Best potato for mashing?

biko

Idaho Russet is supposed to be great for mashing, low moisture and high starch content. Is there a similar spud in Ireland? I currently use red potatoes.

dh0661

biko wrote: »

I currently use red potatoes.

Those would be rooster I presume which I find good. You could also try maris piper, I find these better, but I find it impossible to them in 10kg bags, 5kg is the largest bag.
My local greengrocer stocks 25kg bags but I think that size bag would last me too long and would go off before I'd get to use them all.

The Hill Billy

Biko:

You need floury potatoes for good mash. Available tys in my locality are:
Roosters, Kerr's Pinks, Golden Wonders, Queens.

In my opinion floury spuds are better steamed than boiled as they have a tendency to absorb a lot of water & can disintegrate if overcooked.

biko

Thanks both, I will try those varieties and hopefully find the perfect mash spud

"Mash freak biko"

olaola

Superquinn have their own variety called Oilean, which are a good all-rounder.

NewFrockTuesday

Roosters all the way.

has anyone any suggestions for cooking Kerr Pinks? (or Pink Kerrs - cant rem which) I used them for mash before and they were hard to cook as they are rocks one min and mush the next. Ive found them good for par cooking in their jackets, then peeling and slicing and cooking as a zwiebelrostbraten. (fried with lardons and onions and paprika). How are they for roasting?

Dizzyblonde

I use Roosters or Maris Pipers, and I steam them too. Otherwise they break up and go soggy. If I'm roasting them I'll steam them until almost tender then roast them in hot duck or goose fat.
Baby potatoes make great wedges if you cut them in 4 lengthways and coat them in olive oil - they cook in around 20 minutes.

Deepsense, try steaming them. If they're floury they'll be good for roasting.

corblimey

dh0661 wrote: »

My local greengrocer stocks 25kg bags but I think that size bag would last me too long and would go off before I'd get to use them all.

Sorry to hijack this thread, but how long before you'd consider a potato to be 'off'? I buy spuds on a saturday, keep them in a dark cupboard but by friday, they're starting to grow things on them. I just cut them off and the potatoes seem to taste fine, so when is a potato bad?

the beer revolu

corblimey wrote: »

Sorry to hijack this thread, but how long before you'd consider a potato to be 'off'? I buy spuds on a saturday, keep them in a dark cupboard but by friday, they're starting to grow things on them. I just cut them off and the potatoes seem to taste fine, so when is a potato bad?

That's a tricky one. It's all down to storage really.
If you buy a 10kg bag of, let's say roosters, in November and in January you find that they're sprouting and gone kindof spongy.
So you chuck them out and buy a lovely new fresh bag.
Thing is, the 'new' bag was grown the same time as the old bag. Same crop.
Problem is most of us don't have a cold perfectly dark place to store them.
Or do the suppliers have other tricks for storing them?

Personally, it doesn't bother me if a potato is sprouting as long as it hasn't gone really spongy. Check the bag every now and again and remove any sprouts - they seem to keep better that way.

Phenix

aparatnly if you put an apple in the bag it stops them sprouting....not sure how true it is tho,

the beer revolu

Phenix wrote: »

aparatnly if you put an apple in the bag it stops them sprouting....not sure how true it is tho,

Interesting....
Anyone have experience of this?

Dizzyblonde

Unless they're green or spongy they're fine.

Minder

I think the big supermarkets discovered that potatoes sold in clear plastic bags would start to sprout after a short time. The old triple ply paper sacks were phased out in favour of the plastic bags and I wouldn't be surprised if the turnover of potatoes grew as a result. I remember the folks buying a 4 stone bag of spuds. Kept in the dark under the stairs, the potatoes were deprived of both light and any moisture preventing them from chitting. We just rolled the bag closed after picking a few out for the dinner. I reckon that a paper sack of spuds will last many times longer than a plastic bag of the same spuds - and my local Tesco has just started selling paper sacks of potatoes - but with a plastic window in. Don't want to give up on the money spinner entirely.

corblimey

Nice theory, minder. I remember my folks buying those huge bags aswell and them lasting most of the winter without protuberances. So is it possible to recreate these conditions if Tesco won't? If I can get some brown paper bags and transfer my potatoes from the plastic bag to that, can I avoid the growths?

Minder

You can get potato hessian sacks from garden centres and garden catalogues - used for storing homegrown potatoes.

irisheddie85

If you live near anyone who grows potatoes he will more than likely sell you potatoes in these bags.
We used to grow potaoes stored in a pit would last a year without any change. in a good unopened bag should last a few months no bother. The farmer sells them to the wholesaler in 20kg or bigger bags and he repacks them into smaller bags to increase profit.
Support a farmer and you will get better potatoes cheaper.

Seaneh

I nuse large roosters or large maris pipers (as in baking potato sized) bake them, scoope out the flesh and mash with melted butter and a very small ammount of milk and an egg yolk.

for 4 people use 4 large spuds, cut a 1mm deep line around the fattest part of the spud and then place the spuds in a shallow roasting dish on a thin layer of salt in an oven at 190c for between 50 and 60 mins.
scoope out the flesh into a bowl
in a pot heat up 1/2 cup milk and a table spoon or two of butter

while the butter is melting/milk heating start rouggly mashing the spuds.
add the milk/butter
mash untill smooth
add the egg yolk
season.

enjoy.

denat

IMHO, the best "old potatoes" ie last season's crop, for mashing are kerr pink and records.

Roosters are great all purpose spuds and very consistent in quality but have a certain tang in their flavour that I'm not fond of. I do use Roosters but only when I can't get those other varieties in good condition, or when I need spuds in a hurry and haven't had a chance to test the quality of the alternatives.

My favourite potato has to be Golden Wonder but only if you can find the almost triangular shaped type that, I think, is a slightly different variety from what has become freely available in the shops lately. It is an EXTREMELY dry spud and IMO, is not suitable for mashing unless you're prepared to take enormous care in boiling.

dh0661

denat wrote: »

My favourite potato has to be Golden Wonder

My dad's favourite also, but I find them to hard to peel. That's why I prefer Maris Piper. My dad and hubby, even my mam are all impressed, so happy days.

Carawaystick

Where can you get records these days? I havn't seen them in ages anywhere in dublin. I heard people don't like em cos of the yellow colour. the fools!

dh0661

Carawaystick wrote: »

Where can you get records these days? I havn't seen them in ages anywhere in dublin. I heard people don't like em cos of the yellow colour. the fools!

Roosters are more "yellow" than records AFAIK, but they are the "IN" potato on the market at present. Records (yack) are the favourite spud with my in-laws in Clare and seem to be available there.
My hubby was reared eating records, but he now agrees with me that the Maris Piper potato is much nicer and my OUTLAWS in-laws always like the dinner I serve, or so they say.

admiralofthefleet

i have always found that the white potatoes on sale in tesco make great mash