Potatoes Cooking Techniques

Careful preparation can make all the difference to the way your potatoes look and taste. Remove all green patches, bruises, eyes and any other marks. Peel potatoes evenly but not too deeply, as vitamins and minerals are stored in and just below the skin.

When dicing or slicing, make potato pieces the same size: this insures even cooking and equal cooking time.

Boiling: This takes approximately 40 minutes (whole), 20 minutes (quartered), 12 minutes (diced). Cook potatoes in only a small quantity of boiling water, to avoid loss of nutrients. Cooking water can be kept to make a vitamin-rich soup or casserole. More vitamins and minerals are retained if you boil potatoes in their skin.

Baking: Potatoes can be placed directly on a rack in the oven or in a baking dish with a little oil or butter. This method takes approximately one hour at 400F (200C), and is another good way of retaining nutrients.

Oven Steaming: Pour small amount of water into a pan, place potatoes on a rack over the water, and cover. This method takes about one hour at 400F (200C).  

Pressure Cooking: This is an excellent way to retain color and nutrients, and takes about one-third of the time it takes to boil potatoes.

Steaming: This method also preserves color and nutrients but takes slightly longer than boiling. Place a small amount of boiling water in a pan, and arrange potatoes in a perforated container over the water. Time varies with size of potato, and whether you steam whole or quartered. If quartering, parboil briefly first, so potatoes don't break.

Stewing and in Casseroles: Potatoes should be placed with other vegetables or meat in a covered dish and cooked on the stove top, or in the oven at 350F (180C) for about one hour.

Frying: Pan-frying is a great way to cook leftovers. The potatoes should be cooked in 1 inch (2.5cm) of oil. Leftovers or thinly sliced potatoes can also be pan-fried in one tbsp (15ml) of oil or butter, and deep-frying gives us French fries, increasingly popular in fast food chains throughout the world.

Microwaving: This is the most nutritious way to cook potatoes. If cooking them in their skins, prick them first to prevent them exploding from the build-up of steam and heated juices. When cooking more than one potato at a time, arrange them in a circle on a paper towel or rearrange from time to time to ensure even cooking. Choose similar-sized potatoes so they take the same amount of time to cook. As every microwave oven is slightly different, and wattages can vary considerably, cooking times will also vary. Times given in our recipes are based on a 600 watt oven, so if your oven wattage is lower, increase cooking time slightly; if your wattage is higher, decrease cooking time slightly. Always undercook, test for taste and doneness, and if necessary, return to the oven briefly.

To boil potatoes in your microwave, scrub new potatoes and prick with a fork, but do not peel. Place in a shallow dish with 2 tbsp (30ml) or water. Old potatoes should be peeled in a dish with 4 tbsp (60ml) of water and a pinch of salt. Cover dishes with plastic wrap, rolled back at one edge. Stir once during cooking. Microwave on HIGH until tender. Leave new potatoes to stand 5 minutes and old potatoes for 3 minutes.