potato chips, crisps

I used one large russet potato. The potato is a starchy type.

Potato cut into a bowl of cold water. The water immediately turns cloudy which shows the surface starch on the slices is being removed. The slices will stick together and to your tools if you skip this step. That tells you not to use water if you're making a dish where you want the slices to stick. Sometimes starchy glue is good, here it's not. The potato was cut on a Japanese slicer which is the plastic version of a mandolin. It's a razor sharp tool and a bargain at a fraction of the cost. You can see the thinness of the slices by the lines on the towel showing through. It's possible to get the potatoes too thin. A few test swipes will show the desired adjustment. Dried with another layer of kitchen towel, cooked in batches.

Cooked in that vegetable oil/lard combination used earlier for french fries at 325˚F / 160˚C until the bubbles stop. At that lower temperature the bubbles stop just before they turn golden. They float. You can see them turn crisp by turning them. They change to golden brown a few seconds after the bubbles stop. This gives you about one minute margin for error between not done enough to overly browned.

Salt straight out of the oil while vulnerable. If you wait too long, the salt bounces off. Presently I have only kosher salt which is flaky. I put a tablespoon of kosher salt into the coffee grinder to reduce the size of the crystal.

These are the best potato chips I've ever had. I do believe I have mastered the technique for potato chips, crisps if you prefer.

1) slice potato thinly into water then dry

2) cook in vegetable oil/lard combination.