Cooking Potato Chips in the Microwave

Is it just me, or does the idea of hot, fresh potato chips from your microwave just sound too good to be true? 

Growing up, my wonderful mother would occasionally make homemade chips by deep-frying them.  I don't have a deep-fryer, but I do have a microwave!

I hosted a Pampered Chef party earlier this year and one of the demos was potato chips made using their Microwave Chip Maker, these handy silicone plates with holes in them.  It got me wondering... do I really need a pair of fancy plates? Would a regular ol' Corelle plate do the trick?

After a Google search, some YouTube videos and some Pinterest exploring, I became pretty confident that I could give this a try without needing to spend $25ish for a special tool.  I just needed a microwave safe plate, a potato, peeling/cutting tools, cooking spray and some salt.

I played around in the kitchen with this idea and I learned quite a bit:

I figured out that homemade, microwave potato chips are kinda like microwave popcorn -- the time can vary from batch to batch.  However, all my batches cooked between 2:15 and 3:00 minutes. 
If I used a microwave safe plate and I didn't use cooking spray, then the potato starch acted like glue and I had to soak my plate to get the potato slices off.  I recommend that you SPRAY GENEROUSLY.  Just trust me on this one.

When I used very little cooking spray on the plate and just placed the potato slices on the plate to let the slices cook in its own moisture, then the chips reminded me of Pringles.  If I gave the potato slices a coating of Canola oil (either in a bowl before putting them on the plate, or by spraying them with my Canola oil cooking spray while on the plate), then my chips reminded me more of Lays.

Arrange the potato slices in a single layer.  This helps them cook evenly.

Salting the chips before going in the microwave made for a more uniform salt flavor than salting after cooking.

Cook them until they are crisp... they aren't very good if undercooked.

If I undercooked my chips, I could just throw them back in the microwave and cook them longer and they worked just fine.  I found this out because my microwave decided to stop working on me for about 5 minutes or so (which it does when overworked...) and so I had to wait to finish cooking a batch.

I tried a couple different thicknesses for slicing my potato.  I think that thinner is better with these. I have a Pampered Chef "Simple Slicer" that I used for the slicing and preferred the "1" setting.  A YouTube video I watched used a vegetable peeler to slice their potato, and I believe that got a very similar thickness.

Don't feel limited to just salt either.  I have a McCormick Barbeque seasoning that I like on pork chops, so I decided to give that try, and it made pretty good BBQ potato chips!

I'm not saying that these will completely replace Lays or Kettle Brand Potato Chips in my heart... but if I'm looking for a quick and easy way to get a salty carb fix... and I want a very inexpensive indulgence... I will definitely make these Microwave Potato Chips again!

The Recipe:

Microwave Potato Chips

 

1 Russet Potato

Canola Oil Cooking Spray

Salt/Seasoning to taste

 

Peel potato.  Generously spray a microwave safe plate with canola oil. Slice the peeled potato in very thin slices using a mandolin, knife, or potato peeler.  Arrange potato slices in a single layer on the oiled plate.  If desired, spray the top of the potato slices with canola oil and sprinkle with salt and/or seasoning (recommended). Microwave on high for 2 to 3 minutes, or until crisp.