eat potatoes year-round. There’s almost nothing they can’t do. Breakfast? Hash browns. Lunch? Fries. Dinner? The possibilities are endless. They can even do dessert, if you’re so inclined. As we enter the cooler months, my potato consumption is about to ramp up. And I was recently reminded of a technique that makes cooking potatoes of all kinds almost foolproof: Start potatoes in the microwave. 

The microwave is subjected to no small amount of disrespect in the kitchen; it’s shunted to the side as a tool of the lazy or unrefined cook. There are few bigger mistakes you can make than turning your back on your microwave. It can do so much, so well. It has saved my cakes more than once, for example. It can also ensure that potatoes are cooked all the way through without overcooking their exteriors. 

Why You Should Start Potatoes in the Microwave

Potatoes are very dense. That’s not a problem when you’re tossing them in a stew or under a chicken in the oven where they have plenty of time to cook and you’re not trying to keep them crispy. However, if you’re trying to cook potatoes fast and want them to be crispy (think: fried potatoes on the stovetop) it can be tricky to get them fully cooked without the outside getting too dark and dry. 

The answer is sitting right on your countertop. Starting potatoes in the microwave gives them a bit of a head-start, so when they hit the pan they’re not fully raw. Microwaves cook food by heating up the moisture present inside them. Unlike the heat of the pan, which starts on the exterior and works its way into food, the microwave is heating evenly throughout the food — which is how it cooks food so fast. Adding potatoes that have been par-cooked in the microwave to a hot pan means that by the time they’re perfectly golden-brown on the outside, the center is also perfectly cooked — a feat that’s hard to achieve when you start with raw potatoes that are cooking from the outside in.

The Kitchn