How It’s Made : Inside a French Potato Chip Factory 

I like how they didn't just say "nope can't be done, takes proprietary secrets" they actually explained the science behind why it was so difficult to re-create them at home. They gave you just enough info to give you a decent shot at pulling it off.

I love that the CEO is so technically knowledgable and not just a finance person.

Oh boy. Is this gonna be like the dried pasta series? Is he going to make a machine? Is this going to be an 8 video series?

Giving him 10 potatoes as he walked out the door cost them, less than nothing. But what a kind and fair gesture to do nonetheless. Top marks to Brets for being classy.

So the technique I learned from working in a restaurant was to: Mandolin potatoes quite thick Bring a 3% salt solution to a boil and pour over the cut potatoes Let sit 1 hour Fry at 140-150 until pale and crispy, stirring the chips often Season with salt and msg Optionally dry in a low oven for a couple hours to drive out excess oil and increase crispiness

The fact that these people allowed you into their space, and shared just enough knowledge for you to get started at home, AND THEN went ahead and gave you a couple of "Chip" potatoes to give you a genuine shot at this, is incredible beyond measure. I never would have thought a company would share what they did, knowing it would come to RU-vid. "Bret's" of to you, Bret's.

Two ideas I had watching this: * Beef tallow doesn't degrade with use like vegetable oils. * Since water content of the potato is a problem, I'd try using a Food dehydrator before frying.

Brets are, hands down, the best tasting potato chips I’ve ever had. Every flavour is genuine and is exactly what the bag says it’s going to taste like. They are crispy, not oily or tasting of chemicals, and just a delight to eat. Get them If you can.

I think your factory/professional facility tours are some of the best videos you have produced. You always have such a unique perspective since you're visiting factories that produce things you have also tried to produce. You bring your own experience, be it good practices you learned or refined or faulty methods you were experimenting with and are able to really digest what goes on in production and ask precise, well thought out questions, gleaning a wealth of valuable information from the people who have the experience to accomplish what you are attempting. I really enjoy being brought along with you for the tours 😊

Alex... You know what I love about your content and your channel? You're not pretentious. You don't pretend to be amazing (although your fanbase would agree that your talents are extraordinary) but you advertise what you believe in: an ordinary (although talented) man doing what he loves and expanding his arsenal by learning from the best, and using this knowledge to better himself and what he loves. You're a true inspiration to me and to millions who view your content. Salut❤

In my late teens to early 20s I worked at a pub that cut their own chips from mealy russet potatoes. There were 2 guys there that had different schools of thought about chips, and it just boiled down to thickness for them, and I took it upon myself to be like "This can't be right the thin ones get clumpy, the thick ones get dark before they're crisp, why is this even a thing, do they like suffering?" Did a little research and heard things about a low-temp fry, but they called it blanching in the reddit thread or wherever I read it. Being in my early 20s and near obsessive about food service without any proper guidance, I only heard of blanching in respect to a brief boil in water followed by an ice shock, so I did that. Turns out that works PRETTY GOOD. At least with mealy inherently low-sugar russet varieties, and I think it has something to do with sugars' solubility in water, starch gelatinization, low-temp moisture-loss on a cellular level from being pre-cooked before frying, and accidental micro-cavitation from the soft potatoes rubbing up against each other in the 5 gallon buckets of ice-water post-blanch. Anyway, those turned out REAL close to store-bought. Knowing you've got their secret weapon potatoes, all these extra steps probably won't be necessary at all, but to anyone trying this out there with civilian potatoes, that should give you decent results. Also, things to consider: Acids like DWV slow pectin breakdown in vegetables, and also slow Maillard browning, both of which are ideal in a chip environment. I think I did a batch with vinegar in the blanching water, but I don't remember if the results were better or not because that was a decade ago, that pub shut down, and anywhere I've since worked either didn't bother with chips at all, or used frozen ones.

I love Brets crisps too. They have great flavour and texture. Every time I go to France.

This was so good. A great reminder, when I complain about the price of food, all the systems that go into making it.

Alex! Please farm the potatoes! If you bury them in soil after they have begun to chit, they will multiply your potatoes!!! You can continue to make potatoes out of the variety that they do!

Mom partially dehydrated them prior to frying. The reduced water level allowed for quicker frying and concentrated flavor.

