Pro Chefs Blind Taste Test Every Potato Chip

[Narrator] We've gathered three potato chip experts

to blind taste test every bag of potato chips

we could get our hands on

to see which ones meet their standards.

[paper rustling] Lay's Classic.

I smelled that, like, classic potato chip smell.

the second this came out.

You get the aroma of canola oil for sure.

These chips look like they're quite porous.

Color's good, kind of pale.

So, for me the perfect potato chip

has to be crispy, super thin, has a nice crunch to it.

Not overly hard and difficult to chew,

but not so brittle and flaky that it turns

into, like, potato powder before you eat it.

You always wanna make sure with your chip

that you're looking for a great potato flavor.

I want that natural, earthy,

like, right from the ground potato to come through.

You wanna make sure that you have a balanced flavor.

As a chef, salt is one of the most important ingredients

that we have in our pantry.

Just the perfect amount of salt

really highlights and enhances that potato flavor.

You're frying potato chips

so there is a grease factor obviously,

but you don't want them overly greasy.

I don't wanna feel like I'm gonna ruin,

like, a good shirt if I get it on me.

You wanna be able to thoroughly enjoy them

with clean fingers. [chips crunching]

Okay, chip is not bad.

This feels like a very standard potato chip.

Something I would expect to get all the time.

Right off the bat, you get the crispiness.

Pretty thin, it begins to almost melt

and evaporate in the mouth.

Very potatoey.

The salt flavor and balance is there.

It's not overly salty. Not too much grease.

I don't need to use my Jacquemus to dab off this oil.

Could be a Lay's potato chip.

I think these are Lay's. [paper rustling]

Lay's. I was right.

America's classic.

You can't really mess this one up.

The industry giant when it comes to potato chips.

So, if you see like these little tiny bubbles,

that's how I know that this was fried

at a very high temperature for a short period of time.

If you have too thick of a chip,

it will absorb a lot of oil and become soggy.

If you have too thin of a chip,

it will curl up and fold upon itself,

and you won't have a nice flat chip like this.

When making chips, you have a slew of potatoes

that you can choose from.

Most commercially produced potato chips

are gonna be using the standard potato,

which is the russet potato.

Why, because easier to grow, disease resistant.

High starch, low sugar.

You want the starch because that's gonna get nice,

it's that crisp factory you're looking for,

but sugar, you want it there for flavoring

and a little bit of coloration.

So the russet is kind of that perfect,

golden child for potato.

It's pretty much bred to be a potato chip.

Lay's is that golden standard of chip.

While they do use the russet potato,

this is gonna be a little different

than one we get in the grocery store.

It's a variety of the russet potato.

It's specifically made because this is what they wanna use

and it gives them the end product they're looking for.

[paper rustling]

Utz Original. These slices are really big.

[Darrell] It is definitely thicker than most chips

that you will get in bags.

Not as good as a snap.

A little saltier. [chips crunching]

And it melts in the mouth immediately.

It's actually a very well balanced chip.

The saltiness, the potato flavor

is actually counterbalancing really well with each other.

If I had to guess, I would say this is a probably Utz Chips.

U-T-Z, Utz.

Utz. One of my favorite brands.

I love their little mascot.

This little girl, I've always liked her.

Something about her kind of just it's like, eat me, eat me.

They are an umbrella company

for so many other different brands of chips.

This is a lot of different oils at one time.

You got your cotton seed, your corn and your sunflower.

Whenever you're frying something at a high temperature,

what you want is an oil that can withstand

the temperature for a very long period of time

without dipping or fluctuating

because that can interrupt the cook

and the doneness of the chips.

At the end of the day, it is a consistent product

and it tastes pretty great too.

[chips crunching]

[Narrator] [paper rustling] Wise Original.

I didn't get that initial like potato smell.

Smaller potato.

[Bret] Probably slightly thinner as well.

Has a great crisp.

You have some folded bad boys here too.

That means like either the starch

wasn't rinsed off as thoroughly to where they kind of fold

and they can stick to each other,

or they cooking vessels they're using

is having a little bit more crowded,

so there's not much room just to lay flat.

[chips crunching]

Great mouth feel. Grease level, minimal.

We like a Picasso.

Seeing that it's on the thinner side,

I think that's why it's not as crispy

because they would have to fry it longer,

which would make the chip a lot browner than it should be.

It's not as dense as the last chip.

Potato flavor.

It's there but it's not super prominent.

But it has this subtle sweetness that I really appreciate.

I'm guessing Wise. Wise.

[paper rustling] Yay.

So I was right, it's Wise Original.

