Find out more about how each of your favorite brands of salt and vinegar chips works.
| Channel | Publish Date | Thumbnail & View Count | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|
 RACInational | 2017-03-31 06:22:36 |  2,484 Views |
#003: The Mystery of the Salt and Vinegar Chip!
Despite what the image above suggests salt and vinegar chips are not made by pouring salt and vinegar into a bag of chips (I know how annoying that is). Before vinegar (and the sweat on your brow) can be added to a chip it has to be processed into a dry food that will stick to a chip and more importantly not soak out.
How do chip companies do it? Well many use a process that involves spraying a thin layer of vinegar onto maltodextrin (a slightly sweet flavorless powder derived from starch) or other modified food starch. The porous structure of maltodextrin absorbs much of the vinegar flavor and the mixture can then be dried into a firm powder. Alternatively many companies use sodium diacetate in a 1:1 ratio of sodium acetate to acetic acid which imparts salty and vinegary flavors in a dry mixture.
Salt and vinegar chips were first produced in the 1950s (thanks to the Tayto brand!) and it’s easy to assume that these dry vinegar technologies date back to the same era that gave us cake mixes and Cheez Whiz. In reality the method of combining starch and vinegar and drying them is actually very old. No I mean really old. Here’s a homemade recipe for dry vinegar from The English Housewife: Containing the Inward and Outward Virtues Which Ought to be in a Complete Woman published in 1615!
