Warning about frying new potatoes in hot oil

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SUMMARY

Frying tinned new potatoes in hot oil can lead to dangerous explosions due to steam buildup. Users reported that whole or improperly prepared potatoes can explode when submerged in hot oil, causing significant mess and potential injury. To prevent this, it is essential to stab holes in the potatoes to allow steam to escape or pre-cook them in the microwave for 1-1.5 minutes before frying. Alternative cooking methods, such as using a wok with other ingredients, are recommended for safer and more flavorful results.

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  • Understanding of steam buildup in cooking
  • Knowledge of safe frying techniques
  • Familiarity with microwave cooking
  • Basic culinary skills for preparing ingredients
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  • Research safe frying methods for potatoes
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Home cooks, culinary enthusiasts, and anyone interested in safe cooking practices and techniques for preparing potatoes and other vegetables.

  • #31
I can't say that I've ever exploded potatoes before, but I will surely keep that in mind.

What I have done is blown up hard-boiled eggs by putting them on to cook and then forgetting about them. Evidently, once they run out of water and then reach some critical temperature, they explode. Mightily. I mean bits of white and yolk hit the ceiling, nearby cupboards, whole eggs leap from the pot. It's rather impressive, actually, but frightening, too, when you're a couple of rooms over and hear strange sounds coming from the other end of the apartment.
 
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  • #32
GeorginaS said:
It's rather impressive, actually
If you think that that's impressive, try making grenade soup.
 
  • #33
I think GeorginaS hen grenade is the ultimate biological weapon.
 
  • #34
wolram said:
I think GeorginaS hen grenade is the ultimate biological weapon.
:smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile:
 
  • #35
Hen grenade! Hee! :biggrin:
 
  • #36
:smile: Anyone else think that we shouldn't let Wollie and Georgina cook together? We'd have exploding potatoes with hot oil and eggs on the ceiling! Now, if you could aim the food, you wouldn't have to get out of the chair to serve dinner once it was put on to cook.
 
  • #37
Fire in the hole!
 
  • #38
Moonbear said:
:smile: Anyone else think that we shouldn't let Wollie and Georgina cook together? We'd have exploding potatoes with hot oil and eggs on the ceiling! Now, if you could aim the food, you wouldn't have to get out of the chair to serve dinner once it was put on to cook.

The only problem i have with eggs is when scrambling them, i all ways seem to get most of it stuck to the bottom of the pan.
 
  • #39
OK, now you're getting WAY beyond normal. Scrambling eggs in a well-buttered cast-iron frying pan is really easy. If you want to use a lighter non-stick pan and maybe olive oil or peanut oil, that's fine too.

The inability to scramble eggs under these conditions points to a more serious problem.
 
  • #40
Wolram get to the shop and get yourself a teflon non-stick frying pan immediately.

but be aware, do not use metal utensils in them, it scrapes off the teflon coating. Use only wooden or http://www.reluctantgourmet.com/cooking_utensils.htm
 
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  • #41
See? Even I knew what turbo and Andre said. :smile:

I'm generally not a hazard in the kitchen; I just seem to be getting forgetful in my aging years. :wink:
 
  • #42
Just a note - people who are forgetful or easily distracted should not cook with non-stick cookware. If left on the stove on high heat, it will release poisonous vapors. Cast iron is practically as non-stick as Teflon if it is properly seasoned. Don't wash the cast-iron after use - just scour it with salt, and after a period of use, the interior of the pan will be black and very shiny. It's better for your health to cook in cast iron anyway- you get traces of iron with every meal.
 
  • #43
Respecting that, I would add that some people are not too happy with cast iron, for the shear weight. Kinda hard for tiny sized ladies to juggle with a cast iron wok.
 
  • #44
turbo-1 said:
Just a note - people who are forgetful or easily distracted should not cook with non-stick cookware. If left on the stove on high heat, it will release poisonous vapors.

Great. Now I need to be frightened of my non-stick frying pan. :wink:

Actually, since my leaping egg incident, I've been very good about remaining in attendance when stuff is on the stove. :biggrin:
 
  • #45
Andre said:
Wolram get to the shop and get yourself a teflon non-stick frying pan immediately.

but be aware, do not use metal utensils in them, it scrapes off the teflon coating. Use only wooden or http://www.reluctantgourmet.com/cooking_utensils.htm

No matter how much care i take of non stick pans the coating gets damaged, i am changing to cast iron, but then i have to take care of my oven top, shuffling the heavy pans will damage it, i would love to have a gas hob but we are not on the main and
bottled is way expensive, electric hobs are not as controlable as gas (mine holds the heat for ages) so simple things like going from the boil to simmer is not easy.
 
  • #46
GeorginaS said:
Great. Now I need to be frightened of my non-stick frying pan.
No seriously. Mis-use or not, aren't you all aware of the warning about non-stick materials?
 
  • #47
wolram said:
No matter how much care i take of non stick pans the coating gets damaged, i am changing to cast iron, but then i have to take care of my oven top, shuffling the heavy pans will damage it, i would love to have a gas hob but we are not on the main and
bottled is way expensive, electric hobs are not as controlable as gas (mine holds the heat for ages) so simple things like going from the boil to simmer is not easy.
If you must use electric vs gas to cook with, cast iron is the best by far. It has enough mass to warm slowly and when it gets to cooking temperature, it does not cool off quickly when you put a lot of food in it, like light-weight non-stick pans do. Another great thing is the versatility of use. Yesterday afternoon, I browned a cheap beef roast (that had been soaking in brine for a day) in a cast-iron skillet after dusting it with salt and pepper. After browning the roast, I put it in a roasting pan. Then, I put a little water in the skillet to pull out the caramelized juices, stirred and scraped that pan, and put that water and juices into the roasting pan, lightly covered the roast with aluminum foil, and baked it at 350 deg F for 2 hours. The meat is wonderful and the gravy is to die for. I whisked some flour into cold water and added it to the boiling juices in the roasting pan to thicken it to a nice gravy. I'm usually good for maybe 1/2 of a baked potato, but with this gravy, I ate a whole potato with both skins and a good helping of fiddleheads, along with the beef.
 
  • #48
We've got one of those ten pound cast iron skillets from Ikea. It'd be great if we could figure out how to get something cooked faster than it can set off the smoke detector upstairs.

Because food rests on the raised ribs, it tends to cook quite slowly. Meanwhile, any oil just smokes in the bottom.

(Oh yeah, and to stay OT, poor Woolie!)
 
  • #49
DaveC426913 said:
We've got one of those ten pound cast iron skillets from Ikea. It'd be great if we could figure out how to get something cooked faster than it can set off the smoke detector upstairs.

Because food rests on the raised ribs, it tends to cook quite slowly. Meanwhile, any oil just smokes in the bottom.

(Oh yeah, and to stay OT, poor Woolie!)
You should consider getting a skillet with a flat bottom for optimal contact and heat transfer, and use peanut oil when you fry stuff, because it can take a lot of heat before it starts to smoke. We heat with wood and have a number of smoke detectors, and I don't remember the last time I set one off by cooking.

My wife and I use cast iron for almost all our stove-top cooking (apart from steaming vegetables and making sauces). We have an 8" frying pan, a 12" frying pan, a 12" Dutch oven with a lid that also fits the frying pan pretty well (VERY useful!) and a 12" skillet. Apart from the Dutch oven, which was a wedding gift, these pans are all things that I had in college, and they were well-used when I got them, so they're likely all 40+ years old.

And to stay OT - Woolie, if you had a lid for your frying pan, maybe you could fry those tinned potatoes (cautiously!).
 

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