Classic brand of chips.

I mean if you're a '90s baby, then you know Wise.

I know that Wise particularly, have a thinner chip

than most companies on the market.

You can tell that it's a Wise chip

due to the curliness as you can see right here.

When it's too thin, it will fold onto itself.

This one I'm already like kind of over it.

Not for me. [can clattering]

[chips clattering] Pringles Original.

I think I know what these are just by look.

The shape is a dead giveaway.

It's way too uniform.

The curl is extremely artificial.

You can just see it.

[chips crunching] It's crunchy, yes.

I taste salt.

I'm not getting potato.

I remember- [Brittney laughing]

[Director] Do it. You have to do it, right.

Everyone did, like, the duck bill.

Like a duck. You know?

[Brittney laughing] I don't love the process

of how these chips are made.

This chip has definitely been turned

into kind of like a paste and put through an extruder

which shapes it into this particular shape

and then they cook it.

It's actually not greasy at all.

Definitely Pringles.

We're not gonna lie about this one.

I'm gonna have a can thrown at me any second

with a little man with a little bow tie.

Let's see him.

Come here, buddy.

I was right., it Pringles. With the mustache man.

Oh, not a bow tie.

What is that effect called?

The Mandela effect. I don't know.

Are these actually classified as potato chips?

They call 'em potato crisps.

Crisps.

Huh, huh?

They're all the exact same shape,

the exact same size, the exact same color.

This is like an Orwellian kind

of like nightmare a little bit.

You lose the identity of whatever product you're making

when you put it through such a vigorous production

as you would to make a Pringle.

You are gaining things like they stack well,

they travel well, they have cute little cases.

You can put 'em in your lunchbox with.

I'd just rather a real potato

that's been sliced, fried and salted.

I hate these. [paper rustling]

[Narrator] Kettle Sea Salt.

These are thick.

If I had to guess, I would say these are kettle-cooked.

Kettle-cooked tend to have a harder, rigid surface.

This has a little more personality.

Folded over here and the browning on the side a little bit.

[chips crunching] Nice crunch.

Not too salty.

I'm not too big on a potato either.

Slightly oily.

When I'm eating a kettle chip,

the first thing that comes to mind is that this is stale

because of just how hard and crispy it is.

Kettle-cooked chips are cooked in a very particular manner.

A kettle is, like, a large vat, typically made of copper.

Copper can hold heat exceptionally well

and for a longer period of time.

When you're kettle-cooking something,

the temperature dips, rises, changes constantly.

These are thicker chips.

You want that thickness because it will be able to withstand

the varying degrees of temperature.

I'm not too sure on brand,

but I would've 100% say that this is a kettle-cooked chip.

Kettle, obviously, right.

Our first kettle-chip would be Kettle.

Kettle brand potato chips, sea salt.

The chips themselves,

since they're cut thicker, will be heavier,

but also when that oil temperature changes so much,

the grease will cling onto the potatoes more

than if it was just a standard frying the entire time.

It definitely results in a harder texture.

[paper rustling] Cape Cod Original Sea Salt.

These are really cutesy. Much smaller.

They're not too oily. [chips crunching]

This is not a bad chip.

Potato flavor comes to the forefront.

Crunch is good on it.

Saltier than most kettle chips, which is amazing to me.

The oil is not overwhelming my palate.

You want your chip to be crunchy.

You want it to have that nice loud crunch.

Is this a loud crunch? [chips crunching]

The answer is yes for me.

Like, you want that type of audible,

like, ASMR like moment. [chip crunching]

Are these Cape Cod?

Cape Cod kettle chips. The perfect kettle chip.

With sea salt, so you know it's fancy,

Crunchy potatoey, perfectly salty, not too much oil.

Their oils are very, very pure in this one.

Vegetable oil, canola, sunflower, safflower,

soybean and then sea salt.

The oils themselves aren't gonna come through

and overpower this chip,

which is why you're tasting the potato on it.

Very good.

They're made with the Kennebec potato,

which is a russet variety.

They have a more pungent potato flavor.

It comes through a lot better

than your normal Idaho or Atlantic style spud.

My first kettle chip was Cape Cod

and it's what made me a believer in the first place.

I'm not saying I would go out and buy these,

but if they're in front of me, I would eat them.

[paper rustling]

[Narrator] Market Pantry Classic Potato Chips.

These have a lot of personality to 'em.

Has those air pockets. Which will tell you

that this was actually thinner

and it puffed up during the fryer process.

[chips crunching] Great crispiness.

It's pretty perfectly salted.

You're not getting a big potato punch

when you bite into your chip.

