I put a metal skewer through large potatoes when baking them. I don’t know if it actually helps, but I do it anyway.
An hour even for boiling? That seems like a lot, unless they’re giant potatoes or something. I like like reds or yellows, I quarter or halve them, depending on size, and boil them for about 15-20 minutes, if that.
They don’t. America’s Test Kitchen did a number of tests, and the various kinds of nails, etc. did absolutely nothing to speed cooking or even out heat distribution. I turned all mine into beer cans.
I can’t think of a single recipe that would call for boiling a whole potato and then serving it whole. So given that you’re going to cube or mash it for the final product, cut it up before hand and save yourself the time! You’ll go from an hour boiling (and good lord, that outer layer has to be complete mush at that point), to 15 minutes.
To test for doneness, stab a piece with a fork. You’re looking for the nice middle ground where it has little to zero resistance when the fork goes through, but it doesn’t yet break apart and bits of it start floating all around the pot.
You really need to clarify what sort of potato you are using. There are so many varieties and yet all I’ve seen in the thread are “red” or “white”, that says nothing about the variety as some can be hard and waxy and will never bake, roast, mash or chip very well. Others are floury and need different treatment and then we have the new vs old and all the ranges in between.
I decide on how to cook depending on what spuds I have and the cooking time varies from 10 minutes (thin french fries or boiled baby jersey royals) through 30 minutes (steamed floury older potatoes for mash) to 90 minutes (slowly oven baked large floury potatoes rubbed with olive oil and salt)
When I say red, I mean red boiling/stewing potatoes. They are low in starch. They are often just called red potatoes here in the US. The yellow ones are of the waxy varieties–the kind I usually use are Yukon golds, but most yellow potatoes here substitute fine for one another. Here’s a run-down of the basic categories in the US.
That’s not quite true. The experiments I’ve seen say they’re faster than absolutely nothing, but still probably not really worth it. A stainless steel nail (which is a terrible metal to use) reduces cooking time by 10%, an aluminum nail by 30-40%. A copper nail works best, but copper can discolor the potato.
I just rub olive oil on the outside.
When I do corned beef, this is how I prepare/serve the potatoes, by boiling and serving them whole. Of course, with corned beef, I’m already committed to boiling things for four hours, so having the potatoes take an hour of that is not a problem. I just put them in the same pot as the corned beef at an hour before I’m ready to eat. (And the cabbage also, at ten minutes before I’m ready).
With small new potatoes, that’s not unusual. Then again, they’ll also be finished within about 15 minutes of boiling.
This reminded me of the Dave Barry column on the fastest way to light a BBQ grill - Dave Barry Official Website
And here’s the video - Lighting a charcoal grill with liquid oxygen - YouTube
Throw a couple of Yukon Golds on there and you’re all set.
- Mitch Hedberg
I stab a russet potato a few times, microwave it 6-7 minutes depending on size, wrap it in foil, and let it sit for another 7-8 minutes.
Total about 15 min (including messing around with foil).
Works fine, except the skin isn’t crispy. I don’t eat the skin anyway.
heat pipes, long hollow fluid filled skewer shaped, were to aid in this. there were long meat size and shorter tater size.
After years of getting uncooked baked potatoes (350 degrees, 1 hour), I started using a thermometer. I find that to get a large potato to 210 degrees internal, still takes close to 2 hours at 350. I mostly don’t mind the wait, though, and prefer a crisp skin to the soggy one from the microwave.
Bob
The way I usually cook them, between 20 and 30 minutes.
A few minutes chopping into cubes.
~10 minutes boiling.
Another couple minutes seasoning in a casserole. (Butter, salt, pepper, savoury, garlic.)
Another ~10 minutes baking (at 400).
About half an hour later, tasty, tasty potatoes.
Okay, I tried the microwave thing today. I poked some holes in it, put it in for 4 minutes, flipped it, put it in for 3 more minutes…it wasn’t good. I’ll give you that it probably could have used another minute, but that wasn’t the problem, it was chewy (for lack of a better term). Not crunchy like it was undercooked in the middle…chewy, gummy. Yes, it was done in 7 minutes plus it took a little extra time to get the skin off since it sort of sloughed off instead of just popped out of the peel, but I think I’ll stick with just cooking it for an hour in the oven.
The alternative, I guess, is what I mentioned above (though I haven’t tried it). Microwaving it for a few minutes to cut down on the time in the oven.