Homemade Potato Chips

 "This is the best thing to make with potatoes! This is the only thing you should ever make again with potatoes."
I might not have gotten that quote right, but my hubby said something along those lines tonight. By it, he meant that these are so much better than anything else you can make with potatoes, so why bother making anything else?!
I don't exactly think that's true (Mashed potatoes! Baked potatoes! Hash browns!), but these chips sure are tasty!! And so unbelievably easy, you'll never want to go back to spending so much money on a half-crushed bag at the grocery store!

Homemade Potato Chips
Printable Recipe

Three ingredients. Yes, THREE!
Potatoes (2 or 3 should be plenty, but I decided to make a HUGE batch here)
Oil (whatever you like for frying)
Sea Salt

 Wash your potatoes. Scrub em clean!

 Now, you can hand slice your potatoes with a sharp knife, but if you can, use some kind of slicer or mandolin. It ensures that everything is cut easily and takes so much less time! I have this handy little attachment on my manual food processor.

 Grab a potato and just slice a little bit off of one end. Then, go ahead and start slicing! (Be careful not to get your fingers! I wasn't being very careful today. "Brad! Can you get me a band-aid!")

 They should be beautiful little chips, like these. :)

Here are the slices from 6 potatoes. There are a LOT of them. If you are doing a big batch like this, plan on it taking about an hour from start to finish. For only 2 or 3 potatoes, 20-30 minutes is all it takes.

 Now fill a large bowl with some very cold water.

 Throw in some ice cubes for good measure.

 Now, add your potato slices.

 We are going to let them soak for at least 10 minutes, and up to 30 minutes.  Give them a stir every once in a while because they tend to stick to each other.

Once they are done soaking (it removes a lot of the excess starch, which helps them crisp up better), give them one more quick little rinse.

 Grab some clean kitchen towels or a few paper towels and lay them out. Now, lay out your potatoes in a single layer to let them dry. (Don't mind my cuticles. Utah air is not good to me.)

 Doesn't that look like a quaint little cobblestone road? So cute!

 Cover them up with some more towels and pat them dry. I actually made two more layers of potatoes on top of these, that's how many slices I had!

While they are drying, you can start to heat up your oil. You want about 2 inches of oil, so it really depends on the size/shape of your pan/pot as to how much you will need. The oil should be about 350 degrees, but I don't have a thermometer, so I just do the old "add a small drop of water and see what happens" trick. You can also add one potato slice and if it starts sizzling, you are good to go.

 Add some slices in a single layer to the oil. You will need to do a few batches so you don't crowd the pan.

 After about 3 minutes, they should be a beautiful golden brown.

 Go ahead and fish them out of the oil now. I like to use this skimmer. Works wonderfully. :D

Transfer them to some paper towels to soak up the excess oil and immediately sprinkle with some sea salt. (Or you can use whatever seasonings you like: parmesan, paprika, dried herbs, whatever. . . )

Once you've fried everything up, it will probably take 5-10 minutes for them to be really crispy. They're still a little chewy when they are warm, but trust me, they get crispier the longer you wait, no matter how hard it is to wait.

While I was standing in the kitchen making a million potato chips, I whipped up some Winger's Sticky Fingers since I already had a pan full of hot oil! It worked out perfectly and dinner was super scrumptious.