How much to cook potatoes?

Boiled potatoes are a traditional dish in many countries. It is difficult to find a person who does not like potatoes - whole boiled potatoes or mashed potatoes. But often at each mistress the potato turns out different to taste. What does it depend on? Including how much to cook potatoes. Perhaps, all of us were taught that this root should be cooked until it becomes soft - this is checked with a knife. But here there are many questions: for example, potatoes are still slightly under the influence of their own temperature, and how many minutes you can boil potatoes, so that it does not boil, if you need each root to remain intact. In addition, potatoes are used in different forms: puree, whole, in a salad. Let's find out exactly how much to cook the potatoes after boiling.

How to cook potatoes?

Before cooking, the root vegetables should be thoroughly washed and inspected, especially if you are going to cook them in a uniform, that is, along with the peel. Spots of rot or other diseases even on one potato can spoil the entire dish. It is also important that there is no "greens" on the potatoes - usually it happens with long-laying vegetables. If the fruit has turned green and started to shoot - it means that new processes have already taken place inside it, many substances have changed, chlorophyll accumulated, which for a person can be poisonous. Therefore, for cooking in a uniform such a fruit does not suit, and all the greens, sprouts and other parts that have changed color, must be deeply cut. When the potatoes are cleaned, it must be rinsed again with cold water, and only then sent to a saucepan. It is not worth saving time, picking up warm or hot water for cooking - it can ruin the taste. For cooking vegetables, you need cold running water.

How long does it take to cook potatoes?

The duration of cooking potatoes depends on its size. On average, this is 20 minutes, but if the roots are large - it will have to be slightly increased. Alternatively, such potatoes can be cut in half if you do not need whole potatoes. If the potatoes are young, then it is slightly softer and cooked earlier - in 15 minutes. The process will go even faster if you add a little vegetable oil to the water - it "wraps" the vegetables and heats up more than water. By the way, about 5 minutes before full readiness, most of the water from the pan is best drained, close the potatoes with a lid and put on a very small fire - then it comes to steam and does not fall apart.

How much to cook potatoes for mashed potatoes?

Puree is boiled potatoes, which are kneaded in a homogeneous mass with a small amount of milk or water. In this case, the root should be soft, so it should be cooked more - about 25 minutes, or even all of 30. Too long to cook, too, is not necessary: ​​all the starch will go into the water, and the mashed potatoes will become faded. By the way, it is better to pour less water into the potatoes, and then at least part of it is used for mashed potatoes, so we will save more useful substances.

How much to cook potatoes for salad?

For a salad, potatoes are usually brewed in a uniform - so we will not only preserve a more rich taste, but useful substances. To the boiled skin was better removed, potatoes should be doused with cold water, as soon as it is removed from the fire: from the temperature drop the skin peels off. For a potato salad it is better to cook minutes for 4-5 less than usual, that is 10-12 minutes for a young vegetable and 15-17 for an old one. The skin keeps the heat well, and the potatoes still reach, remaining dense enough that they do not turn into a small crumb in the salad. Usually potatoes for salad are brewed without salt, but if you intend to make an acute dish, then, on the contrary, you can pour salt even slightly more than is required: then the potato in uniform will resemble a potato baked at the stake.