Food - Drink
Why You Should Salt Potatoes When They're Still Hot
By LAUREN ROTHMAN
Potatoes are so versatile that you can cook them fried, mashed, baked, and more, but these starchy, mild veggies will taste bland when not seasoned properly. Cheese and herbs certainly help, but no matter which extra ingredients you add, you need to apply the most important seasoning — salt — while the potatoes are still hot.
If you're boiling or pre-blanching your potatoes, salt should be added in two parts: add plenty of salt to the boiling water, then again to the potatoes when they're done cooking. Cooking Light explains that well-salted water boils at a hotter temperature, which cooks the potatoes more thoroughly and results in a creamy, non-gluey texture.
Meanwhile, seasoning the potatoes while still hot, no matter the cooking method, will help them absorb the salt, as chef Palak Patel explains: "The heat helps carry the salt to the center of the potato. It's not ideal to salt cold potatoes." This is especially useful for methods like frying, in which the oil coating the potatoes helps the salt stick.