To Boil Potatoes
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare
Select potatoes that are equal in size and wash them well without peeling.
Place the potatoes in a pot, with the largest ones at the bottom.
Cover the potatoes with cold water, about 1 inch above them.
Boil
Add 1 tablespoon of coarse sea salt and bring to a rapid boil for 5 minutes.
Reduce the heat to simmer for 30 minutes.
Check doneness with a fork, then pour out the water.
Dry
Set the pot aside to let the potatoes dry without burning, ensuring the lid allows 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
- Irish potatoes
- Starchy flesh that becomes soft and fluffy when fully cooked through in boiling water.
The step that matters
Check doneness with a fork, then pour out the water. Potatoes keep cooking in residual heat, and leaving them in hot water makes them waterlogged and mushy. Testing with a fork confirms the centre is tender before draining.
“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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