Burts Devon Roast Beef Crisps, 150g

Burts make thick cut, hand cooked potato chips in small batches in Devon, and Devon Roast Beef is the meaty one, made with real beef extract. This is the 150g sharing bag. The full product name on the pack is hand cooked potato chips with Devon roast beef flavour, and the maker on the label is Burts Snacks Ltd.

The ingredients

According to the published pack listing, the crisps are made from potatoes, rapeseed oil, yeast extract powder, natural flavouring, sugar, onion powder, rice flour, salt, beef extract, paprika extract for colour and garlic powder.

Real beef

Unlike many roast beef crisps, these contain meat: beef extract is on the list, and the pack says the flavour is made with beef from the Eversfield Organic Farm. That is why the listing says they are not suitable for vegetarians.

Yeast extract

Yeast extract powder leads the seasoning and gives the deep, savoury, gravy like base, with the beef extract, onion and garlic on top. Yeast extract is naturally rich in glutamates, worth knowing for anyone who avoids them altogether; the pack says there is no added MSG.

Thick cut, small batch

The pack says small batch, thick cut, great crunch. A thick slice fried in small batches gives a hard, crunchy chip with folded, uneven edges, and the listing calls them hand cooked potato chips.

Rapeseed oil

Rapeseed oil is the only oil on the list. The label gives 26.3g of fat per 100g, red on the front of pack scale, and 2g of saturates, amber.

Red Tractor potatoes

The listing says the potatoes are Red Tractor certified, the British farm assurance scheme that covers how crops are grown and traced.

Sugar and rice flour

A little sugar rounds the roast flavour, and rice flour carries the seasoning so it spreads over each chip. The label gives 1.4g of sugars per 100g, green.

Numbers per 100g

The label gives 500 kcal (2090 kJ), 26.3g of fat, 2g of saturates, 55.9g of carbohydrate, 1.4g of sugars, 3.6g of fibre, 8.1g of protein and 0.66g of salt per 100g. The listing gives no serving size, so tip a handful into a bowl rather than eating from the bag.

Reading the front of the pack

On the UK front of pack scale, per 100g, fat at 26.3g is red. Saturates at 2g are amber. Sugars at 1.4g are green. Salt at 0.66g is amber.

Salt

The label gives 0.66g of salt per 100g, amber, against 0.36g in the Burts Lightly Sea Salted.

Protein

The label gives 8.1g of protein per 100g, with the yeast extract and beef extract adding to the potato.

Onion and garlic

Onion powder and garlic powder give the seasoning the savoury base of a gravy, behind the yeast extract and the beef.

Natural flavouring

A natural flavouring sits second in the seasoning, after the yeast extract, rounding out the roast beef taste.

Carbohydrate and fibre

The label gives 55.9g of carbohydrate per 100g, of which 1.4g are sugars; the rest is starch from the potato. Fibre is 3.6g per 100g.

Made in Devon

The pack says the chips are made in Devon, and the front calls them hand cooked British potato chips.

The Eversfield Organic Farm

A line across the top of the pack names the Eversfield Organic Farm as the source of the beef in the flavour; the listing gives no more detail.

Allergens and diet

No allergens from the UK list of 14 are on the published ingredient list, and the published listing gives no may contain advice. The crisps contain beef extract, so they are not suitable for vegetarians or vegans, and the pack says they are gluten free. Recipes and factory arrangements change, so check the allergy advice on the pack you receive.

No artificial flavours

The pack says Burts never use artificial flavours, colours or added MSG. The colour is paprika extract.

Keeping them crisp

The listing says the crisps are packaged in a protective atmosphere, and advises a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight.

Recycled plastic

A green flash on the pack says the bag is made with 55% recycled plastic, and the listing notes ISCC certification under a mass balance approach. The published recycling guidance says the whole packaging can be recycled with carrier bags at large supermarkets and should not go in home recycling.

The pack

The navy bag carries a photograph of a golden field under a wide sky, a line naming the Eversfield Organic Farm, the green recycled plastic flash, an orange small batch roundel, the white Burts name above a rope knot, the words Devon roast beef in large copper letters and the line hand cooked British potato chips.

Who it suits

A thick, crunchy roast beef chip suits anyone who wants a real meat flavour, and the gluten free claim suits many tables. It is not suitable for vegetarians or vegans.

Serving ideas

Serve the chips with a pint of ale, a cheese and pickle sandwich or a bowl of horseradish soured cream.

In the kitchen

Crushed, the chips make a beefy crumb for the top of a cottage pie or a bowl of French onion soup.

In a sandwich

A roast beef chip goes well in a crisp sandwich with a little horseradish or mustard.

Other Burts

In the same 150g bag we stock Burts Lightly Sea Salted.

The published listing gives the United Kingdom as the country of origin. The tasting notes on this page are our own editorial assessment against the current pack format and the brand's published description.