When Manatee and I first went clean, I refused to give up potato chips. It was my weakness. I agreed to buy chips with no chemicals in the ingredient list, but I wanted my chips.

I am proud to say that is no longer an issue: I don’t have to buy chips, because I know I can make better ones at home.

And these are the best baked chips, bar none, to anything you can find in a bag.

The secret? Brining.

I saw a segment on Anne Burrell’s show last week on making homemade fried chips, and I couldn’t wait to try the same method with baked chips. It makes sense: I have always soaked the potato slices in cold water and recently have done so with salt and sugar, why not let them soak longer and throw in an acid to tenderize them?

The other great part about this strategy: You can prep your chips when you have time, for me, that is the morning but you could do it the night before as well. When dinnertime rolls around, just dry them off, toss with some oil, and throw them in the oven.

 

 

Review:

There are two things I am a little embarrassed about:

I totally missed the money shot. In a perfect blogging world, I would have a great staged picture of these chips on a cute plate with some creamy dip and all of you would drool. 

It was Friday night.

I was hungry.

I was tired.

The lighting was terrible.

Here are some pics that I did get it, and I even used my real camera!

brining potato chips

Baked Potato Chips1

drying potato chips

Baked Potato Chips4

Baked Potato Chips5

The second thing I am embarrassed about and why I didn’t get a money shot:

We ate every single chip.

They were so good. So crispy. So fresh. But still, that was too many potato chips for two people. Lesson learned.

I want to keep experiment to see what kind of flavors I can add to the brine. I will keep you posted. Maybe some liquid smoke and hot sauce for some BBQ chips? Hmmm…

Yum.

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What is your favorite flavor chip?