Plantain chips are a crispy snack made primarily from plantains, produced through a process involving washing, peeling, slicing, and frying/drying. So what are the steps in making plantain chips?
1. Raw Material Requirements
The foundation of premium plantain chips lies in high-quality plantains. Typically selected: plantains at approximately 70% ripeness. Their firmer flesh resists deformation during slicing and maintains good shape after frying.
2. Product Types
Depending on processing methods, banana chips can be categorised as follows:
Fried plantain chips: The most common variety, offering a crisp and savoury texture.
Dried plantain chips (air-dried/freeze-dried): Oil-free.
Sugar-coated plantain chips: Characterised by a sweet, moist flavour and golden hue.
3.Steps in making plantain chips
Wash → Blanch → Peel → Slice → Deep-fry → Drain → Cool → Package
① Cleaning
Remove soil, dust and other impurities from the surface of plantains to prevent contamination of the production environment and ensure product texture.
② Blanching
Blanching is a crucial step in plantain processing, typically involving brief treatment in hot water for 60–90 seconds. This softens the skin for easier peeling and reduces browning.
③ Peeling
After blanching, the softened skin allows for easier manual removal.
④ Slicing
Peeled plantains are fed into a slicer to produce uniform thin slices. Thickness generally ranges from 1.2–2.0 mm, with slices requiring evenness to ensure consistent heating.
⑤ Frying
Frying constitutes one of the most critical steps in producing fried plantain chips. Oil temperature is typically maintained at 160–180°C, with frying duration lasting approximately 2–3 minutes. During frying, moisture rapidly evaporates from the chips, forming their distinctive crisp texture.
⑥ Oil Removal
Post-frying, plantain slices retain high oil content, necessitating removal of excess fat via an oil-removal machine.
⑦ Cooling and Seasoning
Should seasoning be required (e.g., salted, spicy, tomato-flavoured), slices proceed to a seasoning machine after cooling for uniform powder coating or liquid spraying.
Processing steps vary depending on the type of plantain chips produced.
For example:
1. Dried banana chips (non-fried method, oil-free, healthier)
Washing → Peeling → Slicing → Colour preservation and oxidation prevention → Drying/air-drying/freeze-drying → Packaging
2. Sugar-infused banana chips (sweeter flavour)
Washing → Peeling → Slicing → Sugar syrup immersion (20%–40% sugar concentration) → Sugar draining → Frying → Packaging Additionally, raw material conditions vary across regions, which may influence processing steps. Please inform us of your requirements, and we shall provide a more detailed plantain chips processing solution for your reference.