It's a little bit greasier than the rest of them.

I can feel the coating of the oil on my tongue.

I would say that this is definitely a store brand chip.

Maybe a Target. [paper rustling]

Market Pantry Classic Potato Chip.

It is the Target brand.

Even though this is Target's budget brand,

this is a decent chip.

I think with store brands they always are looking

for some type of value thing,

so sometimes you can take cuts.

In a place like Lay's, they have the ability

to really have like gigantic spaces.

They're fully invested.

They make sure all the potatoes are the same,

which gives you a more consistent product.

This one I would say like they're probably not as invested

and so you get to have a little bit

more personality in the chips, there's like folds.

They're using larger potatoes

so maybe they're getting a better deal.

The oil tastes fine to me.

Corn is one of the most neutral flavored oils

and it has a high smoke point.

It has great texture, it has great crisp,

just not too salty and it's underwhelming

as far as potato flavor. [paper rustling]

San Carlo Classic. Different shapes.

We got big ones, we got small ones.

So a little variety,

which sometimes that can affect the cooking.

Hi, guys. [chips crunching]

They have a great crisp to 'em.

It dissolves pretty easily

because of how thin they were sliced.

The potato flavor of this guy, I don't love.

Salt content is okay.

It could be a little bit more for me.

Yeah, this is a very bland chip actually.

But what I don't like is how they each eat differently.

It's not a consistent bag of chips.

And you can kind of see too,

got some real caramelization happening on 'em.

The edges right here, a lot of browning.

This is from, like, either overcooking,

it could just be oxidation from the potato

before they cooked it or it could be the sugars

that overcook and like leave a bitter of taste.

I would say that this company

is definitely using a different oil blend.

[paper rustling] This is San Carlo.

Rome, an Italian brand potato chip.

It says Italy's number one potato chip.

Doesn't taste like a potato chip to me.

Using palm oil.

So palm oil is just another one of those very neutral oils

that a lot of companies use.

It's on the cheaper side,

but one of the downsides of using palm oil

is that it's not as stable

as using a canola or vegetable oil.

[tin clattering]

[chips rustling]

[Narrator] Bonilla a la Vista Patatas Fritas.

The air pockets in these are outstanding.

These are very, like, little delicate little butterflies.

Oil is light Even in color.

[chips crunching] Great crisp.

One of the best crisps we've had on a chip so far.

Something almost tasted lemony to me for some reason.

I don't know what that was.

Terrible tasting chip though.

Not as salty.

You don't get that much oil on your fingers,

which is great.

Everything about it has this,

like, airy very like ah, quality to it.

I kind of want a little bit more like hmm

to my chips, I think.

This chip is highly flavored

from whatever oil is being used to fry it.

I wanna say that it's olive oil.

When a potato chip is, like, a pure potato chip

that like the factors are so small

between like the oil, and the potato variety, and the salt,

any little tweak could change a flavor.

I don't think this is an American made company.

Oh my god. Oh my.

[Brittney laughing]

Feel like I'm going painting with this thing.

What is this? Bonilla a la Vista.

Our main ingredient is enthusiasm?

Maybe that's what I was tasting.

Ah, sliced potatoes, olive oil, salt.

That is it.

Unfortunately, all you get is olive oil

when you eat these.

Maybe that's what lemony flavor I was tasting,

like a fruitiness from like an olive oil will give you that.

So this brand uses Galician potatoes.

Which is a Spanish potato that is gonna impart

a lot of differences from what we're used to.

That's a very rural potato

that's not used commercially around the world.

This is obviously a fancier potato chip,

with the olive oil and, like, look at this packaging

and, like, you know it's like trying to portray

this elegance to this potato chip for sure.

The high price point is probably due to the fact

that they're, one, they're using a locally produced potato

and also they're using olive oil.

I mean, that's a very expensive oil.

[paper rustling]

[Narrator] Lay's Kettle Cooked Original.

These look at first glance

like another batch of kettle chips.

[chips crunching] Extremely crispy.

The other ones were cooked a little bit harder.

I think this kettle chip

is a little lighter in flavor overall.

[Darrell] Thinner than your normal kettle chip.

This one tastes a little bit more potato forward overall.

I think the balance of salt is a little bit better

in this option.

These are not as oily as the others.

[paper rustling] Lay's Kettle Cooked.

They're the potato chip giant

so it makes sense that they making kettle-cooked chips.

Why not tap into every market

so that you can be relevant in every market?

One of the things I hate about kettle chips

is their thickness.

So the fact that Lay's took that into mind

and made a thinner kettle chip, I think they're doing right.

