To Boil Turnips
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Pare the turnips to remove the stringy rind.
Split the turnips in half or leave them whole.
Boil
Place the turnips in boiling water with a pinch of coarse sea salt.
Cover the pot to keep out smoke and dust.
Boil young turnips for 15 to 20 minutes; full-grown turnips for 45 minutes to 1 hour or more.
For better flavor, boil turnips in their skins and peel afterwards.
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.
Photo for illustrative purposes only · Contact us to use it
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Turnips
- Form the dish, softening into a tender, mildly sweet vegetable as they cook.
The step that matters
Boil until fully tender, matched to the turnip's age. Turnip density rises as they mature, so older roots need much longer to soften through. Judging cooking time by size or age keeps young turnips from turning mushy and mature ones from staying firm at the center.
“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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