Potatoes, Boiled
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Select potatoes of similar size or cut larger ones to match.
Wash the potatoes, remove any specks or eyes, and peel them thinly.
Soak the peeled potatoes in cold water until ready to cook.
Boil and dry
In an iron saucepan, add the potatoes and just enough cold water to cover them.
Once the water boils, add a little more cold water to reduce the heat.
Check the potatoes with a fork; when soft, remove them from the heat.
Drain the potatoes and let them sit uncovered by the fire to dry.
If done early, cover them with a cloth to keep warm and absorb moisture.
For a floury appearance, shake the saucepan every minute while drying.
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 floury when boiled and dried.
- Cold water
- Cooks the potatoes gently and, added after boiling, lowers the heat.
The step that matters
Adding cold water after the boil starts. Adding a little cold water when the pan reaches a boil drops the temperature so the potatoes cook through gently without breaking apart on the outside. Boiling hard can crack or collapse them before the centre is tender.
“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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