I love a factory tour. Done a few for my own cooking work. Although I agree that there are some very specialized parts of the process that make it seem inaccessible for the home cook, I would suggest you look to potato chip street cooks of South America. I’ve been using their methods for years and always have perfect chips. Without fail. The potato variant of course matters but the method to get a crisp with good colour and great crunch is also very accessible with a few tweaks on your original trials. I assume you’ve already shot that though so can’t wait to see it 😊

I went in to this video having a pretty good idea of what you might find. My grandmother used to make home made potato chips and I got to help... by repeatedly washing the slices until her "taste test" of the raw potato passed. "Still too sweet" she would say until it wasn't. Then we'd leave them in a strainer to dry out some before deep frying, season, then bake on a low heat to get them crispy. When I heard that guy mention sugar and starch balance it all made sense what my grandmother was doing with her taste test.

Sallé, what a great name to work in potato chips industry. (Salé means salty)

It was so hearthwarming, when they gave you the potatoes!

that's the best informercial i've ever seen, i'm not even mad

Top 1 youtuber over the world, no questions asked. Amazing job, congrats Alex. Keep it up!

factory guys seem really nice and friendly. cant believe they would even give you raw proprietary potatoes as a gift. i expect that would be tightly controlled to stop competitors from growing what they r&d.

Get a couple of those potatoes planted! Your own home grown stock of perfect chip potatoes is going to be key surely. I guess we’ll see you in October for Episode 19…

Brets makes the best chips by far.

"Every aspect of the process must be under control." is the most important sentence in the whole video, love it! :)

Love your trips to factories! Seeing how the treats are made is such an amazing experience! And your cinematography makes it even better alex! Thanks 😊😊😊❤❤❤

a tip for future Alex is to rinse the potato slices until the water runs clear and then do a 5 minute boil in vinegar water and then after the potato slices have dried that is when you can fry them in 160 Celsius oil.

Olivier, Cavard and Mollard were so nice, welcoming and passionate! Really speaks to the love and pride they have for their craft and bussiness! I always love when you get to meet these amazing people to help you alex! They're fantastic! These learning experiences are great! Your potato chip will be incredible!

He makes something as simple as a potato chip interesting It's a gift

Hey Alex, I usually like your content, I am a long time subscriber of your channel, never made a complaint. In Spain, churro shops, or churrerías as we call them, make potato chips from regular potatoes with no effort, way crispier, way more natural, and way more satisfying in the sense that you don't need to have a lot, and therefore healthier. And it is really something you can cook in any regular kitchen.

Here's an idea: what about lacto-fermenting the raw potato chips? Some of the starch and sugar will be converted and maybe enable the use of standard-variety potatoes. Then dehydrate them a bit before frying.

Tellement heureux de voir cette collab, Bret's a de l'or dans les mains

It would be cool if you made a series on different fermented foods like kimchi, sauerkraut, nattō, tempeh, et cetera, et cetera!

I'm visiting France these days, and I couldn't resist buying a bag of crisps from this company. Even though I'm not a big fan of snacking, I have to admit that these crisps are pretty good.

When I found your channel I was captured by your curiosity to make things at home and building a system. It WAS exploratory. Genuine. Actually authentic.

So glad you’re going to continue your quest, thank you for the tour Alex- so interesting as always🥰✌🏼

I love these factory tours you do. I’ve worked in several factories and. The processes are so interesting.

I love these kinds of videos where you simply learn that it's basically impossible to make a better "at home" version of some food/recipes. And btw, Brets is by far the best potato chips I've ever eaten in my life. It's just so good, and not that expensive actually. Thank you for giving them more visibility !

thats really cool they let you go in and film stuff and give you potatoes. i respect companies like that.

For the sugar issue you could leave the sliced potatoes to soak in water for some time to reduce the sugar level since sugar is hydrophilic (attracts/ed water). For the water problem put it on a dryer after soaking. Dried food already have some crispness to it so you will only have to quick fry it to add the fat and make it extra crisp. The drying and frying will require some experimentation before finding the perfect ratio.

Chez Roger&Roger, en Belgique, on utilise la variété Croky🥔, une hybride de la Bintje.... Mais : il faut laver les chips et les sécher partiellement avant cuisson. Ils y a des additifs dans l'eau de lavage : du dextrose. Il est retiré en grosse part dans le train de séchage, mais il en reste assez pour assurer une cuisson ultra-courte et une couleur très uniforme. Après cuisson, assaisonnement contenant un peu de fécule de maïs, etc.... les chips sont séchées une deuxième fois, ce qui assure un degré d'humidité vraiment minimum et une bonne conservation. 🤓

That was the most French pronunciation of 'centrifuge' ever, haha! Love it!

