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To Boil Potatoes in Their Jackets

Boiled potatoes cooked with skins on, served hot.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Isabella Beeton · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 6 ingredients
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To Boil Potatoes in Their Jackets

6 persons

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare

  1. Wash the potatoes well, removing dirt with a clean scrubbing brush if necessary.

  2. Choose potatoes of nearly equal size.

  3. Fill a saucepan half full with the potatoes.

  4. Cover the potatoes with cold water, salted with 1 heaped tablespoonful of salt per 1/2 gallon of water.

Boil and dry

  1. Bring the water to a boil.

  2. Move the pan to the side of the fire and simmer gently until tender.

  3. Check doneness by probing with a fork.

  4. Pour off the water, uncover the saucepan, and let the potatoes dry by the side of the fire, avoiding burning.

Serve

  1. Peel the potatoes quickly.

  2. Place them in a very hot vegetable dish, with or without a napkin, and serve immediately.

  3. Do not cover the potatoes entirely after cooking, as steam falling on them makes them watery.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

161Calories
4 gProtein
0 gFat
37 gCarbs

Counts 2 of 3 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 2 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Potato1 medium (173g) baked161
Salt1 tsp (6g)0
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Isabella Beeton. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

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. See the original page.

Explore the science

What each ingredient does

Potatoes
Provide the starchy body of the dish, which softens and turns fluffy as they cook.
Salt
Seasons the cooking water so the potatoes take up flavour as they simmer.

The step that matters

Simmer gently instead of boiling hard. A rapid boil can break the potatoes apart before the centre is tender. Gentle simmering cooks them evenly while keeping their skins and shapes intact.

“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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