You can cook a potato many ways.
"PO-TAY-TOES.
Boil 'em.
Mash 'em.
Stick 'em in a stew."
But it's not just a matter of tossing them in a pot.
The key to mastering the art of the potato lies in knowing which potato is the ideal
variety for the cooking task at hand.
Hate to break it to you, but mashed potatoes are likely where you're making your most grievous
errors.
A starchy variety will produce the fluffy consistency you're after, so go for a russet
or a richly flavored all-purpose variety like a Yukon.
Start your potatoes in a pot of cold water, and then crank up the heat.
Once the water begins to boil, salt it, or else your potatoes will taste underseasoned.
Once the potatoes can be pierced through easily, drain the water, return them to the pot, and
begin to add your other ingredients, which you should heat in a separate pan.
Gently mash or whisk the potatoes until they're just where you want them.
Don't overwork them, and don't use a food processor, or they'll be gluey.
"What happens when you overwork your mashed potatoes?"
"The gummy mashed potato!"
You can use a ricer or food mill, or for super-creamy results, try mixing them using the whisk attachment
of a stand mixer.
And if they come out too watery, there's a super simple way to salvage your mashed potatoes,
regardless of whether that watery texture came from adding too much milk or accidentally
overcooking them.
AllRecipes recommends using a box grater or ricer to add a few more potatoes.
Quickly boil them or cook them in the microwave, then add a dash of salt and pepper, and maybe
mash them a little bit further.
Then add them to your already watery mashed potatoes, and it'll thicken them up nicely.
You might end up with more than you intended, but that's a good thing, there are lots of
delicious things you can make with those leftover mashed potatoes.
The same varieties of potato that work so beautifully for mashed potatoes are also going
to translate well to a baked potato.
Russets are the common choice, with their oval shape and hefty size.
Wash your potato well and dry it off as best you can.
Using a wet potato means you're going to steam the skin, when what you really want to do
is crisp it.
Consider washing your potatoes 15 minutes before cooking them.
Pierce them a few times with a fork and rub them lightly with oil and maybe some salt.
The Kitchn suggests setting the oven to 425, putting the potatoes directly on the rack
without foil, and flipping the potatoes about every 20 minutes during the hour-long baking
time.
A fork should go in easily and you should be able to detect the light crispiness of
the skin.
Let the potatoes rest for a few minutes before cutting them open, or you may scald yourself.
So why not wrap your baked potatoes in foil?
Foil traps the moisture inside, making your baked potato soggy, according to Idaho Potato.
"Unless you like limp, soggy, gummy baked potatoes, please stay away from the foil."
You also can't see how your potato's coming along, and that makes it easy to over or undercook
it.
There's also a safety issue: State Food Safety warns that if you have any leftover potato,
you might just pop the whole thing in the fridge.
If it's wrapped in foil, it's going to be a breeding ground for botulism, which can
make you very, very sick.
Here it is: A reason to embrace a red potato.
Well, sometimes, anyway.
If you're looking to make a thickened potato-based soup, the starchier varieties are still going
to be best.
But for vegetable soups or stews with chunks of potato that don't completely dissolve,
the waxy ones are your best bet.
Even with the right potatoes, one common mistake many people make is to add them to their soups
way too early.
If you're slow-cooking a soup or stew for hours, hold off until the last hour or so
to achieve tender morsels that don't disintegrate into mush.
If you do nothing more than cut your potatoes into chunks, douse them in oil, and toss them
in the oven, your roasted potatoes will be burnt on the outside and undercooked on the
inside.
It's better to par-cook the potato chunks in boiling water before roasting.
Drain the partially cooked potatoes, then add them back to the pot, and give them a
really good shake.
Mush them up so the outside gets a fluffy appearance.
That's the part that's going to crisp.
Toss them in oil and add them to your roasting pan.
Salt them liberally, and place the pan in a hot 450-degree oven.
They'll need to be turned at some point, maybe 20 minutes in, depending on the type of potato
you use.
You really want starchiness in your French fries, so once again, a russet is your best
bet.
You do, however, want to soak out a bit of the starch.
Do this by placing your evenly cut potato slices in cold water.
Let them soak for 30 minutes, rinse, and repeat with shorter soaking times, one or two more
times.
This will prevent your fries from browning as you cook them.
Dry the potatoes on a rack or kitchen towel.
Next, heat up an oil with a high smoke point, so don't use olive oil.
Canola or peanut oil are good choices, and a neutral-flavored grapeseed oil works well,
too.
Ideally, you'll use a deep fry thermometer, and heat your oil in a deep, sturdy vessel,
like a dutch oven.
Then fry your fries twice, once at about 330 degrees for a few minutes, until they just
soften.
Remove the potatoes to a baking sheet lined with a kitchen towel, raise the heat to 360
degrees, and fry the potatoes again until they're crisp.
Salt liberally and serve immediately.
"It takes a lot to cook a French fry, and pull that moisture out to get the crisp.
They may look nice and brown on the outside, but they're gonna be a little bit soggy."
Russets to the rescue again.
