Vegetable chips are so much prettier than regular potato chips, but I have no illusions about their healthfulness. They're fried. In oil. Case closed. And most baked potato chips you buy have a long list of ingredients, many unpronounceable. (They're also shaped kind of like hexagons, which has always baffled me.) So could a gadget for making your own chips--potato or otherwise--that promises no frying, no oil and no FDC Yellow No. 6 or soy lecithin really make a good chip? I was skeptical.

The TopChips chips maker is pretty much as low-tech as gadgets come. It's just a silicone tray with holes in it and a wavy bottom that keeps it elevated above the bottom of your microwave. It comes with a little mandoline that's so simple to operate, I can see myself abandoning my much fancier version, which I rarely use because it's such a production, with all its parts and blades. The slicer makes thin discs out of potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots, apples, pears or mangoes (the company that makes TopChips, Mastrad, doesn't recommend any other fruits or vegetables, though thrillseekers might try parsnips or turnips). Then you place them in a single layer on the tray and microwave it for three to six minutes, depending on the food and your microwave.


I peered through the glass as my sweet potato circles cooked, their edges curling up and down, just like real chips. I let them rest for about a minute once they were finished cooking, sprinkled them with kosher salt and took a bite. Crunchy, savory, salty and not the slightest hint of grease. They definitely have a more subtle flavor than mass-produced chips, since oil and other ingredients--not potatoes--are probably the reason you can't eat just one, after all. But for a homemade, healthy alternative, these were delicious.