French Fry Diary 720: Wise Kettle Cooked Potato Chips

I had recently reviewed Wise potato chips, noting the decline of Herr's with the rise in quality of Wise. As Herr's seems to be pushing their kettle chips hard, based on how packed Wawas are with them lately, I wanted to give Wise's opposite number a look and taste.

Wise seems to concentrate on the small batch aspect of kettle cooking on their packaging, something that as with fries, with chips, is very important. Sadly, like many of the Wise chip varieties, these were hard to find. I finally wrangled a bag of the Original. They keep the ingredients simple: potatoes, vegetable oil, and salt. Additionally these chips are gluten free, with no MSG or preservatives, and zero transfats.

When I opened the bag, I got that great Wise potato chip smell I've come to expect, but looking inside, I was kinda disappointed. These were quite small chips, many just over an inch in diameter, not at all the size or shape shown in the art on the package. To Wise's credit it is noted that the illustration is "enlarged to show detail."

The potato chips are quite crunchy, as well as thick and twisted the way kettle chips should be. These are fine for munching, but not nearly big enough for dipping. I would be lying if I didn't say I was disappointed, but still I would get these again.