sf wrote:
> On Sun, 17 Jul 2011 15:50:59 -0400, "Jean B." > wrote:
>
>> Brooklyn1 wrote:
>>> On Sun, 17 Jul 2011 10:42:08 -0400, "Jean B." > wrote:
>>>
>>>> Eugene Furey wrote:
>>>>> why does my potato salad ALWAYS watery no mater what I do
>>>>>
>>>> Hard to say. Why don't you post your current recipe--and
>>>> technique, if that is not spelled out in the recipe? My first
>>>> question is whether you are peeling and dicing your potatoes
>>>> before you boil them.
>>> Watery happens when potatoes are started in already boiling water.
>> I have never started in such water, so I would have no way of
>> knowing that. I wonder whether the OP will ever show up and tell
>> us what he/she did?
>
> I doubt s/he will, Jean. It sounded like a troll from the gitgo with
> that watery thing, but potato salad is a good topic for this time of
> year so no harm in taking the topic as far as it will go.
>
> I normally make a cold, mayonnaise based potato salad which has come
> back to bite me in the butt - because whenever I want to make a hot
> vinegar based potato salad now my grown children start to reminisce
> and ask me to make the other one.
>
hahaha. Well, I like the warm kind but almost always make the
cold kind. I wonder why I don't just make mini batches of whatever?

--
Jean B.

notbob wrote:
> On 2011-07-17, Dora > wrote:
>
>> The texture is better.
>
> This I gotta hear. Please explain.
>
> My opinion:
> When you boil a potato, the outside cooks before
> than the inside, unless you actually believe the potato cooks evenly
> from the very outside to the center, equally. Do you? So, by time
> the center is cooked, the outside is cooked way more than the center.
> Is there anyone who doesn't believe this? Anyway, when cooking
> chunks, the difference between how much the outside versus the inside
> is cooked, is much less. If anything, by time the center of a whole
> potato is thoroughly cooked, the outside is overcooked, to the point
> of soggy and falling apart. Is there anyone here not capable of
> grasping this concept?
>
> nb

Well, the more cooked part makes sense. But done in the skin, the
potatoes are not soggy and falling apart--at least MINE have never
been.

--
Jean B.

James Silverton wrote:
> On 7/17/2011 3:44 PM, sf wrote:
>> On Sun, 17 Jul 2011 20:31:38 +0100, >
>> wrote:
>>
>>> I steam potatoes and sometimes I bake them.
>>
>> You bake potatoes for potato salad?
>>
> Yes, I do sometimes; I like the flavor. I bake the potatoes for about
> 3/4 of the usual time so that they are not soft.
>
Ahhhh. I have thought about that but usually the result has a
texture that wouldn't be good for potato salad. Now I forget.
What type of potato do you favor for potato salad?

--
Jean B.

On 7/17/2011 10:09 PM, Jean B. wrote:
> James Silverton wrote:
>> On 7/17/2011 3:44 PM, sf wrote:
>>> On Sun, 17 Jul 2011 20:31:38 +0100, >
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I steam potatoes and sometimes I bake them.
>>>
>>> You bake potatoes for potato salad?
>>>
>> Yes, I do sometimes; I like the flavor. I bake the potatoes for about
>> 3/4 of the usual time so that they are not soft.
>>
> Ahhhh. I have thought about that but usually the result has a texture
> that wouldn't be good for potato salad. Now I forget. What type of
> potato do you favor for potato salad?
>
I seem to remember I used Idahoes last time but that was what I had
available.

--


James Silverton, Potomac

I'm *not*

James Silverton wrote:
> On 7/17/2011 10:09 PM, Jean B. wrote:
>> James Silverton wrote:
>>> On 7/17/2011 3:44 PM, sf wrote:
>>>> On Sun, 17 Jul 2011 20:31:38 +0100, >
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> I steam potatoes and sometimes I bake them.
>>>>
>>>> You bake potatoes for potato salad?
>>>>
>>> Yes, I do sometimes; I like the flavor. I bake the potatoes for about
>>> 3/4 of the usual time so that they are not soft.
>>>
>> Ahhhh. I have thought about that but usually the result has a texture
>> that wouldn't be good for potato salad. Now I forget. What type of
>> potato do you favor for potato salad?
>>
> I seem to remember I used Idahoes last time but that was what I had
> available.
>
And you baked them?

