— ingrid ortega

Okay. Um, so, you know, one, uh, big difference, uh, is the cooking time that's gonna be involved. All right? So clearly if something is smaller in size versus something bigger, it's going to cook faster. All right? So, uh, think about that. Um, also, uh, when it comes to something like potatoes, this is a great example, uh, when we're cooking whole potatoes or especially large pieces of potatoes. Um, and yeah, let me, uh, let me, I'll talk more about this. Yes. Um, the general rule is to start out in cold water, okay? And slowly increase the temperature, okay? So as we slowly increase the temperature of the water, the heat penetration begins, and it has a chance to slowly penetrate that kind of dense food item, okay? And, uh, the idea is, uh, that we cook that potato or the pieces of potatoes evenly, all right? From exterior to interior, uh, without overcooking the outside and undercook, you know, the inside, uh, because something like a potato is fairly delicate. And, uh, if we have the, the, uh, the heat coming on very quickly, the outside portion, right? Is going to cook very, you know, is, is gonna cook first. As heat continues to move to the center, it's gonna overcook in that scenario before the center is evenly cooked. And we, that's when we start to see skin peeling off and chunks breaking off in the water. Um, that's, uh, gonna be a sign that the water was too hot and was heated too quickly. Um, another issue that comes up, um, when cooking, uh, root vegetables, you know, looking at this example here, uh, whether they're diced or whole, okay? Is if the water is boiling and is too much agitation, as I mentioned a couple of minutes ago, the, the things in the pot start to bang into each other. And this is when you get the edges that start to, to round off the cor, the, the sharp, beautiful corners that you cut with those developing knife skills get rounded, or they start to break off. And this is why, um, it's very desirable, and I would say important, uh, to learn to maintain a simmer, uh, which is a relatively gentle cooking method. It's, it's hot enough to get the cooking done to, you know, to transform starches and proteins and the food. Um, but it's gentle enough that, uh, the food isn't just roiling around and, and banging into each other and getting damaged right inside that, uh, more aggressive environment, okay? And, uh, so, you know, really if, uh, you know, you're cooking potatoes, you could, uh, you know, dice them first, or you could cook them whole. Um, I've done it both ways. And, uh, you know, it can be successful both ways. I suggest that you put on your curious cook hat and, uh, give it a try. Uh, run some tests of your own, maybe a whole potato, maybe half potato, and then maybe some large dice of potato. And, um, again, start to develop, uh, the, the nuances, right, of, of your touch, of controlling time and temperature, maintaining a simmer, uh, and then see how you like the results. Now, another thing to keep in mind is as we pull potatoes out of simmering water, uh, if we're gonna use them in, um, you know, a relatively dry application, like a potato salad, it's desirable to let them air dry for a little bit. So, uh, so we, once we pull 'em out of the water, right, they're strained, lay them out, um, as, as you know, single file as you can on a sheet pan or two, and, uh, just let them air dry. Let that excess moisture dissipate, and that's going to tighten up the potato. Um, in terms of its, uh, structure, it's gonna have, uh, a nice, uh, firmer feel to it, and it's gonna have more potato flavor. It won't taste as watery, okay? One thing we don't wanna do is let the potatoes cool in the water, and we don't want to shock them under cold water as we do with many other vegetables, like carrots or broccoli, okay? Because the potatoes will soak up the water and they'll actually taste watery, okay? And so I hope you'll give that a try, Ingrid, and, um, you'll discover, uh, what works best for you, and you might even find a couple of different ways forward that can fit some different scenarios. Okay? Thank you. All right.