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Thread: Potatos take ages to boil!

  1. #1
    Gold Member Marcos's Avatar
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    Potatos take ages to boil!

    Any tips?

    I chopped them into small cubes, added some salt to the water, still took 40mins on high heat

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    Are you using a lid and did you boil the water in a kettle first? Even so, 40 minutes is far too long. It normally takes me 15 minutes when chopped up for mash.

    Does it take you a long time to cook other ingredients on your cooker as well?

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    Member Trash Man's Avatar
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    Electric hob? If so boil the water in a kettle first and make sure you use a lid.

    Gas is much better imo, would like to get my hob changed, others things to spend money on though first

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    Almost in control. autopilot's Avatar
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    40 Mins? Thats strange indeed.

    For what it's worth, i reckon potatoes should always be steamed. The dont absorb lots of water and lose thier taste and you get a better texture.

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    Gold Member Marcos's Avatar
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    i didnt use a lid and i used cold water but timed it from boil, gas hob

    i dont know where i can buy lids alone? got student mix & match pans

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    Using a lid wouldn't make the difference between 40 and 15 minutes. The only thing I can assume is that your hob is not working effectively, but then again, if the water is boiling, then the water is boiling.

    You must have bought extra resilient potatoes, it's the only explanation.

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    radix lecti dave87's Avatar
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    As has been said, boil the kettle and add hot water to the potatoes - make sure the hob is on the highest setting that doesnt cause it to boil over, and use a lid when you can get hold of one

    Dave

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    Getting older teachmech's Avatar
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    Get a pressure cooker 8 mins max when at temp.

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    Does he need a reason? Funkstar's Avatar
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    If they are miss matched pans etc. they might be pretty bad at transfering the heat through to the water, so it would take more time to get up to temperature.

    Instead of trying to get lids, you might just be better getting a half decent, but inexpensive set of new ones.

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    Senior Member oshta's Avatar
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    It takes about 40mins for me to do potatoes. From cold.
    - I recon its about 25 if you start with boiling water, assuming medum sized potatoes.

    Ive never seen potatos boiled all the way though in 15min
    - Sure you can speed it up in a microwave a little, same with when baking, but 15mins?


    Daniel

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    Don't use too much water - fill to about a couple of mm below the level of the pots - boiling will agitate the water to cover them.

    If you add boiling water to pots and you haven't cut them really small, then you could end up with mushy on the outside and raw on the inside. Starting with boiling water cooks the outside too soon.

    Using a lid will speed things up a lot and save on fuel bills.

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    Goron goron Kumagoro's Avatar
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    Mayan gold pots very quick get them at tesco

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    I was really lazy last night and cooked some of those little charlotte pots in the microwave (7 mins) - no peeling or cutting up, just scrubbed them a bit.
    Tasted so much better than boiled. Probably the most delicious pots I have had apart from Jerseys. I wonder what they'd be like microwaved?

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    Part II
    microwaved cubed peeled sweet potatoes last night, took longer than usual spuds. Mashed it up with spring onions, milk, butter, pepper and aromat and got some of the most delicious mashed potatoes I've ever tried!

  15. #15
    Does he need a reason? Funkstar's Avatar
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    Sweet potatoes should be quicker. I know when i use them they definitely take less time to roast than regular potatoes. Although they are edible when a little firmer than normal ones.

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    I cooked them longer in the micro, cos when I pan boiled some sweet pots a few weeks ago they were hard to mash. Might also have been the quantity.
    They probably would roast quicker, 'cos cut in half they would be thinner than say a king edward.

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