Anyone who’s mustered all of their peak hangover strength to crawl to the cupboard to fetch that unfinished bag of *insert favourite Netflix binge crisp brand*, only to take the first bite and realise they’ve gone stale, will know that it’s a truly miserable experience.
It’s also an annoyingly frequent one, but luckily the American Chemical Society have got your back.
As part of their ‘Reactions’ video series, the ACS explain the science behind the soggy crisp, and offer a stupidly simple trick that’ll bring them back from the dead in no time.
They have plenty of handy tips on keeping bread fresh for as long as possible, too, but skip to around the 1:20 mark for the crisps.
Basically, moisture is the enemy. When a crisp is fried it totally dries it out, which is how you get the gloriously moreish crunchiness that makes you want to inhale huge bags in one sitting.
The ACS explain that crisps contain a lot of hydrophilic starch molecules, which means they soak up moisture really easily, and they’ll try and take that from the air whenever they can.
You might be wondering why crisps don’t dry out in their air-filled packets, but there’s a straight-forward answer to that as well. When the bags are inflated there’s no moisture inside, and nitrogen gas is used to preserve the crispiness.
So how do you save your crisps from their own self-induced demise? Stick them in the microwave on a high heat for 30 seconds, and all the snack-wrecking water will disappear.
Don’t thank us for your favourite new life hack. Thank science.
