Chipping Potatoes

Chipping Potatoes is a term used for potatoes that good for use in frying up to make chips and French Fries in America (and crisps and chips in Britain.)

The potatoes will be more rounded, to give even slices.

They’ll have light-coloured skin that is easily rubbed off by machines (though that skin makes them more fragile in shipping.) They also need to be shipped relatively soon after harvest if possible, as the older a potato is after harvest, the harder the skin is to remove.

A good Chipping Potato has sugar levels such that it fries up to a light gold colour. Too high a sugar content would carmelize and go too brown; this can also make the chip soggy. For french fries (aka chips in Britain), the potatoes should contain no more than 0.25% sugar. If potatoes are stored in a cold place, some of their starch will convert to sugar, increasing the sugar ratio, so storage temperature is important in controlling this.

Language Notes

Also referred to as “Chip-Stock Potatoes.”

Sources

Segment Three – Potatoes For Chipping. Seafish Flexible Training. Sea Fish Industry Authority. 2004. Retrieved July 2012 from http://www.seafoodacademy.org/pdf_files/Fish_frying_skills_3.pdf

United States Standards for Grades of Potatoes for Chipping. USDA, Agricultural Marketing Service, Fruit and Vegetable Division, Fresh Products Branch. 1 January 1978 and January 1997. Retrieved July 2012 from http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELPRDC5050437

Language Notes

Sources

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