Potato chips that are inhibited against blister formation during frying are obtained by providing a small, but limited, amount of very dilute calcium, e.g., calcium chloride, in the potato slices prior to frying.

A process for preparing frozen par fried potatoes which, when finish fried, have a crisp surface texture and a mealy internal core, and remain crisp and rigid for extended periods of time after finish frying. Potatoes which have been peeled, trimmed, cut into strips and blanched, are subjected to a two stage drying procedure, in which the strips are first exposed to high velocity ambient air for a period of time sufficient to reduce their weight by about 8%-15%, and are then dried in circulating heated air to further reduce the weight of the strips by an additional 8%-15%. After drying, the potato strips are maintained in a quiescent state for a short period of time to permit equialization of moisture distribution in the strips, and are then par-fried, frozen and packaged.

The surfaces of formed flats of snack dough at a moisture content of about 25-50% are moistened immediately before frying in deep fat. The moisture content of the surface of the flat is increased quickly by spraying with water, dipping in water, or by steaming. The moistened flat is then fried without holding to prevent excessive penetration of the added surface moisture into the interior of the flat. Treated flats, even in thicknesses up to 0.045 inch can be fried without the formation of surface blisters or puffing.

A process for making a corn chip with potato chip texture is described. The chip has increased mouthmelt, crispness, and lightness like potato chips and it is less hard and gritty than standard corn chips. It also has a distinctive corn flavor. In a preferred process, corn is cooked in water at 140.degree. F. (60.degree. C.) to 212.degree. F. (100.degree. C.) for 30 minutes to 4 hours. The corn hulls are removed, and the corn is comminuted. A starch material is cooked in water until it is adequately hydrated, and then comminuted. The comminuted corn and starch material are mixed together to form a dough having a ratio of corn to starch material of 95:5 to 80:20. The dough is extruded, formed into a sheet, cut into segments, and deep-fried to form the finished chip.

Potato pieces or strips prepared by washing, peeling, and cutting raw potatoes are immersed in an aqueous solution of an antioxidant and a texture enhancing agent, washed, drained, prefried for partial drying in deep edible oil thereby to reduce their water content by 10 to 20 percent by weight, packaged, gas-tightly sealed under vacuum in a bag made of a laminated sheet comprising a thermoplastic resin film and an aluminum foil, and then sterilized by heating under pressure. The preprocessed potato pieces thus produced can be preserved for a number of months while being stored and distributed at room temperature and require only a few minutes of final frying in deep oil or fat for consumption.