The Tip You Should Follow For Crispy, Evenly Cooked Hash Browns
If you're a fan of heaping plates of savory breakfast items, then chances are you've enjoyed your fair share of hash browns in your day. Also known as hashed browns or breakfast potatoes, this staple breakfast dish is really just a simple serving of seasoned and grated potatoes, sometimes mixed with onions, that are fried until crispy in a hot skillet. And where would our eggs, bacon, and sausages be without it?
Although there are plenty of frozen versions of hash browns available at the supermarket, there's really no comparison to making them fresh at home — that is, if you're familiar with the techniques to get them right. Although the ideal hash brown is crispy on the outside, the side dish is all too prone to coming out soggy, greasy, or even half-raw, according to Bon Appétit. Luckily, there's a trick to turning out crispy, evenly cooked hash browns — every time.
Leave the potatoes alone!
According to Bon Appétit, the most important thing you can do to hash browns is nothing. Let us explain: after shredding, rinsing, drying, and seasoning the potatoes, and then loading them into a hot greased pan, you should resist the urge to constantly stir and toss the hash browns if you're going to give them a fighting chance of actually developing some color and getting crispy. Bon Appétit suggests letting the layer of potatoes get brown and crispy, then breaking up the layer and flipping it in sections, allowing other parts of the potatoes to crisp up. If you keep stirring the potatoes like a sauté, then they'll just remain limp — not something you'd want to serve alongside your favorite breakfast dishes.
Another tip Bon Appétit shares is all about the pan, recommending a non-stick or cast iron pan that will allow maximum crispiness with minimal sticking. So bust out your grater — and some ketchup — and get to work.