Kale Chips

[Catrin]

I'll try the Lacinto next time. All I had in the fridge was Rainbow. Turned out okay.

Any chance it was Rainbow Chard rather than Kale? They look a lot alike - I am not familiar with Rainbow Kale but of course that doesn't mean anything

[Crankin]

Well, whatever kind of kale I had did not turn into chips. I buy it pre-shredded, in a huge bag. I cooked it for 22 minutes, and while it got crispy, it basically is like a bunch of baked veggies, not chips. Perhaps I used a bit too much olive oil, but, I think I will try the Lacinto kale and also go to the natural foods store and see if there is another commercial brand. While I sometimes make baked tortilla chips from corn tortillas, those come out like real chips and I would say my kale experiment was a big fail.
Not sure how much effort I want to put into this.

[OakLeaf]

There's something instinctual that tells me it isn't going to work with pre-shredded packaged kale, but I can't articulate a guess as to why - or whether that's even accurate. Cell wall deterioration, excess moisture, incipient decomposition, ???? I'm assuming you did make sure that the leaves were in a single layer with good separation between them so the air could circulate.

I've never heard of rainbow kale either, though it would surprise me that chard would be chip-able since the leaves are so delicate and moist. I might have to try chard chips. Leaves of root beets are tougher than leaf beet (chard) ... might try that too.

I haven't tried it again since we talked about kale chips the last time and I mentioned that I always have an issue with some (sometimes most) of the chips coming out very bitter. I wonder now whether it's because I didn't get them completely coated with oil. Still, I've had enough fails that at this point I consider it a waste of good kale - which is one of my favorite vegetables.

[Crankin]

That was another thought, Oak. I buy the large pre-packaged kale, as I seem to end up using it every day in some way and the regular kale bunches were quite small at my store.
The leaves were spread out fine, though. I am leaning to try and buy a different brand of chips; I love to cook, but I just don't feel like experimenting with this.

[murielalex]

Any chance it was Rainbow Chard rather than Kale? They look a lot alike - I am not familiar with Rainbow Kale but of course that doesn't mean anything

I'm only reading the package I got a Whole Foods. "Rainbow Kale" It made chips, but they were mostly too small, more like tasty crumbs. I used verrry little olive oil and garlic pepper after baking. I'm going to buy other next time I hit the grocery store.

[tulip]

They are so delicate; I imagine they are difficult to package. But they are SO easy to make, why bother with packaged ones anyways? CCNY gives a great recipe; I would only suggest cooking them for 15 minutes, making sure the oven is properly pre-heated before putting them in. You need very little oil, cook them on parchment, and make sure they are not touching. Drain on a paper towel.

And definitely use fresh kale. Those pre-packaged lettuce/kale/spinach/whatever need to be washed anyways (even if they are pre-washed) and they are never as fresh as un-packaged greens.

It's hardly any trouble at all, especially if you have 2 cookie sheets going at he same time (because you do have to bake them in batches because they cannot touch).

I made a mountain of them from one bunch of kale yesterday...they are all gone today!

[Catrin]

I want to try this approach - raw kale chips. This is using the oven as a dehydrator rather than roasting them at a high temp. I need to actually get to the store and replenish my perishable veggies to try this - hopefully I can get out of my parking spot tomorrow. I don't know about the nutritional yeast in this recipe but I will use the cooking method with a different mix of spices.

[murielalex]

Just want to say that you've turned me into a homemade kale chip monster. Can't stop making/eating them, which is good because I soooo love salty crunchy chip things, and this has saved me from some horrible binges into pretzel land, and tortilla chip land, and kettle chip land and..........

[Catrin]

I tried a lower temp route tonight and made kale chips while braising beef shanks. It took longer but I liked the texture better. I've always roasted kale chips at very high temp but this was better I think, fun experiment!

[emily_in_nc]

I made kale chips for our dinner tonight (the "greens" in the NY's dinner, representing prosperity/money in the new year), and they were YUMMY. Even our dog liked 'em!