Boiled Potatoes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash and brush the potatoes in cold water to remove dirt.
Peel the potatoes thinly with a potato knife, removing all 'eyes' or black specks.
Keep the peeled potatoes in water until ready to cook.
Cut larger potatoes in half or thirds to ensure even cooking.
Boil
Place the potatoes in a saucepan. Sprinkle with coarse sea salt. Cover with cold water.
Bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer until tender.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Potatoes
- Starchy flesh that softens into a tender, fluffy texture when simmered.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the potatoes and the cooking water as they cook.
The step that matters
Simmer until tender, not at a hard boil. A rolling boil can break the outer layer of the potatoes and leave them ragged, while gentle simmering cooks them evenly through to the center. Cutting pieces to similar size helps them finish at the same time.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
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