Potato kugel HELP | Imamother

amother

↑ OP ↓

Thu, Feb 15 2024, 8:56 pm

mom2mysouls wrote:

Op you are amazing you found the time to sample several recipes and get back to imamother every time.
I would be dizzy following people's methods, there are too many. Especially in one day.
The key is when you put your heart and soul into the food, it makes a difference in the outcome.

I printed everyone’s recipe and compared it and chose 1 from the pile of similar recipes.

Then I took notes of all the tricks.

Like preheating, vitamin c, working quickly, etc. those seemed to be unanimous.

I have yet to try Yukon potatoes
Adding a squash
Trying the sugar recipe!
And some additional different ones.

Can’t wait to get back to it next week.

amother

Oak

Thu, Feb 15 2024, 9:01 pm

We love this one https://betweencarpools.com/ov.....ugel/

I make it very late Thursday night (I'm up late anyhow) , and keep it in the oven till my kids come home (around 12pm) and eat some for lunch (I just make sure there's plenty of water in the pans underneath). Its great to have lunch ready made like that on a Friday.

amother

↑ Seagreen

Thu, Feb 15 2024, 9:07 pm

amother OP wrote:

So you’re saying timing isn’t that important?
For now I’ll race against the clock since I put that as an ingredient.

You left out how much boiling water?

You’re the first poster mentioning salt.
I usually use kosher salt as my go to but today I assumed everyone was using table salt. I have no idea why I assumed. Maybe because the Hungarian chassidish people use table salt? Yup- I was being very judgmental.

I do find that table salt is saltier. Didn’t realize it reacts to heat differently.

Thank you for your recipe.
I keep comparing and placing all the very similar ones on the same pile.

I use one cup of water

I once watched a cooking class that mentioned the reaction of salt

Table salt is also smaller so you get about double the amount

amother

↑ OP ↓

Thu, Feb 15 2024, 9:19 pm

amother Oak wrote:

Thank you for sharing. I read through all the comments and it was very informative.

I see it’s specifically for overnight recipe.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Thu, Feb 15 2024, 9:21 pm

amother Seagreen wrote:

I use one cup of water

I once watched a cooking class that mentioned the reaction of salt

Table salt is also smaller so you get about double the amount

Very interesting about the salt. Curious which salt most women on here use ?

Makes sense about the table salt. It’s a lot finer.

amother

↑ Sage

Thu, Feb 15 2024, 10:51 pm

amother OP wrote:

Another interesting observation.

Skip cooking dinner.

Make several kugels and your family will forget about the chicken and soup and sides.
Take my word for this one.

Not in my house. My family are not such potato kugel lovers. Even the hungarian style...

amother

IndianRed

Fri, Feb 16 2024, 3:57 am

Does anyone have a recipe with pounds of potatoes instead of number-tgere's such a big range of "medium" and "large" potatoes so I'm always worried my spicing will be off- more batter than need more salt/pepper for enough flavor or less batter (smaller potatoes than the recipe intends) and the kugel is too salty!

ra_mom ↓

Fri, Feb 16 2024, 4:40 am

amother Oak wrote:

This is my favorite recipe of all time. We don't overnight it, just bake for 2 hours at 350. We use 3/4 cup oil instead of 1 cup.

↑ pause

Fri, Feb 16 2024, 4:42 am

amother OP wrote:

Love that you added the bag to peel the potatoes on. It really does help when you’re working on a time bomb which seems to be the real main kugel ingredient.

I see you use olive oil and you use a metal bowl, but some posters agreed that metal is indeed ok.

This question was asked by a previous poster , and I’m also curious.
Some recipes call for 1 potato per 1 egg while other recipes like yours call for 10 potatoes to 6 eggs.
Does this make a “runnier” kugel? I’m not sure my question makes sense.

These adjectives are starting to haunt me.
Runny, gummy , gooey, yummy, crispy, mushy, grated, puréed, blended.

My experience is that more eggs make it more, well, eggy. Think of scrambled eggs in your kugel. I prefer a lower ratio than 1:1 of potato to egg, rather to 1.5:1

Regarding the salt, that's a great point. I use fine ground sea salt which is less salty than table salt. But I also taste (and spit) my raw mixture to make sure there's enough.

Last edited by pause on Fri, Feb 16 2024, 4:46 am; edited 1 time in total

amother

Trillium ↓

Fri, Feb 16 2024, 4:44 am

amother Seagreen wrote:

I use one cup of water

I once watched a cooking class that mentioned the reaction of salt

Table salt is also smaller so you get about double the amount

I think someone was pulling your leg about the salt. Table salt, kosher salt, and sea salt are all just salt. Same chemical formula. The difference is that table salt has trace minerals removed and can have anti-caking agents and iodine added.

Table salt is actually processed at high heat. Much higher than the cooking temperature in a home kitchen. So to say that table salt can't hold up to high heat is preposterous because it has already been heated (and held up to the heat) during processing.

amother

Clear ↓

Fri, Feb 16 2024, 5:31 am

I find the baking has a lot to do with the outcome.

I bake it on 500 until a nice crust form. (About an hour but I just check it once it starts to smell) then I cover with foil and continue baking as long as possible on 300. At least two hours but longer is better ) If I need the oven on 350 for something else once the kugel is covered It’s fine to be in a 350 for a while..
Baking for a long time makes it taste re like overnight.

To keep kugel white you mix eggs and oil before grating potatoes so that once potatoes are grated you can mix them immediately. When you beat your eggs don’t overbeat. Just beat enough to lightly mix. You don’t want foamy eggs. Overbeating eggs causes them to not mix well with the potatoes and will alter the taste.

Yes the oven gets dirty. I line most (but not all of the rack bec you still want air to circulate) of the rack with foil. When I’m ready to cover my kugel I put pan in a second pan so I don’t dirty any surface it touches (I remove liner from rack at that time too.

I use canola oil.
Olive oil has a distinct flavor and isn’t neutral enough.

If your kugel is dry it may need more oil or eggs - I outdone add more oil first.

A 9x13 takes 9-11 Idaho potatoes depending on the size of your potatoes

If you use table salt for a 9x13 kugel you need a little more than a Tablespoon.

amother

↑ Clear ↓

Fri, Feb 16 2024, 5:40 am

amother OP wrote:

This question just got me thinking-

Do people not like to share their recipes ?

I am from out of town ,(European) so maybe I’m not familiar with this?
I find that many times when I ask for recipes some will say oh u like it? I’ll gladly send you some. Or, sure, I’ll send it to you when I have time.
Or , there’s no recipe. U have to be Hungarian for that.

I don’t have a recipe. I’ve just tweaked it over time until it worked.

Method is more (or equally as) important as ratio of ingredients.

amother

↑ OP ↓

Fri, Feb 16 2024, 5:44 am

amother Trillium wrote:

I agree it’s all salt. But you don’t find that table salt is saltier?

amother

↑ OP ↓

Fri, Feb 16 2024, 5:48 am

amother Clear wrote:

These pointers are spot on.
Thank you!

Good point about over beating the eggs.
I need to add that to my list.

The oven becomes a mess and it smells. But I tried catching it all by putting on a lined cookie sheet. That helped too.