Which Frozen Potatoes Make the Best Hash Browns?
I don’t know a single person who doesn’t like crispy fries. In fact, we love them so much that we figured out how to use them for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Breakfast potatoes come in two main types: potato pancakes and fries. I don’t like the latter, mainly because they are too big. I love my breakfast potatoes, chopped or sliced almost to the limit for maximum texture pleasure, which is important if you eat them with fried or poached eggs.
Hash browns are also one of those things where a store bought option is often better than a homemade one. Even if you make fantastic brown potatoes from scratch, it really isn’t worth the extra effort, especially when preformed brown potato patties are available (ideal). Frozen grated potatoes brown well too.
Lately I’ve been making a lot of pre-cooked brown patties and putting them in my breakfast sandwiches . Waffles are much faster to cook than oven baked and are much, much more crunchy. The waffle maker squeezes the fat from the brown potatoes onto the waffle maker’s ledges, where it sits and sizzles, toasting the potato pie to perfection.
I’ve heard that waffles are just as effective with potato tortillas, and while they’re not technically breakfast potatoes, they can certainly work as one, especially if you turn them into a small tortilla. Since I have a very curious mind, I decided to compare waffle patties and waffle patties to classic grated potato pancakes. (All potatoes were prepared from frozen in a non-stick electric waffle maker, set on medium-high heat with no additional oil or seasoning for 4-7 minutes, until crisp on the outside.)
Worst: grated pancakes
As you can see, these things are not for idle chatter. They contain virtually no fat on their own, and while they do end up with a kind of crust, they never really get crispy, just hard. These anemic potatoes are not worthy of perfectly cooked eggs. It saddens me to look at them.
Very good: brown potato cutlets.
I have nothing bad to say about this; These are the perfect golden, greasy potato planks that work equally well as a snack or a sandwich. The waffle maker not only cooks them in minutes, but also increases the crunchy surface by pitting. All around high marks.
Best: tater tots
Waffle patties taste and feel almost the same as patties, but they have one major advantage: individuality. Due to their small size and round shape, you can put as many as you like in the waffle iron to make a hashish brown cutlet that suits your needs. Need a real raft of potatoes to make breakfast hash? Fill the waffle iron to maximum capacity. Need a crisp line to spice up your breakfast burrito? Line them up like little soldiers. Do you want to create a situation like Benedict’s egg? Use four or five to make an English muffin-sized patty. These are mostly potato Lego, the best kind of Lego. (And yes, I know these are technically “Lego blocks” or something, but I don’t care.)
Updated on 8/10/2020 3:53 PM EST: Updated to clarify cooking instructions.