This Popular Chip Storage Spot Might Be Why They Taste Funny

Reaching for a bag of chips and finding they've gone stale can be quite the downer. Fortunately, zapping them in the microwave gives chips their satisfying crunch back. While this trick doesn't work equally well for every type of crisp, it does help restore their desirable texture back. If the taste is compromised, however, there is a lot less that can be done. Most often, if you find that your chips are tasting funny just a few days after opening the pack, it's unlikely that they've spoiled in the same way that cooked food sitting out might. Moist foods usually grow mold, which is visible. Chips, which are dehydrated in order to make them crunchy, are unlikely to become moldy. Instead, if they taste off, they have likely gone rancid. Furthermore, it might just be because they were kept on top of your refrigerator.

The cooling mechanism of a refrigerator releases heat, which is dissipated from the walls and top of the appliance. This is also why fridge companies generally advise not to cover the top of a fridge. And why if you keep a pack of chips up there, they might just end up tasting funny.

Rancidity is caused by the oil and fat on the surface of the chips reacting with oxygen in the air and oxidizing. This breaks the fats down, changing their composition and making the chips taste strange. Heat generally speeds up these reactions and changes chemical composition (which is what cooking largely relies on). In this case, however, the warmth from the refrigerator can make the oil on the chips start to taste funny much sooner than if the packet were stored in a cool, dry place.

Multiple external factors degrade chips. They can absorb moisture and turn stale, which can be reversed by heating the chips in a dry environment to make them crisp again. In fact, when microwaved on both sides a few times, even regular tortillas turn crunchy. Rancidity, however, is an irreversible reaction since the composition of the oil coating the chips changes and cannot be reversed. Thus, there aren't any simple ways to revert them to their original flavor.

Just like warmth speeds up chip degradation, lower temperatures slow down the process. This means storing your opened bag in a cool or even cold place, like the fridge, or better yet, the freezer, can help prolong chip texture and flavor. Since it is oxygen and moisture that do the most damage to chips, you still need to protect them from being exposed to air. In a pinch, use the genius folding hack for sealing a potato chip bag without clips, or your regular method for making it airtight. Squeezing as much air as you can from the bag before re-sealing and storing it in the freezer also ensures there is less air, moisture, and oxygen inside for the chips to react with.

It's worth noting that an unopened pack of chips usually has most of the oxygen pumped out and replaced with nitrogen, so they're unlikely to spoil as quickly, even if stored on top of the fridge. However, it's still best to store them in a cool place. And if you have a particularly large pack, there are many delicious ways to use chips outside of snacking that can help you finish them quickly before they have a chance to turn stale or rancid.