--
Jean B.

On 7/17/2011 10:30 PM, Jean B. wrote:
> James Silverton wrote:
>> On 7/17/2011 10:09 PM, Jean B. wrote:
>>> James Silverton wrote:
>>>> On 7/17/2011 3:44 PM, sf wrote:
>>>>> On Sun, 17 Jul 2011 20:31:38 +0100, >
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> I steam potatoes and sometimes I bake them.
>>>>>
>>>>> You bake potatoes for potato salad?
>>>>>
>>>> Yes, I do sometimes; I like the flavor. I bake the potatoes for about
>>>> 3/4 of the usual time so that they are not soft.
>>>>
>>> Ahhhh. I have thought about that but usually the result has a texture
>>> that wouldn't be good for potato salad. Now I forget. What type of
>>> potato do you favor for potato salad?
>>>
>> I seem to remember I used Idahoes last time but that was what I had
>> available.
>>
> And you baked them?
>
I've both baked them conventional pattern and nuked them.

--


James Silverton, Potomac

I'm *not*

On Sun, 17 Jul 2011 22:15:39 -0400, James Silverton
> wrote:

>On 7/17/2011 10:09 PM, Jean B. wrote:
>> James Silverton wrote:
>>> On 7/17/2011 3:44 PM, sf wrote:
>>>> On Sun, 17 Jul 2011 20:31:38 +0100, >
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> I steam potatoes and sometimes I bake them.
>>>>
>>>> You bake potatoes for potato salad?
>>>>
>>> Yes, I do sometimes; I like the flavor. I bake the potatoes for about
>>> 3/4 of the usual time so that they are not soft.
>>>
>> Ahhhh. I have thought about that but usually the result has a texture
>> that wouldn't be good for potato salad. Now I forget. What type of
>> potato do you favor for potato salad?
>>
>I seem to remember I used Idahoes last time but that was what I had
>available.

Yoose gots to try some other kind of hoes.

>
> I found the best way to make potato salad is to cool the potatoes once
> they are cooked, after cubing them setting them on a wire sheet rack
> in a single layer, and once they reach room temperature putting them
> in the refrigerator for an hour or two to get them cold before adding

That is a method which will not get you the most flavor out of
whatever you put in your potato salad for seasonings - if added when
the potatoes are hot, the flavor will be absorbed better, and your
potato salad will taste better.

I do mine the old-fashioned way - cube the potatoes while hot,
sprinkle some white vinegar over them, a T. or so of sugar, salt,
pepper, celery seed, and sweet pickle relish. Then I let the whole
bowl cool to room temp before adding anything else. I use an
overlarge bowl, so the cooling is fairly rapid.

N.

On Sun, 17 Jul 2011 09:00:24 -0700, wrote:

> On 17 Jul 2011 14:46:59 GMT, notbob > wrote:
>
>>On 2011-07-17, Jean B. > wrote:
>>
>>> Hard to say. Why don't you post your current recipe--and
>>> technique, if that is not spelled out in the recipe? My first
>>> question is whether you are peeling and dicing your potatoes
>>> before you boil them.
>>
>>Who boils whole potatoes? Besides the salt potato freaks.
>>
>>nb
>
> Me
>
> koko

i do as well. dicing before cooking just seems wrong.

your pal,
blake

On 7/17/2011 8:04 PM, Jean B. wrote:
> Dora wrote:
>> notbob wrote:
>>>
>>> OK. We got a lotta ppl who agree with you. My question is, why. Why
>>> would you boil potatoes for almost an hour when cut-up pototoes will
>>> be equally cooked in approx half the time? Makes no sense.
>>>
>>> nb
>>
>> The texture is better.
>>
>>
> Plus it takes me 20 minutes to boil potatoes--and those are big russets.
> (Yeah, I like that texture in my potato salad.)
>


