Doing so is a science thing – soaking cut potatoes removes excess potato starch. This means fluffy mashed potatoes (and not gluey!)
As with pasta water, there's a reason to liberally salt the water in which the potatoes will cook: As the starches in potatoes warm up, they open up and absorb water (and salt if you season the water). When they're finished cooking, the cells close off.
Why use salt water for soaking potatoes? There's moisture naturally found in potatoes, and moisture is drawn to higher concentrations of salt. (This is a process called osmosis.) So, if you put the potatoes in a salt water bath, that will help draw out some of their moisture, resulting in crispier fries.
Soaking potatoes in water helps remove excess starch. Excess starch can inhibit the potatoes from cooking evenly as well as creating a gummy or sticky texture on the outside of your potatoes. Cold water is used because hot water would react with the starch activating it, making it harder to separate from the potatoes.
A: We usually recommend no more than 24 hours. You can keep the potatoes from absorbing the water by making sure the water is not salted, and is chilled (you can even add ice to the water).
Doing so is a science thing – soaking cut potatoes removes excess potato starch. This means fluffy mashed potatoes (and not gluey!)
Potatoes soak up a lot of flavor, so salting the water prior to cooking is a good idea for the best taste. And you aren't limited to plain salted water for boiling your potatoes, either.
It Gives a Firmer Texture
Since soaking potatoes in salt water draws out excess moisture and reduces their ability to absorb oil, it helps them have a firmer texture.
Well, the salt raises the boiling temperature of the water, resulting in a super-creamy inside and a wonderfully flavourful, salt-crusted outside. And no, they are not super-salty potatoes, as they are boiled whole, the salt doesn't reach the inside of the potatoes.
Place the potatoes in salted water.
Try dunking your potato slices in salted water as the combination of water and salt keeps oxidation at bay. For every gallon of water, add about one teaspoon of salt to a large bowl or stockpot. Add the potatoes and then cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
It's important that the potatoes are uniformly sized for even cooking. Add the potatoes to a large bowl of cold water and soak for at least 30 minutes (or up to overnight).
Too much whipping (or mashing) will give you sticky — not fluffy — mashed potatoes. Make the best of it and turn them into cheesy mashed potato cups: Mix the potatoes with grated cheddar and an egg, then scoop the mixture into lightly greased muffin cups.
As The Kitchn explains, potatoes will release starch when they're mixed and mashed. Once there is too much starch in your mashed potato mixture, the texture will quickly turn from fluffy to gummy.
As food writer and recipe developer Emma Laperruque explains at Food52, adding salt and vinegar to your mashed potatoes is a simple way to deepen and elevate your mashed potatoes without using expensive or hard-to-find ingredients.
Ideally, you should wait until your water is at a rolling boil. The boiling water will agitate and dissolve the salt quickly. You can add salt to your cold water if your prefer, though. You don't want to forget it after all!
Add enough cold water to cover the tops of the potatoes. Add ½ to 1 teaspoon salt to the water. Turn the burner on high and bring water to boiling. Reduce the heat to medium-low or low.
A: Chefs started doing this years ago to allow the salt to absorb or draw out the moisture of the potato while baking, which results in a dry, fluffy potato. They used to do something similar with prime rib, sometimes baking it over rock salt.
Don't fry fresh-cut potatoes
Soaking peeled, washed, and cut fries in cold water overnight removes excess potato starch, which prevents fries from sticking together and helps achieve maximum crispness.
Tips for the Best Mashed Potatoes
Start cooking the potatoes in cold water: This ensures that the potatoes cook evenly. Otherwise, if you start with hot or boiling water, the outsides of the potatoes cook and soften while the middles are still hard and crunchy.
Let them sit for three to five minutes, then mash. If you like your potatoes chunky, Foster advises using a masher (for more lumps, use the wavy-lined style masher; for fewer lumps, choose a grid-shaped one). For smooth potatoes with a whipped texture, use a hand mixer, which incorporates air into the dish.
When potatoes are mashed, starch is released. The more you work the potatoes, the more starch gets released. When too much starch gets released, the potatoes become gummy, gluey, and unappetizing.
Here's how to do it: For every pound of potatoes in your mash, drizzle 1 tablespoon of melted butter over the dish and fold it gently into the potatoes. If the mash is still too gluey for your liking, repeat the process with another tablespoon of butter. It's that easy!