Confession: Until 2 weeks ago I was a full-on hash brown-hater. To be fair, the only hash browns I had experienced were soggy, greasy, half-raw piles of shredded potatoes sitting alongside imperfectly cooked eggs (why can no one serve a proper over-medium?) and bread so raw you could barely call it toast. I promise you there wasn’t enough hot sauce in the world to make those things delicious.
I was more of a home-fries gal, until we whipped up these bad boys. It only took a few tries but once we figured out a few key techniques, these potatoes became, in a word, addictive. We ate each batch in record time, only pausing to grab the ketchup from the fridge.
Here’s what you need to know:
1) Shred the potatoes. A box grater works, but ideally you still know where you put the shredding disc attachment for your food processor. Use that. It creates longer, more uniform strands and, believe it or not, that itsy bit more of surface area makes a difference once you add the potatoes to the pan.
2) Rinse the potatoes. And I’m not talking about just rinsing. We want you to soak the potatoes in water, like really slosh them around to release some starch. This helps to avoid that awkwardly raw center between crispy outer layers.
3) Dry the potatoes. Squeeze. Toss them around. Then squeeze again. WITH ALL OF YOUR MIGHT. This is the difference between crispy and soggy hash browns. Promise me you will squeeze at least 2 times and 3 if you really love me.
4) Season the potatoes. Remember, like all starches, potatoes need a decent amount of seasoning. Use the full teaspoon of kosher salt we suggest (half that if you’re using table salt).
5) Clarify the butter. Melting the butter and skimming off the milk solids (just real quick—it doesn’t actually need to be perfect for this) means you get to cook the potatoes in butter—hurray!—without getting any burned bits all up in the hash. Don’t be afraid to add a little more to the skillet if the potatoes stop sizzling. Sizzle is your friend. Your hash brown’s best friend.
6) Non-stick FTW. Cast iron is second best, but the non-stick allows for nice even browning without fear of tearing.
7) No touching. At least for a little bit. You know how we’re always telling you to “cook undisturbed”? Well, this is another one of those times where it’s absolutely essential. Cook the potatoes, let them get brown and crispy, then break up and flip in sections. We are not making a big latke. Repeat: We are not making a big latke. We are making a latke-like thing with mostly crispy parts and some tender (yet cooked) slightly less crispy parts. Understand? Cook undisturbed. Flip and break up. Cook undisturbed. Flip and break up. Repeat until perfect.
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