Any advice on how to do hash browns?

[struggle4progress]

I made them a couple of times for house guests over the holidays, using some tricks I'd picked up here and there but essentially flying by the seat of my pants. They tasted great but it was a pain to do and I'm hoping there's an easier way

Here's what I did:

Scrub and de-eye potatoes

Microwave potatoes until hot but stop before the potatoes become soft

Slice potatoes thinly in food processor

Cook a single layer of potato at a time in hot bacon grease, turning now and then until slightly browned on each side. Remove potatoes to a bowl as they become slightly browned and replace with unfried potato until all potato has been fried once and slightly browned. Do not de-grease at this stage

Increase heat and add a touch more grease to skillet if needed. Crisp the once-fried potato in the skillet by refrying until golden brown, removing crisped potato to drain on paper towel and replacing with uncrisped potato until all potato crispy golden brown

As I've indicated before, they were delicious -- but it was too much work. The guests requested these hash browns again a few days after I first served the side with breakfast, and I was happy to oblige them

I think the half-cook and then the half-fry gets the potatoes cooked without producing a gummy mess in the pan and prepares the potatoes for the final pretty quick gold-brown crisping. But it just takes too long to do often: the half-fry was a special pain-in-the-ass

Any ideas on how to speed this up?

[Major Nikon]

1. Here's how I do them

When I plan on making hash browns in the morning, I make baked potatoes the night before and I bake a few extras and then refrigerate them. In the morning the skins peel right off, then I shred them in the food processor and brown them in a hot and oiled cast iron skillet. Since they are already cooked all you have to do is brown them and refrigerating them overnight allows the starches in the potato to set up a bit so they aren't gummy.

[struggle4progress]

2. Thanks!

[Major Nikon]

3. It's one of the best ways I've found to make them at home for a lot of people.

If you try to cook at large amount of uncooked shredded potatoes in a cast iron skillet, they will either be properly browned and uncooked in the middle, or you have to stir them which doesn't brown them like restaurant hash browns so the texture is still not the same. I've thought about using uncooked potatoes and finishing them in the oven after browning them. In theory this should work, but my method is quite easy and since everyone seems to like them so well I haven't felt the need to experiment with other methods.

At restaurants, they have huge commercial griddles that give them a lot of surface area for cooking. They spread several individual portions of hash browns out and dredge them in butter. They are quite tasty that way and the potatoes are a bit firmer than with my method, but it's impractical to do at home for more than a couple of people. My method produces hash browns which are a bit softer than restaurant hash browns, but people seem to like them. I just flip them once halfway through the cooking process and with a lot of them you have to divide them up to make flipping them manageable. However it makes hash browns which are browned on the outside and still cooked in the middle. Naturally you'll need to season them as desired, and you can also incorporate other ingredients like onions or peppers. If I have the time I like to caramelize onions first in the skillet and then incorporate them into the potatoes.

[Kali]

4. to me hash browns are shredded spuds

you are making fried potatoes (YUM!)

Home fries are similar but more chunky and often have peppers and/or onions too.

however you do them, I find boiling them a little to precook the best, followed by micro or baking.

although leftover bacon greased, foil-wrapped, coal-baked spuds make some good fried breakfast potatoes too

other than boiling instead of baking, I agree with the major on technique (plenty of butter/bacon grease for browning too)

[spinbaby]

5. Here's how I do breakfast potatoes

They're not technically hash browns, but it's how I do potatoes in a wok. A wok might be non-traditional, but I find it makes fine potatoes.

Peel a couple of large russet potatoes and cut into half-inch cubes--red potatoes or Yukon gold work, too, but I like russets. Heat a small puddle of oil--I use coconut nowadays--in the bottom of a wok. When the oil is hot, dump in the potatoes, salt and pepper, and cook until there's a nice brown crust on the bottom of the potatoes. Stir to redistribute the potatoes and again cook until they form a nice brown crust on the bottom. Repeat until done, which is when the potatoes are cooked through and nicely browned. If you want fancier fried potatoes, you can add a sprinkle of chopped onion, green pepper, and/or mushroom when the potatoes are about halfway done.

[cali]

7. that's how I do them and I think they're the best taht way.

[dem in texas]

6. Secret of Good Hash Browns

Use cold baked potatoes, at least one day old. Peel away outer skin and chop, slice or dice any way you want. Do spread thin, not a thick layer in the skillet, season with salt, pepper and onion powder. Don't fuss with them, let cook until you see brown at the edges, use spatula and flip over and brown on other side.

I usually coarse chop them and put them in the skillet and use my spatula to chop them a little more.

You will never go wrong, they will never be gummy or slimy and will always crisp up nicely.

When baking potatoes for dinner, I always put in a few extra so I will have them for hash browns, my husband's favorite side dish at breakfast. Keep the left over bakers in the fridge until ready to use.

Also, they are good for adding to crock pot soups since raw potatoes never cook up well in a crock pot.

I also use the left over bakers for Baked Potato Chowder.

[sir pball]

8. Soak the starch out.

Grate raw potatoes into a big bowl of water. Once you have what you need done, thoroughly wring them out in a kitchen towel to get as much starch and water out of them. Then just spread a big scoop in a good bit of hot oil and fry till crispy and golden. You can vary the thickness as you wish; thin will be crisp through while thicker will leave some nice tender cooked in the middle.

You've independently discovered double-frying, which makes delicious french fries but is indeed a pain in the rear.

[Jenoch]

9. I cook three kinds of breakfast potatoes,

raw fries, home fries, and hash browns.

Raw fries are made by slicing potatoes thin and layering them in the pan. If done in an 8 or 10 inch skillet you can either attempt a flip, or put a plate over the pan, inverting and then sliding them back into the pan. If using a larger skillet or an electric skillet, you will just use a spatula.

Home fries are made with left over baked potatoes that are diced and fried in one layer. You have to turn them to get as many sides browned as possible. I usually caramelize some onions first and add them back at the end.
For hashbrowns, I just use Costco dehydrated hashbrowns. They are easy to use and taste quite good.

[B2G]

10. Ore Ida O'Brien hasbrowns

I save this much effort for something I can't find in the frozen section that is already delicious. Lol. Also use them in my au gratin potato casserole.