To Boil Potatoes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare and boil
Peel the potatoes neatly.
Place them in a saucepan and cover with water.
Boil for 3 minutes, then strain the water.
Season and steam
Sprinkle a little salt over the potatoes.
Cover with a cloth and the saucepan lid.
Let them steam gently beside the fire until tender and dry.
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
- Their starch softens and turns floury as they cook through, giving the tender texture.
The step that matters
Steam gently. Gentle steam heats the potatoes evenly and lets them become tender without breaking apart. Vigorous boiling at this stage can crack the surface and leave them waterlogged.
“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.