Potato Chip Flavors

[Shea]

I was going to post these exact same words! I think they dust them with crack. Also I think ..no I'm sure Jamba Juice has it in there. I won't go near that place anymore. I have driven miles and miles just to get one.

[MarketStEl]

Since I've noticed some other Utz fans posting to this topic:

Would you all be so kind as to state where you live, and whether you can just pop 'round to the corner store for a bag or have to either have them shipped to you or stock up when traveling in the Middle Atlantic states?

(The company had an ad campaign in the 1990s pointing out all the places where you can't get Utz chips with the tag line, "Too bad for the rest of the world.")

Of the major brands, Utz (the 4th-best-selling brand in the country) is my favorite, but I'm really liking what the Kettle folks and Target are doing with flavor, texture, crunch and (in Kettle's case) intensity of the potato taste.

[howard88]

Recently on a Jet Blue flight we were thrown bags of Blue Kettle Chips.

They were simply outstanding in terms of potato taste which was the most

intense I have eaten.

Granted they are pricey for a small bag but in terms of taste and texture

those blue potato potato chips are a winner for my taste buds.

[WiscoNole]

Easily

[Bella S.F.]

Grew up with Charles Chips in the Philadelphia area. They would be delivered to your door by, what else, a Charles Chips truck. I couldn't imagine or find anything better. They came in a large can, the contents of whicn would hardly make it to the next delivery date. This is where you came up with the famous "nobody can eat/order just one." (in this case can, NOT potato chip.) They also made many other treats, (great beer pretzels), all delivered to you in cans. When the delivery truck made its rounds back to you, you would just turn your empty cans in for new ones. We actually have an empty can down in the garage. I guess we missed a delivery somewhere along the way.

I make it a rule, which I can usually follow, not to buy potato chips. I cannot seem to open a bag and then not eat the entire contents. When I have them at someone else's house I do like the bags of Terra chips, the mixed variety. I also like the plain is it Tom's or Tim's? (I think that that is where this whole thread started with a striped bag that someone could not identify.) Kettles waffle chips are also good, and there is a Hawaiian chips that Trader Joes makes that is really good also.

Gee, now I'm hoping that at the next party we go to, they will be serving ptoato chips.

[Morgan_Weber]

My favorite chips in the world:

Cape Cod Barbecue, with Nantucket Nectars Lemonade...

My wife and I made it our official snack, while on our honeymoon in New England.

[viva]

I tried the Utz recently - they remind me of Old Dutch, which are excellent.

My favorite is still the Krinkle Cut Kettle, Lightly Salted variety. I like a crunch that sounds like it's shattering your jaw.

[Ktepi]

Oh wow. I'd had Utz chips before, but I tried Grandma Utz's Hand-cooked chips because of their mention on eGullet, and they're fantastic -- got to be the best plain chip I've had. Salty and ... well, lardy.

[SheenaGreena]

Oh wow.  I'd had Utz chips before, but I tried Grandma Utz's Hand-cooked chips because of their mention on eGullet, and they're fantastic -- got to be the best plain chip I've had.  Salty and ... well, lardy.

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oh my god those are my favorite and I can get them everywhere in maryland, but they are really hard to find here in the boston area.

[MarketStEl]

Oh wow.  I'd had Utz chips before, but I tried Grandma Utz's Hand-cooked chips because of their mention on eGullet, and they're fantastic -- got to be the best plain chip I've had.  Salty and ... well, lardy.

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oh my god those are my favorite and I can get them everywhere in maryland, but they are really hard to find here in the boston area.

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"(Almost) No Utz in Boston! Too bad for the rest of the world."

I knew moving to Philadelphia was a smart thing to do....

[kpzachary]

I grew up in Indiana where I would eat Mike Sells chips. Then, I moved to live with the Massholes and Cape Cod Firecracker BBQ was my fav. Now that I am in Germany the chip selectin is quite a bit smaller, but they do sell Kettle Cooked brand Sweet Asian Chili chips which are by far my favorite, today.

[viva]

Those Grandma Utz's Hand-Cooked are nice. Near perfect level of salting and a nice crunch.

[Ktepi]

Oh wow.  I'd had Utz chips before, but I tried Grandma Utz's Hand-cooked chips because of their mention on eGullet, and they're fantastic -- got to be the best plain chip I've had.  Salty and ... well, lardy.

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oh my god those are my favorite and I can get them everywhere in maryland, but they are really hard to find here in the boston area.

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Here too (Nashua). Most of the grocery stores don't have them, but smaller non-chain stores and gas stations sometimes do. Same with Herr's and Mrs Vickie's.

(And as it turns out ... if anyone really gets a craving for them ... Amazon has them, though shipping is about $10.)

[viva]

And lard! They're fried in lard!

That's a chip worth loving. If I could get the Kettle guys to fry their chips in lard, I'd end up on the "Big Medicine" show on TLC.

[Ktepi]

I keep telling friends "they taste like lard! ... no, that's a good thing!", because eating them made me aware of how much some potato chips (even ones I love) taste like the vegetable oil they're cooked in. It was like eating a chocolate bar after a life of Sixlets.

