Anyhow, they apparently make this silicone tray-thing that you can make microwave potato chips on. And, oddly enough, they actually turned out pretty well, I will say. You can pick it up at Amazon, but for the love of everything, make sure that you get the one with the mandolin. I've seen a lot of people get the one without the mandolin and then complain that they can't cut the potatoes thin enough. No surprise there -- the ones without the mandolin are meant to be used as expansion trays, since you can use up to three of them in the microwave at once.
No oil needed, so no added fats. Awesome, eh? I'll admit, the first thing I did after my chip maker kit arrived was headed to my local grocery store and grabbed an assortment of popcorn seasonings, because who doesn't want options? All told, a 10lb bag of potatos and about 10 different seasonings was about the same cost as 5 bags of pre-made chips, which, as we all know, equates to one fully-filled bag of chips.
In all honesty, as long as you have the potatoes pre-cut, you can actually make this into a bit of an interactive after school snack, which works especially well if your child brought friends with them. My personal advice, though, is to repackage the seasonings into smaller containers if you're going to let smaller children use them. Moderation isn't exactly something to be comprehended by young minds. Small cheap salt & pepper shakers work well.
Also, if you can somehow get away with storing a bag of potatoes in your dorm room, you can make some really fast, really cheap munchables. Potatoes are so versatile, even if you're only running on the bare minimums of cooking materials. Baked potatoes are (nearly) just as good done in the microwave.
Anyhow... enough yapping. I promised chips, and I'm delaying them. Last time I checked, that was a good way to lose an arm.
Ingredients:
- Potatoes, Peeled
- I used Idaho potatoes, but you can use whatever. I've not tried it myself just yet, but rumor has it that sweet potatoes also work out well
- Choice of Seasoning / Spices
- I was a total bum and went straight for the pre-mixed Kernel Seasons popcorn flavoring, but you can do whatever. Or even just a pinch of salt.
Equipment:
- Mandolin Slicer
- Just use the one included with the chip kit. It's calibrated to produce the exact thickness of slices that you'll need for this.
- Mastrad Top Chips Chip Maker
- Microwave
- With a turn table, and make sure that the chip disk can fit in it easily, without brushing the sides.
Okay, so you can technically make these with the peel on, and that's supposedly where all the nutrients are at, but I don't do potato peels. So, I peeled them.
The first thing that you'll want to do is slice up the potatoes with the mandolin. Be careful here... I've seen a lot of people hurt themselves on a mandolin slicer, but for the most part, as long as you're paying attention and are appropriately cautious, you'll be fine. You'll want to get the potato slices into water immediately, to prevent discoloring. That weird pink-brown potatoes get when they start oxidizing is not appealing at all.
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| I usually just put the mandolin over the bowl of water to expedite the process. |
I suggest only cutting up one potato or two at most at a time, because they go really far. One potato was more than enough to quell the ravenous snack monster living in my stomach.
From here, the cooking actually gets pretty passive. Simply line up a layer of chips on the disk, and microwave until crispy. For me, this meant 3 minutes, taking the disk out, turning all the pieces over (handle with care, the disk may be hot) and microwaving for another minute and a half. Note that not all microwaves are created equal, and I have a bit of a beastly one. After the initial three minutes and flip, cook in small intervals until you get the timing right for your unit. You can always cook the chips longer... you can't uncook them.
If you bought more than one disk, you can load up the second one while the first one is cooking. If not, well, sit tight and wait for the first one to come back out. Once your chips are crispy enough for your liking, season with whatever you want. You may possibly want to mist them with some sort of liquid (such as a light olive oil) to get the seasoning to stick, but I was perfectly fine with just putting them in a small bowl and using the chips to scoop up whatever seasoning fell off of them.
How did yours turn out? What kind of potatoes did you use? Let us know in the comments! Also, be sure to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the newest recipes.
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