# Potatoes won't cook



## yg82 (Jun 2, 2016)

Hello. I've had a problem where I try to cook potatoes for over two hours to use in a soup, and yet the potatoes barely soften. 

I don't add anything to the water, so surely it can't be any specific agent that's stopping the potatoes from cooking. Even when I cut the potatoes into small pieces it still doesn't make a difference.

Can anyone help? Is there anything I can add to the water to make them soften?


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## blissful (Jun 2, 2016)

What is the temperature of the water, and for how long?
Is there any question that the potatoes are in fact potatoes?


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## roadfix (Jun 2, 2016)

Did you pay your utility bill?


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## RPCookin (Jun 2, 2016)

I can't imagine boiling potatoes for 2 hours.  Even 1 hour at a mile above sea level in Denver and they would be mush.  Anywhere near sea level and about 20 minutes would the longest I would ever boil them.


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## blissful (Jun 2, 2016)

RP, he/she didn't say he/she boiled them for 2 hours. He/she said, 'I try to cook potatoes for over two hours'. This may or may not be a serious cooking question.


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## Caslon (Jun 2, 2016)

yg82 said:


> Is there anything I can add to the water...?



Add potatoes. Whatever you're cooking can't be.  

Scotland potatoes?


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## RPCookin (Jun 2, 2016)

blissful said:


> RP, he/she didn't say he/she boiled them for 2 hours. He/she said, 'I try to cook potatoes for over two hours'. This may or may not be a serious cooking question.



He/she cooked them in liquid for 2 hours.  No matter how low I set my stove, any potatoes I ever saw would be done in 2 hours unless I forgot to turn the heat on.


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## Cooking Goddess (Jun 3, 2016)

blissful said:


> RP, he/she didn't say he/she boiled them for 2 hours. He/she said, 'I try to cook potatoes for over two hours'. *This may or may not be a serious cooking question.*


Or maybe they're making Stone Soup?


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## larry_stewart (Jun 3, 2016)

usually by 20 minutes, no matter what kinda of potato I throw in the soup, they are soft enough.  occasionally ill cut them into cubes and microwave them 2 minutes, give a little shake so they don't stick to each other ( the potatoes, that is), then another 2 minutes, taste one to make sure it is cooked through and through, and then add them to the soup last minute , to prevent them from mushing up.

if Im boiling the potato hole, Ill usually boil it about 20 minutes or so, then just turn the stove off and let them sit in the water till it cools a bit. Unless its a HUGE potato, which i wouldn't use in this way , anyway.  Id usually bake those.


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## blissful (Jun 3, 2016)

RPCookin said:


> He/she cooked them in liquid for 2 hours.  No matter how low I set my stove, any potatoes I ever saw would be done in 2 hours unless I forgot to turn the heat on.



True enough right?
I'm thinking the 'try to cook'....turned on the heating plate (or rice cooker, or steamer, or built a fire), they tried to cook, but it never came to actual cooking so the potatoes never cooked. 

It's like the computer question: why won't my computer boot up? It happens, especially when the electricity is down.


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## yg82 (Jun 3, 2016)

Thanks for the replies, everyone. That wasn't a trick question. They are definitely potatoes, from Lidl's, and the gas is definitely turned on. Maybe I'm cursed.

Ta anyway!


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## blissful (Jun 3, 2016)

yg82 said:


> Thanks for the replies, everyone. That wasn't a trick question. They are definitely potatoes, from Lidl's, and the gas is definitely turned on. Maybe I'm cursed.
> 
> Ta anyway!


Thanks for coming back to your thread YG82! Maybe just the potatoes are cursed and not you.


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## jennyema (Jun 3, 2016)

The heat might not have been hot enough.  Did you boil them?


Did you cook them all at once or par cook and finish later?  That sets the starch and they will be hard to soften.


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## Steve Kroll (Jun 3, 2016)

The only reason I can think of for potatoes (or any vegetable, for that matter) not softening is that perhaps the liquid you are cooking them in is overly acidic, for instance if it contained vinegar or lemon juice.

This prevents the cell walls from breaking down properly.


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## Janet H (Jun 3, 2016)

I have seen this a few times in potatoes that were deprived of water while growing or stored too cold (almost frozen).  


Another cause can be cooking them with acids which will inhibit softening.  Sounds like you might have the first issue.  


https://idahopotato.com/dr-potato/potatoes-that-will-not-cook


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## roadfix (Jun 3, 2016)

Now I'm stumped.   
Can you overnight a couple of these potatoes to me?   I'd like to try cooking them here in LA using our tap water.   Thanks!


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