Should You Use Waxy or Starchy Potatoes for the Best Potato Salad?

Potato salad is an American institution, and hardly seems difficult to throw together, but the right technique—and the right ingredients—make all the difference between creamy, fluffy potato salad (aka, the ultimate summer side dish) and gloppy, heavy, sad-making mush. The first question to consider is, what’s the best kind of potato for potato salad? Waxy or starchy? Naturally, opinions vary, but let’s see why both sides think they’re right.

Starchy Potatoes

Starchy potatoes include your basic baking potato, russets and Idahos. The most common complaint lodged against them (at least in relation to potato salad), is that they become mealy and fall apart too easily when boiled. However, as no less an authority than J. Kenji López-Alt has pointed out, that also makes them perfect for soaking up all the lovely dressing you’re going to toss them with; you want your potato chunks to absorb as much flavor as possible, and russets will do that handily. That said, it’s critical not to overcook them, or you will end up with a mess.

Whether you like to leave the skin on or peel it off, it’s absolutely worth taking the time to cut carefully, so all your potato pieces are about the same size—so they all cook evenly. You’ll want to start the potatoes in a pot of cold, seasoned water (never add them to an already boiling pot), and check often to ensure they don’t get too soft. Another trick: add not only salt, but a little vinegar to your cooking water, on the order of about a tablespoon per quart of water (use the same ratio for salting it). This helps flavor the potatoes all the way through (even before they get dressed), and it also helps prevent overcooking, thanks to the vinegar’s interaction with the potatoes’ pectin. The pieces should be easily pierced with a fork, neither still crunchy nor yet mushy. Pull them off the heat at the moment of perfection and drain.

Then, just don’t mix them too aggressively and there should be no issues with gluey, disintegrating potatoes, although a little fluffy-roughness around the edges is a good thing. While you may have heard it’s best to dress potatoes while they’re hot, this is only partly true. They will soak up more flavor when warm, but if too hot, they can also make mayonnaise melt and separate. So, feel free to toss warm potatoes with vinegar-based dressings, and if you’re going mayo-based, toss the warm spuds with all of the other non-mayonnaise ingredients while they’re warm, then fold in the mayo once they’ve cooled down a bit, say 30 minutes later.

Waxy Potatoes

The waxy potato pantheon is comprised of red-skinned, new potatoes, and fingerlings, and they keep close company with other varieties like Yukon Golds that aren’t true waxy potatoes, but still have much less starch than russets and baking potatoes. If you cut open a cooked waxy potato and a cooked starchy potato, you’ll see the waxy potato flesh is much smoother and less grainy. They’re often touted as the preferred potato salad star because they remain firmer even when fully cooked, and have a creamy rather than fluffy texture. They do make a fine picnic side dish, but they will never absorb quite as much seasoning as starchy potatoes; it’s just science. So which kind you should use is really a toss up as to whether flavor or texture matters more (and which specific texture you personally prefer).

The rules for dressing waxy potatoes are the same as for starchy: anything besides mayonnaise should be added while they’re still warm, and you should still use salt and vinegar in your cooking water too, to help inject as much flavor as possible into the potato pieces themselves. As with all foods that are served chilled, since cold temperatures tend to dull flavors, all potato salad should be fairly heavily seasoned in general, whether you use starchy or waxy spuds.

If you want to substitute starchy potatoes in place of waxy ones in any given recipe, just make sure you try the vinegar trick to prevent overcooking, and handle them gently so you don’t edge over into mashed potato territory.

And if you’re looking for the perfect potato salad to serve at your Fourth of July bash or next summer grilling session, try one of these.

Basic Potato Salad

Chowhound

Our take on the classic creamy potato salad uses waxy spuds, but experiment with starchy if you’re intrigued. We like adding all sorts of aromatics and other texture- and flavor-boosting ingredients (see our pea and mint potato salad for proof), but here we stick mainly to the basics: eggs, celery, and pickles, plus capers, scallions, and parsley. Get our Basic Potato Salad recipe.

