Saratoga Potatoes Recipe (2024)

FAQs

Why do you need to soak potatoes before making chips? ›

Soaking the sliced potatoes before baking helps the chips not to burn. It does this by removing surface starch that would otherwise quickly brown.

The potatoes that are turned into chips come primarily from farms in North Carolina, Delaware, and Maine. Those potatoes are proprietary ones, grown from seed stock developed by Frito Lay food scientists. They are drier and grainier than the Russets, Yukon Golds and Red potatoes found in grocery stores.

Whether you need chippy chips, steakcut chips, skinny chips, regular chips or wedges, the perfect potato needs a high starch content - like a Maris Piper (which has been the UK's favourite potato for more than half a century) or a King Edward.

Most potatoes grown in the US are of the russet variety, meaning they're what most people picture when you say "potato." With a mildly rough brown-grey skin, the flesh once cooked is light and fluffy and the skin becomes chewy.

With so many varieties available, it's hard to know which one will work best for your dish so here's a guide to the different types of potatoes and what they're best suited to so you'll never be stuck again! Potatoes are categorised into 3 basic types – starchy, waxy and all-purpose.

Soaking potatoes in water helps remove excess starch. Excess starch can inhibit the potatoes from cooking evenly as well as creating a gummy or sticky texture on the outside of your potatoes. Cold water is used because hot water would react with the starch activating it, making it harder to separate from the potatoes.

There are lots of recipes that call for par-boiling the potatoes first to reduce the amount of cooking time, but it's an extra step and an extra pan to wash. If you cook the potatoes over medium heat and keep them covered for most of the cooking time, the lid traps in steam, which helps cook the potatoes through.

By rinsing off the excess starch, you can achieve a better balance and control over the browning process, resulting in evenly cooked and beautifully golden fries. Another advantage of rinsing the potatoes is that the cold water makes the potato cells firmer, leading to crispier fries when fried.

Do you use real potatoes for your Fries? Yep. The most common potatoes we use for McDonald's Fries include the Russet Burbank, Russet Ranger, Umatilla Russet and the Shepody—varieties known for producing a flavorful fry that's crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside.

KFC imports potatoes from Egypt and the delay was caused by the disruption in global supply chains due to the pandemic. KFC could not buy Kenyan potatoes because they do not meet the firm's quality standards.

What state has the most potato chip factories? ›

Pennsylvania leads the United States in potato chip production, and has been dubbed "the Potato Chip Capital" by several sources.

Floury potatoes contain much less moisture but can fall apart if overcooked. For chips, we recommend using a maincrop floury potato, like a Maris Piper, which will give you a fluffy inside and crisp outer coating. They will absorb the oil when fried to give you the crunchy chip you're looking for.

To make their uniform design, Pringles uses a special recipe, which doesn't actually include potatoes. Instead, they're made with something called “dehydrated processed potato.” They also contain corn, rice and wheat.

☃ Top one: Lay's

Frito-Lay is one of the largest snack food manufacturers in the United States, which is the best selling chips. Lay's chip flavors include barbecue, sour cream & onion, salt & pepper, ham and many others.

The potato chip was invented in Saratoga Lake, NY. Its inventor was George Speck—the son of an African American father and Native American mother. Later he professionally adopted the last name Crum. He was a gifted, although surly, cook working as the chef of the Moon Lake Lodge Resort in 1853.

The "Saratoga Chips" brand name still exists today.

Solanum tuberosum (Irish Potato, Irish Potatoes, Pomme de Terre, Potato, Potatoes, White Potato, White Potatoes) | North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox.

Breeder Roger Salaun named the variety Charlotte to appeal to the European market. Salaun wanted the potato's name to be easily pronounced across many different languages, and he commented that the name Charlotte is often used within the lineages of royalty throughout Europe.