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 filled with 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 to 4 hours during the day, changing the water at night.
The next morning, pour off the water and add 2 to 3 quarts more cold water.
Separate the flour
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.
Dry and store
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 is extracted and dried into the flour.
The step that matters
Drying the sediment slowly. Starch dried at a low, steady oven heat stays pale and dry without scorching. Higher heat risks browning or cooking the starch unevenly, and any leftover moisture can encourage spoilage in storage.
“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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