Storing fresh chips in your business

Storing fresh chips calls for more care than storing whole potatoes. As soon as a potato is cut, its inside is exposed to air, warmth and bacteria. With the right approach fresh chips stay light in colour and firm until they go into the fryer. In this article you will read how to keep fresh chips in the fridge or cold room, what vacuum packing does, where to find the shelf life and how best to handle an opened pack.

1. Why cut potato is vulnerable

A whole potato is protected by its skin. After peeling and cutting that protection is gone. The cut surface comes into contact with oxygen, and enzymes in the potato make the flesh discolour, just like a cut apple. The chips also lose moisture, and bacteria and moulds get a chance on the moist, starchy surface.

With fresh chips, storage therefore comes down to three things: keeping oxygen out, keeping the temperature low and keeping the time between opening and frying short. Everything below comes back to one of those three.

2. What vacuum packing does

In a vacuum pack almost all the air has been drawn out. Without oxygen, discolouration happens much more slowly and most spoilage organisms get less of a chance. That is why we vacuum pack our fresh chips immediately after cutting, without additives. There is nothing in them that does not come from the potato itself.

Check the packaging on delivery. A good vacuum pack sits tight around the chips. If a pack is swollen, leaking or loose, air has got in or something is wrong, and you should not use those chips. Read more about this way of packing in vacuum packed chips.

3. Storing fresh chips in the fridge or cold room

Fresh chips belong in the chiller, in a spot where the temperature stays stable. The back of the cold room is better than near the door, where warm air comes in every time it opens. Do not squeeze packs together or put them under heavy containers, so the cold air can circulate around them. And after delivery, do not leave them on the worktop next to the fryer for a while first.

Include the temperature of your chiller in your daily records, as you already do for other chilled products. Fresh chips simply fall under your food safety plan. How to set that up is explained in HACCP and fresh chips.

We advise against freezing raw fresh chips. Ice crystals damage the cells, so after thawing the chips are limp and watery and spit in the fryer. There is a reason frozen chips are par fried before they go into the freezer.

4. How long do fresh chips keep?

We hear this question a lot, and the honest answer is: it depends on the product. The potato, the packaging, hygiene during cutting and above all the storage temperature all make a difference. An unopened vacuum pack keeps much longer than chips lying loose in a container.

The shelf life of our fresh chips is therefore simply printed on the packaging. Stick to that date and keep them chilled, and you will be fine. If you are unsure about the right stock level for your business, or want to know how best to store the chips in your situation, we are glad to advise you. Call or message Thijs, he is happy to think along.

Plan your stock around the delivery days. We cut on Tuesday and Friday mornings and then deliver ourselves. By topping up at those two moments, you always have fresh chips in without holding a large stock. Read more about delivery in fresh chip delivery.

5. After opening: use quickly

Once the vacuum pack is open, the clock starts ticking. So only open the amount you are going to fry soon, for example per service or per rush. Opening a large pack at the start of the afternoon and leaving it next to the fryer until the evening is asking for grey chips.

If chips are left over, cover them well and put them straight back in the chiller. Use them first in the next frying round. Let the chips drain well before frying and pat them dry if needed. Wet product in hot fat makes the fat foam and spit, and cools the fryer down unnecessarily.

If you work with two frying stages, you can also blanch an opened pack in one go and do the final fry later. How that works is explained in blanching chips.

6. Preventing discolouration

Grey, pink or brownish discolouration on the cut surface is the most common complaint with fresh chips. The cause is almost always a combination of oxygen, warmth and time. Keep the pack closed until you use it, store it cold and use opened chips quickly. Then the colour stays nice and light.

Sometimes the cause lies earlier in the chain, for instance with potatoes that were stored too cold before being cut. Those often only turn too dark in the fryer, because they contain more sugar. There is little you can do about that in the kitchen, which is why we consider storage on the farm just as important as cutting. See also our tips on storing potatoes. And if chips smell sour, feel slimy or the pack is swollen, do not use them.

At Friet van Beus we only cut potatoes from our own fields in Zeewolde. Because we control everything ourselves, there is hardly any difference in quality throughout the year. Would you like to see how our fresh chips work out in your business? Send a request or get in touch and we will discuss what suits you.

Frequently asked questions