I think they broaden their audience by doing that.

They're good, not gonna lie,

but I do prefer the classic Lay'S chip for sure.

Not as bad.

I mean, I'll have more than one.

[Director] So what you're saying is you love kettle chips?

No. [Darrell laughing]

[paper rustling] Vandy Classic Potato Chips.

These are obviously a little darker

than the other ones we've had so far.

[Brittney] I like the caramelization look of them though.

Caramelization is whenever heat activates sugars

so the sugar granules themselves become brown,

it's the browning of sugars, which creates a sweeter flavor,

but if you go too long it becomes very burnt

and not delicious.

This is a very thick cut chip.

So just by the feel that's like super crispy.

[chips crunching] I do not like these.

This one has a little fattier content to it, I think.

This has such an astringent flavor.

Kind of like a roasty, smoky taste.

It almost say it's like a weird like old fried chicken.

Breaks down very easily in your mouth.

Don't really taste potato flavor with this one.

So far, this is definitely my least favorite potato chip.

I definitely think that this chip

is probably on the higher end of chips.

Does KFC make potato chips?

Vandy. More on the fancier side.

There's even a little butler on the back.

Cornelius Vanderbilt

accidentally invented the potato chip.

Lies.

So this is fried in beef tallow.

Ah, that's the flavor I'm getting.

Beef tallow is pretty much

just, you know, rendered beef fat.

This is what we're talking about,

like, when you have those three factors only,

potato, fat and salt.

If you move one of those levers in a weird way

it kind of overtakes everything.

Beef tallow will change the flavor of your chip

because you're imparting actual animal fat.

You have some fat that's like really good for you,

like as close to the muscle like on a rib eye,

you want that fat on it, but all the excess fat,

you're gonna trim off and it kind of has,

like this kind of like cloudy, like rippley to it.

You grind it up, melt it down.

And that's, like, really sought after

because that fat does also have a high smoke point.

The fried chicken I was tasting

is because of this beef tallow.

I'm gonna guess that this company

is not producing any beef products of any kind

so that means they're bringing in the beef tallow.

So that makes it kind of a little more

on the pricier side of things.

You can also just see,

like, how greasy this is in general.

Oil is getting all over the bag at this point.

So their beautiful packaging is now covered up

in my little fingey grease and beef tallow.

Look, it's like, like, almost like a little Jack and Rose

in the Titanic moment of, like, the hand on the thing

is kind of happening on this bag right now.

This bag like The Heart of the Ocean

can sink to the bottom of the Atlantic.

Not for me.

[paper rustling]

[Narrator] Torres Selecta Mediterranean Salt.

These chips are, like, beautifully golden.

Seems to be very small potatoes

being used at this company just 'cause.

Pretty much see through this chip.

Definitely, like, a little higher

on the grease content for sure.

Definitely can feel it. [chips crunching]

It's actually crispier than expected.

It chews, it melts, it evaporates, which is nice.

You definitely get that potato flavor in there.

The more I eat it, like, the more I can feel the oil

coating my tongue.

If I had to guess, I would say

maybe sunflower is being used in this.

Torres. Another European chip.

Mediterranean sea salt, premium potato chips.

Is this also a Spanish potato?

It's from Barcelona, Spain.

The same other Spanish potato we had earlier,

potato almost tasted different.

Ingredients, potatoes, sunflower oil, salt.

I was 1000% correct.

It's using solely sunflower oil.

You kind of get that nutty,

buttery, kind of flavor profile.

This particular brand is using Mediterranean sea salt,

which has a more pungent flavor to it.

So it's like tapping into its terroir.

While we're getting these potatoes here,

we're using the sunflower oil,

we're actually using the salt from the Mediterranean.

It's kind of like an all encompassing chip.

[paper rustling] Lay's Baked Original.

We are now in the baked zone.

These are baked potato chips. This is not a real potato.

I could just tell by the way it looks.

Pringle-esque.

[Darrell] The very uniform shape amongst all the chips.

They just kind of look how they're gonna taste,

which is gonna be healthier,

but also like kind of cardboardy.

Not crispy at all.

Virtually no oil coming off of this.

The baking process is you're gonna leave it

with a more of a dry mouthfeel.

[chips crunching] That is sweet.

That's not what I look forward to when I'm eating a chip.

Turned to, like, dust,

almost the second it goes into mouth.

Crunchy, yes, but dissolves extremely fast.

Not a lot of potato flavor.

I don't think these were fried.

There's like an absence of oil.

With a fry, you're gonna fully submerge

your potatoes into oil and it's a hot temperature.

