Are Homemade Potato Chips Worth the Effort?

Elizabeth Gunnison, Bon Appétit

In our column Fake It or Make It we test a homemade dish against its prepackaged counterpart to find out what's really worth cooking from scratch.

Okay, so maybe you've never even considered making your own potato chips from scratch. It's kind of a crazy "gotta love to cook" thing, I admit. But armed with nothing fancier than a good mandoline slicer, a heavy pot, and a candy thermometer, homemade potato chips are achievable, and sometimes amazing. At Colicchio & Sons in New York, where I worked as a kitchen intern, we made our potato chips in-house every day; after a few rounds of assisting with the task, I managed to master the technique well enough to do the job by myself. Granted that the procedure isn't all that complicated, is it worth the hassle of frying your own potato chips at home? Our testers weigh in.

The Contenders
Lay's Classic Potato Chipsvs.Bon Appetit's Salt and Vinegar Potato Chips*
*Omitting the vinegar powder.

The history of frying potatoes dates back only to the early mid-19th century, at which time one ingenious Frenchman or Belgian (it depends whom you ask) thought to toss some of the newly-popularized tubers into a vat of oil. Potatochipsin particular, however, are generally thought to be an American invention. As the story goes, in 1853 a diner at Moon Lake Lodge in Saratoga Springs repeatedly sent "too thick" French fries back to the kitchen, until finally the chef fried off paper-thin potato shavings and sent them out to the guest. And so the potato chip was born, and hasn't changed all that much in 159 years.

Related: Is Homemade Hummus Worth the Effort?

Relative Costs
Store-bought wins this one. I paid $4.19 for a large bag of Lay's, and about $7 for potatoes and enough vegetable oil to fry them in.

Relative Healthfulness
About the same. Both products are made from potatoes fried in vegetable oil and sprinkled with salt. The ability to control your salt usage does, however, allow you to make a lower-sodium potato chip at home if you so choose.

Time Commitment
It took me 40 minutes to make potato chips from scratch.

Leftovers Potential
Lay's indicates that their potato chips are good to eat, unopened, for over a year from the date of purchase. Once opened, Lay's potato chips will keep for at least 1-2 weeks before getting stale. Homemade potato chips can be kept in a sealed container for about the same length of time.

What The Testers Said
First let me introduce our panel.

THE HEALTH NUT
A delicate eater, the health nut is calorie conscious but also likes to eat well

THE FOODIE
Calorie agnostic, our foodie judge has a sophisticated palate and a love of cooking

THE DUDE
Ambivalent toward food trends and health concerns, this guy just wants to be fed when he's hungry

THE KID
Between ages of 9 and 12 years old, not jaded, typically not into strong flavors

See also: Is Mac and Cheese from Scratch Worth the Effort?

Testers sampled both potato chips blind. All of the testers were tipped off to the homemade by their slightly thicker cut, and greater range of colors (from pale yellow to dark brown) due to the impact of fluctuating fryer temperatures between batches.

The Health Nut: Homemade; "While they're not as consistent, the flavor tends to be better, and they're less salty."

The Foodie: Store-bought; "I like the texture of the thicker cut chips, but it's a very fine line with homemade between just crispy and overcooked."

The Kid: Store-bought; "With the other ones, some are a little burnt and others are a little soggy."

The Dude: Store-bought. "There are more hits and misses with homemade, whereas store-bought has that perfect crunch every time."

The Verdict
Fake it.

Especially if you don't have a high quality mandoline slicer on hand, frying up consistently crispy, golden potato chips at home is a tricky business. Even slight variations in slice thickness can yield chips that are unevenly cooked. Oil temperature fluctuations in a makeshift frying setup can also vex the home chip-maker. Even when they turn out just right, homemade chips are not remarkably better than store-bought options. All in all, you may want to give homemade a go once just for fun, but especially if you're serving a crowd, you're better off buying them.

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10 Quick and Easy School Night Dinners
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11 Ways to Cook Short Ribs