Crisp Review

Kettle Ridge Crisps - Salt & Malt Vinegar

Well, the first review of the new year isn’t anything unusual, but it is pretty tasty. I’ve given you some background about Kettle Foods before, so I won’t bother rehearsing that again. Here, then, is the review…

The ingredients here are pleasingly simple; Potatoes, Sunflower Oil, Sea Salt, Dried Malt Barley Vinegar, Natural Flavouring, Sugar, and Yeast Extract. With the exception of the obscure and vague ‘natural flavouring’ this is exactly what you would expect to be in a bag of Salt & Malt Vinegar” crisps. Actual vinegar is something of a rarity in the crisp world, so I’m pleased to see it listed here.

And the inclusion of vinegar definitely carries over into the taste. The crisps have a nice strong, acidic, tang, and the balance between salt and vinegar is good. They’re pretty strongly flavoured, and thus, quite moreish. I managed to polish of a large bag in a short period of time, but I’ve got poor self control, so that may or may not be relevant.

Having mentioned ingredients and flavouring, we should turn to the star of the show, the ridges…

These ridges, then, add a nice new dimension to the otherwise standard Kettle Crisps. The crisps are not as thick as McCoys (my bench mark crinkle cut crisp), but create a really nice level of crunch. They’re very well done, and the flavour stick in the gaps nicely. They’re a nice change of pace, and I have to commend kettle Crisps for pulling it off so well.

The packaging is nice, understated, and some what waxy in texture. As with standard Kettle Crisps, these crisps claim to be hand cooked, but we wont go down that path again. And they use blue to denote that they’re salt and vinegar; hurray!

I terms of numbers…

Crunch: 8/10
Flavour
- Intensity: 7/10 (Strong, but not overly so)
- Accuracy: 9/10 
Quality: 9/10
Packaging: 8/10

A very nice bag of crisps that you should try if you get a chance. They’re not as good as standard Kettle Crisps, but are pretty good none the less.

Greggs - Salt and Vinegar

I seems the veritable pasty retailer has ventured into the potato snack industry, or, at least, is getting someone to make them branded crisps. And that, my friends, is a good thing. In fact, more crisps is always good thing.

There’s little of note in the ingredients, just your standard “Potatoes, Sunflower Oil, Salt and Vinegar flavouring” combo; though the “Salt and Vinegar flavouring” doesn’t contain any vinegar.

And the lack of vinegar is pretty evident when the crisps meet your mouth. There’s a definite acidic note, but it’s not vinegar. And there isn’t much salt, either. In fact, they’re quite an unbalanced packet of crisps, nothing like the stalwarts of old… I wouldn’t go so far as to describe them as ‘bad’, they’ve got something going for them, but I they wouldn’t be my first choice for a bag of Salt and Vinegar.

The whole experience reminds me of Golden Wonder crisps, but there’s no mention of the provenance on the back. Regardless, I’d hedge a bet that Golden Wonder do have a hand in this.

What the pack of the pack does declare, however, is that “These crisps are made from specially selected potatoes, cooked in sunflower oil.”. I wonder how these lucky potatoes are selected? I doubt there’s an X-Factor style contest, but a man can dream…

The rest of the packaging is quite nice, very Greggsy. And the pack has a sort of wax paper feel to it; nothing as nice as the Red Sky crisps I reviewed earlier, but more pleasant than your normal plastic / foil get up.

Beyond that, there’s little more to say, so I might as well get to the numbers.

Crunch: 6/10
Flavour
- Intensity: 5/10
- Accuracy: 5/10
Quality: 7/10
Packaging: 7/10

If you’re at Greggs, give them a go. But I wouldn’t hunt them out unless you can deal with a little disappointment.

Sainsbury’s - Salt & Vinegar Crunch Sticks

I’ve not yet reviewed any ‘own brand’ crisps, but there’s nothing too surprising about that. As with last week, these aren’t crisps in the strictest sense, but tasty none the less. Anyway, enough rambling, here we are…

PICTURE FORTHCOMING

The packet now declares “Improved Recipe”, and the crisps include “Maize; Dried Potato; High Oleic Sunflower Oil; Salt and Vinegar Flavouring; Salt”. They used to contain milk powder, but don’t any more, rectifying the strange situation whereby their bacon flavoured crisps were vegan but their salt and vinegar ones were not.

What we’re looking are, basically, Chipsticks. For those who are unaware of Chipsticks, shame on you they’re crunchy sticks of maize produced by Walkers. But these are made for Sainsbury’s, and aren’t called Chipsticks. Clear? Good.

