Experiment Report
Title:
Chips Test II
Abstract
To test the use of vinegar in the parboiling water compared to the phase I use of bi-carb in the boiling water. The aim is to assimilate a 'fish and chip shop' style of chip.
Introduction
Following on from the Chip Experiment Phase I, this is to determine if we can achieve a better result by parboiling with vinegar in the water instead of bicarbonate of soda for the first cook.
Method
Using the same potato variety as in the Chip Experiment Phase I, Red Rascal, peel and chop into 1 cm-sized chips. Split into two batches.
Batch one: Place potato chips in a saucepan filled with cold water and add 1 tsp bi-carb soda. Place on medium heat. Bring to the boil and allow to simmer for four minutes. Pour into a strainer and rinse with hot water. Allow to drain and air dry. For the rest of this report, this will be referred to as parboiled with bi-carb. Place it in a bowl, label it and place it in the refrigerator.
Batch two: Place potato chips in a saucepan filled with cold water and add ¼ cup vinegar. Place on medium heat. Bring to the boil and allow to simmer for four minutes. Pour into a strainer and rinse with hot water. Allow to drain and air dry. For the rest of this report, this will be referred to as parboiled with vinegar. Place it in a bowl, label it, and place the bowl in the refrigerator.
Second Cook: After an hour, put each batch separately through the air fryer, cooking for 8 minutes at 160 degrees. Turn at 4 minutes. Return the chips to their bowls, label and put them back in the fridge for another hour.
Final Cook: Put both batches through the air fryer, cooking for 8 minutes at 180 degrees and turning for 4 minutes.
Results
The chips parboiled in vinegar are definitely nicer-looking, and they look closer to a fish and chip shop chip than the chips parboiled with bi-carb.
There is only a minimal difference in flavour. The chips cooked with vinegar have the faintest hit of vinegar.
The chips parboiled in vinegar have a less dense exterior but do not differ much from the chips parboiled in bicarbonate.
Discussion
I expected a more defined difference in the surface of the chip parboiled in vinegar. The literature refers to the vinegar maintaining the integrity of the potato while creating little bubbles on the surface that should form the crunchy exterior at the final cook.
The chip parboiled in vinegar looks more appealing, but its surface is denser and chewy, almost leathery to the bite. While visually unappealing, the chips cooked in bi-carb provided a slightly better bite.
The literature that advocates using vinegar refers to the vinegar's ability to maintain the chip shape and stop the potato from falling apart as part of the cooking process. In their tests, they cook the potato much longer than just a parboil. I followed the exact timelines for the vinegar parboil that I would for the bi-carb parboil to keep the variables the same. The chips will fall apart if we parboil in bicarb for a more extended period. We must extend the parboiling cook to test the vinegar method adequately.
I am also wondering about the need to double air fry. While this process works well to complete the cooking of the chips that have been parboiled in bi-carb, it may also toughen the exterior of the chips that have been parboiled in vinegar. I would advocate increasing the cooking time in the parboiling process and removing the first air fryer cook.
Conclusion
We are no closer to a solid result for 'fish and chip shop' chips using the air fryer. At this stage, we have raised more issues than resolved. Using vinegar in the parboiling process has improved the visual appeal but has not achieved anything on the taste and texture side.
I need to test the use of vinegar further before we can rule this option out.
Vinegar over bicarb