Stefano Todaro and Blake Pilas
College Prep. Comp.
Bouslog
12/5/13
Consumer Reports: Best Chip
The holiday season is a magical time of the year. It’s full of snow, happiness, presents,
friends, family, and food. Food can make or break a good holiday experience. Gatherings with
friends and family are always held during the holiday season, and the main component of them is
the food. Usually everybody brings a different food item, and somebody usually needs to bring
chips. While chips are probably at the bottom of the holiday food totem pole, they are still a
necesity. Some might think that bringing chips to a gathering is an easy job, but those people are
sadly mistaken. There are countless chips to choose from. If you’re the person to bring bad
chips, then expect to get shunned from the family for the rest of the night. We evaluated three
kinds of chips to make your life easier. If you hope to receive presents this year, or at least
remain a part of the family, then we suggest you listen to our report of these three chips. When
evaluating Schnucks Classic Potato Chips, Great Value Original Potato Chips, and Lays for a
family or friends gathering, Lays is the better choice for both taste and texture; however, you
can’t go wrong with Schnucks chips for their great dipability.
No matter what the circumstances are, the most important part of a chip eating experience
is the taste. Many other factors matter in a good chip consuming experience, but taste is king.
It’s very hard finding a perfect potato chip, nearly impossible. The three chips we worked with
in testing are evidence of that. These chips aren’t perfect when it comes to taste even though one
of them might be somewhat close. The perfect potato chip has to have the perfect amount of
potato flavor. If it doesn’t have enough of that flavor, then how can you call it a potato chip? If
the chip is way too potatoey, then it tastes too fake. The main criteria for a perfect tasting potato
chip are a chip with a slightly more than mild potato flavor. Another important criterion is the
saltiness. Without salt, the chip can be too bland; with too much salt, the chip can be inedible.
Having the right amount of salt is key for a good chip because it creates a much needed balance
with the potato flavor. Having a medium amount of salt adds to the taste of the potato chip and
leaves you begging for more. The first chip we tested was Schnucks Classic Potato Chip. As
soon as we bit into the chip we noticed something odd and not entirely inviting. They tasted
almost burnt and overcooked. We got an overwhelming amount of potato, but it was burnt
potato and left a burnt after taste in our mouths. We ate a few more of these chips and realized
that some didn’t taste burnt, some did, some had a lot of salt, some barely had any, and some
were very pleasant tasting. The taste of these Schnucks chips was very inconsistent and makes
buying them a risk. The second chip we tested was Great Value (Wal-Mart) Original Potato
Chip. Nothing about the taste of these chips made you want to come back for more. As soon as
the chip hits your tongue you’re hit with nothingness. It’s very deceiving because you expect a
potato flavored chip, but what you get instead is a nothing flavored chip. The only time you
really taste potato is the after taste, but not even that is pleasant. Great Value chips aren’t over
salted, but due to the lack of flavor, the salt overpowers the chip. The third and final chip we
tested was Lays Original. Out of the three, this chip had the closest to perfect taste. The amount
of potato flavor was just right and was very satisfying. The flavor was just right because the
potato flavor was mild enough to be prevelant, but not too mild. Every single Lays chip we tried
tasted identical, which is good because chips need to be consistent. The only issue with the taste
of the Lays chips was that they were a little too salty at times. While this isn’t a serious issue,
it’s a large enough issue to make these chips short of perfect.
Another important criterion for having a successful chip at a family or friend gathering is
the texture. Texture goes hand-in-hand with taste, and is important for satisfying a gathering of
family or friends. A lot of times, people decide what they like or don’t like to eat based on the
texture of the food item. Many people don’t like coconut or mushrooms because they have odd
textures. If a chip were to have bad texture, people wouldn’t be satisfied. The perfect texture for
a potato chip is when it is not too thick and not too thin. If it is too thin, then it will break easily
and always crumble; if it is too thick then it will be more like eating an overcooked French fry.