I knew the potato would be the biggest limiting factor and was just waiting for them to give you some as a parting gift. Glad I was not disappointed, your charm won them over Alex!

Keep a couple and grow them :D I'd try dehydrating potatoes before frying to crisp faster without burning the sugar...

I work in a very large factory. Still love factory tours and see why they appeal to people. While our process is largely chemical and hidden in tanks and pipes, it still impresses people. Mainly due to size of the installation.

Everyone was so nice at the factory. They may have deflated you a little but the science and care they put into the humble chip is fascinating! Bravo Alex for unearthing this and sharing it with us on RU-vid 😊

I don't understand... You guys in France don't have fried dough ("churros") and potato chip street stalls? In Spain there's one every few streets, and they all make potato chips on the spot. Pale, thin and crispy. Some are better than others, obviously. But it's something quite trivial, no superhigh tech factory required...

Come to Chihuahua, México, bro. Here, people make potato chips to sell on the streets! Plus, you can start to dig into Mexican food!

Since sugars are soluble, it should be pretty easy to get rid of them by soaking (or boiling as Kenji does). As far as reducing water content - seems pretty simple as well, just air dry them for a while or use a dehydrator.

What a flex Alex!!! Managed to get a potato chip factory tour!!! Well done 🎉

I have had the opportunity to go on factory tours in a variety of sectors and I am always amazed by the technology but also the dedication of the people working there.

Factory visits and interview with the R&D is absolutely fantastic !

Merci beaucoup to Laurent and his team for having us over and let us look around. It is indeed very fascinating how much work and expertise goes into producing a "simple" product like the humble potatoe chip.

That's amazing, this is your best investigation yet!

Beautiful music choice, for one. And I love how you bring attention to food making. Not just Michelin star restaurant techniques, But you also show us the hidden world behind the food that is much a part of our everyday world, like dried pasta and potato chips.

Bret's are the best and lts great to see just how simple and effective their operation runs

I work in a French fry plant. I was curious what they would allow you to show and what you would have to hide. Awesome to see businesses like this opening their doors to show the world how things are made

I grow my own potatoes in my garden and last season I grew russets just to see the difference in frying from others I have grown. Simply switching the variety was like night and day.

Haven't been watching Alex's videos for some time. I have to say it feels a bit like coming home after a long break. It's always fun to watch your videos and I will have to keep up even if I don't use them in my own cooking. It has to be said I've made a few attempts here and there but it's just so fun watching you go about this.. Massive respect and love from Norway ❤

I discovered Brets last year when I was visiting Normandie, and they're my favorite brand of chips now!

Life's achievement unlocked : Visit a potatoes crisps' factory ! Lucky you, Alex ! BTW, Laurent & Laurent are true passionated, technically accurate for the products and I understand now why Brets are so good. Merci, Alex, Laurent & Laurent ❤

Hey Alex. You probably already finished filming the series and now you are releasing the videos but here´s a tipp from a chef that made pale crispy potato chips in restaurants: Slice them really thin using a mandoline, wash and dry them off(you already did those three parts) but now for frying temperature: Fry them slowly at 130-150°C until you stop seeing water bubbles. That way they are crispy and stay pale.

I can not overstress how excited I am about this series

That was really Interesting and very informative it was so kind of them to give you a bag of potatoes to work with. I wish you good luck with it

Factory Automation is poetry in its own right. Love the guys, and of course I'm looking forward to some hacks to get similar results at home in small batches. Here's to better outcomes whan the pasta series!

Never has a gift of 10 potatoes brought so much joy! 🎉😂

That is crazy how much of an artisanal product potato chips are. Props to the owners for being so open and transparent about their process. I hope you can figure out a workaround.

You can do it Alex! We once made potato chips at home here in the states, wavy cut and it was DELICIOUS!! It was actually a bit too good because they went so fast and all those carbs need to be worked off. I am sure you will unlock the secrets of how to do this at home!

brets are 100% the best potato chips ive ever tasted, i just love the way they are ablo to flavour their chips

I figured the primary reason for not being able to make crisps at home was down to the variety of potato used but your video just cemented this reasoning. Looking forward to seeing if you can make crisps at home now that you have 10 of the correct variety of potato.

