What’s A Chipping Potato?

Not all potatoes are chipping and frying potatoes. It takes a special spud to make nice, white, crispy chips.

If you’re not in the business, you may be asking yourself what exactly makes a chipping potato different than a regular old potato you’d find at your grocery store?  While the easy answer is that chipping potatoes are spuds specifically engineered to meet the needs of potato chip makers, the qualities of chippers from skin to sugar content get at the heart of the question.

In appearance, a chipping potato is more round than your typical potato and has a light colored, easily rubbed-off skin.  The sugar levels of these potatoes allows them to  fry up with a nice, white to very light, slightly gold color that is pleasant to consumers.  The more fragile qualities of the skin makes them more susceptable to damage, which is why Gold Dust has invested in systems in our packing shed to minimize the reduce the potential for injury.  A potato that you might get at the grocery store, such as a Russett or Yukon Gold, tend to have a tougher skin (which makes Russetts perfect for baking) and higher sugar content than chipping potatoes do.

Gold Dust and Walker Farms grow several varieties of chipping potatoes.  If you’re looking for a specific variety to be grown for your business, call our potato sales department and see how we can help you get the spuds you’re looking for.