Herbed Potato Salad

Chowhound

If you’re not a fan of mayo, this fresh, herb-packed potato salad relies on the waxy potatoes’ own creamy flesh for that smooth texture, plus olive oil, champagne vinegar, and Dijon mustard for extra flavor. Get our Herbed Potato Salad recipe.

All-American Potato Salad

Jessica Gavin

Starchy russets anchor this potato salad, which otherwise is similar to our version above. You can add vinegar and salt to the cooking water and still toss the warm spuds in additional vinegar as called for here. Get the recipe.

Kimchi Potato Salad

Chowhound

For a Korean twist on this American dish, add kimchi and a dash of gochujang to the dressing. It’s a perfect partner to fried chicken, or anything else you want to serve it with. Get our Kimchi Potato Salad recipe.

Chipotle Sweet Potato Salad

Peas and Crayons

Another way to spice up potato salad? Add smoky chipotle and jalapeño peppers, which work particularly well with starchy sweet potatoes. Try these with a rack of saucy, smoky, spicy ribs, and palate-cleansing grilled corn on the side. Get the recipe.

Warm German Potato Salad with Bacon

Chowhound

Yukon Gold potatoes join forces with bacon, capers, and golden-brown onions for a mayo-free potato salad that’s nonetheless pretty decadent. Get our Warm German Potato Salad with Bacon recipe.

Loaded Baked Potato Salad

Center Cut Cook

Russet potato salad gets the baked potato treatment with the addition of shredded cheese, scallions, and crisp bacon. You can try it with waxy potatoes too, but it won’t be quite the same. Get the recipe.

Mock Potato Salad

Chowhound

If you’d rather wash your hands of the whole waxy vs starchy debate, ditch potatoes entirely and make a mock potato salad with kohlrabi instead—it’s unexpected, delicious, and also happens to be a great low-carb option. Get our Mock Potato Salad recipe.

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How to Cook Hot Dogs in a Crock-Pot

Cooking for the masses is rarely easy or cheap, but making hot dogs in a Crock-Pot might the solution we’ve all been looking for. This budget-friendly method prioritizes efficiency and gives you time to focus on other things — like enjoying the gathering itself. Perfect for your Fourth of July picnic or the neighborhood block party, a 2.5 qt slow cooker can cook 20 hot dogs simultaneously — perfectly preserving their juicy, patriotic flavor. For this recipe, you will need the following:

• Hot Dogs
• Crock-Pot
• Tongs
• Buns
• Preferred Toppings/Garnishes
• Grill (optional)

Start by filling the Crock-Pot with the hot dogs. While placing them horizontally doesn’t affect whether they are cooked through, I believe positioning the hot dogs vertically allows for more hot dogs to be cooked at once — in addition to making the hot dogs easier to grab with tongs when they’re finished. The moisture in the hot dogs provide enough steam that any additional liquid isn’t necessary. While a 2.5 qt Crock-Pot comfortably fits 20 hot dogs, larger crockpots are capable of fitting up to 60. Use the lid to cover the hot dogs, and cook them on high for 1 – 2 hours, or on low for 3 – 4 hours.

Once the hot dogs are cooked, switch the Crock-Pot to “warm” to avoid overcooking. This efficient method retains moisture and flavor — but doesn’t provide the charred flavor that many people seek in their hot dogs. If this is important to you, try briefly charring the dogs on a hot grill before throwing them into the Crock-Pot. It requires a bit more effort, but still leaves the grill available most of the time for hamburgers and grilled veggies.

For serving, put the Crock-Pot on a table with tongs, buns and condiments. Be sure to leave it plugged in and on “warm” to keep the hot dogs at a perfect serving temperature. In addition to traditional ketchup and mustard, be sure to have hot sauce, relish, onions, cheese and even chili to make your hot dog bar appear even more impressive. With a plan like this, serving a hungry horde doesn’t seem quite so overwhelming or expensive…. So sit back, take a bite of that delicious hot dog and enjoy the fireworks — you deserve it. God bless America.