If this is a pure dry cooking method, baking,

it just has radiant heat that hits it using convection,

which means airflow is also added to the process.

Is this the Lay's baked chip?

I would say this is Lay's baked.

Is this the Lay's baked?

I was right, Lay's baked chips.

A hundred percent crispy goodness.

The benefit from baked chips is that you get less fat.

This one is, like, health conscious and worries about you,

but is not gonna be fun at parties.

I personally would just eat a regular bag of chips,

but just in lesser quantities.

It's no for me, dawg.

[paper rustling] Zapp's Regular.

Surprise surprise, more kettle-cooked chips.

So many different shapes of chips here.

It's definitely on the thinner side

for kettle-cooked chips. [chips crunching]

These are tasty.

Super crunch on these guys for sure.

I'm actually surprised at how much flavor it has.

Very natural flavor too. I'm tasting a lot of potato.

Perfectly salted for my taste buds.

I love these. Definitely not over oily.

I definitely would say

that they're using a different oil to fry these.

I think there's gonna be some sort of,

like, vegetable or seed oil. Delicious and buttery.

Oh my God, I'm embarrassed.

On behalf of all of my family back in New Orleans,

I'm so sorry, I should have known this one right away.

Zapp's, I know these guys.

Little crawfish baby up here,

holding this little potato chip.

Fleur-de-lis all over it. Oh, peanut oil.

Utz ended up buying the Zapp's potato chip.

How many chip brands do you guys need, Utz?

This is, for me, like, my benchmark on a good kettle chip.

[paper rustling] Kitchen Cooked Classic.

These look strange to me.

I don't know what it is.

Not too oily, which is always a good thing.

[chips crunching]

It kind of has like this dull crunch to it,

which I'm not a fan of.

So these like melt nicely, very salty.

I feel like the potato flavor

kind of gets lost in the kettle-cooking process.

These feel a little bit more,

I don't wanna say lower quality, but I just did.

Classic potato chips Kitchen Cooked.

Never heard of this brand.

They got absorbed into the Utz company.

Should I start my own chip brand

for Utz to pick me up too?

So with cotton, palm, peanut, a lot of oil flavoring,

it's kind of overtaking things over here.

It's a hard no for me on these.

I'm not, like, angry at this guy.

Anytime there's a little mascot on it,

I'm not gonna be mad at it.

And they got a little cute little kettle

who's like feeding himself potatoes.

I think we're all this little potato kettle

at some point in our lives.

[paper rustling]

Terra Blues with Sea Salt. They're so different.

So these are definitely purple potatoes.

Sweet potato varietal.

A chip like this using a sweet potato

or another type of tuber kinda makes you feel

like you're doing something fancier.

Virtually no oil is coming off on my finger,

which is great. [chips crunching]

The sweetness for me gets a little bit overwhelming

and overpowering.

It's not as earthy as a russet potato would be.

This is a super bland chip, extremely under seasoned.

I forget the name of the brands.

I could see the bag right now.

They come in the black bag.

Terra vegetable chips, blue potato.

Real vegetable chips with sea salt.

I barely taste any salt on these chips whatsoever.

The color kind of throws me off.

When you see a purple blue potato,

you automatically think it's gonna be sweet.

I would not be mad if someone handed these to me,

but would not be my first pick.

[paper rustling]

[Narrator] Miss Vickie's Sea Salt Potato Chips.

Back to regularly scheduled programming.

These first glance look to be kettle.

I've never smelled a chip that smelled burnt before.

[chips crunching] Whoa, powerful crunch.

I can almost, like, not really taste potato in these

because it's so salty.

Slightly oily, nothing too bad.

I can't use it as lip gloss so that's a great sign.

Not a fan.

These might be the saltiest ones I've had so far.

I do need some water though.

Sometimes I feel like companies would use

over salt in their product to kind of hide the fact

that it's not a very high quality product

that they're using. What you trying to hide?

Miss Vickie's Sea Salt Original.

We could ease up on a salt, please.

These have this, like, nice golden color throughout them.

Higher temperatures in the oil

and the longer time the chip is in there

can lead to more browning in color.

I usually love Miss Vickie's.

This is so sad for me. [paper rustling]

[Narrator] Hal's New York Kettle Chips Original Sea Salt.

Seems like a standard crispy chip.

Larger in size. Almost as big as my head.

[chips crunching] Very strong crunch.

Of all the chips I've had, this one has the most flavor.

This one kind of reminds me

of that Lay's kettle we had earlier.

Salt is pretty balanced as far as with the chip.

