Timing Is Everything When Seasoning Homemade Potato Chips

Potato chips, in any and all forms, are undeniably tasty. There's something about that crispy crackle, combined with the tasty seasonings, that makes them hard to stop eating. And if you eat enough of them, or want to start experimenting with fun variations and flavors, you may try your hand at making homemade potato chips. And the key to making a great batch of homemade potato chips, besides getting the frying temperature and thickness of your slices just right, is to season them at the right time — immediately after cooking.

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Once you get down your potato variety of choice (Russet potatoes are a popular and fitting variety), whip out your mandoline, and get your oil hot, it's time to start frying. Your potatoes need to be hot and straight out of the fryer when you add your seasoning. Otherwise, the salt, or any other seasonings that you use, may not stick to the chips. Once your chips have been carefully spooned out of the fryer oil, you can lay them on a paper towel to soak them with oil and douse them with the seasoning of your choice.  

The seasoning possibilites are endless

The most obvious seasoning to add to your chips as soon as they exit the fryer is salt — and a lot of it. Salt will help balance the starchiness of the chips, and it gives them that tasty, borderline addicting quality. Add several cracks from your salt grinder or sprinkle a coating of table salt on top of your chips. Once you nail down the proper amount of salt needed for a tasty batch, start experimenting with more flavorful spices, including cracked black pepper. This ingredient will add a spice coating and pique your senses when you get a piece of peppercorn intermixed with the starchy, fried chip.

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For something more unconventional, you may also want to try adding garlic powder and pickle salt (yes, it's a real thing) to make a two-ingredient seasoning blend for your chips. It's the perfect dilly blend that will make your chips taste more complex. Or, grab a packet of ranch seasoning for a quick, one-stop-shop seasoning blend that will offer the tangy flavor of buttermilk intermingled with herbs. Regardless of what seasoning you select, just make sure to add it to your chips while they're still hot! 

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