Home Grown Potatoes

[poppyjr]

We were so proud when we dug some potatoes for tea but when I boiled them the skins broke and they went a little floury on the outside. What causes this ?

[woofgang]

what kind of potato were they

[poppyjr]

I think they were charlottes

[boxtops]

Some potatoes will do this, new potatoes are only babies, they're skin hasn't had a chance to thicken up yet.

[jomifl]

Boxy, there is no such thing as a baby potato other than a seedling potato plant. A woman who gets a fat belly might just as well say it's a baby...whereas of course it might be...:o)

[humbersloop]

you might be better off steaming them poppy, takes a bit longer but it's gentler

[boxtops]

Well, there is, jomifl - when I pull up my potatoes grown in pots, they're a lot smaller than one grown in a clamp - I'd call them babies :-)

[jomifl]

They taste better too.

[boxtops]

We always steam all our veg now. The spuds take a little longer than the greens, but it's well worth it.

[humbersloop]

^ if that was to me jom, they certainly do, haven't boiled veg in years

[poppyjr]

Thank you all, I will try steaming them !

[humbersloop]

don't bother salting the water then poppy, just season them afterwards

[dancecaller]

The greengrocers divide potatoes into 2 sorts, floury and waxy.
The ones I think have the best flavour - Sharpes Express (early) and King Edward (maincrop) are floury. Sharpes boil OK when really small, but as they get bigger, if you boil them the outer layer separates from the inside, and they go to a soupy mush.
So I always steam both sorts.
If I want to flavour them with mint I boil them with mint for a few minutes and finish them in the steamer.

[Maydup]

That happened to me one year but i had unbeknown to me, I had grown a floury variety. Unlike Charlotte which are normally the most delicious salad potato there is. We've grown them this year and they are as good as ever.

My only thought is that they were caught by a late frost or a spell of cold weather when they went in the ground. Maybe leave them until a little later next year. Early April or whenever the soil is beginning to warm up.

But don't give up. Charlottes are delicious and well worth trying again.

[nurein]

Think it is an different kind of potato from where did you get it from?

[Iamcazzy]

How long do they take to cook in a steamer?

[Iamcazzy]

Should have said I've got one of those three tiered plastic types that you put water in the base.