This is how you make the perfect plate of chips

Crunchy on the outside, fluffy on the inside: there’s nothing better than a good chip.

The problem with chips, though, is that they are so goddamn hard to perfect at home. Too long in the oven and you end up with a charcoal-y mess; not enough time and you just get a plate of slimy, floppy mush. Grim.

Don’t worry though: apparently there’s a ~secret ingredient~ that makes cooking chips at home easy peasy.

The first step is choosing the right spuds.  Yes, unfortunately for those of us who are lazily used to bunging a bunch of McCain’s on an oven tray, it does actually involve you actually cutting your own chips from potatoes.

And according to experts from food website Greatist.com,  the best potatoes to make chips from are plain old Russets.

“They’re starchy instead of waxy. And that high-starch content is key for helping your fry crisp up on the outside while staying fluffy on the inside, says Paul Malvone, executive chef of the burger meal-delivery kit service BurgaBox,” they write.

Next: slicing them. The thinner the better, apparently – too thick, and you’re basically baking loads of really small baked potatoes. Which would be a bit gross. 

It’s here that the SECRET INGREDIENT comes into play (and it’s actually quite boring, as secrets go).

“Give your sliced potatoes a quick pat with a paper or kitchen towel to dry them off. Then toss them with a little bit of cornstarch,” Malvone says. 

Next steps are slathering them in oil, spreading them evenly on the baking tray and cooking – Malvone suggests that the “magic temperature is 450 Fahrenheit”. Flip them halfway through and serve – eating as quickly as possible also helps them retain crunch, apparently.

And if this all sounds like a bit too much effort? Well, there’s always oven chips.