Hamburgers and Homemade Potato Chips

I had a BBQ epiphany this weekend while reading up on BBQ'ing and things that go well with BBQ.

So here it is: you don't have to grill everything over direct heat 100% of the time. (This is somewhat akin to the idea that not everything on the stovetop needs to be heated on high.)

For some of you BBQ aficionados this might be ho-hum news, but for me it was truly a revelation. I grilled hamburgers (the best I've ever made) for my family's July 4th celebration by grilling over direct heat for maybe five minutes per side to get the nice grill marks, then moved the meat away from the direct heat for the remainder of the grill time. Yum!

I also lathered them with homemade BBQ sauce, but I think the real reason they were great was because I didn't scorch them on the grill :).

I don't make everything from scratch, but some things are just mucho better homemade and I've decided that potato chips is one of them. My family has become hooked on my homemade potato chips; six people polished off six pounds of potatoes during yesterday's meal no problemo.

Here's my thoughts on the secrets to great homemade potato chips:

1. Soak the sliced potatoes for 2-3 hours before frying to remove the starch. No starch = crispy chips.

2. Fry at the proper temperature. Don't be shy about waiting until the oil is appropriately heated (385 degrees for my fryer) before tossing in the spuds. If you fry at a lower temperature, the potato will absorb the oil making for a very greasy chip. Thus, hot oil = crispy chips (and, possibly, a new food addiction).

3. The hard part is peeling the potatoes. Assign this job to a teenager :).

Posted: Tue - July 5, 2005 at 02:41 PM

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Hamburgers and Homemade Potato Chips

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