Abstract: A system and method for applying brine solution to food pieces, such as potato chips, allows application of brine solution to a continuous stream of food pieces in a brine bath, while maintaining a continuously refreshed supply of brine solution in the brine bath, but without requiring that the used brine be discharged as effluent. Food pieces are washed in a water bath and then deposited, with an amount of surface water carried on the washed slices, into a brine bath tank. The brine bath tank has a predetermined volume of brine solution at a predetermined concentration of brining substance in the solution. The food pieces are marinated in the brine bath so as to thoroughly wet the pieces and are then removed from the brine bath tank with an amount of surface solution carried on the slices. The amount of surface solution carried on the marinated slices is greater than the amount of surface water carried on the washed, pre-marinated slices.

Abstract: Potato chips having hardbite texture and flavor characteristics of kettle-fried potato chips are produced in an apparatus comprising a fry kettle with cooking oil circulation and heat transfer means. Production efficiency is greatly increased over conventional batch preparation of kettle-style chips; batch size is significantly increased and total fry time is advantageously decreased. In certain embodiments the batchwise preparation process includes the step of selecting texture-setting potato slice dehydration rate conditions for at least a segment of the frying time, which ends before the moisture content of the slices is reduced to about 45% by weight or less. Selecting appropriate dehydration rate conditions enables the production of potato chips of a variety of textural characteristics over varying cooking oil time/temperature profiles.