To Boil Potatoes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash the potatoes and scrub them very clean with a hard brush, avoiding scooping or cutting them. Rinse the potatoes well.
Arrange the potatoes compactly in a saucepan so they do not lie loose and a small quantity of water suffices to cover them. Pour cold water into the saucepan.
Boil and drain
When the water boils, add about a large teaspoonful of salt per quart of water.
Simmer the potatoes until they are nearly done, then let them boil rapidly for the last two or three minutes.
When the potatoes are tender (probe with a fork), pour all the water immediately.
Lift the lid to allow steam to escape, and place the potatoes on a trivet high over the fire or by the side until the moisture has entirely evaporated.
Serve
Peel the potatoes and serve immediately, either in a hot napkin or in a dish with a cover that allows steam to pass off.
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
The step that matters
Draining and drying after cooking. Pouring off the water as soon as the potatoes are tender and letting steam escape keeps them from becoming waterlogged. Residual moisture dilutes the starch and makes the potatoes soggy and watery.
“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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