Well, this was a small catastrophe and a half.
Casualties – A whole chunk of thumb sliced off by the mandolin resulting in loss of its use for a week, three burnt batches of chips and one batch stuck to the baking pan which entitled hours of soaking it in cold water.
It was the first time I attempted apple chips but I finally have it! THE method. This is the fool proof way in which apple chips can be produced right at home.
Apple chips - the fool-proof way
- Prep Time : 30 minutes
- Cook Time : 15 minutes
- Yield : 1 jar
Ingredients
- Apples - (I used Royal Gala)
- Powdered cinnamon
- Lime juice
Instructions
- Wash the apples well. Slice them very thinly like you would do to potato chips (not french fries)
- Cut out any seeds or fuzz from these slices.
- Sprinkle over them the lime juice and the cinnamon. Toss together, taking care not to break the papery thin apple slices.
- Lay them out on nonstick baking pans. Dry them in the hot sun for 8-12 hours until most of the water had evaporated from the apple slices.
- Finish drying in the oven. Set the oven at a low heat and bake for about 45 minutes. Make sure you check on the chips every 10 minutes or so as the thin chips are prone to burn very quickly.
Delicious apple chips that you can scatter in your cereal, add to your porridge, bake with it or simply, have as a healthy snack(snack, snack, snack!!). Although called chips, they do not become crunchy, rather a soft, leathery chewy thing that burst with flavour in the mouth with all the character of the apple being saturated in these little morsels of goodness, mingled together with the zesty lime and the sensuous fire of the cinnamon, lifting the body and the nuances of these humble little chips to a whole new dimension. A large jar of these lasts only 2 days in my house although you can keep this up to about a month if you don’t finish it all at one sitting (this has happend).
Although, when choosing apples to make chips, make sure it is an apple that is high in flavour. If the apple is watery and does not have any real flavour, the chips will come out rather bland as well. I’ve learned that Red Delicious and Royal Gala works best so far while the Fuji apple just disappointed me. I am yet to try with other varieties though.
Useful Tips
- Use a mandolin to slice your chips – that’s the easiest way. Even if you don’t have a mandolin and you resorted to cut with a knife, make sure that the thickness of the chips are consistent. Or else they won’t dry down at the same time.
- When slicing apples with the mandolin, be very, VERY careful. I lost a chunk of thumb during the process. And this is when I’m usually pretty good with my sharp objects.
- When drying the apples in the sun and in the oven, make sure you let the slices dry up one side at a time so that the heat reaches them on all the sides. Or else you’l be left with chips that are crisp on one side and soggy on the other.
- When in the oven, keep a very close eye on the chips. Since they are very thin, they tend to burn very quickly. Do not leave the kitchen. Arm yourself with a book or any other preferred form of entertainment to tackle boredom with while you wait for the chips to get appropriately dried.
- If you think you want more sweetness, feel free to add in some brown sugar to the cinnamon-lime combo as well. For me, the sweetness was quite enough. And I did not want to spoil a perfectly healthy snack with additional sugar.
- The amounts you can decide. 1kg apples yields one small jar of chips. Surely that is NOT sufficient?? I take about 2kg per batch. Makes about 2 jars – finish in about 2 days.
My jar of apple chips is over. Will I be making a new batch? HELL YES!