Use a box grater or the shredding attachment of a food processor to shred them, then soak
the shredded potatoes in cold water, just like you would do for fries.
Drain out the excess liquid as much as you can.
Then get out a preferably cast-iron pan.
Heat it with a good amount of butter or cooking oil, and add your shredded potatoes in an
even layer.
The biggest mistake you can make at this point is to keep moving the potato shreds all around
the pan.
Fight that temptation.
Leave them alone for five or ten minutes while they caramelize in the pan.
Season the potatoes well, flip them over in sections, and cook them on the other side
for a little less time.
Flip and repeat until they are your desired crispiness.
Though some people swear by waxy potatoes for casseroles since they retain their shape,
starchiness is a key element of a scalloped potato.
So plan to once again grab your long whites, russets, or all-purpose Yukon golds.
The mistake most people make with a scalloped or gratin potato is trying to make it without
plenty of fat.
If you use milk to make your sauce, you'll end up with a watery casserole.
You've got to go with heavy cream.
It's also best to slice the potatoes very thinly.
Use a mandoline if you have one.
If not, slice the peeled potatoes as close to an eighth of an inch thick as you can.
Simmer with plenty of cream, and don't forget to season.
Layer the potato slices in a casserole dish, adding cheese if you're using it.
The combination of cream and starch is going to make a fantastic thickened sauce, and you
will be able to slice the casserole into squares, rather than spoon it out.
The biggest crime in the cutthroat neighborhood-cookout and church-potluck worlds is folks mistakenly
attempting to make potato salad using a starchy variety of potato.
They're called boiling potatoes for a reason.
Any waxy potato or, even better, a combination of waxy potatoes, is going to make the perfect
potato salad.
Home cooks also often overcook the potatoes.
They should really only be cooked until they are just fork tender.
And don't neglect to liberally salt the cooking water, which is really your only opportunity
to adequately season your spuds.
"There are so many ways to mess it up.
Sometimes the potatoes aren't boiled enough.
I've tried that.
Or they're boiled too much."
And be sure to dress the potatoes at the right time.
For a mayo-based dressing, add the dressing a half hour or so before serving, but only
once the potatoes are room temperature or chilled.
For a vinaigrette-based dressing, add it to the warm potatoes so they soak up all that
flavor.
Making homemade potato chips is definitely fun, and it lets you experiment with all kinds
of flavors you're just not going to find in the grocery store.
But it can be challenging, and one of the biggest risks is chips that come out so hard
that you might break a tooth.
It's also entirely possible to end up with a batch without that pleasant crunch.
What to do?
The Guardian describes getting the perfect potato chip as "a slippery slope."
The most common mistake is not cutting the potatoes to the proper thickness, and there's
a bit of debate on just what that is.
Some, like Martha Stewart, recommend going with a one-eighth-inch thickness.
Others suggest one sixteenth of an inch.
But if you're outside that range, you're going to have problems.
Cut them too thick and they won't get crispy.
Too thin, and they'll shatter when you bite them.
Another common mistake is not rinsing the potatoes: you'll want to get rid of much of
the starch, as you do with fries and hash browns.
And as tempting as it might be to bake them, that's not the way to get a truly delicious
chip.
If you want a real chip, a chip that's as delicious as the grocery store versions, you'll
need to fry them.
Then they'll be irresistible.
"I took it!
I took the potato chip!"
One common element of nearly all these potato preparations is washing, and according to
the Idaho Potato Commission, there's a specific way you should be washing your potatoes.
While they're typically cleaned at the shipping facility, that usually doesn't get all the
dirt out.
You have to do that.
There's no need for soap; just some good, old-fashioned elbow grease.
The job can be made quite a bit easier if you soak them for a few minutes first, then
scrub.
But don't wash them too far in advance of using them or they might start to get moldy
in storage.
And don't use that old trick of running them through the rinse cycle of your dishwasher.
They're sure to get soapy, even if you don't put in any detergent.
And as we've noted, be sure to dry them.
Fine Cooking notes that residual water interferes with the cooking process.
The biggest potato mistake in history?
Eating potatoes that are so old that they kill you.
All potatoes are members of the nightshade variety of plants, which contain a compound
called solanine.
Our bodies can dispose of solanine easily enough in normal concentrations, but when
a potato has been stored too long, or stored improperly, the compound can build up to amounts
that can make people very ill.
It can even be fatal.
Visibly green chlorophyll on or under a potato's skin is a sure sign of elevated solanine levels,
so it's best to toss those spuds.
Cutting off the potato's sprouts, or "eyes," is also advised, as the sprouts themselves
also contain some of that nasty stuff.
Potatoes can also change flavor as they are stored, so shriveled potatoes should be tossed
as well.
And potatoes should always be stored dry to prevent mold.
The best way to store potatoes is in a cool, dark environment, in the 45-55 degrees Fahrenheit
range.
Some folks are fans of storing potatoes in the fridge, where they can last for months.
Fridge storage can change a potato's flavor and color, making it sweeter and darker, but
this flavor change can be rectified by simply allowing the potato to return to room temperature
a few days before cooking it.
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