How to Make Potato Chips

Baking Potato Chips

Preheat oven to 500° F (260° C).

Cut your potatoes using a mandoline or a food processor for best results. Mandolines and food processors deliver even, consistent results, but if you're absolutely in a pinch, using a knife to cut by hand is acceptable.

After cutting, dry your potato slices in between paper towels to absorb some of the moisture.

Lightly butter or oil a baking tray and arrange potato slices in one layer along tray.

Brush potato slices with melted butter.

Place baking tray into the center rack of oven and cook for approximately 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown at the edges.

Remove from the oven and sprinkle lightly with sea salt.

Frying Potato Chips

Slice your potatoes to your desired thickness. You can cut your potatoes by hand if you want, but a far more efficient — and probably more effective — way of slicing them would be to use: A food processor slicing attachment A mandoline slicer (be very careful!)

Add 3 tablespoons of salt to a large bowl of water and soak your sliced potatoes in the salt water for half an hour. After they've soaked for 30 minutes, rinse them in a colander, then rinse them again and let dry.

Choose an oil you'd like to fry with. While vegetable, safflower, corn, or peanut oil are all perfectly viable options, many people are increasingly turning to olive oil because it contains no trans fats. Since deep-frying is already the least healthy method of cooking potato chips, it might be a good idea to use the healthiest oil you can get.

Heat your oil in a deep fryer or a large frying pan until it reaches about 350° to 375° F (177° to 190° C). Optimally, use about a quart of oil. At the bare minimum, cover the bottom of your pan with an inch of oil. Use a candy thermometer to check the temperature of your oil. If you need to eyeball things because you don't own a candy thermometer, stick the end of a wooden spoon into the oil and wait for bubbles to start forming at the end of the spoon. Another way to check the temperature of oil without a thermometer is by frying a small cube of bread. Bread will turn a golden hue at 320° F after 30 seconds; 355° F after 15 seconds; and 375° F after 10 seconds.

Cook your potatoes in small batches, removing when they start to turn golden brown. Cooking your potatoes all at once can drop the temperature of the oil too far too quickly.

Once removed, put the chips on a plate with a paper towel over it to absorb the oil. If desired, season immediately.

Finished.

Microwaving Potato Chips

Slice your potatoes using a mandoline or a food processor to achieve an even thickness. Cut your potato slices anywhere from 1/4" to 1/8" thick for best results.

Soak your potato slices in water to remove excess starch. Alternately, run potato slice through running water until the runoff created is no longer cloudy. Start to let air dry. If you want to salt your potato chips, adding about 3 tablespoons of sea salt to the water you use to soak the potatoes in creates enough saltiness in the final product.

Remove any excess moisture by placing the potato slices between clean cloths or paper towels and lightly pressing. Water is the enemy in this process, so be sure to remove as much as possible before microwaving.

Place potatoes underneath a paper towel on a plate. Make sure that potato slices are not touching one another.

On full power, microwave potato slices for 3 minutes.

Remove from the microwave, flip the slices, and microwave at 50% for 3 minutes.

Remove from the microwave, flip the slices, and cook in 1 minute intervals at 50% power. Cook until deliciously crispy and golden brown in the middle.

Season with any additional herbs or flavors, if desired.