Proper homemade crisps are not as scary to make as you think. I recently had a craving for proper crisps, the kettle chip kind, but wasn’t able to pop to the shops to get some and we don’t tend to keep crisps in the house (because they are a weakness of mine, and I will eat them, so prefer to keep them as a treat) so I decided to have a go at making some. I know there are recipes out there but I basically winged this one and it worked. These are a great way to use up potatoes and perfect as a snack or for dips, and you can control the ingredients. I baked these. I don’t have a deep fat fryer and baking is a lot less hassle.
You need a large ovenproof baking tray, some potatoes, some olive or vegetable oil (I prefer the flavour of olive oil) salt, and a little bit of patience to slice potatoes thinly. You can use a food processor with a slice setting, or a mandolin if you have one but I like the task of slicing potatoes finely and precisely so I hand cut mine.
You need about 1kg of potatoes to make enough for 4 people but you can use more or less depending on how hungry you are and adjust baking times.
I use Maris Piper which is what we had available.
Slice your potatoes as finely as you can and then place them on a dry tea towel. Place another tea towel on top of them and press firmly and leave them to sit for about half an hour. This helps to soak up moisture in the potatoes and makes them bake more crisply.
Preheat your oven to 190 degrees. Tweak this if you have a fan oven. Pour 2 tablespoons of oil into the baking tray and then add your slices of potatoes and sprinkle half a teaspoon of salt over them. Add the rest of the oil and using your hands make sure it’s well spread and mixed over the potatoes. Make sure they are not too clumped together and spread evenly on the tray.
Place in the oven. Set a timer and ever ten minutes you need to take them out, and turn them and stir them thoroughly to make sure each slice is being cooked and gets a chance to crisp up. I found they were done, crispy and golden after 45 minutes and three turns.
Remove from the oven. Allow to cool for about 5 minutes then when they are still warm add your flavouring. My kids opted for malt vinegar and I used some dried herbs and a little more salt on mine.
They don’t last long and are crispy, crunchy and golden. Proper homemade crisps. Easy. Who knew?
