Are you tired of dealing with stale and bland leftover potato chips? – We completely understand you because we’ve been there too!
If you’re like most other people who love eating potato chips, you no longer want to look at the expired snack bags in the dark corner of your kitchen. The opened but unfinished bags get shoved back inside the cabinets and no one knows when they will be eaten.
When someone opens the leftovers, they’re disappointed: the chips are no longer crispy and tasty and they end up in the trashcan!
If you don’t want this to happen anymore, it’s good to know that there are practical solutions to prevent the inevitable, stop wasting money and food, and enjoy your snacks to the fullest.
One of these solutions is to store the potato chips in the freezer. Yes, you’ve read correctly: potato chips are freezer-friendly.
This is an excellent way to store leftover potato chips and prevent them from going stale. If you’re curious about storing potato chips in the freezer and the dos and don’ts about it, keep reading!
Table of Contents
Why Is the Freezer a Good Choice for Storing Leftover Potato Chips?
It happens to the best of us: no matter how hard we try to close leftover potato chips and store them in a cool and dark area, they eventually go stale and lose their crunchiness.
This is why keeping them in the freezer is a smart choice, especially if you have several bags of leftover potato chips and you don’t want to have to throw them away.
When they’re made, commercialized potato chips have most of their moisture eliminated. Therefore, the risk of the chips going soggy or becoming lumpy is brought to a minimum.
By choosing the freezer for storage of the chips, you will prolong their shelf life and also ensure they keep their crispiness and flavor. If you’re not the biggest fan of ice-cold potato chips, take them out of the freezer several hours before you plan to eat them.
The freezer is a great choice if your home or kitchen has higher humidity. Storing potato chips is best done in a cool and dry area; however, in some places, it’s almost impossible to have a drier climate.
Therefore, the freezer provides the necessary coolness and dryness to preserve the optimal quality and fresh taste of the potato chips.
How to Store Potato Chips in the Freezer Properly?
Potato chips are freezer-friendly, but you’re probably curious about the steps you should follow to ensure they’re properly frozen.
Potato chips are made from potatoes and other additives. The process includes cooking and then mashing the potatoes before dehydrating them.
After dehydration, the potatoes are reformed into a dough-like substance, and the needed seasonings and flavors are added. Afterward, the dough is cut into the wanted pieces and the chips are formed.
The forms are then cooked, for example, fried in oil or baked in an oven. When the chips are ready, they’re packed and sealed.
Below, check out the most important things you should know before you set the leftover potato chips in the freezer:
- If the bag has been opened, seal it tightly and transfer it into a freezer bag
- Place the chips in the freezer
- You can keep potato chips in the freezer for up to 12 months
- There’s no need for extensive defrosting or thawing once you take them out
- You can consume them ice cold if you prefer or leave them at room temperature so that they warm up
What Is the Recommendable Storage Period for Potato Chips in the Freezer?
Potato chips can be kept in the freezer for up to 12 months.
And, you shouldn’t get “frightened” by the best-by-date, even if it has expired: it doesn’t mean that the chips have gone bad. They can still be consumed, although they may have lost their freshness.
The freezer is a great way to prolong the chips’ freshness and maintain them crunchy for a longer period of time, even past their best-by-date.
And, you needn’t worry: the chips won’t totally be frozen, but rather get really cold, like a bottle of liquor does.
This happens because most of the moisture is removed by cooking the potatoes or corn that are used to make the potato chips. There’s only a small amount of water in the chips that are sufficient to keep the chips uniform.
Therefore, when we’re freezing potato chips, it’s only the residual water that gets frozen.
Final Thoughts
Thanks to the freezer, you will no longer have to throw away leftover potato chips because they’ve lost their crispy and freshness.
The freezer is the ideal storage area for potato chips that have been opened, but ones you don’t plan to consume any time soon. The freezer is cool and dry and it’s precisely what the chips need.
In this way, you can prolong their optimal taste and texture for up to 12 months.
The storage process is very easy: you just set the potato chips into a freezer bag and seal it tightly. One of the best things about freezing potato chips is that they don’t actually get frozen, but get cold.
This means that you can consume them right out of the freezer if you can’t wait. If you don’t mind waiting for a bit, leave them on the counter and they’ll quickly warm up to room temperature.
