do chips with ridges and regular chips taste different?

[IronParrot]

Okay, being the resident potato chip connoisseur, I feel obligated to comment.

This question relies on how you define taste. Some people would like to define "taste" in terms of the proportional balance between sweet/salty/sour/bitter. I personally think that's a little restrictive, because it doesn't account for texture, and it is in texture that the difference between ridged and flat chips is most evident.

With ridged chips, what you have is the simulation of a "thicker" cut without actually using more potato than you would in a regular chip of comparable XY dimensions. The preference then comes from whether or not you prefer thicker chips.

I have a preference for gourmet brands myself, particularly Kettle and Terra, and one thing that separates them from everyday potato chips is that the chips are generally thicker, and thus richer in texture. Thin chips like regular Lay's or the uniform cuts you see in Pringles have a "flakier" feel, which some people prefer and some people don't. But these gourmet chips are also proportionally more expensive because not only do they use special potatoes and cooking processes, the potatoes are cut thicker - so you seemingly get "fewer" chips per 150g bag, say. With rippled and ridged chips, you have the taste of a regular chip but with a thickness that comes at minimal extra potato overhead.

The ingredients involved, however, are not necessarily different. Ridges don't use up special chemicals that aren't present in chips without ridges.