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Walkers Crisps

As well as Smiths, there were a number of small (and presumably local) crisp manufacturers before Golden Wonder hit. I recall one called 'Everest'

I don't generally 'do' crisps.. but I'm partial to salted peanuts. I have to invoke my iron discipline to prevent over-consumption. I also like to use Doritos as a vehicle for my home made Hummus. That can lead to a total collapse of all discipline and moral fibre... We all have our price..:D
 
For the first 7 years of my life I lived next door to a Smiths Crisp Factory, greatest grievance was that the factory had electricity between 5pm and 7:30pm in winter in the late 1940s. Power was directed to industry to help the country recover from the war.
After A levels I had a holiday job at the factory - worst job was scraping clean the metal tins used to ship the packets to the shops.

Ultimately the house we lived in was knocked down and incoprated into the crisp factory.
 
Can Pringles be considered crisps? I’d assumed from their texture that they’re not sliced from the vegetable but formed out of some form of pulped material or starchy cement. Anyone know?
I know, as you might expect. I've never worked in a crisp factory, shame really as they are (moderately) interesting. Pringles are made from potato flake (dried potato pulp, usually I think dried on heated rollers). This is made up into a dough with (again I think) stuff like rice starch, dextrose, etc, and this dough is sheeted, cut out and fried. In the food manufacturing technology they are therefore a sheeted product based on reconstituted potato flake. Doritos are a sheeted product based on maize flour. And so on.
Crisps, of which Walkers are one brand, are made from sliced whole potatoes. That's a definition, Pringles are not crisps. You will find the legal name hidden around the back, it won't be very appealing.
Walkers are characterised by a lighter cook than their competitors. Others go for more colour. Within the industry the go to brand is often Seabrooks, it certainly used to be when a mate worked for KP.
 
I know, as you might expect. I've never worked in a crisp factory, shame really as they are (moderately) interesting. Pringles are made from potato flake (dried potato pulp, usually I think dried on heated rollers). This is made up into a dough with (again I think) stuff like rice starch, dextrose, etc, and this dough is sheeted, cut out and fried. In the food manufacturing technology they are therefore a sheeted product based on reconstituted potato flake. Doritos are a sheeted product based on maize flour. And so on.
Crisps, of which Walkers are one brand, are made from sliced whole potatoes. That's a definition, Pringles are not crisps. You will find the legal name hidden around the back, it won't be very appealing.
Walkers are characterised by a lighter cook than their competitors. Others go for more colour. Within the industry the go to brand is often Seabrooks, it certainly used to be when a mate worked for KP.
I knew it! :)
 
Within the industry the go to brand is often Seabrooks, it certainly used to be when a mate worked for KP.

+1 for Seabrooks, when I can find em as they seem to be sporadically stocked.

I once had a Tudor crisps cap, bought by saving up coupons from packets and sending off for it.
 
Also, crisps are relatively healthy compared to many other things. Potato, a bit salt (way less than in bread) and in many cases sunflower oil. Nothing wrong with that compared to all ready meals!
Oh God, this old chestnut again. Ready meals do not contain vast amounts of crap, on the contrary. The industry is almost exclusively "clean label" meaning that the ingredients have to be "store cupboard ingredients" that you or I can go out and buy in the supermarket. Hence no modified starch, but instead cornflour. No emulsifiers, but possibly a dab of butter. so it goes on. The meat that goes in pies is not reconstituted pig's arseholes, it's just trim. Small bits of meat left over from the jointing process. Things like facial muscles are a favourite. OK, it's not diced sirloin, but you wouldn't want it to be. Sirloin would make a crap meat pie.
Crisps are healthy enough provided you don't live on them. They are nutritionally empty, just fat, starch and a bit of salt, but other than that they are OK.
 
... and they have the taste and texture of floor sweepings.
That's a consequence of the low fry levels. The other extreme is the "kettle chip" that appears to have gone out of fashion. Lots of colour, bordering on burnt, and a very hard texture. I suspect they used hotter oil and a slightly longer frying process.
 
Can Pringles be considered crisps? I’d assumed from their texture that they’re not sliced from the vegetable but formed out of some form of pulped material or starchy cement. Anyone know?

There was a whole court case around this very question. Because although they look like potato crisps, they are not. As you surmise they are reconstituted. And lovely too.
 
soz, i thought this was a thread about hillwalker's socks :(

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I like Mkeeeees too, but recently been buying alternative food based crisps from Lidl etc...soya, lentil, rice etc all make delicious 'crisps' and seem to attract innovative flavouring...lots of chilli and japanese flavours. Some are really special, and maybe a tad less fattening than potato crisps?
Best in the world though are M&S truffle jobs. 1 large packet isn't enough...more addictive than Pringles, which are hideously over flavoured and chemically, but in a nice way.
 


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