Breakfast potatoes... I just can't get them right.

[DogFaced PonySoldier]

Wasn't sure if to put this in "Potatoes" or "Breakfast" but... I just haven't really EVER got breakfast potatoes right where I want them.


I can get them crispy, if I do them all by themselves, with a good amount of oil and fry them a LONG time by themselves.


But what I REALLY want is a good, solid breakfast HASH, meaning, with onions, peppers, meat, cheese, and EGGS, And I can get the potatoes crispy - and I mean CRISPY - I WANT them like REAL HASHBROWNS, from a DINER, on a GRIDDLE - CRISPY.

But then, as soon as I try to throw in some veggies and meat, and peppers and such, and EGGS... they just turn to MUSH again. It PISSES me off!


So do I REALLY have to cook up up totally separately and then mix everything together at the end?

I don't wanna dirty up a bunch of dishes, though I DO have a 36" Blackstone, but to do it that way, I have to cook it all at different times, for different lengths of time AND I'm limited by the time of year and the weather - I can't stand out there for 30-40 minutes in the rain or the cold or whatever in the morning to get a GOOD breakfast hash with CRISPY FREAKING POH-TAY-TERS - except for a few times of the year!


Sorry... I'm sick, hopped up on cold medicine and whiskey right now. I can't help myself. <sigh> This just occurred to me, watchin' a video, hungry and a little... umm... agitated.

How many typos in this post???? Dangit.

I want some crispy poh-tay-toes and hash right NOW!


<note> It ain't happ'nin'.

[DogFaced PonySoldier]

...

[mnavarre]

The problem with cooking everything together is the veggies, meat, etc. are gonna give up water as they cook. And moisture is the mortal enemy of crispy hashbrowns. So, yeah, cooking everything separately is probably necessary. Sorry. I feel you on the cold medicine, I might be there by tomorrow.

[barelfly]

I’ve found my hash browns/potatoes are outstanding when I cook them on the blackstone. That surface area gives you the space so that they cook faster and crispier because you can spread them out.

And, that is all that I cook on the one side, then I’ll mix together once they are where I want them. It’s worth it

[Mosca]

How crispy do you want them? Like potato chips? I like them with some parts crispy, and some parts potato-y. And that’s how diners around here do them, too.

If you’re having that problem, try cooking the peppers and onions first, then add the potatoes. That only adds about 5 minutes. When you add the hash browns, you have to put them in the skillet, then let them sit for a while, untouched. You can check the bottom, but if you flip too early they’ll never crisp at all. When the bottom is crisped, flip. Let them sit that way for a minute or two, then add the eggs. And eggs are… wet. Either the eggs are going to dampen the potatoes, or the potatoes are going to dry out the eggs. You can’t do both. Myself, I load all that stuff into taco shells, and the crisp parts of the hash browns add texture, while the potato-y parts add bulk and flavor.

I’m doing some tomorrow morning, I’ll set up a video, or if I can’t do that (the camera battery is probably dead again) I’ll take a bunch of snapshots. We can see if our goals align on how we like them, at least.

I used to grate my own. Then I went with the bagged partially cooked (by the Bob Evan’s mashed potatoes) but now I’m trying frozen. They’re all pretty close to the same, and frozen are easy to work with and the bag lasts longer.

[RiverJeff]

Following!

[gcdmd]

Check this link:

Hash Browns

[radshop]

I see a man who's hurting, and I want to help. You don't need another dose of "cold medicine" right now (is that what the kids call it these days?). Put the knife down slowly. Step away from the griddle...
Ok. Calm? Feeling comfortable? Good. Now let's talk.
For crispy hash, water is the enemy. So let's make a plan for how to defeat that water
First thing you're going to do is par-cook your potatoes. You can do that with boiling water or in the microwave, but either way you want to get those shredded taters hot, and let them vent steam until they dry out a little bit. I know you already can get the potatoes crispy alone, but if you prep them like this, it's easy to get them perfectly crispy every single time.
So now, how do you add your veggies and meat without introducing too much water? First, start small and work up to it with trial and error. Less is more until you find the right balance. Also, make sure they are nice and dry, and even press excess water out of them with paper towels.
Oh, and don't fall into the trap of thinking that since oil and water don't mix, more oil or fat is the way to defeat the water. It doesn't work and just leaves you with a greasy, mushy mess. Starting out with less water is the only way.
We're all here for you, and we've got your back no matter what. It might take a few tries, but win or lose, you just get back up and keep trying! You can do it! So get out there, champ, and show those taters who's boss!!

[McFlyfi]

I feel ya. You say its not about the potatoes, and I agree. Has browns, the secret (to me) is twofold: enough fat, and enough time. I use dehydrated hash browns (buy 'em by the gallon, either Hungry Jack or Idaho Spuds). Re hydrate, skillet (or Blackstone), make sure you flip 'em around in you fat, so they're all covered, before lettin' 'em fry. Then DONT TOUCH them until they are ready to flip. But you already know this.

Your real question is how to get crispy HASH. Which includes peppers and onions (added water). I don't know the answer. But I've had a crispy hash "patty" (potatoes/onions/peppers/meat) that I have been in search of re creating for years. I think the hash itself needs some kind of "binder" (egg? flour? cornstarch? both?all?) to get what were after. A buddy of mine says his mother ran it all through a meat grinder, and smashed the resulting "grind" into patties for the trying pan.

