How It’s Made : Inside a French Potato Chip Factory

Bret's is a French company that specializes in the production of snacks, particularly potato chips (known as crisps in some regions). They offer a variety of flavors and types of chips, catering to different consumer preferences. Bret's is known for using high-quality ingredients and innovative flavors, making them popular among consumers in France and beyond.

Director, Author, Host & Camera : Alex
Editor and Co-Author : Joshua Mark Sadler
Producer : Eva Zadeh
Editor and 2nd camera operator : Lou Assous
Second Editor : Josh John
Assistant Editor : Sean Miller

Salut,

Alex

[VektrumSimulacrum]

I like how they didn't just say "nope can't be done, takes proprietary secrets" they actually explained the science behind why it was so difficult to re-create them at home. They gave you just enough info to give you a decent shot at pulling it off.

[MrWhangdoodles]

Oh boy. Is this gonna be like the dried pasta series? Is he going to make a machine? Is this going to be an 8 video series?

[nickprafke]

I love that the CEO is so technically knowledgable and not just a finance person.

[johnnyhath]

Giving him 10 potatoes as he walked out the door cost them, less than nothing. But what a kind and fair gesture to do nonetheless. Top marks to Brets for being classy.

[Nembrald]

So the technique I learned from working in a restaurant was to:
Mandolin potatoes quite thick
Bring a 3% salt solution to a boil and pour over the cut potatoes
Let sit 1 hour
Fry at 140-150 until pale and crispy, stirring the chips often
Season with salt and msg
Optionally dry in a low oven for a couple hours to drive out excess oil and increase crispiness

[CadJuice]

The fact that these people allowed you into their space, and shared just enough knowledge for you to get started at home, AND THEN went ahead and gave you a couple of "Chip" potatoes to give you a genuine shot at this, is incredible beyond measure.
I never would have thought a company would share what they did, knowing it would come to Youtube.
"Bret's" of to you, Bret's.

[earlchapman]

Brets are, hands down, the best tasting potato chips I’ve ever had. Every flavour is genuine and is exactly what the bag says it’s going to taste like. They are crispy, not oily or tasting of chemicals, and just a delight to eat. Get them
If you can.

[resurgam_b]

I think your factory/professional facility tours are some of the best videos you have produced. You always have such a unique perspective since you're visiting factories that produce things you have also tried to produce. You bring your own experience, be it good practices you learned or refined or faulty methods you were experimenting with and are able to really digest what goes on in production and ask precise, well thought out questions, gleaning a wealth of valuable information from the people who have the experience to accomplish what you are attempting. I really enjoy being brought along with you for the tours 😊

[Gredinus]

Two ideas I had watching this:
* Beef tallow doesn't degrade with use like vegetable oils.
* Since water content of the potato is a problem, I'd try using a Food dehydrator before frying.

[edwesterdale-music]

I love Brets crisps too. They have great flavour and texture. Every time I go to France.

[adrianbooysen]

Alex... You know what I love about your content and your channel? You're not pretentious. You don't pretend to be amazing (although your fanbase would agree that your talents are extraordinary) but you advertise what you believe in: an ordinary (although talented) man doing what he loves and expanding his arsenal by learning from the best, and using this knowledge to better himself and what he loves. You're a true inspiration to me and to millions who view your content.

Salut❤

[Erin_Wilson_Studios]

This was so good. A great reminder, when I complain about the price of food, all the systems that go into making it.

[FountainOfYoot]

I love a factory tour. Done a few for my own cooking work. Although I agree that there are some very specialized parts of the process that make it seem inaccessible for the home cook, I would suggest you look to potato chip street cooks of South America. I’ve been using their methods for years and always have perfect chips. Without fail. The potato variant of course matters but the method to get a crisp with good colour and great crunch is also very accessible with a few tweaks on your original trials.

I assume you’ve already shot that though so can’t wait to see it 😊

[gween]

In my late teens to early 20s I worked at a pub that cut their own chips from mealy russet potatoes. There were 2 guys there that had different schools of thought about chips, and it just boiled down to thickness for them, and I took it upon myself to be like "This can't be right the thin ones get clumpy, the thick ones get dark before they're crisp, why is this even a thing, do they like suffering?"
Did a little research and heard things about a low-temp fry, but they called it blanching in the reddit thread or wherever I read it. Being in my early 20s and near obsessive about food service without any proper guidance, I only heard of blanching in respect to a brief boil in water followed by an ice shock, so I did that. Turns out that works PRETTY GOOD. At least with mealy inherently low-sugar russet varieties, and I think it has something to do with sugars' solubility in water, starch gelatinization, low-temp moisture-loss on a cellular level from being pre-cooked before frying, and accidental micro-cavitation from the soft potatoes rubbing up against each other in the 5 gallon buckets of ice-water post-blanch. Anyway, those turned out REAL close to store-bought. Knowing you've got their secret weapon potatoes, all these extra steps probably won't be necessary at all, but to anyone trying this out there with civilian potatoes, that should give you decent results. Also, things to consider:
Acids like DWV slow pectin breakdown in vegetables, and also slow Maillard browning, both of which are ideal in a chip environment. I think I did a batch with vinegar in the blanching water, but I don't remember if the results were better or not because that was a decade ago, that pub shut down, and anywhere I've since worked either didn't bother with chips at all, or used frozen ones.

[BiggMo]

Mom partially dehydrated them prior to frying. The reduced water level allowed for quicker frying and concentrated flavor.

[SternLX]

I went in to this video having a pretty good idea of what you might find. My grandmother used to make home made potato chips and I got to help... by repeatedly washing the slices until her "taste test" of the raw potato passed. "Still too sweet" she would say until it wasn't. Then we'd leave them in a strainer to dry out some before deep frying, season, then bake on a low heat to get them crispy. When I heard that guy mention sugar and starch balance it all made sense what my grandmother was doing with her taste test.

[AcaTea]

Alex! Please farm the potatoes! If you bury them in soil after they have begun to chit, they will multiply your potatoes!!! You can continue to make potatoes out of the variety that they do!

[brettyoung]

When I found your channel I was captured by your curiosity to make things at home and building a system. It WAS exploratory. Genuine. Actually authentic.

[juanvicente]

Top 1 youtuber over the world, no questions asked. Amazing job, congrats Alex. Keep it up!

[PojdmeMluvit]

It was so hearthwarming, when they gave you the potatoes!