The perfect potato for perfect chips

Why not every potato makes a good chipping potato

30 April 2021

If you read our blog on the history of the potato, then you’ll already know that there are thousands of different varieties of potato around the world.

So which is best for chipping?

Whether you need chippy chips, steakcut chips, skinny chips, regular chips or wedges, the perfect potato needs a high starch content - like a Maris Piper (which has been the UK’s favourite potato for more than half a century) or a King Edward.

Why?

It’s the amount of moisture in a potato, which varies wildly from one variety to another.

A good chip needs to be a dry, floury type with a higher starch content. The starch gives the potato its soft, particularly high dry-matter content, and that makes it good for the perfect chip texture: firm on the outside and fluffy in the middle.

Our potatoes are all British grown and our supplier – Isle of Ely - has more than 40 years’ experience of growing, trading and marketing potatoes.

The high starch content in potatoes means they are a good source of nutrition for us. Potatoes provide energy, fibre, B vitamins and potassium.

Although potatoes only contain a small amount of vitamin C, we generally eat a lot of them in the UK, so that helps provide our Vitamin C as well.

According to the Eatwell Guide, starchy foods – including potatoes, bread, rice, pasta, and cereals – should make up just over a third of the food we eat. If we keep the peel on (for wedges, for example) there is even more fibre, which can help us feel full and keep our bowels healthy.

Different varieties of potato also grow best at different times of the year. For example, nearer Christmas, Rooster is an important potato variety for chips, whereas a good summer chip is the ‘Abbot’. Another popular variety is Cara, which is resistant to blight. It is a dry, floury variety that is good for chips.

We only use the best here at The Real Fresh Chip Co. Let us worry about sourcing the right potatoes for the job whilst you continue to delight your customers with fabulous chips

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