Following for more info on hash itself.

[Huskee]

Flat Top King did a side by side of several types of taters (shredded, shredded-soaked-rinsed-dried, dehydrated, etc) and he found that the dehydrated ones turned out the best best classic crispy hash browns.

[Santamarina]

The only way I’ve successfully accomplished the “perfect hash” is by using every inch of my 36” Blackstone - giving each item its space/time to cook properly - then combining them all at the end.

Basically get everything 99% done on its own, then combine just before plating.

If that doesn’t work…serve mimosas to everyone before breakfast and they won’t notice that you missed the mark by 12%. 🤣🤷♂️😎🥂

[DavidNorcross]

I cook the potatoes longer than the onions when making hashbrowns. I put on the griddle and cover with the dome. One they start to cook really well, I start the onions and then mix altogether.

[Huskee]

Definitely, onions go in at the very end for me.

[Mosca]

Okay, I think I misunderstood a little bit. So I backed up some, and started from scratch.

I got red bell, serrano, bacon, onion, and frozen hash browns.




I mixed that all up and added about a tablespoon of Blues Hog’s Ritas and Fajitas seasoning.




Cast iron skillet @393° (I shoot for 375-400), with “enough” neutral oil (canola, avocado, vegetable, whatever). Set the timer for 5 minutes and let it be.




After 5 minutes, flip. Set the timer for 5 more minutes.




After 5 more minutes, flip again. It looks like this. THIS IS REALLY CRISPY.




Then I added eggs. And of course, the eggs add liquid, and of course some of that gets into the potatoes. This isn’t as crispy. But it still has a good range of textures. The part that is hard browned stays crispy, the rest ranges from egg-soft to medium bite.




Which is perfect for breakfast tacos! With habanero salsa, my favorite that I just can’t get enough of. Roasted habaneros and garlic, with salt, lime juice and water.




So, probably not what you’re going for. But I don’t think you can crisp up potatoes to the point where adding eggs doesn’t soften them. Think of chilaquiles, or migas; you start with hard fried corn tortillas, and end with them softened by heating with eggs. Heck, start with kettle chips, or Doritos, or anything like that; adding the eggs is the same as adding water.

So if you want to add eggs to this hash, you’ll need to cook just those separately, to set them and take up all the liquid. Then mix them together. If I were doing this in one skillet (like I just did), I’d move the potato mix off to the side, then cook the eggs on the cleared side, then stir them all together. That would take exactly the same amount of time as what I just did (poured the eggs over the hash).

[Prof Bunky]

Wasn't sure if to put this in "Potatoes" or "Breakfast" but... I just haven't really EVER got breakfast potatoes right where I want them.


I can get them crispy, if I do them all by themselves, with a good amount of oil and fry them a LONG time by themselves.


But what I REALLY want is a good, solid breakfast HASH, meaning, with onions, peppers, meat, cheese, and EGGS, And I can get the potatoes crispy - and I mean CRISPY - I WANT them like REAL HASHBROWNS, from a DINER, on a GRIDDLE - CRISPY.

But then, as soon as I try to throw in some veggies and meat, and peppers and such, and EGGS... they just turn to MUSH again. It PISSES me off!


So do I REALLY have to cook up up totally separately and then mix everything together at the end?

I don't wanna dirty up a bunch of dishes, though I DO have a 36" Blackstone, but to do it that way, I have to cook it all at different times, for different lengths of time AND I'm limited by the time of year and the weather - I can't stand out there for 30-40 minutes in the rain or the cold or whatever in the morning to get a GOOD breakfast hash with CRISPY FREAKING POH-TAY-TERS - except for a few times of the year!


Sorry... I'm sick, hopped up on cold medicine and whiskey right now. I can't help myself. <sigh> This just occurred to me, watchin' a video, hungry and a little... umm... agitated.

How many typos in this post???? Dangit.

I want some crispy poh-tay-toes and hash right NOW!


<note> It ain't happ'nin'.

'Crispy' requires soaking the taters in water, then squeezing it ALL out. Sounds counter intuitive, and a pain, but it works.

[DogFaced PonySoldier]

I agree, adding eggs to the mix is always going to soften them. I want them crispy - like SHATTERINGLY crispy. Diner hashbrowns crispy.

I like over easy/over medium eggs anyways, so I think the best bet is cooking them separately on the griddle to be really hard crispy and then just sliding some over easy eggs on the top, not mixing scrambled eggs in with it.

[Huskee]

Have you tried storebought dehydrated shredded taters? Flat Top King did a side by side test of several versions of taters and found them to be the best at what you describe.

[captainlee]

I use a very hot cast iron skillet and use Ghee as my oil. It has a very high smoke point like 480 F. Once in the pan I give it a few minutes then back the heat down. I have always gotten the nice golden brown to crispy results by using Ghee. We make our own as it's expensive and we use it a lot.

[Jerod Broussard]

As noted above:

Meat and eggs- 75-77% water
Onions- 89% water
Bell Pepper- 92% water