Review: New Cape Cod Buffalo Cheddar Waffle Cut Potato Chips & Best Things to Bread Your Chicken With?
Junk Food Nation, this is an old article, but I wanted to bring it up. Sent to me by my buddy Joe, it discusses PepsiCo’s food innovation lab. Pitching to Buffalo Wild Wings, it showed off a bunch of potential products, like “Doritos as a crunchy topping for wings or chicken tenders, or salad dressing that uses Mountain Dew.” PepsiCo must have done a good job in its presentation, because BWW is switching from Coke to Pepsi.
I’m not sold on the idea of crushed Doritos being a mere “topping” to chicken wings, but Doritos-covered chicken tenders? Yes, please. Still, this article makes me wonder – why haven’t MORE chicken companies or fast food franchises tried to do the whole “breading with junk food” thing? Sure, maybe the “science” isn’t there yet, but whatever. I want to see chicken tenders breaded with pretzels. How about crushed up Sun Chips? Why not?
What about some KFC chicken doused with crumbled Cheetos, or crumbled Chex Mix? Gimme some Panda Express General Tsao’s Chicharron-crusted white meat chicken cubes! Or hell – spray that chicken patty with some crumbled Oreo cookies, deep fry that baby, and send it to me on a soft Hawaiian roll!
What about YOU, Junk Food Nation? What combos of products and fast food would YOU like to see? I’m especially interested to know what you’d bread your chicken with. Let me know in the comments below.
(One more – Starbucks Frappacinos made with Girl Scout Cookies? NOW I’ve got your attention.)
Today’s junk food: New Cape Cod Buffalo Cheddar Waffle Cut Potato Chips!
New Cape Cod Buffalo Cheddar Waffle Cut Potato Chips: The Money Shot
New Cape Cod Buffalo Cheddar Waffle Cut Potato Chips were found at my local Harris Teeter. I’m not a HUGE fan of Cape Cod chips, and I’m not sure why. I’ve only reviewed this brand once before on this blog; I guess I generally tend to go for Frito-Lay potato chips.
New Cape Cod Buffalo Cheddar Waffle Cut Potato Chips: WAFFLE CUT!
Still, waffle cut fries are a favorite of mine, so waffle cut potato chips just make sense to me. New Cape Cod Buffalo Cheddar Waffle Cut Potato Chips have an uphill battle with me though – I am VERY particular about my buffalo flavored snacks.
New Cape Cod Buffalo Cheddar Waffle Cut Potato Chips: This is a very confusing description
A lot of companies try to mix buffalo flavoring with a creamy element – Ranch, Cheddar, etc. I don’t know why; buffalo flavoring by itself tastes awesome (see: Buffalo Wheat Thins). Still, the last time I tried buffalo and cheddar together was on SmartFood, and it was surprisingly good.
New Cape Cod Buffalo Cheddar Waffle Cut Potato Chips: 140 cal per serving
New Cape Cod Buffalo Cheddar Waffle Cut Potato Chips: I don’t like that hot sauce comes after cheddar cheese
Typically, a buffalo flavored snack has some kind of cayenne pepper sauce in its ingredient list, and these New Cape Cod Buffalo Cheddar Waffle Cut Potato Chips are no different…they did, however, make it second fiddle to the cheese flavoring, which worries me.
New Cape Cod Buffalo Cheddar Waffle Cut Potato Chips: OOOOO
When I opened the bag of these New Cape Cod Buffalo Cheddar Waffle Cut Potato Chips, the LOOK of the chips was impressive. Almost perfect waffle cuts, throughout the bag.
The smell that came from the bag was curious – not quite a buffalo sauce smell, but I did a peppery aroma….more of a jalapeño pepper smell? Odd.
New Cape Cod Buffalo Cheddar Waffle Cut Potato Chips: Inconsistent waffling
I munched on a few of these New Cape Cod Buffalo Cheddar Waffle Cut Potato Chips, and I thought they were….decent.
The texture of these waffle cut fries was surprisingly crisp. The waffle cut did not lower the structural integrity of the chip at all; if anything, it seemed like maybe they double fried these suckers to keep them extra crispy. I half expected these chips to all be shattered, but they were not.
The first taste I got was a tangy zing of a buffalo sauce. Not quite as sour as I’m used to in hot sauce, but definitely tangy. I also got the slight tang of the cayenne peppers. This flavor, however, quickly was muted by a general creaminess. When I licked a chip and thought about it, it did sort of taste like a mild cheddar. The taste finished off with a nice sharp lingering burn. A surprising burn that stayed on my tongue and lips for a couple minutes after I swallowed.
So, the flavor profile was decent. The burn was good, but the buffalo sauce flavor never truly reached full blast for me. Before it had a chance to get there, it was tapered by the creamy cheese flavor. Overall, the flavor WAS balanced…I guess I was just hoping the level at which they were balanced was much bolder.
