This Is The Secret To Waffle House’s Famous Hashbrowns

My favorite Waffle House is located underneath the parking garage of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Hospital in Birmingham, Alabama. Positioned at the intersection of a few pesky one-way streets, it’s a little difficult to get to, but I love that it’s never busy, and I enjoy observing the rotating clientele of passersby, hospital care workers, and people visiting their people.

I recently posted up at the bar and got to talking with the folks who feed me on these treasured occasions. I wanted to know once and for all: What’s the secret to their perfectly crispy, tender

hashbrowns

? Why are they so good?

I ordered my favorite: hashbrowns smothered, covered, and peppered (which means they have sautéed onions, spicy jalapeños, and a melted slice of American cheese), sipped a black coffee, and settled in to watch, listen, and learn.

It was a slow afternoon, but as we talked the manager stepped in to help assist the cook on a long ticket order without a word. I was reminded of one of my first busy nights as a baby line cook, when the sous chef stepped in to help me with a tough ticket even when they didn’t have to.

It’s natural to think of a restaurant kitchen as a place of where someone barks and chirps orders at someone else, but Waffle House reveals the operation of cooking as the alliance and academy of technique that it actually is and can so often be. This is the sort of thing that makes Waffle House special, and while I wish I could say that this tenderness alone imparts perfect hashbrowns, there are actually a few important technical reasons why Waffle House’s are superior.

What’s the Secret to Waffle House Hashbrowns?

The Potatoes

The secret to Waffle House hashbrowns starts with the shredded potatoes, which arrive on location dehydrated. They are then rehydrated with fresh cool water and drained for frying up to two hours before service. Because Waffle House is open 24 hours, this cycle of rehydration happens constantly.

Most conventional store-bought hashbrown brands are also dehydrated in processing, but they are rehydrated before being packaged and distributed. By rehydrating and preparing their potatoes on-site, Waffle House ensures total freshness—and ultimately, crispiness and tenderness—of each batch.

The Method

The Waffle House cooktop is mostly flat, and hashbrowns cook quickly directly on the surface with minimal crowding. Here are the basic elements that take them to the next level:

• 
  One-at-a-time:
  
  After scooping a serving loosely onto a well-greased, hot cooktop and sprinkling any add-ons overtop, the hashbrowns
  
  fry on high heat
  
  one order at a time. This allows moisture to evaporate quickly and ensures that most of the potatoes are crispy on at least one side.
• 
  Flip once:
  
  It’s important at this stage for the cook to wait—about two to three minutes—for the exterior rim of potatoes to get crispy, dark brown, which requires patience as well as attention.
• 
  Two long, wide, flat spatulas:
  
  The cook slides one wide, long, flat spatula under the hashbrowns and gently secures the top of the hashbrowns with a smaller wide spatula. They flip the hashbrowns quickly and gently, like a pancake. The other side crisps up in one to two minutes.

When frying hashbrowns at home, it can be tempting to overcrowd the potato shavings, or “hash » and then spend too much time moving them around in the pan. The more crowded and overworked the potatoes are, the more likely they are to get soggy rather than crisp up—especially if the cook pan has high sides that trap moisture and steam.

The Toppings

Fried Waffle House hashbrowns are tasty on their own, but it’s the add-ons that take them to a level that—to me—is entirely unmatched by any diner or breakfast joint.

After all, it’s the add-ons that lay claim to perhaps the most commonly known terms of the Waffle House lingo:

• Smothered: Sautéed onions
• Covered: Melted cheese
• Chunked: Grilled hickory-smoked ham
• Diced: Grilled tomatoes
• Peppered: Spicy jalapeño peppers
• Capped: Grilled button mushrooms
• Topped: Bert’s chili
• Country: Sausage gravy

The Company

While many Waffle House locations offer takeout, there’s nothing that quite compares to enjoying a fresh, hot plate of hashbrowns while you’re dining in.

Between the steady hum of the refrigerator lowboys and the steam and hiss of Bert’s Chili cooking away in what can only be described as an industrial-grade

slow cooker

, there is, of course, the drip of the coffee maker—a fresh pot never far away. Best of all is the clang of plates and sound of chatter, both in front of and behind the counter, a convivial feeling of breaking fast in company—no matter the hour.