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When taste-testing Ohio's finest, you can't have just one, two . . .10

Our testers can agree on favorites, little else

Published on Wednesday, Apr 23, 2008

It's been several months since Beacon Journal beer writer Rick Armon and I decided to join forces to take a look at Ohio's booming potato chip industry.

As a beer fan, Rick's interest in chips is understand-able. My interest was fueled by Northeast Ohio's unique place in the history of potato chips, a truly homegrown delight.

Together we sampled our way through nearly every chip made in Ohio, and I agreed to share the column space with him this week so we could tell you what we found.

So, Lisa, we've just eaten 10 different brands of potato chips. Feeling queasy at all?

Queasy? No. This was nothing compared to the time I had to try 10 pizzas at one sitting. Then I was green. This time, I'm just thirsty from all the salt.

Hmm. Why wasn't I invited to that pizza tasting? But I digress. Give me your bottom line on the chip tasting. Which was the tastiest for you?

There were several that I liked for different
reasons. I know that you and I disagree on the question of kettle cooked versus traditional. I'm more of a traditional chip girl. I find kettle cooked to be just too greasy and often too hard for me to enjoy. Eating a chip shouldn't mean sacrificing dental work. But before we get to ''and the winner is . . . '' let's talk about the chips we tried, because you know, those Husman-eaters from Cincinnati are going to complain.

For the record, Husman's, a longtime Cincinnati-made chip, was sold to Birds Eye Foods in 1990. Husman's are now bagged by Snyder's of Berlin, in Berlin, Pa., which also is owned by Birds Eye.

So technically, they aren't Ohio-made chips these days, and we didn't include them in our sampling.

At the same time, Herr's potato chips, which are a Nottingham, Pa., company, are made in Chillicothe, so we did include them on our list. The same with the Texas-based Frito-Lay. Many of those bags of Lay's are fried just down the road in Wooster, so we included them, too.

Here's what we tasted: Ballreich's of Tiffin, Conn's of Zanesville, Corell's of Beach City, Lay's from Wooster, Gold 'N Krisp of Massillon, Grippo's from Cincinnati, Herr's from Chillicothe, Jones' from Mansfield, Mike-sell's from Dayton and Shearer's from Brewster. All of these were plain potato chips, no flavored versions.

We also disagree on rippled or marcelled, by the way. I'm not a fan. I am, for the record, not a regular chip eater. High blood pressure, you know.

Well, then, our experiment may send you to the hospital. Some of them were really salty. But let's get down to the Siskel and Ebert of the matter — our thumbs up and down.

I liked the Ballreich's because they were some of the biggest potato chips I have ever seen. Finding a nice big whopper in the bag, to me, is like finding the prize in the Cracker Jacks. And the Ballreich's were full of big chips. I salute the packaging, which protects the big chips. I also found them flavorful.

 

Get ready to call me a weenie.

OK, you're a weenie.

Wait until I give you a reason, please. As I mentioned while we were tasting, I wouldn't kick any of these chips out of bed for eating crackers. That sounds silly, but they all were tasty. Sure, some were really salty. Some had a burnt flavor. Some were overly greasy. But chips are supposed to be like that.

OK, now I really mean it. How can you like them all? There are definitely a few I would kick out of my cupboard. I wasn't crazy about the Mike-sell's. They were so salty, they were burning my tongue. And I thought the Herr's and the Jones' both had sort of a burnt aftertaste.

The burnt aftertaste was great. I liked that. It was interesting to taste Lay's, Jones' and Herr's side by side. They sort of had a similar appearance and taste to me.

I thought the Frito-Lay were superior to Jones' and Herr's. Salty, but superior. You really don't appreciate how very thin and crispy Lay's are until you compare them side by side with other chips.

The kettle chips had similarities, too. They had a greasier flavor — and by greasier, I don't mean bad. Just don't wipe your hands on your dress shirt after eating them. I could really taste the oil in the Ballreich's, Corell's, Grippo's, Gold 'N Krisp and Shearer's.

The Ballreich's tasted a bit greasy, but they weren't kettle cooked. And this is where you and I part ways. I find all of the kettle variety of chips to be way too greasy. While the Corell's at least didn't break my teeth, they all left that feeling on the roof of my mouth like it was coated in shortening, especially the Gold 'N Krisp, which are fried in a combination of vegetable oil and lard. But I can see how that ultra-fatty mouth feel will keep some people coming back for more.

How about those Grippo's? They were unusual. They came in a clear bag inside a box and the chips themselves were brown and smaller. The Mike-sell's also were more on the brown side, which, as we learned in our research, indicates a higher sugar content of the potato. Using my powers of reasoning, I have concluded that Cincy and Dayton residents like brown chips — since both of these regional brands are so popular there.

Thanks, Mr. Peabody, for showing us your powers of deductive reasoning. There was something strangely addictive about those Grippo's. All broken into small chips; they almost tasted like snack crackers to me — sort of a cross between a potato-based Wheat Thin and a pork rind. I can see how people can't get enough.

OK, let's get to the bottom line.

You mean the bottom of the bag?

Which was the best? Since this is your column, I'll let you have the last word. As you know, I'm not a fan of wavy chips. But I really liked Conn's, which just happened to be wavy. The bag had a picture of traditional-style chips but inside they were wavy. We later discovered there was a little ''wavy'' printed on the bag. Anyhow, they had a big potatoey flavor — is potatoey a word? Never mind, it is now. They also weren't too salty.

I have to agree. There were no cons with the Conn's. The funny thing is, when we checked the bags, the Conn's had the highest sodium content per serving of all 10 varieties. So maybe that is a con. But I agree with you about the potatoey flavor. (And, no, for the record, potatoey isn't a real word, but we're making it one today.) They were great — almost like a baked potato flavor, and, of course, the ripples were a plus for me.

I guess that settles it. Gas up the car, we're off to Zanesville to buy more chips.

And until next week, have fun in the kitchen, taste-testing your own bag of Ohio's finest.

And don't forget the beer!

Lisa A. Abraham can be reached at 330-996-3737 or labraham@thebeaconjournal.com.
Rick Armon can be reached at 330-996-3569 or rarmon@thebeaconjournal.com.

 

It's been several months since Beacon Journal beer writer Rick Armon and I decided to join forces to take a look at Ohio's booming potato chip industry.

Get the full article here.


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