Making Hash Browns

Who doesn't love hash browns? Maybe I should say, "Who doesn't love good hash browns?"

If you go out to eat, sometimes you will get those nasty, frozen food service, hash browns that look like they are designed to pop into a toaster. Perhaps, you get up and go for breakfast at your local diner and get those heavy, greasy things that drip with excess oil. If you are brave, you have made them at home and had them turn out grey and gelatinous. 

Well hash browns are surprisingly easy. It is all about some simple techniques.

Here you see the beginnings. That is two small russet potatoes that I have grated with one small chopped onion. That works out to be 6 servings, or 4 larger ones. A little grated potato goes much further than you think.

There is lot of water in potatoes. To illustrate I have weighed the potatoes and onion. As you can see, they come in just over 1 pound.

The secret to perfect hash browns is getting rid of all of that water. It does nothing for the taste or texture. I put my potato mixture in a hand towel and twist and squeeze until I can get nothing more out.

When you have wrung it dry, the mixture will feel light and fluffy with very little stickiness to it. You may even wonder if it will form that pleasant patty that you associate with you perfect hash browns, but we got rid of water, not starch. The cooking process will bring that starch out leaving those air gaps in the matrix of potato and onion that gives the crispy potato taste that we long for.

All of that squeezing has dropped the weight of mixture by over 4 ounces. That is 4 ounces of water that was fighting me as I tried to crisp the potatoes.

I like to use iron skillets for most of my cooking. I turned the heat on low under this pan while I was grating my potato and onion. I want the pan thoroughly hot. I want the handle warm. too many home cooks do not understand the use of heat in cooking. They turn a pan on too high right before they want to use so parts of the pan are actually cool.

Instead, we are using all of that iron as a heat sink. We want to store heat in the pan. Then when we transfer our potato mixture to the pan, the heat will quickly heat the potatoes. The quick heat transfer prevents the potatoes from graying.

In the heated pan above, just before I add the potatoes, I add a little oil (about an eighth of an inch). The oil helps transfer the heat quickly. The weight of the pan insures that there is enough residual heat in the skillet to keep the oil hot, which prevents greasiness.

When the edges of the potatoes loose their translucence, you can use your spatula to look under the corner. 

• If the hash browns are browning unevenly add a little more oil. 
• If the onions are darkening faster than the potato, turn the heat down a bit.
• If there is no browning, turn the heat up.

Cook for enjoyment. Eat for life.