To Boil Potatoes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash and scrub the potatoes clean with a hard brush.
Rinse them well and arrange them compactly in a saucepan.
Cover the potatoes with cold water.
Boil
Bring the water to a boil and add salt.
Simmer the potatoes until nearly done, then boil rapidly for the last 2-3 minutes.
Check for tenderness by probing with a fork.
Drain and serve
Drain the water immediately and let steam escape by lifting the lid.
Place the potatoes on a trivet or by the side of the fire until moisture evaporates.
Peel and serve quickly, preferably in their skins.
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
- Starch structure cooks into a tender, fluffy interior when boiled and dried.
- Salt
- Seasons the cooking water so the potatoes absorb flavor as they cook.
The step that matters
Drain and let the steam escape. Leaving potatoes wet after draining makes them waterlogged and heavy. Letting steam escape and resting them briefly lets surface moisture evaporate, leaving a drier, fluffier texture.
“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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