Actually, There's A Correct Way To Open A Bag Of Potato Chips

Ah, the incomparable feeling of opening a fresh bag of potato chips! It's time we all admit that the seal of a Lay's bag popping open beneath our fingertips is one of life's great pleasures. Now that we've all agreed on this, we must break some unfortunate news: You've been doing it wrong your entire life. Yes –– there's a better way to open a fresh bag of potato chips, but rather than being hard on ourselves for botching such a simple task for so many years, we're instead vowing to up our chip eating game and improve our bag opening skills. 

"How can there be a wrong way to open a bag of chips?" you're almost certainly asking yourself. Well, there's one simple trick that will make your overall snacking experience just a bit more enjoyable, and as far as we're concerned, it's well worth the minimal additional effort. Say goodbye to the days of dumping chip crumbs into your mouth when the bag is almost empty; we're embarking on a new chip eating era.

In order to keep your snacks from getting stale or crushed in transit before landing in your hands on the couch, bags are filled with chips followed by nitrogen gas, and then they're sealed. Then, the bag goes on its merry way, traveling from the factory to the supermarket. On the trip, bigger, heavier pieces and smaller broken pieces will fall to the bottom of the bag. We're all familiar with the consequences; you end up with all the little pieces and salt at the bottom of the bag. Little did we know that this could be remedied with just a simple shake.

Give your chip bag a shake before you open it, and it will taste way better. Plus, if you do this every time you go to reopen your bag, you won't find yourself with varied chip-eating experiences every time you sit down to snack; you'll get the perfect mixture every time. So, now you know how to crack open a fresh bag of your favorite chips for the best outcome. We have yet to determine how to stop eating potato chips and polishing off the entire bag in one sitting once you've gotten it open, but we'll let you know when we figure that one out.

We'll all surely be shaking up our chip bags before digging in from now on, but what about when it comes time to actually open the bag? Everyone knows a badly opened chip bag when they see one. Taking care when we separate the sealed seam can make for easier storage and chips that stay fresher longer. A longstanding rumor suggests that you should turn the bag upside down and open the bottom rather than the top, and declares that this minimizes the possibility of getting those pesky ripped edges. Perpetrators of the theory would have us believe that this is because the seal at the bag's bottom is designed to be stronger and less likely to tear since it's never intended to be opened up. 

So, should we really be opening all our chip bags upside down for the prime chip-eating experience? Julie Baillie, the Head of Snacking at Griffin's Food Company, says that you can go ahead and leave those bags upright, per Stuff. She says that chip bags are "sealed in exactly the same way at both ends," so opening the bag upside down won't do anything other than make it more difficult to read the nutrition facts. But, hey –– when we're enjoying a whole bag of chips in one sitting, that just might be a good thing. 

Plenty of us enjoy an occasional chip-eating session that leaves us without leftovers. The rest of the time we want to make sure that we store our chips correctly so they're just as fresh and crispy next time we grab them. How well you'll be able to preserve your chips is all about the first time you open them. Different brands of chips use different approaches to sealing the bags. Still, for obvious reasons, ensuring that bags don't open up before they make it into our kitchens takes precedence over ease of opening once they get there, so most companies use a combination of adhesive polymer and heat for sealing.

Regardless of how difficult a chip bag is to open, it's ultimately better for storage purposes not to open it just by tearing at it with your hands. Bags with even openings are easier to store, so using something sharp to open your bag ensures prime chip preservation every time. Scissors are the best option, but you can also use a knife, or as one viral Reddit post shows, you can even press two coins together to get a clean cut on your bag on the go. Happy crunching!