After touring a potato chip factory in Hartland New Brunswick this summer & tasting freshly made Chips I set out on a mission to make the World's Best Potato Chip. I researched the subject relentlessly on the internet & tried many variations of techniques that I learned in Hartland and on the "net". Below is a recipe that I will share with you. The result will taste so good that your eyes will roll back in your head & will make you a star with those who are so fortunate to have tasted the results.
Use 4 - 8 potatoes of any kind, peel them and slice them with a mandolin into a large bowl of cold water
( I found that old potatoes with "tubers" starting to form actually were the best but fresh will do in a pinch! )
Change the cold water a few times over 10-15 minutes until the water stays clear. This removes some starch so the chips do not burn while frying later.
Meanwhile, in a large pot, heat 6 cups of water mixed with 2 cups of vinegar to exactly 170F degrees. Use a meat thermometer! 170F is your goal. The vinegar in the water is the most important step in this recipe so do not bother making this without it. The vinegar does not add any flavour but it does ensure that you will be able to fry the chips without them turning brown and having a burnt taste. Do not skip this step! If you put too much vinegar in, great, too much is better than too little.
Note - If the water is too hot you might as well make mashed pototos so do not over heat the water. You can always add cold to cool. Use a thermometer! Keep it at 170F.
Strain the sliced "chips" from the cold water and add them to the 170F pot of water. The temperature will drop but keep the heat on and use a meat thermometer to ensure the temperature gets to & remains at 170F for 10-15 minutes.
Heat some fresh vegetable oil or canola oil in a deep fryer to the the highest setting or about 370F.
Strain the chips from the hot water & shake as much water off as you can with your strainer over your sink.
Spread the hot, soggy chips on a towel to remove as much moisture as possible.
Add a few handfuls of chips to the frying basket and submerge in the deep fryer. There will be much steam at first so stay clear until the steam subsides. Stir the chips often while they fry with something metal to ensure even cooking. Be careful!
When the chips stop "hissing" and turn a golden colour they are done. It takes about 6 minutes but the time depends on how many chips are frying. You want them to be gold. If they are not gold they will be greasy.
Raise the fryer basket and shake off residual oil over the fryer and dump the chips in a paper towel lined bowl. Immediately season the chips (seasoning ideas are below). Flip the chips around in the bowl & season all sides.
When the chips are cool enough to handle you can put them in a paper bag or an open container until you are finished the batch. They'll keep for a day of more but it's likely that they will be eaten before you have to worry about a sealed container.
Seasonings - The easiest are popcorn seasonings sold at the grocery store.
Old Bay spice is nice, Kosher Salt and cracked pepper works well,
Brown sugar and bottled "Rib-Rub" tastes like BBQ'd chips.
I really like "All Dressed Popcorn Seasoning".
Seasoned Salts work well.
Sea Salt on a hot chip and then later dip 1/3 of of a chip in dark, melted chocolate is really good!