Potato gratin tastes good – but it’s a lot of work. To enjoy the creamy casserole without stress, you can prepare potato gratin. However, this is a treacherous endeavor if you want perfect results.
I’ll tell you how in this post. I will also give you valuable tips for preparing and refining prepared potato gratin.
Let’s start with the milkmaid question:
Can you prepare potato gratin?
Potato gratin is very easy to prepare and still tastes really delicious when warmed up. After preparation, you simply store the potato gratin in the fridge and put it in the oven when needed. This saves you a lot of baking time during the final preparation.
But it’s not that simple. On the one hand, it is crucial how long you want to prepare your potato gratin in advance and how you proceed with the preparation.
Let’s start with everything temporal.
Can you prepare potato gratin the day before?
You can also prepare potato gratin the day before without hesitation and then finish it the next day. Make sure, however, that the prepared potato gratin is always in the fridge, as the cream and milk in the gratin sauce quickly sour at room temperature.
The sensitive dairy products are also the deciding factor if you want to prepare potato gratin longer.
Read Also: Which potatoes for potato pancakes and how to process them correctly
What is the maximum time you can prepare potato gratin in advance?
You can prepare potato gratin “ready to bake” up to 24 hours in advance and store it in the fridge.
After the 24 hours have passed, however, you should definitely prepare the gratin, as the potato gratin also contains food that does not keep for long when opened, such as cream, milk or certain types of cheese.
But that’s not the only reason. Storing potatoes in the fridge will make them sweet. And unless you want a dessert gratin, that’s a good idea in the long run.
How to prepare potato gratin?
The potato gratin is very easy to prepare. To do this, simply peel the raw potatoes, cut them into slices and place them in a casserole dish. Then you pour the gratin sauce over them and you can add vegetables to the gratin, if you like.
Then you simply put the prepared gratin in the fridge. As soon as you want to eat the gratin, you just sprinkle the gratin cheese over it and put the gratin in the oven.
Of course you can also use sliced cheese or mozzarella, you can decide that depending on your personal preferences.
Even if this path has the best result, you can still go another way. Which is faster on the table but tastes a little weaker on the chest.
Should you prepare potato gratin and bake it later or pre-bake it?
If you want to have the potato gratin prepared very quickly and you have little time to prepare it, then preparing it in advance is a particularly good idea.
While it usually takes about an hour to fully prepare a potato gratin, you can save quite a bit of time by preparing ahead of time.
For example, you can prepare the gratin the night before and bake it in the oven for about 20 minutes, and the next day you only have to bake the gratin for about 15 minutes.
This pre-bake is also the perfect way for large batches…
How to prepare potato gratin in bulk for guests?
The best way to prepare potato gratin for many guests is to use several casserole dishes. Fill these casserole dishes with the potato slices, the gratin sauce and the cheese and pre-bake the gratin in the oven for about 20 minutes.
If there are several casserole dishes in the oven, then you should always set the oven to hot air, as with hot air, the gratin can be prepared in several casserole dishes at the same time compared to top and bottom heat.
When the guests are there, you bake the gratin in hot air for about 10 minutes and the potato gratin is ready and can be served.
What is the best way to store prepared potato gratin?
Can you prepare potato gratin and store it in the fridge?
You should definitely store potato gratin in the fridge, as the gratin contains foods that spoil quickly or go sour at room temperature, such as milk and cream.
Can you prepare and freeze potato gratin?
It is also possible to freeze the potato gratin, but the potato gratin tastes best fresh. In addition, the potato gratin soaks up water when it freezes, which means it tastes watery after defrosting and the sauce is also very diluted.
Background: The cream separates when it freezes, similar to freezing yoghurt.
How do you properly warm up prepared potato gratin?
It is best to use the top and bottom heat at approx. 180° and the middle shelf so that the potatoes are cooked evenly and slowly in the oven.
In the meantime, you should occasionally poke a potato with a fork to check if the potato is done cooking. When the potatoes are nice and soft and the cheese has melted over the potatoes, the potato gratin is ready.
When not to prepare potato gratin?
If you are preparing the potato gratin from potatoes that have already been boiled, then you should not pre-bake the potato gratin in advance.
The potatoes here are already very soft and cooked, so there is a risk that they will fall apart and no longer taste fresh if you pre-bake them in the oven and then reheat them and finish baking.
Which potatoes are best for prepared potato gratin?
Waxy potatoes are best for the prepared potato gratin, as they do not disintegrate as much as floury potatoes through baking and cooking.
Especially when reheating, there is a risk that the floury potatoes will disintegrate again. Waxy potatoes, on the other hand, retain their consistency and disk shape even after baking.
Which ingredients are also suitable for prepared potato gratin?
Of course you can refine the prepared potato gratin with many delicious vegetables. Mushrooms, carrots and peppers in particular taste delicious and are suitable ingredients for the prepared potato gratin.
Meat substitutes are also ideal for adding as a vegan minced meat variant. It is best to use green spelt that has swollen in water for 20 minutes beforehand. Then you put the unripe spelt into the prepared potato gratin and let the gratin bake in the oven for about 20 minutes.
How is the gratin sauce prepared for prepared potato gratin?
You can prepare the gratin sauce however you like, depending on your personal preferences. In any case, your gratin sauce should contain milk and whipped cream.
For example, almond cuisine and vegan cream are ideal for the vegan sauce variant. Then you add salt and pepper. Finally, you can refine the gratin sauce with various spices such as nutmeg and garlic.
Can you prepare the gratin sauce for prepared potato gratin separately?
You always prepare the gratin sauce for prepared potato gratin separately and then add it to the casserole dish with the potatoes.
If you only want to prepare the gratin the next day, you can store the finished gratin sauce separately in the fridge and add it to the potatoes the next day.
But make sure that you always cover the potatoes well. Because potatoes turn brown quickly when they come into contact with air.
Conclusion: prepare potato gratin properly
As you can see, it is very easy to prepare the potato gratin properly. Especially if you have many guests at home, you reduce the final baking time enormously, since the gratin has already been heated and pre-baked in advance.
However, you should always make sure that you do not prepare the potato gratin earlier than the day before. It is also particularly important that you always keep the prepared potato gratin in the fridge. If you follow these tips, then nothing stands in the way of an evening with friends and delicious potato gratin.