Not too big on the potato flavor.

Not getting a lot of residue on me

so, like, oil wise is not bad.

Hal's from New York, baby.

You see these in just about every bodega in the city.

Hal's is like no frills, no hiding, no excess anything.

It's just pretty straightforward, but like done well.

I respect Hal's.

[paper rustling]

[Narrator] Good & Gather Kettle Cooked.

I know these are kettle. Nice Snap for sure.

[Brittney] These are a lot more golden.

So either sugar content, or frying time

or temperature on this guy.

Not too greasy. [chips crunching]

The crispiness is nice.

Another salty one. Potato flavor is there.

It's not as pungent as I would like it to be.

Weird aftertaste. This is a store brand.

Good & Gather. Target brand again.

Kettle-cooked sea salt potato chips.

Good & Gather is a little bit more elevated.

Very similar to the Lay's potato kettle chips.

I find that when they're on a thinner side

I tend to enjoy them more.

This is, you know, standard, affordable, decent chip.

[paper rustling]

Wegmans Kettle Cooked. Definitely crispy.

You get a good break when you're breaking it.

It's natural type of cut.

You can see some skin on it. It's not too oily.

[chips crunching] Good snap, decent crunch.

This is one of the first kettle chips that I've had

where you could taste

that it's actually a potato that you're eating.

Could use a scooch more salt.

Mouth wise, like I'm not getting a lot of,

like oil slick action happening by any means.

I'm gonna go with avocado oil perhaps in this.

I feel like this could be an off brand.

Weggies.

AKA Wegmans. [Brittney laughing]

This bag is a lot of fun.

It's tie dye, which is a vibe.

And it's made with avocado oil.

The special things about avocado oil

is one, it has a high smoke point.

It could take higher temperatures

better than a lot of other oils.

Less saturated fat, stuff like that.

And the taste is virtually non-existent

so you can use it in a lot of different applications

without having to worry about the flavor

of the actual oil in the dish.

It's a good backup dancer as it were for the oils.

[paper rustling] Siete Sea Salt.

Natural cut on these guys.

Having the skin on.

Texture feels really nice.

It breaks really well.

[chips crunching] I love a crunchy chip.

I'm not getting any potato. But it's kind of clean.

Very lightly salted, not a lot of flavor.

Siete.

Sea salt potato chips made with avocado oil.

It's not giving me that buttery richness

that the other avocado oil kettle chip did.

[paper rustling]

[Narrator] Kettle Sea Salted with Pink Peppercorn.

What are these speckles on here?

[Darrell] They're seasoned with something other than salt.

I might have potato hallucinations at this point,

but I'm seeing little tiny things going on.

Very hard texture.

It breaks clean though,

which makes me know that it was a even cook.

[chips crunching]

That's what we like to call flavor.

Wow, what about palette cleanser.

That is not just sea salt. It's, like, oniony.

There's, like, definitely

some type of pepper action happening.

It's definitely kettle-cooked.

It's not too oily.

Salt, almost perfect.

But the flavor, I'm not mad at.

That's the money maker right there.

There's a bit of umami flavor to it.

Oniony, garlicy.

Don't feel greasy.

Crunch is nice.

The Kettle brand.

Made with avocado oil, sea salt

and a hint of pink peppercorn.

So pink peppercorn, but also the garlic powder,

onion powder, yeast extract,

which kinda gives that umami flavor.

But it doesn't taste peppery at all.

I think the pink peppercorn part of this

is more of a marketing ploy than anything else.

For me, this seasoning is so subtle,

it doesn't constitute like a flavored chip,

like if you were to have, like, barbecue

where it just like really [Brittney clapping]

smash you across the face.

It's like these small little speckles.

Whereas like if it's a flavored chip,

you'd see the whole coating on one side

where you could barely see the potato itself.

When you have an aisle that's full of bags,

you gotta do everything you can

to make people wanna grab your bag over everybody else.

Big fan. [paper rustling]

[Narrator] Trader Joe's Dark Russet.

You burnt them.

Y'all handed me a burnt potato chip.

They smell burnt.

They almost smell like mapley,

which tells me that there is a high sugar content in this.

They definitely fried this.

But I hope that it doesn't have

that weird burnt taste to it.

[chips crunching] Oh my god.

Uh-uh. That tastes burnt.

Sorry.

Is there a brand purposely over cooking chips?

Okay, ugh.

So this is what happens

when you cook potato chips too long,

and the sugar begins to get burnt and not caramelized.

I'm gonna say it was on purpose,

but yeah, I'm not a fan of these.

