Columbus Alive, Feb 21/08
Potluck
Model chips
By Brittany Kress
blog I e-mail
Every few minutes, Ralph Robinson puts another potato in the end of a small metal chute that's connected to a stainless-steel tank. At the opposite end of the 4-foot-long machine, thin, crispy potato chips roll off a wire conveyor belt and drop into a suspended silver bowl.
It might look like potato-chip magic, but there's actually a lot going on behind that stainless steel. First, a slowly spinning blade slices each potato into fraction-of-an-inch slices. The chips drop into a bubbling bath of sunflower seed oil and float along until they're submerged by a flat metal strip. Three minutes later, they're released at the base of a foot-long conveyor belt to cool.
This talented machine is called the Chippery, and the first in the state was unveiled at Kroger's Westerville location in October (another recently opened at the Dublin Kroger).
"It's a total, complete chip factory, completely miniaturized," said Randy Shelton, The Chippery's U.S. general manager.
But don't give the Chippery too much credit — it's a machine, after all. It wouldn't be doing any of the work without Robinson, a "Chipster" who programs the temperature (usually around 340 F), adjusts the speed and picks out imperfect chips by hand.
Indeed, most of the action happens when the machine's work is done and the Chipsters jump in, sprinkling a fresh batch with seasonings and tossing the chips into the air and back into a bowl with a skilled twist of the wrist.
Kroger customers can watch their snacks being made, special-order a batch with extra seasonings or just grab a pre-made bag. Some people come in just to get the chips.
"It's a gradual process," said Nicole Draper, a co-manager at the Maxtown Road Kroger. "They come in and they buy one, and then they're like, 'Oh, I want some more.' And the whole family loves them now. You'll see people walk out of the store with four or five bags of chips in their carts."
2 number of Chipperies in Ohio
2 minutes, 45 seconds time it takes to turn a potato into chips
17 average number of bags the Chippery can make in one hour
100 — pounds of potatoes the Chippery goes through each day
The difference between these and typical chips is they're made with organic "chipping" potatoes grown in Canada, said Dale Hollandsworth, a Kroger spokesman.
A low starch content means the potatoes get crispy, not blackened, on their trip through the hot oil. The sunflower seed oil they're fried in is trans-fat free, and the seasonings — sea salt, sour cream and onion, barbecue, and salt and vinegar — are all natural.
This fresh image is important to shoppers, Maxtown Road Kroger manager Richard Pond said.
The Chippery at Kroger
7345 State Rte. 3, Westerville
614-794-5555
Web: chippery.com
"You see the chips coming off the line and then you get to try them," Pond said. "That's pretty impressive."