To Boil Potatoes
Ingredients
Directions
Cook
Place potatoes in a pot of boiling water with salt added.
Boil until tender, then drain the water.
Cover the pot with a clean kitchen towel folded several times to keep the potatoes warm and dry.
Serve
Serve immediately in a dish lined with a warm napkin, folding the napkin over the potatoes.
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 softens as it cooks, so the boiled potatoes become tender throughout.
The step that matters
Drain, then cover with a folded towel. Once drained, potatoes release steam and surface moisture. The folded towel absorbs that moisture and holds heat, so the potatoes stay dry instead of turning soggy or cooling before serving.
“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.