These are the mistakes to avoid when cooking potatoes - tips on varieties, salt and water

Potatoes with water in the pot and off on the stove?

You can actually go wrong with potatoes.

Which mistakes you can avoid.

Potatoes * are one of the

in Germany.

No wonder - they are so incredibly

!

As a main course or side dish, you can prepare these delicious dishes from them: Potato soup, potato salad, fried potatoes, puree, French fries, croquettes, baked potatoes, fried dachshunds, chips and much more.

But there are some

almost everyone

makes

when

it.

Be sure to read on to find out if you also regularly make serious mistakes when

.

Mistake 1 when cooking potatoes: using the wrong type of potato for a dish

It is not for nothing that there are

: Each is better suited to certain dishes than others.

• Floury

  potatoes are suitable for mashed potatoes and dumplings.

• Predominantly waxy

  potatoes are suitable for

  boiled

  and jacket potatoes as well as potato gratins.

• Waxy

  potatoes are suitable for potato salad and fried potatoes.

If, for example, you wanted to make puree from waxy potatoes and mash them after boiling, the mash would be very sticky and compact.

Similarly, using floury potatoes for

can go wrong

: the cooked potatoes will likely fall apart when cut.

Also read

Mistake 2: don't chop potatoes

Some people just wash or peel potatoes, put them in the pot and let them cook to themselves.

There is a very simple trick so that everyone is cooked through at the same time and the

even reduced: Cut the potatoes into

!

Large potatoes in particular should be halved or even quartered, otherwise the small ones are already overcooked while the large ones are still raw.

Mistake 3: put potatoes in boiling water

You may be used to it from pasta and

and also want to put potatoes in water that is already boiling.

But you shouldn't do that!

Potatoes must be

with

, because the slow heating means the tubers are cooked evenly.

So pay attention to the following order:

• Put the potatoes in a saucepan.

• Fill the pot with water so that all the potatoes are covered.

• Put the lid on the pot and let the potatoes boil.

Also interesting:

Mistake 4: Don't forget the salt when cooking potatoes

Salt

is important for the flavor of the potatoes.

Don't be stingy, a tablespoon of salt in the water can be.

The potatoes absorb some of it when they cook.

Incidentally,

whether you put the salt in the

or in the

water

does not matter, even if

to differ.

Water does not boil much faster or slower with salt than without it.

Find out more

Mistake 5 when preparing potatoes: only cook in a pot

Most people

cook boiled

in a pot with water.

You can save washing up if you

cook

the potatoes directly with meat or vegetables in the

(promotional link).

Then you will have the entire dish ready in a few minutes.

The only drawback: it only works with smaller quantities of potatoes.

You save yourself a pot on the stove that you should keep an eye on and wash off after cooking.

Read more:

Hardly anyone knows these microwave tricks - but they are really practical

Hardly anyone knows these microwave tricks - but they are really practical

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List of rubric lists: © picture alliance / dpa / Michael Reichel