What's the difference between all the different types of spuds? Please teach me.

JackieChang

Golden Wonders,

Mars Pipers,

Rooster,

White,

Queen

New

Probably forgetting a few.

So which one is the most floury one? I want to be coughing and almost choking to death trying to eat it. I got a bag of queens a couple of months ago and I think they were the flouriest ones I've had.

igCorcaigh

• I think Queens, GW, MP are on the floury side too, so better for baking or roasting.
• New are waxy, I like them for cold potato salads, or to have with fish.
• Rooster and White may be in between, I'm no expert.

I'm on the waxy side of the potato war, as I don't want like moisture sucking, difficult to swallow, fluffy potatoes in my mouth.

Faith

Golden Wonders - dry and floury. Possibly the driest and flouriest variety. Great for cooking methods using an oven or fryer, likely to fall apart easily if boiled/steamed. May turn to mush when cooked the latter ways so a bit risky, depending on cooking method.

Maris Pipers - considered a very good "all rounder". Commonly used by chippers to make chips and recommended by many chefs for making chips and roast potatoes at home. Less likely to fall apart when boiled or steamed, so also suitable for mashing. To me, they sometimes taste a little waxy because of their "creamy" flesh.

Roosters - another all rounder on the floury side. Probably the most popular variety used in Ireland (it was initially bred here), and suitable for all uses. I personally use Roosters and I too have a preference for floury potatoes.

Queens - also light & floury. The peak season for Queens is mid summer, so around July, which is earlier than other spuds hit their peak.

White potato - to me, this is like saying "white flower". What kind of flower is it though? Equally, I've no idea what type of spud this is. It's typically the cheapest and, in my experience, watery, waxy and should be avoided.

New - like above, it depends on the variety. New potatoes can sometimes be sold as "baby", but other varieties might be "Charlotte" or similar. They're very small and waxy. But "new" can also mean "new season", and if you can get new season Queens in the summer, you'll need 2 pounds of butter to go with them and you'll have a culinary experience like no other. The best of these are sold out of vans by the side of the road in rural Ireland.

There are a lot of others, but probably the other main one you'll see in Ireland are Kerrs Pink. They're a pink toned spud that are quite floury and starchy.

the beer revolu

I don't think there's much of value to be added to the two posts above, really. Sums it up nicely.

The Hill Billy

Great post by Faith there. Just to add that there are a couple of regional/seasonal factors that come to mind -

Kilmore Quay new season potatoes are exceptional. Sandy soils produce the best of new season spuds (& carrots - but i don't want to go off-topic). And these are best in spring and early summer.

Rush Queens are at their best in the late crops from October up to Christmas. The are fantastic roasted & mashed. I'd usually steam rather than boil though.

While it is unlikely that you live near Rush or have a kind father-in-law who sends you spuds from Wexford occasionally, my point is that you should check out crops grown and sold in your area. You'll probably find a couple of gems that'll make the world of difference to your dinners.

Faith

Excellent point, THB. The best new carrots and potatoes I’ve ever had were from Castlegregory in Kerry, which would also have really sandy soil.

the beer revolu

Tis Ballycotton has the world's best spuds! Everyone knows that!

farmerval

Potatoes were traditionally defined primarily on their growing season and their ability to store.

Queens or British Queens were the best early variety, harvesting from July to September middling yield poor to store. Really only grown to use as they are being harvested.

Golden Wonder used to follow as a main crop, harvesting from September to November, good quality floury spud, could store for a few months.

Kerrs Pink followed as a big yielding excellent to store variety. A much less tasty spud but filled the gap from when Wonders were past their peak to when Queens in the new season came in.

Maris Piper were never very popular in Ireland as they were a more waxy variety, very popular in England, where waxy spuds are more appreciated than floury, good all round spud.

Roosters are a newer variety, big yields and fantastic storage ability in a good all round spud. Not as floury as Queens or Wonders, but superb all rounder, gives quality spuds all year round. Every bit as good after 10 months in storage as when harvested.

cml387

It's mostly floury spuds in our house and the outright victor (being from the south east) are Dungarvan Queens. Unfortunately they do not store that well and will start to sprout (keep all spuds in the dark and cool if storing over a period) especially since October was so mild this year . That being said I bough a big bag in early September and we are just finishing them now and they're still fine.

Golden wonders are as floury and store well but I find that quality can be variable in quality, suffering from discolouration which can't be discerned when unpeeled.

Roosters are good all rounders but I can't warm to them, there is something bland and boring about them.

Maris are waxy spuds that really don't make good chips at home. I'd guess they are at their best cooked in bulk in chipper.

igCorcaigh

It has been hard to find fingerlings, they're a nice waxy potato for salads. Time of the year maybe?

eeepaulo

I use maris Piper for my roast potatoes.

Par boil for about 10 minutes, bash em up, dry them out in fridge, then sizzling duck fat, hot oven for about an hour, turn twice.

Would a different variety work better?

cml387

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120024139#Comment_120024139

Your method would work equally well and imo give a better result with Golden Wonders or queens. But a word of warning, when par boiling you need to be extra careful not to overboil or you'll be left with just a mess of flour. I think maris Pipers would be more forgiving in the boiling department.

eeepaulo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120024332#Comment_120024332

I don't tend to let them get too soft or over bash, I see some coming videos and they are really messed up.

I'm not risking trying a new spud on Christmas day but might experiment next Sunday.