Excellent Potato Flour, or Arrowroot
Ingredients
Directions
The book says “a slow oven”. The 300°F (150°C) in the steps is the modern equivalent, not the book's own figure.
Prepare the starch
Grate the potatoes into a large vessel full of cold water and stir well.
After 6 hours, pour off the water and add fresh water, stirring the mixture well.
Repeat this process every 3-4 hours during the day, changing the water at night.
The next morning, pour off the water and add 2-3 quarts more to the potatoes.
Separate and dry
Turn the mixture into a hair sieve set over a pan to collect the flour.
Wash the flour through the sieve by pouring water over it.
Let it settle in the pan, then drain off the water.
Spread the potato sediment on dishes and dry it in a slow oven at 300°F (150°C).
Sift the dried flour and store it in bottles or jars, corking or covering them closely.
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
- Provide the starch that becomes the flour once washed and dried.
The step that matters
Drying the potato sediment slowly. Starch must be dried thoroughly at a low oven temperature so it stays free of moisture; trapped water can cause spoilage in stored flour.
“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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