# Hash Browns. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 26, 2010, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hash-browns/548039 "2010-07-26T13:33:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hash-browns/548039/1 "2010-07-26T13:33:56Z")
Who was the marketing genius to take a panful of potatos and make them into smaller, retangularish bits of yumminess? When did this first happen? Did they receive a Nobel Prize for Awesomeness? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hash-browns/548039/2 "2010-07-26T13:45:17Z")
If they’re not shredded, they’re not hash browns; they’re home fries. So said my father and I’ll defend it to the. . .er. . .mild illness. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hash-browns/548039/3 "2010-07-26T14:08:56Z")
A good side order of hash browns is a ticket to Greasy Nirvana. They used to have them at our weekly Tumor Conference, but now it’s just pseudo-home fries. What a disappointment. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hash-browns/548039/4 "2010-07-26T14:14:45Z")
It’s what you make when you’re fresh out of corned beef, right? ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hash-browns/548039/5 "2010-07-26T14:18:10Z")
Probably the same guy who put the bomp in things. Chefguy, I agree with your father, but I don’t think others do. If chunked, home fries are not fused together, hash browns would be. See also latkes and rösti. I am guessing that hash browns are based on something else. I love them, and order them at restaurants because they’re a pain in the ass to make at home. Still, no Nobel for that guy because he forgot to add bacon. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hash-browns/548039/6 "2010-07-26T15:23:50Z")
Yeah, I’d say that hash browns came by way of latke, the only difference being the egg is in the latter, instead of being fried and served on top. Home fries have been around probably since the beginning of the potato. Hash browns are simple to make, **lurking horror** , unless you insist on par-boiling the potatoes, which is just wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hash-browns/548039/7 "2010-07-26T15:26:18Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Yeah, I’d say that hash browns came by way of latke, the only difference being the egg is in the latter, instead of being fried and served on top. Home fries have been around probably since the beginning of the potato. Hash browns are simple to make, **lurking horror** , unless you insist on par-boiling the potatoes, which is just wrong. How do you make them without par-boiling? This inevitably (for me at least) results in a big pile of potato-jello. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hash-browns/548039/8 "2010-07-26T15:34:22Z")
> [@Joe Frickin Friday](#): > > > [@Chefguy](#): > > > > Yeah, I’d say that hash browns came by way of latke, the only difference being the egg is in the latter, instead of being fried and served on top. Home fries have been around probably since the beginning of the potato. Hash browns are simple to make, **lurking horror** , unless you insist on par-boiling the potatoes, which is just wrong. > > How do you make them without par-boiling? This inevitably (for me at least) results in a big pile of potato-jello. Shred them raw, heat the bacon fat (or canola, if you’re of that persuasion) to sizzling, drop the potatoes in the fat (not too thick a layer or they won’t all cook through). I usually turn the heat to medium and cover the pan. That way the potatoes get thoroughly cooked. Take the cover off, flip the spuds as one unit and brown the other side. Easy.\* \*If you want to par-boil, it’s fine. It’s just an extra step that I find unnecessary. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hash-browns/548039/9 "2010-07-26T16:05:22Z")
> [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > Who was the marketing genius to take a panful of potatos and make them into smaller, retangularish bits of yumminess? James Q. Hashbrown, after whom it’s named. > [@](#): > > When did this first happen? 1. March 10th. > [@](#): > > Did they receive a Nobel Prize for Awesomeness? No, merely a Presidential citation for helping to advance the field of Kickassetry. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hash-browns/548039/10 "2010-07-26T16:21:24Z")
Wikipedia (yeah, I know) is completely uninformative on the origin of hash browns. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hash-browns/548039/11 "2010-07-26T16:35:38Z")
I don’t have a cite, but I heard somewhere that hashbrowns were an offshoot of the production of french fries when some food scientist was trying to figure out what to do with the odd bits left over from the manufacturing process. I’ll see if I can find some more info. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hash-browns/548039/12 "2010-07-26T16:40:15Z")
[moderating] Moved from **General Questions** to **Cafe Society** , where food threads live. [/moderating] ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hash-browns/548039/13 "2010-07-26T16:40:58Z")
Ah, I see that it was Tater Tots developed by [Ore-Ida](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ore-Ida) that were actually made from left over bits of potatoes. > [@](#): > > Ore-Ida initially produced and sold frozen corn and french fries, however, F. Nephi Grigg developed Tater Tots, bite-sized “logs” formed from spiced slivers of potatoes, from leftovers produced through the company’s french fry production. Tater Tots are today considered the brand’s most well known product. ---
**Author:** ![yabob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yabob/32/2821_2.png) [@yabob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yabob)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hash-browns/548039/14 "2010-07-26T16:45:54Z")
> [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > Who was the marketing genius to take a panful of potatos and make them into smaller, retangularish bits of yumminess? > > When did this first happen? > > Did they receive a Nobel Prize for Awesomeness? This seems to be describing the prefab frozen form. We assume the prize went to whomever thought of making them as described above, arriving as an irregularly shaped blob of shreds on your plate. Though I’ll admit to having some of the prefab rectangles in my freezer. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hash-browns/548039/15 "2010-07-26T16:54:24Z")
Scattered, smothered and covered. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hash-browns/548039/16 "2010-07-26T17:08:46Z")
There’s a Silicon Valley chain called Hobees that has some great “special” hash brown dishes. My current favorite is “Mama’s Papas”; hash browns topped with with turkey bacon, spinach, mushrooms, Jack and Cheddar cheese. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hash-browns/548039/17 "2010-07-26T17:36:08Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Yeah, I’d say that hash browns came by way of latke, the only difference being the egg is in the latter, instead of being fried and served on top. Home fries have been around probably since the beginning of the potato. Hash browns are simple to make, **lurking horror** , unless you insist on par-boiling the potatoes, which is just wrong. Nah, it’s the shredding and patting dry part that I find a pain in the ass. Maybe I just need a better grater, and I’m too impatient to make sure they’re all the way dry. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hash-browns/548039/18 "2010-07-26T18:33:56Z")
The key to awesome hash browns is the key to an awesome hamburger: Flip **once** , and don’t press. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hash-browns/548039/19 "2010-07-26T18:46:49Z")
There seem to be three different ways I’ve seen them cooked: 1. Shredded. Some of the shreds are crunchy and some are soft. 2. Chopped potatoes. Not shreds, but many different sizes. Again, some of the pieces are cooked to a crunch, while others are not. 3. Individual chunks. Each is browned on the outside. There are also potato pancakes, which are shredded and fried as cakes. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2010, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hash-browns/548039/20 "2010-07-26T19:29:39Z")
So here’s one of the classic munchies from my _high_ school days. Cook a pan of tater tots in the oven, make some chili, pour it over the tots, put all the cheese you can find on top of it and stick it back in the over for the cheese to melt. You can use chicken nuggets (they have to be the ones shaped like dinosaurs) instead of tater tots. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hash-browns/548039.md?page=2)