At a glance, soup may seem like a fairly simple dish, but it is still possible to make mistakes while cooking it. With potato soup, for instance, you can be following the most perfect potato soup recipe, only to end up with a less-than-appetizing gritty texture because you used the wrong kind of potato. Recipe ruined.
As it turns out, you can't make potato soup with just any kind of potato. There are two types:waxy potatoes and starchy potatoes.Waxy varieties are ideal for creating a smooth texture, while starchy varieties work better for creating a dish that's light and fluffy. Russet potatoes, as a member of the starchy/floury potato family, are inherently grainy. Using them in soup will result in an unpleasant gritty texture. When making potato soup, be sure to reach for a waxy variety such as fingerling potatoes, red potatoes, or baby potatoesto get a smoother texture.
Accidents happen. So what do you do if you've made the mistake of using starchy potatoes in your soup? One trick to make your potato soup a little less grainy is to add some form of dairy –- cream, milk, or even cheese. Because dairy is generally creamy in texture, that characteristic will carry over into your soup. Crisis averted.
By the same token, you can also use plant-based milk or even pureed vegetables or nuts to add a creamy mask to a gritty soup. Just be sure that whatever you're adding isn't also gritty or grainy in texture. For instance, hard winter squashes and root vegetables puree well, whereas stringier vegetables like celery are difficult to get smooth.
If you choose to add dairy to your gritty potato soup, you need to cook your soup at a lower temperature. Too high a temperature can cause the dairy to curdle, creating a lumpy texture that will send you back to square one.
Russet potatoes, as a member of the starchy/floury potato family, are inherently grainy. Using them in soup will result in an unpleasant gritty texture. When making potato soup, be sure to reach for a waxy variety such as fingerling potatoes, red potatoes, or baby potatoesto get a smoother texture.
So what do you do if you've made the mistake of using starchy potatoes in your soup? One trick to make your potato soup a little less grainy is to add some form of dairy –- cream, milk, or even cheese. Because dairy is generally creamy in texture, that characteristic will carry over into your soup.
Adding an acid like vinegar or lemon juice and incorporating fresh herbs can also help add flavor to a potato soup. While you may not need to implement all of these strategies, it's good to keep them in the back of your mind for when you realize your next pot of soup needs a flavor boost.
Why isn't my potato soup creamy? Most creamy soups require you to add dairy of some sort into it. If you're finding your soup is too thin adding milk, add in cream instead, or whole milk.
Waxy varieties are ideal for creating a smooth texture, while starchy varieties work better for creating a dish that's light and fluffy. Russet potatoes, as a member of the starchy/floury potato family, are inherently grainy. Using them in soup will result in an unpleasant gritty texture.
A common mistake is to not run the blender long enough. This results in a grainy-textured soup. The soup should be blended long enough to create a silky-smooth texture. Once the soup has been fully blended, it can also be strained through a fine mesh strainer to ensure any skins or tough fibers are removed.
Gritty means it's full of dirt so wash the potato better. If you want fluffy mashed potatoes, add a bit of milk or cream and some butter then use a handheld mixer to whip it.
One important thing to know about potatoes is that water is their enemy. Yep, it cooks the potatoes, but if they spend too long bathing, they'll become waterlogged. And no matter what type of potato you're boiling, waterlogged potatoes will be grainy, crumbly and mushy with little flavor (it'll leach into the water).
Instead of boiling a few potatoes and mashing them plain, a lot of restaurant chefs like to apply a little more finesse. Garlic and herbs infused in butter and cream add a flavor boost without overpowering.
Tell-tale signs that your potato soup has gone bad include a sour smell, a change in the colour or a film of mould on the surface. Also, if your soup has been in the fridge for more than a week, it's best to discard it to ensure food safety.
If your soup has too much onion, one effective way to balance the flavor is by diluting it with broth or water. Start by removing a portion of the soup and setting it aside. In a separate pot, heat up some vegetable or chicken broth, or simply water, and gradually add it to the soup while tasting along the way.
Cornstarch is flavorless, easy to mix up, and versatile, which makes it a go-to pantry ingredient. I made a classic slurry by whisking cornstarch and hot broth until smooth in a small bowl.
If you slice the potatoes too thin, or pulverize them in a food processor, the veggies release extra starch that gives your soup a gluey consistency. High-intensity mashing methods like using blenders, hand mixers, or food processors overwork the potatoes, which breaks down their cells.
Cut the potatoes into rissolettes and blanche them (i.e. cook them briefly, not to full doneness). Use the water you used in the soup and put the potatoes back in when you go to warm the soup again for serving. Since they're cut fairly small, they should be just about done without being mushy when you go to eat.
How do you make soup smooth? For a soup with a smooth consistency, work with veggies that are soft but not mushy. Additionally, streaming oil or cream into the soup can better emulsify the ingredients for a silkier texture. Blender features can also play a major role in getting your soup to the right consistency.
As already discussed, pastiness is caused by too much potato starch being worked into the mashed potatoes. The main way we combat this problem is by rinsing away starch, both before and after cooking potatoes for fluffy mashed potatoes. Rinsing off starch means that there is less of it that can end up in the dish.
Shouldn't have it boil otherwise the cheese will separate it's curd from the whey. Not much you can do to fix other than thicken it with a small starch slurry maybe. Also, if they used pre-shredded cheese that cellulose tend to leave it grainy. But totally agree with fixing a boiled dairy based soup with a slurry.
The recommended method here is to press the potatoes through a ricer (instead of using a blender), which gives the soup a light and clean texture and eliminates the gluey consistency common in other recipes.
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