AB's BBQ Potato Chips
ACTIVE TIME: 15 minutes
TOTAL TIME: 30 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Applewood smoked potatoes and a homemade spice mix give these chips authentic barbecue flavor. For years, I've been trying to make BBQ chips that are as good as what you can get in a bag. The trick? Smoke the potatoes. If you don't have an honest-to-goodness exhaust hood, you should either do this outdoors (I keep a butane cooktop on hand for just such occasions) or pull the battery out of your smoke detector…or cover it with foil. If you find that your chips get a little soft overnight, simply reheat on a sheet pan in a 350°F oven for 5 minutes. They'll re-crisp as they cool. Note that "chile" powder and "chili" powder aren't quite the same. "Chile" powder is nothing but ground chile peppers. "Chili" powder is typically composed of "chile" powder and spices such as cumin, black pepper and salt.This recipe originally appeared in EveryDayCook.Photo by Lynne Calamia
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- 1 cup apple wood chips
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon chili powder, optional
- 2 pounds russet potatoes, scrubbed and rinsed
- 2 quarts peanut oil
Specialized Hardware
Mandoline
Steamer basket or Steel Lotus
Coffee/spice grinder
Cast-iron Dutch oven
Candy/fry thermometer
Spider strainer
ACTIVE TIME: 15 minutes
TOTAL TIME: 30 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Procedure
- Soak the wood chip in water for 30 minutes.
- Slice the potatoes widthwise into 1/8-inch-thick rounds — a mandoline with a 2mm blade is perfect for this. Arrange the potatoes on a steamer basket or Steel Lotus, dividing them into thirds and staggering any overlapping pieces.
- Line an 8-quart stockpot with aluminum foil and set the drained wood chips in the bottom. Set the Steel Lotus in the pot over the wood chips, cover, and set over high heat. Turn on your fan or vent hood and smoke the potato slices for 20 minutes, then remove the pot from the heat. If you’re using a steamer basket, you’ll have to work in 3 batches, steaming each batch for 10 minutes.
- While the potatoes smoke, combine the paprika, brown sugar, onion powder, salt, chili powder, and garlic powder in a food processor or a small coffee grinder reserved for spices. Pulse to combine and the spices form a fine powder. Set aside.
- Remove the Steel Lotus or steamer basket from the pot and remove the potato slices to clean paper towels—this wicks away any residual moisture to prevent splattering oil later.
- Heat the peanut oil in a 4-quart cast-iron Dutch oven fittedwith a candy/fry thermometer over medium-high heatto 300ºF.
- While the oil heats, line a large mixing bowl with paper towels. Carefully add the potato slices one at a time to the hot oil. Using a spider strainer, fry 6 to 8 slices at a time in the hot oil until golden brown and crisp, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove the chips with the spider and hold over the oil to drain as much excess oil as possible. Move the finished chips to a paper towel-lined bowland shake to remove additional oil. Adjust the heat as necessary to maintain 300ºF, frying the potatoes in small batches.
- When the final batch has finished frying, move the chips to a large brown paper bag. Sprinkle the chips with the spice mixture, fold the top of the bag over to seal and shake. Serve immediately.
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