Common chowder mistakes are boiling the dairy until it curdles as well as overcooking any seafood into a rubbery texture, over blending the potatoes or over cooking the potatoes so that the base turns gluey and adding too much flour thickener, and failing to build a strong flavor base with aromatics.
For the boiling of milk or cream in chowder, adding the dairy too early or allowing the pot to reach a hard boil will cause the chowder to curdle and break.
You should always lower the heat before you stir in cream into your chowder.
Also skipping the rest time for chowder is also a common mistake with making chowder because serving chowder immediately after cooking and making it misses out on flavor integration.
Allowing the chowder to rest off heat for a few minutes deepens the taste.
Mistakes that are commonly made when making chowder that involve the texture and seafood include, rubbery seafood, gluey potatoes and heavy handed thickening.
Overcooking the seafood like clams, fish or other seafood turns them tough and chewy.
So you should add the delicate seafood at the very end of cooking your chowder just to heat it through.
Overcooking or over blending the starchy potatoes releases too much amylose, which results in a pasty, gluey texture instead of a smooth broth.
And dumping in too much flour or cornstarch into your chowder makes the chowder heavy and pasty, instead of being naturally rich.
And for flavor foundation mistakes with chowder, using bland seasoning and forgetting to sweat the onions, celery or render the bacon fat first leaves the base flat.
To make great chowder, start with a flavorful base like rendered bacon fat, choose waxy potatoes that keep their shape, use real seafood stock or clam juice for depth, and stir in your cream or delicate seafood at the very end so they do not overcook or curdle.
Building Flavor and Base for your chowder:
Start with pork: Render diced bacon or salt pork in your pot first. Cook your onions and celery in that leftover fat.
Use clam juice: Boost your broth with bottled clam juice or a rich fish stock instead of just water or plain milk.
Add aromatics: Drop in a bay leaf or a pinch of fresh thyme while the base simmers.
Potatoes and Thickening for your chowder:
Choose waxy potatoes: Use Yukon Gold or red potatoes so they stay tender without falling apart and turning the soup mushy.
Make a quick roux: Whisk a little all-purpose flour into your butter and bacon drippings before adding liquids to create a velvety base.
Use natural starches: Let some of the potato starch thicken the soup naturally, or mash a few potato pieces against the side of the pot.
Adding Dairy and Seafood to your chowder:
Time the seafood right: Add pre-cooked or canned clams, or delicate fish and shrimp, during the last few minutes of cooking to keep them tender and chewy-free.
Stir in cream late: Add heavy cream or half-and-half near the end of the cooking process so the dairy does not curdle or scorch.
Let it rest: Turn off the heat and let the chowder sit for five to ten minutes before serving so the flavors settle and the temperature drops to a safe level.