nuke them at 60% power for 12-15 minutes till nice and golden brown. I'll have to try the skewer idea - that will maximize how many can be made at once. As of now, I have a small microwave and can only make about 15 chips at a time. (I should also add that I don't put anything on the chips at all, not even salt. They're just as crispy as the kind fried in oil!)

[greygarious]

When you try it, keep tabs on them. I predict that it will take less time since moisture will escape from both sides. As mentioned, mine took 5 minutes, which was in a 1000-watt microwave.

[mbCrispyBits]

Thanks for the tip. That hadn't occurred to me but of course, it makes perfect sense. More chips in less time - Sold!

[ohmyyum]

I have not attempted this yet but your review has me interested! Is the point of skewering the potato slices to allow them to hang suspended, thereby exposing the maximum surface area? How much space should there be between the slices? Is it ok to just thinly slice them by hand? I do not have a mandolin slicer. TIA.

[greygarious]

My assumption is that the skewering is to allow maximum surface and evaporation. I've only done this once so I spaced them at about a half inch because that's what it looked like on TV. Unless you have superb knives and skill, I doubt that hand-slicing will get them thin enough. I think you might have success using a small (or halved/quartered spud) if you sliced it with a vegetable peeler.

[greygarious]

Okay, first experiment a success! Probably would have been even better with a fresh russet potato. I used a very old, sprouting red bliss. I plucked off the buds, peeled, and mandolined this lemon-sized, kinda-soft and green spud (they've never upset my stomach). The slices drooped on the skewer. I spritzed with butter-flavored Pam and propped the skewers over a large Gladware microwavable container, and nuked on high for 5 minutes. The slices puffed like purchased potato chips do, but were the texture of homemade pommes souffles - crisp/tender, with touches of browning. They were quite tasty. So, it would take under 10 minutes to make a serving or two of homemade chips to accompany a burger or sandwich. I will try this again with a better potato and think it will be a regular part of my repertoire.

[pine time]

I've had success too. First discovered this in a magazine article a couple of years ago. Since then, I've tried various flavors and techniques. We like the russet potato better than other varieties, but we do use a few drops of real olive oil rather than the Pam. Sprinkle with flaked gray sea salt and a grind of black pepper. Mr. Pine preferred the ground pink peppercorn trial.

[jbsiegel]

That's so funny...I **just** made microwave chips for the first time yesterday. I used a russet potato, scrubbed but didn't peel, sliced thin, put the slices on a piece of parchment, salted them and nuked them about 6-7 minutes. Worked perfectly!!!

Next time, I'm going to try a little spritz of vinegar with the salt before I cook them. I'm also thinking onion powder would be good on there as would cheese powder.

The possibilities are endless....

[ohmyyum]

Ok now THAT sounds awesome. I would probably spritz with some malt vinegar. :)

[sandylc]

Sounds like dry, tough chips. Why not just eat them less often?

[ohmyyum]

I, too, would rather have a smaller portion of the real thing!

[ritabwh]

not so. not at all! they are thin, crispy and potatoey delicious.

i have one of those hand held ceramic mandoline/slicer and it is perfect for this job. i bought mine at Williams some years ago, but they i see them everywhere now.