Related Video: Why You Should Spiral-Cut Your Hot Dogs For Grilling

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The Science Behind Competitive Eating

Last Fourth of July, Joey Chestnut broke his own world record by eating 72 hot dogs in 12 minutes during Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest. For those keeping score, that amounts to a whopping 20,000 calories and about 2,164 milligrams of cholesterol. It’s an impressive feat, for sure, and one that’s literally hard to stomach.  How on earth can the human body possibly process that much food? Especially a body as relatively thin as Joey Chestnut’s. (Despite his career as a competitive eater, he only weighs about 230 pounds.)

The science that allows one stomach to contain enough hot dogs to feed a family reunion is truly fascinating. Normally the average person can eat about one liter of food before feeling like they overdid it on the cupcakes. It’s at this point when the satiety reflex kicks in and tells your brain that you’re full and, in some cases, triggers nausea and vomiting. Almost everyone has experienced this impulse at some point in their lives, but for professional competitor eaters, the satiety reflex is their mortal enemy—the one thing standing in their way of cramming six dozen sausages down their throat.

Pros like Chestnut actively work to overcome this reflex. Through rigorous training, which can involve fasting for up to three days before a competition, they can power through a biological impulse, pushing their body to extreme and—some might say—dangerous limits. During the course of last year’s hot dog-eating contest, Chestnut’s stomach likely stretched to contain over four and half liters of food. That’s over four times the normal capacity. To get a visual sense of just how insane this expansion is, check out this video ESPN created, in which they stuff nearly 70 hot dogs into an anatomically correct dummy.

During the course of the year, competitive eaters often practice stretching their stomachs by drinking gallons of water or milk very quickly, or eating massive amounts of high fiber foods like watermelon or oatmeal. Many actively train to build muscle, increase metabolism, and of course stretch their stomachs with healthy diets as well, mainly because some competitive eaters can no longer tell when their full given the larger capacities of this key digestive organ.

While very little research has been done on this actual phenomenon, one pivotal study was conducted by scientists at the University of Pennsylvania and their findings are fascinating. Researchers compared the stomachs of two men, one was a professional competitive eater and the other wasn’t, after eating as many hot dogs as they could in 12 minutes. According to their report, which was published in the Journal of Roentgenology, the competitive eater’s stomach “appeared as a massively distended, food-filled sac occupying most of the upper abdomen.” And you thought your tummy bulged a lot after eating a jumbo-sized burrito.

There was also little to no gastric peristalsis. Normally the stomach involuntary constricts and the squeezing motion helps break down food, but it appears that reflex was also overcome by the competitive eater.

While the long-term impact of competitive binging has yet to be determined, the researchers came to this overall conclusion: “We speculate that professional speed eaters eventually may develop morbid obesity, profound gastroparesis, intractable nausea and vomiting, and even the need for a gastrectomy. Despite its growing popularity, competitive speed eating is a potentially self-destructive form of behavior.”

Sure, it may sound alarmist at worst or obvious at best (did anyone really think competitive eating was good for you???), but it’s still interesting to hear medical professionals weigh in on this gloriously gluttonous sport. We may not be partaking in it anytime soon, but you can bet it won’t stop us from watching.

Related Video: Hot Dogs –What Are they?

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Pressure Cooker Shredded Chicken Taco Meat

Whether you’re making weeknight tacos for your family or hosting a potluck party for a crowd, making shredded chicken in the pressure cooker is such time saver.

Cooked in a mixture of Mexican spices and tangy pineapple juice, chicken thighs quickly become tender and easily shredded, ready for piling into tortillas.

Continue reading "Pressure Cooker Shredded Chicken Taco Meat" »

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Rosemary Olive Steak Skewers

This recipe is brought to you in partnership with The California Olive Committee.

Summer is the perfect time to fire up the grill for easy weeknight dinners or for weekend cook-outs with friends.

These Rosemary Olive Steak Skewers are a MUST! With a few simple ingredients, you can have a main course that everyone will enjoy.

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