The Chip Bag Sealing Hack That Makes Clips Useless

If you are one of those people that crumples up the top of the chip bag and tosses it into the cupboard, listen up! Maybe you've meant to grab a couple of packages of chip clips at the supermarket, but you always forget. The result is that your chips and other bagged snacks go stale long before you can eat them all, or else they end up spilling all over the floor when you're reaching for something else. Enter the ultimate solution to make those clips obsolete, which is reminiscent of origami and has been trending on TikTok.

In one video, you can see someone's hands demonstrating an ingenious way of folding the bag. Once they're done, the person even shakes the bag upside down to show the folding technique's durability. If you're skilled at making paper airplanes, you'll easily master the art of folding a chip bag. It may take a few attempts to perfect the technique, but the practice is well worth it considering the preservation of your favorite snacks.

The first thing you need to do with the open bag is to close up the top tightly. Then fold each corner down in a large triangle as you would for the nose of a paper airplane, but be sure to overlap the two sides. Next, roll up the flat section where the two ends meet and tuck in the point of the triangle. Then reverse direction and roll the whole section down to the top of the chips.

@shine.on.darlin

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♬ Juicy – Doja Cat

This ingenious technique might work even better than a simple clip because it forces a lot of the air out of the chip bag, which is what a specialty food saver machine will do. When bags of chips are first packed a puff of nitrogen gas keeps the bag inflated and the chips fresh. Without that protective element, the crispy dry chips are exposed to air which contains moisture. If you don't force the air out, you will end up with soft, stale chips. And don't limit this hack to chip bags — it works for cereal bags too, notorious for popping open and ruining your next bowl of cereal.

Preserving your open bag of chips is one of the best ways to get good shelf life out of your purchase. However, there are a few other hacks that can make your chip experience memorable.

One is to freeze your potato chips. Another is to flip your bag of chips over and open it from the bottom side so that the spice and little cracked bits flavor the whole chips at the top of the bag. If you do find yourself with a bunch of broken chips at the bottom of the bag, don't throw them away! Turn them into a a sweet snack that will be a crunchy, salty foil for your favorite baked goods. Add them to chocolate chip cookies, brownies, or even as a beguiling crunch to a sweet buttercream frosting. 

If you forget to roll your bag of chips, there is still hope for reviving the soggy snack. You can always pop the stale bits in the microwave for a minute or two, depending on the strength of your machine. This will dehydrate them and return them to their former glory.