The Potato Flip Diary #1

The Quest For the Perfect Flip

I've tried making potato rosti, which Amelia calls "potato flip," several times since I got our cast iron properly seasoned, with mixed success. I'm beginning to think that it's not the cast iron, but one or more of the following:

1. the ingredients
2. the methods
3. the guy holding the pan

To that end, I've decided to start keeping track of what I use and what I do when I make the flip, in hopes that I can get this figured out and start enjoying my breakfast again.

The Players

The Pan	7" cast iron skillet, well seasoned
The Ingredients	Red pototoes (~7.5 oz peeled and shredded) Yellow onion (~2 oz minced) Pepperoni (~.1 oz minced) Seasoned salt
The Fat	Butter, ~ 1 tbsp

The Method

I used about 1/2 tbsp of the butter to sautee the onions in a hottish skillet. Add them to shredded potatoes and minced pepperoni, season with seasoned salt and mix thoroughly. Melt the rest of the butter in the skillet, then drop in the potato mixture, press very lightly into shape. Cook 3-4 minutes per side, flipping halfway through. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top, then bake in 350 degree oven about 10 minutes.

The Results

Mixed results. On the plus side, the onions didn't stick during the sautee process, which leads me to believe that I should skip garlic altogether (I used to use a clove or two of garlic). I think that was the start of my downfall with previous attempts, because the garlic nearly always stuck, and it would go downhill from there. I had problems with the actual flipping, though. The potatoes stuck a bit to the bottom of the pan, but were dislodged without a lot of force. However, when I actually flipped, I had an issue. I think I had a little too much fat in the pan, because the pan didn't want to let go of the potatoes. It's not that they were stuck, because they slid around the pan once they were dislodged. So, the first flip attempt turned my flip into hash browns. I mushed everything back together as best as I could and tried flipping again, and got it mostly over. After baking, everything was pretty much stuck to the bottom again, but wasn't too difficult to dislodge.

The Verdict

On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being hash browns and 10 being the "perfect flip," this experiment ranks about 6.5.

Lessons Learned

I switched several things from previous attempts. First, I used a different pan, the 7" pan rather than the 10" one. I've had more problems with the 7" pan, but it really is the right one to use. Second, as noted above, I didn't use garlic. I think that throughout my experiments, I'll continue to leave out the garlic, but I'm looking forward to putting it back in. The flip is good without it, but much better with it. Third, I used different potatoes. Previously I had used russets, which are a lot starchier than the reds I used today. The reds aren't the waxy potatoes, I don't think those would work at all, but they don't have nearly the starch as the russets. I think that might have helped, and I'll use them again next time.

I'm a little confused about the fat situation. On the one hand, I think there might not have been enough fat, since my potatoes stuck before flipping. On the other hand, I think there might have been too much fat, because the pan didn't want to let go of the potatoes for flipping. It could be that butter is the wrong fat to use. Next time, I'll use a smidge of vegetable oil and see if that helps.

And, yes, I know I'm a nerd for blogging in such detail about making my breakfast :P