The crisps are lovely and crunchy, and the salt and vinegar flavour is bang on. Nice and strong, and ever so slightly acidic. They also leave a coating in the mouth, of little bits of crisp and oil, but it’s pleasant, rather than off putting. And some of the flavouring comes off on your fingers, which makes for a lovely treat.

Definitely a nice change from your standard potato crisp.

The packaging in unoffensive, and follows the blue = salt and vinegar colour scheme - contrary to walkers aberration of blue = cheese and onion - which gains them points in my book. It’s also got the little traffic light nutrition info, which I don’t really like, that might be a plus for some.

They also come in rather large 140g packs which I find difficult to stop eating once I’ve started. I can’t work out whether this is a good or bad thing.

Here are the numbers…

Crunch: 8/10
Flavour
- Intensity: 8/10
- Accuracy: 8/10 
Quality: 8/10 (Uniform, with few crumbs.)
Packaging: 7/10

All in all, a good snack.

Kettle Chips - Sea Salt and Balsamic Vinegar

More ‘premium’ crisps this week. The Kettle Foods company has been around since 1978 and Kettle Chip are, for me, the original premium crisp; or rather, the first premium crisp to make it big in the UK. They’re now a ubiquitous brand and hold a large market share here in the UK.

But without further ado, let’s get on with the review…

These crisps claim to be hand-cooked, but I’m wary of how ‘hand-cooked’ they are because of the huge quantities produced. It can’t be an out and out lie, perhaps staff just transfer the chipped chips into the oven by hand? In fact, when I think about it, how on earth can anything ever be hand cooked? Surely most things are oven-cooked?

Anyway, the ingredients list is pleasingly simple with ‘Potatoes, Sunflower Oil and Sea Salt and Balsamic Vinegar Seasoning.  The ‘Sea Salt and Balsamic Vinegar Flavouring’ does contain malt vinegar, however, which is a little bit disappointing… but that’s just me being picky.

The packing has a similar ‘waxy’ feel to the Red Sky crisps I reviewed a couple of weeks ago, but is more plasticky, and not as pleasing over all. The branding is beautifully simple though, and the picture of crisps on the back is welcome… they’re a pretty fair representation of what you’re in for.

The real magic begins when you open the packet. The crisps are lovely and thick, having a pleasing dark tinge to them, and size and quality is pretty standard throughout the bag. They’re also some of the crunchiest crisps I’ve ever had and are loaded with flavour. The vinegar is tangy and the salt is evidently there. The intensity makes them ever so moreish, too, which is a good thing for Kettle Foods.

The most perversely pleasing thing about these, however, is the way the flavouring sticks to your fingers; creating in a thick, salty, greasy flavourful film on any finger tip which comes into with a crisp.

I feel some quantification is in order…

Crunch: 9/10 (We’re getting close to perfection, here.)
Flavour
- Intensity: 7/10
- Accuracy: 8/10 
Quality: 9/10
Packaging: 8/10

These crisps, then, are pretty darn delicious. And whilst the intensity makes them good for a treat, they’re not something I’d indulge in too regularly, lest they loose their magic.

McCoy’s - Salt and Malt Vinegar

More man crisps from McCoy’s. But be relieved, I won’t rant on about the terrible branding this time, as I covered that in my McCoy’s Salted review.

Again - as with all standard packets of McCoy’s these come in a 32g packet (32g from Multi-pack, 50g if you buy them separate), and I can’t be bothered typing out the exhaustive ingredients list here.

These crisps don’t actually contain any ‘vinegar’ but instead contain a number of chemicals which approximate the vinegar flavour..

Now, flavoured crisps (i.e., anything that isn’t just salted) are where the McCoy’s ridges come in to their own. Basically, the ridges create a wider surface area for the flavour to adhere to than a standard crisp, though I’d like to see how much of the flavouring is actually added to a packet of McCoy’s, versus something like a Walkers crisp before I said the ridges were the be all and end all. I’ve got to be scientific about these things.

Regardless, these are a powerful packet of salt and vinegar crisps. The vinegar (or rather, the taste of vinegar) is there in heaps, and it’s lovely and acidic. The crunch of the thick crisps acts well with the intense flavour, creating a thoroughly satisfying crisp. They’re a perfect pub snack, and a good accompaniment to any beer. In fact, when I ask for Salt and Vinegar crisps at the pub I’m always a little disappointed when they’re not McCoy’s.

There’s little more to say here, except provide the stats, in my patented Crisp Trumps format.

Crunch: 8/10
Flavour
- Intensity: 8/10
- Accuracy: 10/10
Quality: 7/10
Packaging: 5/10

McCoy’s Salt and Vinegar, for when your mouth wants to feel alive.