Mm-mm. I don't know if I had

just one really bad chip.

So hold on, before I say what I'm about to say,

lemme just eat one more.

What's crazy is that it's getting worse

as the time goes by.

No, this is the worst chip I've had so far today.

Burn it in a fire.

I don't know if you can burn it more.

Do people eat these? It's a no.

I'm so sorry to whatever company this is.

Trader Joe's is gonna be my guess.

Dark russet, Trader Joe's.

So I was right, they are Trader Joe's.

Trader Joseph, what are you doing?

Are they calling it dark russet

because they cook it till it's really dark?

I'm gonna have therapy after this bag.

Cooked longer.

This must be one of those trendy things.

Maybe I'm not hip, bet, fam.

You know, chat, smash it down in the comments below

what y'all think about dark russet chips.

What happens when you burn sugar?

It becomes bitter, right?

And that's what you get in these chips.

Thank you, but no thank you.

[paper rustling] Utz Dark Russets.

This looks like another dark russet variety.

No, thank you.

Not as dark as the previous entry,

but still on the way darker side than a chip should be.

[chips crunching]

Ah, so this is what Trader Joe's Dark Russets

want to taste like.

That's caramelization, that's good.

Salt was nice, good snap.

This gives like the bottom of the bag French fries

where it's, like, delicious, crunchy.

You could still taste the potato.

Fantastic.

This is okay.

This is still a good level.

It's there without being crazy overdone.

That's my guys, it's Utz. Dark Russet.

It's one of the giants, you know?

If they're gonna do something,

they're gonna make sure and do it right.

So this is the one from Utz

and this is the one from Trader Joe's.

To me, this was really, really too dark.

You can see, just by like the time you're cooking,

like how much sugar begins to caramelize,

and how much that can change the flavor of it.

There's a little sweet at the front,

a little bitter at the end.

I like it.

I mean there is a fine little tap dance

between being burnt and charred.

It's literally a 5 to 10 degree difference.

[paper rustling]

[Narrator] Graza Extra Virgin Olive Oil.

Very, very thin.

Very, very brittle.

[chips crunching] Very crispy, I like it.

So light, so airy, you're getting potato.

This is my preferred level of salt on a chip.

Definitely more oil forward than the last two I've had.

Different oils can impart different colors.

This is probably one of the prettier chips

I've seen today.

Is this olive oil? The name of the chip

is called Graza.

It's a huge, like, very trendy, olive oil right now.

That I personally use in my kitchen.

So this is a extra virgin olive oil potato chip.

I mean they're right, extra crispy, it sure is.

Product of Spain. Oh, it's slow fried.

So the approach with this company

might be very similar to cooking kettle chips,

small batches.

Only difference that varies

is that they're doing theirs low and slow

versus kettle chips where they're doing

it kind of like high and fast.

So when you slow fry something, you're allowing the oil

to pretty much seep into that ingredient.

No, it's not oily in texture, but when you eat it,

it definitely comes forward more.

These are those Galician potatoes,

which are that same Spanish variety of potato.

So it's gonna have that same terroir of potato from Spain

and the slightly different variety from our russets.

Would recommend and I would definitely try again.

[paper rustling]

[Narrator] Snyders of Berlin Original.

Very run of the mill looking chip.

It's a very light chip. Different size.

Got some folds on them so they're not like perfectly made,

which is nice, you know? [chips crunching]

Definitely back to regular plain chips.

It's like lightly crispy

where you're not getting the loud crunches.

Not very salty, not much residue coming off on my fingers.

You taste the potato.

It has, like, a weird aftertaste.

Maybe store brand, regular plain potato chips.

Danke schon. Snyder of Berlin.

Of Berlin.

PA, oh Pennsylvania, interesting.

Yet another brand that's been absorbed

by big potato chip, Utz.

So they're using a blend of cotton seed,

corn, canola, sunflower and safflower.

It could be the mix of the sunflower and safflower

that's giving it a little bit of a bitter taste to it.

Unfortunately, a slightly forgettable potato chip.

I don't know if I would even remember having this one.

[paper rustling]

[Narrator] Whole Foods Organic Sea Salt.

The color tone on these are perfectly golden.

[chip snapping] Great snap.

Wow, look at that one.

Like, a little Pac-Man action happened.

[Bret imitating Pac-Man]

Not too greasy. [chips crunching]

It has a great crunch.

The potato flavor is like kind of muted.

It's there, but it's not there.

But I also wouldn't say,

like, it's like overly salty either.

Aftertaste.

This isn't for me, a crushable chip.

Sorry, not sorry.

