Boiled Potatoes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Select potatoes of uniform size, wash and scrub them.
Pare the potatoes and cover them with cold water.
Cook and serve
Put them in a saucepan of boiling salted water.
Cook for 30 minutes or until soft.
Drain off all the water.
Place the saucepan uncovered at the back of the stove to let the steam escape.
Shake gently and serve very hot.
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 turns soft and fluffy when cooked through in boiling water.
- Salt
- Seasons the water so the potatoes take up flavour as they cook.
The step that matters
Cook until soft, then drain and let steam escape. Potatoes are done when a knife slides through easily; overcooking makes them waterlogged and falling apart. Draining and leaving the pan uncovered lets surface moisture evaporate so they stay dry and fluffy rather than soggy.
“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.
More boiled potatoes recipes
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.