Brets are so good ! I love their varied flavours, they always have a strong identity. And they're pretty cheap too !

Brets ❤️ Sooo French. The second I get to France I load up on some crazy flavors of Brets. And then I always get a few bags of the extra thin salted ones as well. They are actually my favorites but you gotta try some of the flavored ones too. Yay Brets.

Had been a bit obsessed with potatoes a few years ago and that is when i learned, that every mass production industry that uses potatoes as basic ingredient has its own special variety of potato that has been specially adapted over the years to suit each industry. These potatoes are not commercially available to normal people as they are not really suited for anything else, but the one product.

I too have been on this quest. Took me many different failures before I figured out a method that works for me. Can't wait to see what you come up with.

Brets are so good. Especially the salted butter flavour is so gooood!

See, finally a video that follows the previous one. This was driving me nuts!!!

Thanks for useful and valuable video as always ❤❤❤

Alex your content is amazing i love following your passion to find something and perfect it. You are a true hereo to poepl who like to make food

They are so so nice to give Alex a few of their specialized potato

I can get some pretty decent potato chips. Light, and crispy. I slice potatoes VERY thinly on a mandolin. Thin enough to let light through. I wash them in running water really well, and put them on a water bath with a couple tablespoons sugar and a teaspoon baking soda. I am not sure if they make any difference, but it seems to help. After like 20 minutes I drain the potatoes, and spread them on a clean dishtowel, to try them as well as I can. I fry them in warm oil. Not sure what the temperature is, but it is enogh to make them bubble gently. A handful at the time, stirring a few times so they don't stick to each other. I keep the oil temperature fairly low, so they don't burn, but enough to keep them bubbling. after they are fried, I scoop them out of the oil and let them drain over some kitchen paper, and repeat the process until I am done. It is important to drain them well, so the oil won't make them all soft again.

Was waiting for this video 👍🏻

its very informative. they were not shy in telling you what you were lacking in terms of home equipment to be able to reproduce the chips,

So after your first video I actually decided to try and make my own potato chips again and I think I just so happened to have the PERFECT store-purchased potatoes to do it with. I am not kidding nor exaggerating when I say these tasted like Homemade lays after the extremely simple process I went through which I'd be glad to share with you to give a try in your own kitchen Alex.

Salut Alex! Good luck with your Potato Chips experiments ❤ And much respect to Bret's for allowing you to visit, film and for sharing their knowledge 🙂😎

When I'm some day, hopefully, will visit France, I definitely will give Brets a try!

Very nice of Brets to allow you into their secrets!

This man always knocks it out the park

I can’t really find Brets chips in a lot of places here. But they damn worth it when it becomes available. Great and interesting video of potato chip cooking process.

Comme ils sont super sympa! J'adore leurs produits en plus. Go Brets !

It would be interesting if you could add a segment about how/when the transition was made to the modern potato chip. Obviously the first chip ever made wasn't the modern chip. When did the chip industry hit the important milestones that put them on track toward the modern mass produced chip? At what point in chip history did they arrive at the modern variety of potato? When did they learn about optimal oil temp, batch size, potato variety, etc etc? Was it a continuous process or great leaps? Love the series.

Amazing video!

I love how not only are they both named Laurent, but even half their last names are the same (Mollard vs. Cavard)

This brings back memories! I grew up in and around Frito Lay factories in the US.

Love the brets chips too, flavor on them is unmatched

One of the factors in a chip starts at the potato. Alot of the chips that are orange/well-done looking are actually potatoes with high amounts of Starch in them. We used to test the potatoes in my job to try and get rid of them if it was bad. Any black spots are usually defects but sometimes can be the result of bruising the potato was tossed around extra. The peeling process is usually done with long hard bristle brushes spinning really fast in a tube that rubs off the peel + any surface defects.

My dad would've loved these videos. I remember him trying to make potato chips in a small, kitchen top fryer in the 80s, just because he loved them. Didn't work and he pivoted to to donuts. But i know he wouldve thought this was great :)

You got the potatoes Alex! Now you can start your own potato chip company!

Amazing video! 🥰

Can't wait for the making of brets potatoe chip ❤🎉

French gourmet bill Nye and low key French algo Romeo. Thank you so much for posting videos it’s means so much to have Europeans on our side. Like and so amazing going the extra mile to break down the Asian food complex. Thank you. 2024. We here.