Right in between those things is the right thickness for a perfect chip. Crunch is another element
of texture that can make or break a chip. You don’t want a gathering full of people to eat papertextured food do you? A chip being too crunchy and a chip having almost no crunch at all can be
issues with the texture of a chip; a chip that is too crunchy is the greater of the two evils. While
testing these three chips we ran into a few texture no-no’s. First, we tested the Schnucks Classic
Potato Chip. As soon as we bit into these chips we were attacked by a loud crunch sound. We
were indifferent about this. The crunch was good because it didn’t break into to many small
pieces when we chewed it, but it was still a little too crunchy. The chip itself was very hard and
very crunchy. The hardness of the chip made it difficult to eat too many of them and this was the
main issue. The Schnucks chips were too thick and felt very heavy going down. People at a
gathering wouldn’t be too pleased because after eating only a handful of chips they would be
full. The texture isn’t the best because they were a little too hard, but it also isn’t a failure
because the hard texture didn’t take away from the chip too much. The second chip we tested
was the Great Value Original Potato Chip. The texture of this chip was a failure. We don’t like
being this frank about things, but it is necessary with this chip. Imagine ripping off a chunk of
an envelope, putting it in your mouth, and chewing it; that is what eating the Great Value chip
was like. The chips came right out of the bag and as soon as we tried them the texture was that
of a stale chip. There was also no crunch to these chips at all; they had the texture and
consistency of a piece of paper. It’s very hard finding a chip that fails in the texture category,
but the Great Value chip indeed does just that. If you want your friends or family to walk out of
the gathering, then purchase Great Value chips. The final chip we tested was the Lays chip. It
had the perfect cut. It fell right in the middle of too thin and too thick and the thickness was right
on. It also had great crunch. The crunch wasn’t overwhelming and it also wasn’t paper-like,
which made it more successful than the other two chips. The only issue with the texture of the
Lays chip was that at times you could actually feel the salt on the chips. To satisfy the gathering
attendants we would definitely get the Lays chips when it comes to texture.
The last criterion for having a successful chip at a family or friend gathering is the
dipability of it. Dipability is important because there is almost always dip at gatherings.
Dipping chips is a very common occurrence at gatherings, and not having good dipping chips
will be an issue. The standard for good dipability is medium thickness. Medium thickness is
important because it needs to be able to hold the dip without breaking. Decent thickness is also
important because you don’t want the chip to get soggy when you dip it. Based on the data we
have collected, and the trials we have ran we found Schnucks Classic Potato Chips were the
overall best chips in the dipping process, followed by Lays Classic Potato Chips, and then Great
Value Original Chips. Schnucks classics were a stand out to us during the dipping trials. When
we dipped them and let them sit for a little bit they maintained their crispness and didn’t get
soggy at all. Both the Lays and Great Value chips got soggy, Great Value chip got soggier than
the Lays chip. Another reason why Schnucks chip prevailed in the dipability category was
because the thickness was perfect for it. They didn’t show any signs of weakness to the dip,
while both Lays and Great Value bent, but didn’t necessarily break. Clearly you can put
copious amounts of dip on a Schnucks chip and it won’t break. Another reason why the
thickness of the Schnucks chip was key was because the dip didn’t over power the chip. When
you put the dipped chip in your mouth you got both chip and dip flavor. When we ate the Lays
chip with the dip some of the flavor of the chip was lost in the dip and it got overpowered. The
Great Value chip didn’t work with the dip at all because the flavor of the dip completely
overpowered the flavor of the chip. They were far too thin. If you have family members or
friends that believe dipping chips is a must, then you must go for the Schnucks brand chips.
Realistically, there are two chips to choose from. You should either go with the
Schnucks brand chips or the Lays. It is extremely important to remember that the only edge
Schnucks has over Lays is the dipability. If your family or friends doesn’t eat dip or care about
dipping, then by all means go for the Lays. However, if dipping chips is really important to
everybody, then you really have a tough decision to make. Schnucks chips do in fact dip better,
but Lays are a much better overall chip. The safe way to go is Lays. You cannot go wrong with
this chip. One thing we can guarantee is that if you choose Great Value chips, then you won’t be
invited to next year’s gathering. All of your family and friends will begin ignoring you, and it
might lead to a life full of sadness. Assure yourself a happy life by choosing the right chip.