Smoked Potato Chips
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Who would have thought that something like smoked potato chips would be so amazingly good? I just had to try it and, as luck would have it, it worked out and the smoke flavor does something to the potato chips that you just have to experience for yourself.
- Prep Time: 3 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Smoker Temp: 180°F
- Recommended Wood: A mix of mesquite and cherry*
*I used the REC TEC Bull for this project and this is the blend I chose to use for all of them. It was a great choice!
- 1 or more bags of regular classic potato chips (I used Lays® brand)
- Spray cooking oil
- Jeff's original rub
Open the bag of potato chips and pour them into Weber grill pans or a large sheet pan.
If you don't have the Weber grill pans yet, then order some today.. they are all kinds of handy to have and the slots on the bottom let just enough smoke through without letting smaller items fall though not to mention they are made of very heavy duty stainless steel.
Pour the chips into the pan but make sure the smoke can get to all of them. Use two pans if necessary.
If you want to put some of my Jeff's original rub on them, spray them with the cooking oil so the rub will stick better then apply the rub to them generously on one side only.
The potato chips are now ready for the smoker.
Setup your smoker to maintain indirect heat of around 180°F or lower if possible. You do NOT need heat, only smoke, however, a little heat will not hurt them.
Once the smoke is going, place the pan(s) of chips into the smoker and close the lid.
Leave them alone for 45 minutes and try to not raise the lid until they are finished for maximum smoke flavor.
When the time has expired, remove them from the smoker and bring them into the house to cool.
The smoked potato chips are delicious warm so you can eat them right away. Once they are cooled down, place them into zipper bags for storage.
Smoked Potato Chips
Ingredients
- 1 or more bags of regular classic potato chips (I used Lays® brand)
- Spray cooking oil
- Jeff's original rub
Instructions
Step 1: Into Pan
- Open the bag of potato chips and pour them into one or more Weber grill pans or a large sheet pan.
- If you want to put some of my Jeff's original rub on them, spray them with the cooking oil so the rub will stick better then apply the rub to them generously on one side only.
- The potato chips are now ready for the smoker.
Step 2: Smoke
- Setup your smoker to maintain indirect heat of around 180°F or lower if possible. You do NOT need heat, only smoke, however, a little heat will not hurt them.
- Once the smoke is going, place the pan(s) of chips into the smoker and close the lid.
- Leave them alone for 45 minutes and try to not raise the lid until they are finished for maximum smoke flavor.
- When the time has expired, remove them from the smoker and bring them into the house to cool.
Step 3: Devour
- The smoked potato chips are delicious warm so you can eat them right away. Once they are cooled down, place them into zipper bags for storage.
We used regular Lays potato chips, and seasoned with the original rub. Smoked for 45 minutes with oak\hickory blend. Strong smoke aroma to them. Everyone in our group gave them the thumbs up! Would definitely do again.
I tried these this past weekend on my Campchef Woodwind. They were okay. I did prefer the ones seasoned with Jeff’s BBQ rub as it closely resembled a bbq chip you could pick up at the store. Luckily these were pretty low effort because I don’t think I’d do them again if it required any more.
I have been making these for some time with the Waverly Potato chips. Wonderful! i also smoke purple grapes, no heat, just smoke. They’re to die for. Nice on a cheese tray. Men love them. Women not as much!
We tried some of these last week and they were really good. I think depending of the chip and the amount of smoke flavor you’re looking for is going to determine the amount of time you want to smoke each one.
We did this over the weekend. Wow, those chips were tasty. We used hickory only and I left them on the smoker for an hour. While good, the smoke flavor was a bit strong. I will do this again and try for just 30 minutes as I think that will be even better. Other wood flavors will be interesting to try as well.
Just thinking out loud, I wonder if using plain chips with no rub and different wood flavors will be a good way to represent the different woods. If so, this would be an excellent way for a vendor to market and sell the different flavors. I find most people don’t taste a difference in the woods on meats as the rub and meat flavor is so good.
Jeff, I tried smoking potato chips yesterday using my A-maze-n pellet smoker with a Maple Cherry Hickory blend. There is no heat involved using this product. After 45 minutes the chips had no smoke flavor. I was using a bag of Cape Cod potato chips. I added more pellets and had to smoke over an hour in order to get the smoke flavor into the chips.
Then they were goooood. I am guessing the brand of chips I used were very crisp right out of the bag which required longer smoke time.
I made them with and without your rub. Some of the chips with the rub had a little too much rub and that tended to over power the smoke flavor but were still good. It was fun experimenting. Now to go put another batch of chips into the smoker.
Pretty much all potatoes and certainly the potato chips commercially sold are GMO so I have sworn them off. I do grow my own sweet potatoes though and might try smoking some sweet potato fries. You see, you can enjoy smoked treats without making yourself sick.