Potato Chips

A loooong time ago I promised to make veggie chips along with this ranch dressing post. I am kind of afraid of deep frying things so I just put it off. I have deep fried fish a few times, but always get hot oil splashed on me. Which of course makes me gun shy. One afternoon I found myself alone and looking for a snack with some time to kill. It was pretty warm in the house already so I didn't want to fire up the oven. I have a pretty solid and awesome Lodge cast iron dutch oven (hmm didn't pay $60.00 for it though, buy from Amazon if you want it). It distributes heat well and is deep enough to make me feel safe deep frying*. 

I fired that up with about an inch of canola oil in it and got to slicing a potato up on the thinnest setting of my mandolin. I only had one medium sized red potato, perfect to experiment with. Some pieces came out perfect for chips and some a little crooked. I used them all though!

I put a splatter screen over the pot and gently put the potato slices in with tongs, expecting lots of splashes.

No splashes! The potatoes just bubbled away in the oil. I could even get close to take a picture! I turned them a couple times to brown evenly. I took one out at the beginning that had brown edges and a white center. The center was still soft and not crispy. They needed to be brown through (but not burned) to be crispy like traditional potato chips.

Ta-da! When a chip seemed done, I removed it to a paper towel lined plate and sprinkled with salt and crushed rosemary. I did these in a few batches and I feel like it would take a long time to do a lot more this way. One medium potato made just enough chips for an afternoon snack. Since this was such a success, I can't wait to try different kinds of root veggies!

*I actually just read a few minutes ago on the Lodge website that this dutch oven is a "super deep fryer", I'd say that's true!