Instructions

1. Granny Smith is specified for a reason, and the reason is not nostalgia. Caramel is pure sweetness, and a sweet apple underneath it gives you a chip with nothing to push against.
2. Slice the apples to 1/4" and work quickly. Once a Granny Smith browns it tastes of the brown, and there is no acid dip in this recipe to stop it.
3. Warm the caramel in a bowl of hot water until it brushes out into a thin film. Straight from the jar it sits in a blob that stays soft for the whole run.
4. Brush one face only, and brush it sparingly. A heavy coat never dries — it glues the round to the tray and leaves a sticky pool at the centre.
5. Lay the rounds caramel side up on mesh with a clear gap around each. Any caramel that runs to an edge will bond that round to its neighbour.
6. Dehydrate at 135 °F for 11 hours. The length of the run is the caramel's doing — plain apple rings of this thickness would be finished considerably sooner.
7. A finished round has a caramel surface that is tacky but does not transfer to a finger, over an apple that is pliable rather than wet. Test one that has come off and cooled, because warm caramel always reads as underdone.
8. These go sticky faster than any other apple chip here. Layer them with parchment paper in a sealed tin and eat them within a fortnight, or keep them in the fridge for a month.