In sum – tasted fine; I wouldn’t turn these down if offered to me. But not my favorite buffalo/cheese snack.
PURCHASED AT: Harris Teeter
COST: $2.50 on sale
Thoughts? Please comment below or hit me up on Twitter @junkfoodguy or LIKE my Facebook Page and message me there. I also have Google+!! Let’s hang out.
Sincerely,
Junk Food Guy
Discuss - 15 Comments
I’ve tried some of the other Cape Cod waffle-cut chips and I’m unimpressed. I absolutely LOVE waffle-cut fries essentially because they maximize the golden crunchy exterior surface area of a deep fried potato product while maintaining those little ribs of soft fluffy potato goodness. When you dry it out and it turn it into a chip, I think you lose that second half of what makes waffle-cut fries so awesome. Also, they are harder to dip because they are less sturdy than regular Cape Cod chips, so thumbs down there too.
Incidentally, the Cape Cod website says that the waffle-cut is “a potato chip unlike any other” and “almost like eating two chips at once, you taste even more real, hearty potato flavor accented with a light sprinkling of sea salt.” Do the folks at Cape Cod think that eating two chips at a time is that revolutionary? Ridiculous.
@Shorneys: Oh, so you’re not impressed with Cape Cod chips either? Ok, interesting. Yeah, I’m never super excited about them…
@JFG: I didn’t say I wasn’t a fan of Cape Cod chips in general. I’m just not a fan of their waffle-cut chips (though truthfully, sometimes I find the regular Cape Cod chips also a little oily). I appreciate that they were one of the earliest companies to make a hearty super-crunchy kettle chip (back when the only other thing you could get was Lay’s deep-fried paper rounds), and I’m a Masshole, so there’s some Commonwealth loyalty going on there too.
Personal preference (and thank the wife for this one) is the Cape Cod Reduced Fat chips. Not because I love diet food, but rather they’re less oily while still being just as tooth-shatteringly crunchy, which is a great combination. Those, I’m a huge fan of.
When I went to college in MA, Cape Cod chips were a commonplace sight. Don’t think I had them.
I couldn’t help think of the waffle cut fries at Chick-fil-a when I saw the pic. I’ve enjoyed eating those.
@Elisa: Who DOESN’T love waffle cut fries 🙂
I was hoping these were good, but I guess I’ll save my money. After all, Nabisco seems to have lost its mind and they’re churning out new Oreos at a frightening clip based on Marvo’s posts. Just think…Buffalo Oreos.
Cape Cod does have really good plain kettle chips, but many of their journeys into flavor country aren’t that amazing. The Roasted Garlic & Red Pepper flavor is an exception and one that I continue to buy from time to time as a change from the pile of popchip varieties I usually chomp on – loving all 4 tortilla flavors and the sweet chili (forget about pumpkin spice or buffalo, I want sweet chili everything).
@Dana: Yeah, maybe I was being to critical, but another friend of mine wasn’t thrilled either…
BUFFALO OREOS. Ick.
My mom makes Captain Crunch coated chicken figures for me once in a blue moon and they’re literally life-changing… Probably my favorite food of all time.
@KAYLA: HOLY MOLY. Wait…how? RECIPE PLEASE!!! (Or is it just literally shattered Captain Crunch?)
I used to make this recipe – salmon with a potato chip & dill crust – basically crushed potato chips mixed with dill and other spices, then pressed on top of a salmon slab. SO delicious. It would be interesting to try it with some of the fancy potato chip flavors floating out there.
Maybe this is what could save Red Lobster…
@Teresapalooza: OOOOO yummy!
If you like experiencing pain while you eat then these chips are for you. The flavor is nice when you first starting eating them, but them the overwhelming heat takes over. The heat overpowers the flavor, then you regret you purchased the damn things in the first place. What a waste of money. Tone down your heat, and just have a subtle buffalo heat with it, and you guys will have it down. Right now, it’s a little much.
@Dean: OUCH – sorry these killed you, Dean!
Maybe I am behind on following all the latest chips and flavors… But I can say, I absolutely LOVE these particular potato chips. They’re spicy but have an amazing buffalo taste at the same time (or perhaps a spicy BBQ?) taste that compliments the strong cheddar flavor very nicely. Unfortunately, I have done my online research and it doesn’t seem these chips are very popular…. For me, they bring back memories of my once-favorite chip “Ruffles BBQ-Cheddar”. Do they taste identical? No, but they’re the closest I have tried since those glorious chips back in the day.
As a PS: I am also a “Masshole” – Born and bred. That has never effected my choice in tasty snacks, but others seemed to mention it so I thought I would as well. If JFG or any other members could recommend a similarly yummy (and not too difficult to find) chip such as these – perhaps I’d switch. For now, the Cheddar and Buffalo is the closest I can find to those sweet childhood memories when we were only allowed potato chips on the weekend and our choice was never made lightly. 🙂