Saratoga Chips
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the potatoes
Peel and slice the potatoes very thin.
Soak the potato slices in very cold water with the alum for 3 to 4 hours.
Drain and dry a handful of the potatoes at a time.
Fry and finish
Heat the lard in a large kettle.
Fry the potatoes in the lard until golden brown.
Remove with a wire spoon and place on newspaper to drain.
Once cool, sprinkle with salt.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Potatoes
- Provide the starchy slices that crisp and brown in hot fat.
- Lard
- Fries the slices, conducting heat and giving them a rich, crisp surface.
- Alum
- Firms the potato slices so they stay crisp rather than turning soft during soaking and frying.
The step that matters
Drain and dry the potato slices before frying. Surface water turns to steam when the slices hit hot lard, causing spattering and greasy, soggy chips. Thorough drying lets the surface crisp and brown evenly.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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