oven chips?

cavanmaniac

Well folks, what's the rules here? Obviously they're carby and all but they're low in fat according to the packaging - which obviously shouldn't be taken as gospel.

Anyone use these in their diet or are they a cheat meal, or an absolute no-no?

AlphaMale 3OO

id love to use them, but id consider them a cheat, particularly as I generally eat low carb. at the end of the day, they ARE chips.

PeakOutput

forbesii wrote:

at the end of the day, they ARE chips.

ye but chips are only potatoe........chips in general are bad because they are deep fat fried. oven chips arent as far as i know (open to correction) so should be fine

olaola

You could make your own - cut up spuds, (or even sweet potatoes) spray with some low-cal spray and toss in salt & pepper and whatever other spices you like.
Works great, and you get the chip-craving over and done with!

jt_dublin

CavanManiac,

I've started using the McCain Home Fries - Chunky Cut and they are great. I keep my diet reasonably clean so I dont mind this bit of indulgence.

200g frozen (this is about 8-10 large chips. Mightn't sound much but they are huge!) gives the following

245 Calories
5g Fat
0.8g Saturated Fat
45g Carbs
5g Protein.

Not bad eh?

And in the grill they only take about 15 minutes. Happy days!

Lothaar

They're brushed in oil before being frozen. Kinda the same thing as deep fat frying, as the chip is covered in a skin of oil that is heated at a very high temperature. The smaller the chips, the worse they are, as you get more oil cos there's more surface area to cover.

jt_dublin

Lothaar,
I wouldnt agree that it is the same thing as deep frying. Just checked the McCain Home Fries package and the fat content more that doubles when they are deep fried. I presume the chips soak in more oil during the deep frying process.

But I do agree that smaller chips are worse. In fact when buying these in the supermarket I compared the chunky cut to the regular cut and there is a significant difference.

rubadub

PeakOutput wrote:

ye but chips are only potatoe........chips in general are bad because they are deep fat fried. oven chips arent as far as i know (open to correction) so should be fine

Some oven chips contain more oil than mcdonalds fried ones. Just read the packs and learn how to read and know what they mean.

On some packs it shows the values for grilled/oven/fried. Sometimes the fried version show less calories than the oven cooked. This is because when you oven cook them they boil off lots of water, so you get a chip high in carbs and low in fat. If you deepfry they can have lots of water and relatively high fat, yet still be lower in kcal per 100g overall.

The lowest fat ones I have found are tesco healthy living ones.

PeakOutput

olaola wrote:

You could make your own - cut up spuds, (or even sweet potatoes) spray with some low-cal spray and toss in salt & pepper and whatever other spices you like.
Works great, and you get the chip-craving over and done with!

this sounds sexy gonna try this and see if i can get them crispy enough

hunnymonster

There is no problem getting them crispy. The problem I have is that they can taste a little dry. I used to solve this by having them ith some slasa (just chopped tomatos with chilli and other spicy things in it) and now I drizzle some walnut oil over them when they are finished cooking bcause the people on here tell me I need more "good" fats.

cavanmaniac

Cheers guys, glad I asked now!

OlaOla - I'm a fan of sweet potatoes I must say, that sounds like something to try for sure.

Rubadub - if buying shop, I'll go for the Tesco boys.

I tend to eat carbs only on gym days, i.e. some before and some after workout, so it'd be kinda nice to have some chips when I get home the odd day, with a nice salmon fillet or something, be something to look forward to.

rubadub

cavanmaniac wrote:

Rubadub - if buying shop, I'll go for the Tesco boys..

They are kinda dry like hunnymonster said about the homemade ones. It could be like butter/low fat spread for some people, i.e. they would perfer a small amount of "real" chips/butter rather than a small amount of low fat spread/oven chips. Tesco also do "american fry" oven chips, not particularly low in fat but really nice.

Or just boil potatoes and fry in a little oil with onions & garlic.

olaola

If you're finding them a little dry (I think it depends on the type of spud too - try a waxier one)

Make a fat-free taziki -

Fat free fromage frais, add grated cucumber, clove of garlic, salt & pepper and some lemon juice. Works a treat... if you can make it about an hour before you serve it. Lets the garlic do it's thang!

What happened to that recipe thread someone suggested?? I've a good few to share.