The chips remain in the fryer for about two to three minutes, Langley said. Paddles gently keep the chips submerged as they move through the fryer, on average about 2,400 pounds of potatoes an hour. He says the temperature of the cooking oil is 360 to 365 degrees. Randy Langley, whose title is "potato chip cook or snack food cook," also has been with the company for 31 years. It is deep and wide, and the hot steam rising off of it is a sure indicator there is some serious cooking going on inside. The fryer is a steam-belching behemoth that fills a whole room. They then are air dried before they cycle into the deep fryer. The slices drop out the bottom and go into drums that agitate them and continue the rinsing process.
The potatoes now go into drums that slice them depending on what is being processed at the time, such as thin and crispy, dip, wavy or regular styles. The peelings, along with the potatoes that don't make the grade, are used as animal food. She tosses aside any she sees that are blemished. As potatoes come washing out of the peeler, Ruth Rollins, a plant employee for 31 years, plucks up the really big ones and deftly slices them in half and tosses the pieces back on the conveyor. He bought the company from his uncle and father and changed the name to Golden Flake, Inc.Įven for all the automation, there still is plenty of human work done as well. In the 1940s Sloan Bashinksy, the son and nephew of the owners, had worked his way up from route sales and production jobs. According to the corporate website, it started as Magic City Food Products in the basement of a grocery store. The company has been in business since 1923. Golden Flake is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama.
There are another 20 or so who handle getting the product from the warehouse onto delivery vehicles and about 10 more in other areas. There are 48 employees directly involved in this step. The typical work week for making potato chips is Monday-Thursday, beginning as early as 6 a.m. "On Thursday, we will run every potato we have." "We will not keep them more than a couple of days," Brinkley said on a recent Wednesday. Now, however, they go quickly from the truck through the processing plant. This was the place where, once, potatoes were stored - up to 1 million pounds at a time - for processing. Between the unloading area and the heart of the plant is a dark and damp area that smells distinctly of old potatoes.
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