365 Whole Foods.

Organic Sea Salt Potato Chips.

You guys can do better than this.

That's a very Whole Foodsy thing to do

with saying like organic and sea salt.

A lot of people, they see organic

and they automatically pick it up because of that.

But is it really good for you?

Debatable.

[paper rustling] Herr's Crisp 'N Tasty.

Your standard fried potato right here.

It's a thin, thin, thin chip.

Not too oily. [chips crunching]

Decent crunch.

Not very big on the potato flavor.

Salt is there.

Could be balanced a little bit more.

It's not hitting any flavor notes.

[paper rustling] Huh, Herr's.

So I'm actually surprised this is Herr's.

A lot of chips made in PA. Crisp 'N Tasty.

It's crisp but it ain't tasty.

I feel like Herr's was better than this when I was a kid.

Another one of those like Lay's esque potato chips,

what they're trying to do here.

I feel like this chip just falls flat

on a lot of different criteria.

[paper rustling] Great Value Salted Original.

Not as golden as I would like, but still pretty.

[chips crunching] A very plain chip.

Instead of having clean snap,

it's like, like crumbles into your hands.

The salt is there though.

They salt it nicely.

I'm not getting a lot of,

like, potato flavors when I eat this.

It's a little oily.

There's nothing standing out for this.

It's just a regular chip.

I'm stumped here because it tastes familiar.

I think this is a Great Value.

Walmart? Here we are.

Great Value, Walmart indeed.

Classic chips.

You have so much leeway with them,

like, they don't have to be astounding,

they don't have to stand out.

If you have a lower quality ingredient,

sometimes you will, like, raise the volume on something else

to kind of quiet and hide the poor quality ingredient.

So either by over cooking

and making it darker flavors or over salting.

Those are all practices used by potato chip companies

in order to fix certain things

that they might find slacking in certain departments.

[paper rustling]

[Narrator] Trader Joe's Ode to the Classic.

Very fun in different shapes, strong variety over here.

A little bit light on the fry.

It's not as golden. [chips crunching]

That was a weak crunch.

I can taste potato. Good salt.

But it is definitely flavored

by whatever oil it was fried in.

It's another unintentional chip.

I'm gonna go with a store brand.

Is this Trader Joe's version, just not burnt?

Trader Joe's. I don't know, man.

Every Trader Joe's chip I've had so far

has just not been to my liking.

Ode to the Classic Potato Chip.

So I think there's something to be said

about staying the course of being in the middle,

where you're not too salty, or you're not too sweet,

or you're not too bitter.

They're not revolutionizing the potato chip game.

But yeah, this is down the road, classic, reliable.

I'm not gonna take it to prom,

but, you know, like, it's solid, yeah.

Good for you Trader Joseph.

[Narrator] Now let's see, which potato chips

our experts liked the most and the least.

Tasted a lot of chips today.

I think overall, my favorites had to standby.

You know, you can't beat your classic Lay's potato chip.

It is like the gold standard of potatoes.

Obviously, Lay's is always gonna be one of my favorites,

just for nostalgia purposes.

Perfectly crisp, but has the density,

salt content is perfectly balanced,

not too greasy, but keeps you coming back for more.

It's just a solid chip.

They did a great job with their kettle chip too, honestly.

Like, I was surprised I never had it.

I'm a kettle chip guy

and, like, I really, really appreciated that one.

Cape Cod is a classic kettle chip as well.

Salt content's there, crispiness is there.

Another one of my favorites

was the Kettle brand pink peppercorn.

Flavor on top of flavor

without really taking away from the chip itself,

and for me, that's powerful and it says a lot

about the product that they pushed out there.

So the ones that I didn't like the most

was definitely the Trader Joe's version

of the dark russet potato chips.

Just way too dark,

couldn't taste the potato flavor at all.

Get 'em outta here.

I don't like over-produced things

and Pringles is definitely in that category

of being overproduced.

Pringles aren't even a chip, it's just a hodgepodge

of different ingredients molded together

Kind of tastes like, you know, potato powder in a can.

Walking down an aisle of chips

can be a little daunting and overwhelming,

but three factors, that's all you really, really truly need.

You have your potatoes,

you have your frying oil and your salt.

They are one of those snacks

that goes with every occasion no matter what it is.

Pick what works for you.

For me, I would get the, like, a pure, honest potato chip.

There's nothing wrong with the classic Lay's.

If you're looking for something more health conscious,

they have that.

But be aware and be careful of the gimmicky things

they're trying to get you with.

Honest, clean potatoes at the end

is really what you're looking for.

[gentle music]