I am sure you have experienced the nasty startchy water that boils over and messes up your stove/burner when you are boiling potatoes for mashed potatoes.....well no more! I was at Target one day and a random woman in the kitchen tools department told me something that changed me forever! OK, maybe not that drastic, but I wanted to share it with you. If you lay a wooden spoon across the top of the pot while you are cooking the potaotes, they WILL NOT boil over! It works! Try it and pass this wonderful knowledge on to others!!!
Good to know! I always put olive oil in the water. It works, too. But then you have oil in the potatoes (which you don't always want). I'll have to try the spoon thing. It makes sense.
I am a little unclear. Just a wooden spoon no lid or a lid with a wooden spoon. Me I just leave the lid ajar so the steam can escape. But this has made me curious
No lid, just a wooden spoon laid across the top of the pan. I know it sounds wierd, but it DOES work!
If your pan starts boiling over, putting a wooden spoon into the pan immediately calms the bubbles, right? So if just contact with the wood calms them, then it stands to reason that if you lay the spoon across the top of the pan, when it started to bubble up and touched the spoon, it would calm... or at least stop there. And not boil over.
I am thrilled to hear this little trick! I am bad to let potatoes boil over and I hate the mess it makes. Thanks for sharing. I will try this one out for sure!
My husband's grandmother taught me to put about a half a teaspoon of butter in the center of the water when it starts to boil and it works too. Gotta love these wise elder cooks.
