As our loyal listeners know by now, I spend a lot of time in the grocery store looking for new products. Lots of brands will take an old product and put a new flavor to it. Sometime you just happen to find something brand new. Well today, we have five different varieties of chips that all have a new flavor put to them. And instead of doing 5 episodes, we decided to combine these and see which one is the best new product.
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Which chips are we trying today?
Funyuns Spicy Queso
Herr’s Game Day Flavors Cheesy Pizza
Bugles Hidden Valley Ranch
Doritos Spicy Pineapple Jalapeno
Cheetos Mexican Street Corn
Who is on this stomach churning quest?
Kris, pardon my French.
Hannah, growing out the stash.
Matt, always and forever.
Amy, for the science.
And of course, our subscribers! Thanks to our small, yet coveted group. We appreciate the support. You too can join us on this food journey. All you need to do is… SUBSCRIBE!
The History of Chips (scroll down to skip to the history of Bugles as well!)
The origin of the potato chip is not exactly set in stone. But the most popular chip legend is as follows.
Let’s go to Moon’s Lake House, a popular restaurant in the resort town of Saratoga Springs, New York. Here we will find Cornelius Vanderbilt, a shipping and railroad baron, dining at Moon’s Lake House, where he was sorely disappointed in the fried potatoes he had been served. He sent them back to the kitchen, asking for a thinner slice of potato. The chef, George Crum, was a little offended by the request and decided to show him who was chef. He sliced some potatoes as thin as he could, fried them to a crisp, and served them to Vanderbilt. But to Crum’s surprise, they were loved by the patron and the potato chip was born.
But there are holes in this story. For one, if this was true, Cornelius Vanderbilt was likely not the patron of the restaurant.
Another issue, Crum’s invention was unrecognized during his lifetime. He was a celebrated chef, being named “the best cook in the country” by a writer for the New York Herald in 1889. Being as accomplished as he was, surely it would have been set in stone if he was the inventor.
Additionally, an obituary for Catherine Adkins Wicks maintained she was the originator of the potato chip. Catherine was Crum’s sister and worked alongside him in the kitchen. One story tells the story with her and the disgruntled customer, not Crum. Another says she was peeling potatoes and dropped a thin slice into a boiling pot of fat and stumbled upon the discovery.
There are multiple other people who have claimed to be the inventor posthumously. But one things is probably certain, Saratoga Springs did a lot to popularize the potato chip, and were even known as Saratoga Chips for many years.
The History of Bugles
Bugles debuted in May of 1964 with regional launches in Seattle, Portland, Omaha, Des Moines, Buffalo, and Syracuse. Its national launch happened in 1966.
Unlike every other corn chip on the market, Bugles were and are shaped as small cones and are actually described as a corn snack, rather than a corn chip.
And who was the brain child of this unique, delicious snack? That would be Verne E Weiss. Verne was a food engineer who kept it pretty simple when it came to Bugles, sans the shape. The original flavor primarily consists of corn meal, coconut oil, sugar, salt, baking soda, and BHT
(Side note, I didn’t know what BHT was so I looked it up. According to WebMD, Butylated hydroxytoluene is a lab-made chemical that is added to foods as a preservative. People also use it as medicine. BHT is used to treat genital herpes and AIDS. Studies have also found that high amounts can cause cancer. yummy)
Today Bugles are sold in the United States, Canada, China, Saudi Arabia, and several more countries in Central America and the Caribbean.
Bugle flavors include
Original
Nacho Cheese
Hidden Valley Ranch
Caramel
Cinnamon Toast Crunch
The Results
**SPOILER ALERT!**
Listen to the episode first if you do not want the results revealed to you yet!
5th Place - Cheetos Mexican Street Corn
Amy - 2
Hannah - 1
Kris - 2
Matt - 3
4th Place - Doritos Spicy Pineapple Jalapeno
Amy - 2
Hannah - 4
Kris - 1
Matt - 2
3rd Place: Herr’s Game Day Flavors Cheesy Pizza
Amy - 3
Hannah - 1
Kris - 4
Matt - 5
2nd Place - Bugles Hidden Valley Ranch
Amy - 4
Hannah - 3
Kris - 3
Matt - 5
1st Place - Funyuns Spicy Queso
Amy - 3
Hannah - 4
Kris - 5
Matt - 4
There you have it. Spicy Queso Funyuns got the highest score, but nothing we ate today receives the Quest for the Best seal of approval.
Thank you all for joining us on this episode of Quest for the Best. Let us know what you thought. Have you tried any of these? We would love to hear your rating as well.
Also, do you have any foods you would love to get the coveted seal of approval? Let us know in the comments what you want to hear next.
And of course, remember to subscribe to hear the latest episodes. And chip in on the podcast! Whatever value you get out of this entertainment, send it back our way. We thank you for the support!
SHOW NOTES:
https://www.verywellfit.com/bha-and-bht-keep-foods-fresh-but-are-they-safe-2506579
Doritos, Bugles, Funyuns, and more!