And of course, now it has me wishing someone would market some goose-fat-fried potato chips. I know I can make them fresh, but that's not what I want. I want to open the bag and dump a couple handfuls out on the plate next to my Boar's Head hot dog and Kool Aid watermelon rind pickles, and just have the best Fourth of July ever.

[Boodles]

Cant remember the brand, but they were 'plain' with sea salt.

Winners, by a long shot.

[gfron1]

There may have to be a battle of chips with Z in their name! I don't know what this Utz thing is all about, but let me tell (since no one has on this topic since 2004) Zapps really are the most incredible potato chip there is. And in particular the cajun crawtator is...oh man, I'm losing my breath thinking about them...so perfect with a bottle of Abita Beer or with a plywood table filled with crawfish. Oh Zapps how I love thee, let me munch the ways!

Here's what Mr. Zapp's has to say

CAJUN CRAWTATOR - The taste of a Cajun boiled seafood feast that goes crunch and your mouth goes wow. Zapp's was the first Cajun flavored anything and is still our #1 seller! Kathy Lee & Regis and Oprah Winfrey have featured Zapp's on their shows and People Magazine did a story and a picture with smoke coming out Ron Zappe's ears.

[MarketStEl]

Permit me to confuse things further, then, Rob.

There is currently a discussion of potato chips similar to this one under way on Phillyblog (a regional discussion board I also post to frequently), and one of the participants in this discussion, in response to someone else's favorable mention of Grandma Utz's, mentioned Good's Potato Chips, which are also still fried in lard.

Good's Web site states that they are the oldest potato chip maker in Lancaster County. South Central Pennsylvania in general is a hotbed of chip-making: Besides Good's, the area stretching from Chester to Franklin counties along the state's southern border is also home to Herr's (Nottingham, Chester County), Snyder's and Utz (both Hanover, York County), LG (York, York County), Gibble's/Kay & Ray's (Martin's Famous Pastry Shoppe, Inc., Chambersburg, Franklin County; these are cooked in lard too, and they also make tasty potato rolls), and a bunch of other smaller manufacturers (including another Good's Potato Chips, in Adamstown, Lancaster County).

Gibble's are pretty damn tasty too. I've had the Crawtators, and they're all that. I think we could have a taste-off in the making here.

[gfron1]

If there's a potato chip that would bring my dukes up for a good rumble, Zapps would be it! They may be fried in peanut oil, and not lard, but there's something about their thickness, and you know them good ol' boys is drinkin' down at the warehouse, and that adds that special sumthin'!

I'll have try your Gutz chips someday when I'm either bloated or desperate, but until then I'll do my part to support the swamp rat eating community. Come to think of it, if I ever fly east of the Mississippi, I'll re-route to Philly and you can treat me to a bag. BTW, if Abita beer is the perfect beer complement to Zapps, what is the beer complement to Utz?

[Ktepi]

I love Zapp's, and Crawtators were my chip of choice when I lived in New Orleans (I get them mail order once a year or so, usually for Christmas) -- but I have to say I'll still pick Grandma Utz's chips for plain salted chips. Two categories, two winners.

[viva]

Once you go lard, you'll never go back.

I'll line up on the lard side of the lard vs. peanut oil chip smackdown any day.

[MarketStEl]

If there's a potato chip that would bring my dukes up for a good rumble, Zapps would be it!  They may be fried in peanut oil, and not lard, but there's something about their thickness, and you know them good ol' boys is drinkin' down at the warehouse, and that adds that special sumthin'!

I'll have try your Gutz chips someday when I'm either bloated or desperate, but until then I'll do my part to support the swamp rat eating community.  Come to think of it, if I ever fly east of the Mississippi, I'll re-route to Philly and you can treat me to a bag.  BTW, if Abita beer is the perfect beer complement to Zapps, what is the beer complement to Utz?

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Grandma Utz's would probably go well with a double bock like the Clipper City Hang Ten Weizen that nearly put me away at the Grey Lodge this past Friday the Firkenteenth.

Yuengling Lager will do in a pinch, and you can get that absolutely everywhere in this area.

You're on! I'd be happy to treat you to a bag and a brew.

[gfron1]

I already feeled pinned to the mat on this one so I'll have to break down and get some Utz...after all, who doesn't love a grandma?! But...and that's a big BUTT, I'll have Zapps on my mind with every chomp of grandma in my mouth.

[Kouign Aman]

  I think we could have a taste-off in the making here.

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I would pay airfare to a potato chip taste-off. Heaven.

I tried the Kettle Buffalo Bleu. Bummer. Very addictive, and quite tasty, but what's with the sweet stuff in there? No no no no! so close, and yet, so far. (And what's sad is: I will eat another huge bag, irresistably, and with every bite deplore the sweetness. Sigh.)

Kettle still holds the Hands Down Perfection title with the salt and black pepper flavor (which contains several more ingredients than just salt and black pepper).

Ruffles used to have a Cajun Spice chip I liked. And then there are the Red Hot Blues, but they are tortilla chips.

[Ktepi]

I remember (and miss) the Cajun Spice chips -- Justin Wilson was in the ads.

Ruffles also had their own short-lived Buffalo Wing chips, and a sour cream and onion variant I really liked -- Zesty Sour Cream and Onion or something like that.