We love potatoes. Give them to us boiled, baked, roasted… We love it all! Potatoes are a clear favourite with a lot of people. It’s even the fifth most important crop worldwide, so that says quite a lot! Whichever way you decide to prepare your potatoes, they usually need to be boiled first. For the impatient ones among us (us included), this can take quite a long time. Luckily, we’ve got a trick that’ll help you boil your potatoes in no time at all.
They’ll be done twice as quickly!
Potatoes
Even though they’re still very loved, the popularity of the potato has decreased in recent years. That’s because low-carb eating has become quite the hit and if there’s something potatoes contain a lot, it’s carbs. But there’s actually much more to them than just carbs! They contain fibre, vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals and these all help to ward off diseases. So, they’re actually pretty good for you. There are also some studies that say that they can help reduce constipation and inflammation. Quite the wonder vegetable, we’d say!
Toxic
Did you know potatoes grow on a toxic plant? The plant is toxic, but luckily potato poisoning is very rare. However, eating a green potato can be very dangerous, so you should always just throw those away. Did you know you also shouldn’t eat potato sprouts? Potatoes contain solanine, but in such a small amount that it’s perfectly safe for us to eat. The sprouts, however, contain much more solanine which can lead to stomach aches and cramps. It’s advised to remove the sprouts and eyes before you eat your potato. To prevent potatoes from sprouting, you should keep them in a paper bag or in an open bowl to allow the potato to get enough oxygen. Keeping them in a closed plastic bag or closed container causes them to sprout and shrivel up.
Pot
We love a good boiled potato, but it can take an awfully long time before it’s finally done. We’re great fans of doing things quickly and efficiently, so we’ve gone on a search for the quickest way to boil a potato. It turns out that the size of your pot has a lot of influence on the time the potatoes need to boil. The bigger the pan, the more the potatoes come into contact with the water and not with each other. That’s why it’s important to choose a rather large pot, as to maximize the water surface.
Kettle
You can also halve the boiling time by first boiling the water you use in the kettle and then pouring this hot water over your potatoes in the pot. Put the pot on the stove and then you’ll only need about 5 to 10 minutes to boil them until they’re done!
Final tip: make sure the potatoes you’re boiling are all about the same size. That way you’ll make sure they’ll all be done at the same time. Got a few big potatoes in between the smaller ones? Cut them in half!