French Fry Diary 505: The Bottom of the Bag o' Chips

I'm finally there, finally at the bottom of the bag o' rare potato chips from Anchor Food Finds that The Bride got me for Christmas. Here are the last three bags.

Dirty Sweet Potato Chips - Yeah, these again, from the folks who just want to have the chips with the absolute longest name. Dirty, like Zapp's, is owned by Utz. I did not like these at all. Taste, smell, all bad, and no, they hasn't even come close to expiring.

Utz "The Crab Chip" - Speaking of Utz, other than the Herr's silver foil (however now with new packaging more reflective of Old Bay marketing), these are usually the only Maryland Old Bay seasoning chips we see up here in the Philadelphia area.

As opposed to the above mentioned Herr's, "The Crab Chip" has Chesapeake Bay Crab Seasoning instead of Old Bay. It doesn't have as much of a bite, so it's not as hot, but it does have a bit of an aftertaste. Not bad, I would get these again.

Blair's Death Rain Buffalo Wing Chips -These are truly in the rare category. Not only are they buffalo wing flavored, but they're made by a company that specializes in hot sauce, owned by another company called Extreme Food. That's why these are last. I'm afraid of these potato chips. But then again, who wouldn't be afraid of something called Death Rain chips?

All that said, they are not bad, but there is quite a bit of heat. It should be noted that these were the 'Medium' heat chips, so it could get quite a bit hotter. I'm not a big buffalo sauce guy, preferring barbeque instead so maybe that also put me off, but I have to say these kettle chips aren't bad. I could be talked into trying other Death Rain chips.

And that's it, the end of the bag o' chips. Not a bad holiday gift from The Bride. I wouldn't mind getting it again next year. Hint hint.

French Fry Diary 416: Herr's Potato Chips with Old Bay Seasoning

Frequently in potato chips circles, the various Herr's products are identified by color. The regular chips are blue foil, barbecue are gold foil, ripples are pink foil, and so on. Today, we're talking about the rare silver foil, Herr's Potato Chips with Old Bay Seasoning.

Old Bay is a frequent seasoning for the favorite fried food and sometimes for chips as well. What many folks don't know is that it's a brand name, and marketed by McCormick & Company. It's a blend of various herbs and spices mostly used for cooking seafood and specifically crabs. That's possibly where the crab taste comes from. It's good stuff. Sometimes I put it on my fries at home.

Here we have it on potato chips. It's a bit stronger than I would like but it does keep you from eating one right after another, just like, well, just like potato chips. That's not a complaint by the way, it's an advantage. A bag of chips lasts longer that way.

These chips are good for sandwiching as well, more fun on a burger than just putting Old Bay seasoning itself on it. I like these a lot for a change of chip pace. Rock on, silver foils with the red crabs on the bag. Thanks for bringing the taste of Maryland to the Philadelphia area.

French Fry Diary 255: Utz Honey BBQ Potato Chips

When I worked at a 9-5 office job we had an Utz delivery guy come in once a week with free chips and sometimes new test flavors. Nice guy and good memories, and good times. I like Utz a lot, they have great products.

On a recent trip to see family in Maryland I saw some Utz stuff I had never seen before, at an ice cream parlor of all places. They had crab chips (we were in Maryland after all), Carolina BBQ chips, and my favorite flavor - Honey BBQ. Guess which one I brought home.

Utz BBQ chips come in two styles - regular and with ridges, you never know what you're going to get. When I opened this bag of Utz Honey BBQ Flavored Potato Chips I got regulars not ridges, which was fine. I like the mystery.

The bad news is that they weren't that great. They had the lingering aftertaste and touch of heartburn that some barbeque chips have, and also a weird grainy quality sort of like Jack and Jill chips. They weren't horrible, I would have them again, they just weren't preferable.