How Long to Boil Potatoes

Potatoes are a root vegetable and they have to be boiled before they are consumed. This is for the simple reason that there can be certain unwanted organisms in and outside the potatoes, which could be unhealthy for our system. Also, many times raw vegetables cannot be digested and hence, cooking is surely the best way of consuming them. Potatoes are one such vegetable which have varied duration of cooking, with respect to the dishes that are prepared from them. Boiling potatoes reduces their cooking time, if they are being used for other dishes. In the following article, we will take a brief look at how long to boil potatoes, when they are to be used for various purposes.

Tips on How Long to Boil Potatoes

As mentioned earlier, there are many recipes which involve potatoes in one form or the other. Some require it to be mashed, while some need chopped pieces of potatoes. However it is to be used, you have to cook it well so that it is edible. If you use raw potatoes directly, they can take a longer time for cooking. But if they are boiled in advance and then used for these potato recipes, you might save time as well as effort. To make this more convenient for you, we here, have a few suggestions of how long to boil potatoes, in order to save their cooking time, so take a look.

How Long to Boil Potatoes for Mashed Potatoes

• If you want to know how long to boil potatoes before mashing, you have to first make sure to use the right kind of potatoes.
• The best ones which are generally used to make instant mashed potatoes are the Yukon gold potatoes, as they have medium starch content.
• You can reduce the cooking time for them by making the boiling arrangements in advance. Wash the potatoes, peel them, boil the water and also add 1 teaspoon of vinegar to maintain the original color of the potatoes.
• The cooking time for these is about 20 minutes and after that, test each with a fork. If they are bigger in size, boil them for 10 more minutes.
• When the fork is easily inserted in the potatoes, drain them out and mash them to be served.

How Long to Boil Potatoes for Potato Salad

• Potato salad doesn't need very soft potatoes, as they have to be cut into pieces. For the salad you can use any kind which are large in size and slightly more in starch content.
• Once you have selected them, wash, peel, and slice them in one fourths for every potato, lengthwise.
• Put them in the boiling water and boil them for about 10 to 15 minutes. As these potatoes do not have to be very soft like the mashed ones, you can test them with a fork after 10 minutes.
• If they are not soft enough boil them for more, 5 minutes and then test them. Drain the water off and leave them to be cooled. Serve them by preparing some delicious cold potato salad recipes!

How Long to Boil Potatoes in a Microwave

• Microwaves are a much faster mode of cooking and boiling food. Instead of using gas, you can put the bowl of water with potatoes in the microwave and get them cooked instantly.
• This is a great way of making microwave baked potato, as you don't need to boil first and then bake it.
• Wash the potatoes, cut them into pieces, put them in a bowl of water and add a teaspoon of olive oil to the water. This will keep them from boiling over and you won't need to cover the container.
• Cook them on high medium for 5 minute intervals and check them after every interval by piercing a fork. Once they are cooked, remove the potatoes and serve them hot. This is the easiest technique for how long to boil potatoes, as it takes less than 10 minutes to cook them.

With these easy methods, you will know how long to boil potatoes before cooking or consuming any of their preparations. The duration mentioned in the article may vary by 5 minutes or so, as you have to be sure they are cooked well before consumption.