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, 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 the water immediately and lift the lid to let steam escape.
Place the potatoes on a trivet or by the side of the fire to evaporate moisture.
Serve
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
- Form the dish itself; their starch cooks soft and fluffy as the main component.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the cooking water so the potatoes absorb flavour as they cook.
The step that matters
Draining and drying the potatoes. Excess surface water left on cooked potatoes dilutes their flavour and makes them soggy; letting steam escape and evaporating moisture keeps them dry and fluffy.
“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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