Bob lives at high altitude where anything that is boiled takes a much
longer time than at sea level. High school physics: for every 1000 ft.
above sea level water boils at 2 deg. F cooler. In our area of Denver
water boils at ~200 deg instead of 212, at our son's house it's 194 deg.
It really makes a big difference in cooking.

gloria p

On 7/17/2011 2:58 PM, Dora wrote:
> notbob wrote:
>>
>> OK. We got a lotta ppl who agree with you. My question is, why. Why
>> would you boil potatoes for almost an hour when cut-up pototoes will
>> be equally cooked in approx half the time? Makes no sense.
>>
>> nb
>
> The texture is better.
>
>

It truly is. I think this is especially so with red potatoes.

--
Janet Wilder
Way-the-heck-south Texas
Spelling doesn't count. Cooking does.

On 7/17/2011 4:06 PM, notbob wrote:
> On 2011-07-17, > wrote:
>
>> The texture is better.
>
> This I gotta hear. Please explain.
>
> My opinion:
> When you boil a potato, the outside cooks before
> than the inside, unless you actually believe the potato cooks evenly
> from the very outside to the center, equally. Do you? So, by time
> the center is cooked, the outside is cooked way more than the center.
> Is there anyone who doesn't believe this? Anyway, when cooking
> chunks, the difference between how much the outside versus the inside
> is cooked, is much less. If anything, by time the center of a whole
> potato is thoroughly cooked, the outside is overcooked, to the point
> of soggy and falling apart. Is there anyone here not capable of
> grasping this concept?
>
> nb


I grasp it.

In Russia they serve their boiled potatoes whole or halve the giant ones.

--
Janet Wilder
Way-the-heck-south Texas
Spelling doesn't count. Cooking does.

On Jul 15, 12:47*pm, (Eugene Furey) wrote:
> why does my potato salad ALWAYS *watery no mater what I do

It is probably your methodology. Here, this is a really yummy potato
salad that is really healthy and colorful. It's great for any
occassion.

http://hizzoners.com/recipes/salads/...e-potato-salad

On Mon, 18 Jul 2011 20:15:53 -0500, Janet Wilder
> wrote:

>On 7/17/2011 4:06 PM, notbob wrote:
>> On 2011-07-17, > wrote:
>>
>>> The texture is better.
>>
>> This I gotta hear. Please explain.
>>
>> My opinion:
>> When you boil a potato, the outside cooks before
>> than the inside, unless you actually believe the potato cooks evenly
>> from the very outside to the center, equally. Do you? So, by time
>> the center is cooked, the outside is cooked way more than the center.
>> Is there anyone who doesn't believe this? Anyway, when cooking
>> chunks, the difference between how much the outside versus the inside
>> is cooked, is much less. If anything, by time the center of a whole
>> potato is thoroughly cooked, the outside is overcooked, to the point
>> of soggy and falling apart. Is there anyone here not capable of
>> grasping this concept?
>>
>> nb
>
>
>I grasp it.

When potatoes are started in cold water and are all approximately the
same size they cook evenly... all root vegetables should be started in
cold water... this ensures even cooking throughout. And again, when
potatoes are started in already boiling water they retain more
moisture in their centers and so will result in watery/oozy potato
salad.

On Mon, 18 Jul 2011 18:50:20 -0700 (PDT), ImStillMags
> wrote:

>On Jul 15, 12:47*pm, (Eugene Furey) wrote:
>> why does my potato salad ALWAYS *watery no mater what I do
>
>It is probably your methodology. Here, this is a really yummy potato
>salad that is really healthy and colorful. It's great for any
>occassion.
>
>http://hizzoners.com/recipes/salads/...e-potato-salad

I wouldn't call that a potato salad... it's more a mixed veggie
salad... and there is nothing Italian about it.

On Jul 19, 6:33*am, Brooklyn1 <Gravesend1> wrote:
> On Mon, 18 Jul 2011 18:50:20 -0700 (PDT), ImStillMags

> I wouldn't call that a potato salad... it's more a mixed veggie
> salad... and there is nothing Italian about it.

Whatever........to each his own.