Deep Fried Foods
Potato Chips
Periods: 3
Period 1: Planning
Period 2: Manufacture
Period 3: Product evaluation
Objectives:
1. To familiarize the student with the principles of potato chip manufacture.
2. To familiarize the student with the procedures involved in the processing of potato chips.
3. To enable the student to distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable potato chips and to identify parameters upon which the distinction is made.
Background:
Snack foods are common worldwide, but vary in form from culture to culture. Perhaps the common denominator for all snack foods is that they are convenient, ready-to-eat, and can be eaten while engaged in other activities, such as watching sporting events, walking, watching television and driving.
Potato chips are one of the most common snack foods in the United States and Canada. They are packaged in convenient sizes, are ready to eat, and are generally eaten at times other than at meals.
Many factors contribute to potato chip quality. This includes: maturity of tuber, shape, thickness, skin, peel, eyes, skin and flesh color, defects, specific gravity, counts per eight pounds of potatoes, temperature, reducing sugar content, sucrose, and chipability. Varieties of potatoes are of all the same in the desirability for chip making.
Chip manufacturing procedures, such as peeling, slice thickness and uniformity, oil type and temperature and packaging methods and materials all have a direct impact on potato chip quality.
Procedure:
Following instructions given by the instructor, select, prepare and process potatoes into potato chips. Be sure to collect and record all data during processing. This includes: potato variety, shape, thickness, defects, specific gravity, temperature, reducing sugar, sucrose and chipability. Also record slice thickness, oil type and temperature.
Select three variables to determine their effect on process and product
Evaluation:
1. Determine the total solids content of each batch of potato chips, both raw and finished product.
2. Determine he color quality of the chip for each batch. How does the batch compare to the standards?
3. Using a sensory panel, determine the texture and flavor acceptability of each batch of chips.
References:
Gould, W. A. 1999 Potato Processing and Technology CIT Pub., Baltimore MD
Talburt, W. F. and Smith, O. 1987. Potato processing 4th Ed. Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York