To Boil Potatoes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Wash and scrub the potatoes thoroughly with a hard brush.
Rinse the potatoes and arrange them compactly in a saucepan.
Boil
Add cold water to cover the potatoes and bring to a boil.
Add 1 tablespoon of salt for every quart of water.
Simmer the potatoes until nearly done, then boil rapidly for the last 2-3 minutes.
Check for doneness by probing with a fork.
Dry and serve
Drain the water and let the steam escape by lifting the lid.
Place the potatoes on a trivet or beside the fire to evaporate moisture.
Peel and serve immediately, 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
- Provide the starch that becomes the cooked, fluffy flesh of the dish.
- Salt
- Seasons the potatoes as they cook in the boiling water.
The step that matters
Simmer until nearly done, then boil rapidly for the last 2-3 minutes. Gentle simmering cooks the interior evenly without splitting the skins, while a brief rapid boil finishes the potatoes. Overcooking at a hard boil from the start can break the skins and leave the outside mushy before the centre is tender.
“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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