To Boil Potatoes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash and scrub the potatoes clean with a hard brush.
Rinse the potatoes well and arrange them compactly in a saucepan.
Cover the potatoes with cold water.
Boil and cook
Bring the water to a boil, then 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 lift the lid to let steam escape.
Place the potatoes on a trevet over the fire until moisture evaporates.
Peel and serve quickly, either in a hot napkin or a covered dish to allow steam to escape.
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 soft, fluffy interior when they are tender and dry.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the cooking water so the potatoes absorb flavour as they cook.
The step that matters
Drain and dry the potatoes. Leftover surface water and steam make potatoes soggy. Letting moisture evaporate on a trivet keeps them dry and fluffy before peeling.
“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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