My Tips and Tricks for How to Boil Potatoes (2024)

FAQs

My Tips and Tricks for How to Boil Potatoes? ›

In a large pot, add potatoes, 1 tablespoon salt, and cold water to cover by 1 inch. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and cook uncovered until potatoes are tender and can easily be pierced by a knife, about 10 to 15 minutes (20 to 25 minutes for larger potatoes).

How do you boil a potato so that it doesn't become mushy when you peel it afterwards? Don't over cook it and let it get COLD before peeling. Drain them and put in cold water a few minutes and then drain and put in the fridge for a bit. Yes they will be cold but you can reheat after peeling.

Bring water to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium and cook at rapid simmer until potatoes are easily pierced with a paring knife, about 10 minutes for chopped potatoes and 20 minutes for whole potatoes.

Vinegar helps boiled potatoes hold their shape

The presence of acid in boiling water can retain structure-providing carbs in potatoes, so they don't break down and soften as easily as they would in a pot of boiling water sans vinegar.

Shower them with salt.

Dense potatoes don't absorb seasonings easily, so you'll need to salt the water liberally so that the water the potatoes do drink up also carries in seasoning. And because potatoes are so timid in flavor, they need that salt to bring them out of their shells. Pour some salt in, then keep going.

I love it when cooking involves a bit of a science experiment. In this case, research suggested adding baking soda to the pot when parboiling potatoes; having water of higher alkalinity than usual helps the outside edges of the potatoes break down more, opening up the possibility of a crisper outside texture.

The most important part here is that you use cold water instead of boiled – if you boil the water first, the outside will cook faster than the inside resulting in an uneven texture. Cubed spuds will take around 15 minutes where larger chunks or whole new potatoes will be 20-25 minutes.

For most potato dishes it's important to add the potatoes to cold water and allow the water to come to a boil with the potatoes in the water. The potato starch can react as soon as it comes in contact with hot water, which will promote uneven cooking and mealy potatoes.

Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.

Place the pot over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat to a bare simmer. Do not cover. (Covering changes the environment in the pot and can make the potatoes turn mushy.)

Potatoes should be scrubbed before boiling, rather than soaked. Soaking potatoes in water can sap nutrients and flavor. To enrich the flavor of potatoes boil them in a favorite stock, or for a mild, sweet taste, boil in milk. Potatoes boiled in milk should be peeled thinly when cooled.

Is it better to boil potatoes with vinegar or baking soda? ›

The baking soda spuds had considerably more small, crunchy bits in the pan than the vinegar ones which were whole and looked neater. Both ingredients successfully produced a perfectly fluffy core in each potato with crispy skin, though the crunch was much better on the potatoes boiled with baking soda.

Put the potatoes in a large saucepan, add cold water to cover by about an inch and salt the water generously. You want to make sure that your potatoes are all the same size so they finish cooking at the same time.

While you can wait for the water to boil before adding in the potatoes, they will cook more evenly if you add them to the pot while the water is cold. Potatoes added to boiling water can turn out mushy on the outside and tough on the inside.

In general small or cubed potatoes will take about 10 to 15 minutes to boil, while larger, whole potatoes will take between 20 to 25 minutes. To check potatoes for doneness, insert a knife into one.

Potato Variety: Different varieties of potatoes have different textures when cooked. Some potatoes are naturally firmer than others. It's possible that the variety of potatoes you used may have a firmer texture, even when fully cooked.

If you overcook them they disintegrate and your potatoes will be soupy. The specific cooking time depends on the size of your potato: a perfectly cooked piece of potato should give no resistance when cut with a knife, but shouldn't crumble into a million pieces.

If you put ~1/8 cup of white vinegar in 2 quarts of water to boil the potatoes in, you can cook the potatoes pre-cut without worrying about them falling apart if you cook them too long. I am a fan of waxy potatoes, but russets are cheaper (and come in giant bags here).

When potatoes are boiled, the starch in the potato absorbs water and swells during the cooking process. This gives the potato a better texture and flavour, and makes it easier to digest. The starch cells of 'new' potatoes are immature.

Cooking them whole, with the skin on is the best way to prevent over-cooking. As soon as the potatoes are fork-tender, remove them from the boiling water immediately. When they're cool enough to handle, peel off the skins.