2 BULLETIN 1055, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
made te study commercial varieties systematically, but a number of 
the varieties from the departmental collection were tested during 
the course of the three years. These included several varieties from 
each of Stuart’s! eleven groups or families. All of these potatoes 
were grown by the Office of Horticultural.and Pomological Investi- 
gations on the State Experimental Farm at Presque Isle, Aroostook 
County, Me. Cultural and weather conditions varied somewhat dur- 
ing the seasons, but the comparison between different varieties is 
substantially correct, especially between tubers grown in any one 
year. The potatoes were shipped to Washington each fall and kept 
in cold storage at the Arlington Experimental Farm until needed. 
The general results obtained in the cooking tests have been sum- 
marized and are presented here. 
EXPERIMENTAL METHODS OF MAKING POTATO CHIPS. 
In starting these tests it was first of all important to determine 
the best methods of making chips, the most satisfactory frying me- 
dium, and the most efficient equipment to use. The Green Moun- 
tain variety of potato was taken as the standard of comparison. The 
methods employed naturally had to be those adapted to home rather 
than to commercial usage, because of laboratory limitations in equip- 
ment and supphes; but it was intended to make the tests comply 
with commercial practices in so far as it was possible. 
The following recipe for potato chips by Farmer? was used as a 
basis for the investigation: 
Wash and pare potatoes. Slice thinly (using a vegetable slicer) into a bow: 
of cold water. Let stand two hours, changing water twice. Drain, plunge 
in a kettle of boiling water, and boil one minute. Drain again and cover with. 
cold water. Take from water and dry between towels. Fry in deep fat until 
light brown. keeping in motion with a skimmer. Drain on brown paper and 
sprinkle with salt. 
The partial cooking in boiling water was supposed to keep the 
potato from absorbing much of the fat in which it was fried, result- 
ing in a less greasy product and was, of course, a slightly more eco- 
nomical one, as less grease was consumed. The recipe was followed, 
with variations, during the preliminary work in 1914-15. Though 
good chips were secured, the method was not found to be entirely 
satisfactory, as it entailed too much labor. <A study of the methods 
in use In commercial plants demonstrated that the hot-water bath 
was neither practicable nor necessary. The problem was to produce 
1 Stuart, William. Group classification and varietal descriptions of some American 
potatoes., U. S. Dept. Agr. Bul. 176, 56 p., 19 pl. 1915. 
? Farmer, Fannie Merritt. The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book ... p. 3814. Boston, 
1917. 
