Assembly Line

How potato chips are made

Chip potatoes are picked for low sugar, because sugar would scorch the slices brown in the fryer.

stations
7
things upstream
15
raw sources
10
steps from the ground
4

The short version

Potatoes are washed, peeled and sliced paper-thin, then rinsed to remove surface starch. The slices ride through a bath of hot oil on a conveyor or are stirred in batch kettles. After frying, they are drained, salted and seasoned, then bagged with nitrogen to keep them crisp and unbroken.

  1. Wash and peel the potatoes

    Potatoes tumble in washers that scrub off soil and abrasive rollers that remove the skin. Chip potatoes are chosen for high solids and low sugar so they brown golden and do not scorch.

    Goes in
    PotatoesWater

  2. Slice them very thin

    A spinning head pushes the potatoes against blades, and thin slices fly off. Some brands use ridged blades for a wavy chip.

  3. Rinse off the starch

    Slices are rinsed with cold water. Without rinsing, loose starch would glue the chips together in the fryer. Batch makers rinse for the same reason.

  4. Fry in hot oil

    In a continuous process, the slices are carried through a vat of hot oil on a conveyor. In the older batch process for kettle chips, slices were fried at a low temperature of about 150 °C and raked constantly to prevent sticking.

    about 150 °C for kettle batches

    Goes in
    Vegetable oil

  5. Shake off the oil

    Chips leave the fryer on a mesh belt and drain. Crisp chips are carefully watched for dark spots, since fried and baked potatoes at high temperatures produce acrylamide.

  6. Salt and season

    Chips tumble in a slowly turning drum while salt and seasoning powder are dusted over them. Flavors such as ketchup can be added in the same drum.

    Goes in
    Table salt

  7. Bag with nitrogen

    Weighers drop each portion into a bag. Nitrogen is flushed through, which cushions the chips and keeps oxygen away.

    Goes in
    Nitrogen gas
End of the linePotato chips

Worth repeating

  • The earliest known potato chip recipe is in William Kitchiner's 1817 cookbook The Cook's Oracle.
  • The popular story of George Crum inventing chips at Saratoga Springs is today known to be untrue.

Back to the ground

Follow every input upstream and potato chips starts as these 10 raw sources.

PotatoesWaterSoybeansRapeseedClayRock saltSeawaterAirCrude oilNatural gas

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Coconut milk 6 stations · 22 raw sources Champagne 8 stations · 22 raw sources Laundry detergent 7 stations · 18 raw sources Root beer 5 stations · 19 raw sources Steel 6 stations · 12 raw sources Propane 5 stations · 2 raw sources

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Sources

Cite this page: "How potato chips are made." Assembly Line, 2026-11-03. https://assemblyline.org/make/potato-chips

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