Cooking Frozen Hashbrowns

Hashbrowns are a real treat for us, as it means the kids can have a leisurely breakfast instead of rushing around frantically for school.  It also means that I have the time to start up the frying pan and create something warm, hearty and comforting.

Yesterday, I wrote about freezing hashbrowns for future use.  Today, we try out our frozen hashbrowns to see if they are any good.

I heated up my pan with organic extra virgin olive oil (about 1-2 Tbsp) on medium-high, poured a layer of frozen potatoes, and dotted the top with a bit of butter for flavour. 

The frozen potatoes are only partially cooked, so I added some water (maybe 1/4-1/2 cup?) to the bottom of the pan and cover.  If you look closely, the potatoes are sitting in the water. 

I was able to find a stock pot lid that covered my frying pan!  Bring the water to a boil and simmer covered on medium heat for about 3-5 min to thaw and cook the potatoes completely.  (Can you see me taking this pic with my iPhone?). 

The potatoes should be cooked and the water evaporated after 3-5 min.  Then you can leave the lid off and brown and season your potatoes to your liking.   I always season my hashbrowns with kosher salt, 1/4 tsp garlic powder and 1/4 tsp onion powder. So far,
I haven't gotten any complaints from the kids. 

I think they look pretty tasty now!  Now I know that if potatoes are on sale, I can make
frozen hashbrowns for $0.29/lb!  The supermarket sells pre-made diced frozen hashbrowns for at least $2-3 for a 1kg bag.  I made a 1 kg bag for $0.65...well under a dollar.  Nowadays, it's hard to buy that volume of food for under $1, but it can be done if you have a good sized freezer and stock up when then things on sale at the supermarket.   

Enjoy!

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Freezing Your Own Hashbrowns

Our family has an obsession with carbs.  LOTS of carbs and my 3 kids are not even close to their teenage years.  One day that will happen soon enough.  When my local supermarket chain had 20lb bags of potatoes on sale, I thought that I could buy a bag and experiment how I could freeze them for future and quick meals. 

My family loves hashbrowns.  Frozen, fresh, cubed or shredded.  Then I thought that I could try make my own hashbrowns and freeze them for later for just a little under $0.30/lb.  I have heard that freezing raw potatoes and fully cooked potatoes are a disaster (either they go black or become a watery mess once thawed).  So after read I countless sites on freezing hashbrowns, I tried to parboil my batch and see how it goes.  It has something to do with disabling the enzymes from the brief cooking.  

I got a big pot of water on the stove and let that come to a boil.  While the water was heating up, I got the potatoes.  

Other sites I have seen, they have shredded it by hand or food processor.  I got a little lazy.  I didn't feel like washing a dirty food processor, so I just peeled the potatoes and chopped them up in chunks.  It was nice and mindless.  Cleanup was also a breeze:  wash knife, cutting board and clean up the peels. 

After chopping up the potatoes, I put them in a bowl of water to keep them nice and white.  I rinsed off the starches and put the potatoes for 3 minutes only in the boiling water.  They were partially cooked. 

Fished them out, rinsed them in cold water and placed them on a parchment lined cookie sheet.  Blotted dry with paper and threw them in the deep freezer, just like you would freeze blueberries.  

Now that they are frozen, I simply placed them in a big ziplock freezer bag to be enjoyed at anytime!  I dont' have to worry about my potatoes going soft, green, sprouting or moldy!  Ha!  Saving money feels good.  Now I have my frozen hashbrowns for $0.29/lb! (minus the labour, but it's easy mindless work). 

Here's a recap: 

• Boil big pot of water


• Peel and cut potatoes to your liking and immerse in cold water


• Rinse potatoes and boil in water for 3 minutes


• Drain potatoes, rinse starches off in cold water


• Place on parchment lined baking sheet, blot dry with paper towels


• Freeze


• Once frozen, place in freezer bags.  They should keep for a few months, if they aren't eaten up already! 

- Adapted from http://www.tasteofhome.com/Cooking-Tips/Potatoes/Freezing-Potatoes-for-Hash-Browns

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