the best tasting potatoes to grow

The Best Tasting Potatoes to Grow: variety selection

No matter how you slice, dice, or mash them, potatoes are delicious. A staple food for many cultures across the globe, they are a vegetable which would be difficult to live without.

Although store-bought potatoes are tasty, nothing beats the flavor of a freshly unearthed tuber from your own garden. I will help you pick the best tasting potatoes to grow, by giving you examples of the different characteristics potatoes can have.

But which potatoes are the best for home gardeners? Which will grow well and offer the largest crop yield? Which potatoes taste best?

The simplest answer is that every garden is different and each grower should choose their preference. And yet, there are some varieties that virtually guarantee an abundant crop packed full of flavour.

Growing your own potatoes

If you would like more information about growing your own potatoes, please read my article Growing your own potatoes. This covers everything you need to know from planting, preparing seed, growing, harvesting and storage and more about this great vegetable.

What are the qualities of a great potato?

There are a few things, other than flavour, that are important to consider when choosing a potato variety to plant.

Disease Resistance

Potatoes are typically a resilient vegetable, vulnerable mainly to potato blight, and other fungal and bacterial infections such as scurf or scab. Because late blight has the potential to wipe out an entire crop in only a few days, it’s best to choose a variety described as “resistant” or “tolerant” to the disease.

New varieties are constantly being developed, so every growing season offers the opportunity to try a different type of disease-resistant potato.

Blight, specifically, can also be avoided by growing varieties that are typically harvested before the hot and humid weather of late summer increases the risk of blight.

Harvest Timing

Potatoes are classified by their harvest times:

  • First earlies will produce usable tubers within 100-110 days of planting
  • Second earlies need 110-120 days to produce usable tubers
  • Early maincrop potatoes are ready to harvest after 120-125 days
  • Maincrop potatoes need between 125 and 140 days to mature

Typically, the first early potatoes are ready to lift in June or July, the second earlies are ready in July or August; maincrops can be harvested in August through to October.

Organic

Many growers swear that organically grown potatoes have the best flavour. But growing potatoes without herbicides or pesticides can be very difficult – and is extremely time-consuming and labour-intensive.

Flavor and Texture

Some potatoes have waxy flesh and others are softer or more fibrous. There are starchy, fluffy, dry, creamy, mealy or floury potatoes as well. Flavours can also vary. The ideal texture or flavour is – of course – a matter of personal preference for the home gardener.

The best tasting potatoes to grow

Categories of potato

The hundreds of different potato varieties can all be categorized as either starchy which are fluffy – such as russets or white potatoes – or as waxy – including colourful potatoes, fingerling varieties, or new potatoes. Some types can fall under more than one category, making strict categorization difficult.

Each category of potato should be prepared and cooked in a particular way to unlock its best flavour and texture.

Starchy Potatoes

The potatoes have a high starch content and little moisture; they are fluffy but lack structural integrity. These are usually great for boiling and mashing.

Russets

With rough brown skin and white flesh, russets are typically dry and mealy. They bake quite well and are also easy to mash, fry or roast. They will not, however, hold their shape well so should not be used for casseroles, gratin, or potato salads.

The Russet Burbank, also called the Idaho potato because so many are grown in the state, is the favoured choice in the U.S., with a traditional, neutral potato flavour. It was developed in the 1870s. Other popular and tasty russet potatoes are Goldrush, and Norgold – an early variety that is a great choice for areas with short, cool growing seasons.

All-Purpose, or White potatoes

White potatoes, with their smooth, thin and light-coloured skins, are a great all-purpose crop that holds their texture well and can be creamy and moist when baked.

The Onaway – with its light tan skin and buttery flavour – and the Elba are excellent choices for the home gardener; both are early producers while the latter is also resistant to both disease and drought.

Irish Cobbler, a popular heirloom variety, has a strong potato flavour and makes excellent mashed potatoes.

Katahdin potatoes

This variety – with its classic potato flavour – is ideal for making French Fries, but the fluffy, creamy, and soft texture of the Katahdin makes them a poor choice for any dish that requires the potatoes to hold their shape.

Kennebec

One of the top ten tubers in the Northeast United States, this variety grows very well in harsh conditions and is delicious when baked with the skin on.

Waxy potatoes

These varieties have a lower starch content and often have creamy, firm, and moist flesh. They hold their shape well after cooking and are great for roasting, boiling, and casseroles but are most chosen to go into salads and great to eat cold.

Golden potatoes

Carola potatoes have a strong, classic flavour with some earthy and buttery notes; the Inca Gold is dumpling-shaped with an earthy, nutty flavour and creamy texture.

Colourful potatoes

Colourful varieties such as Adirondack Blue or Adirondack Red are also waxy. The former has an earthy, rich and nutty flavour and the flesh can either darken when roasted or fade to a bluish tone when mashed; the latter has red skin with pink to red flesh that may be opaque or sport a sunburst pattern – their flavour is slightly sweet.

Purple Vikings are small, dark purple-skinned potatoes with white flesh; their meaty, slightly sweet, and buttery flavour, is best for baking or roasting, though they’re great in most dishes, other than soup.

Arron Victory is a famous blue-skinned variety in Europe which have excellent boiling quality and a fluffy texture.

Rooster is a red-skinned variety with yellow flesh which is also fluffy inside – an excellent potato.

Fingerling potatoes

Fingerling potatoes also have a mild, nutty, and earthy flavour; they are excellent when baked, roasted, or fried – they can be used in virtually any dish except soups.

New potatoes

New potatoes – which can be any type of potato that are harvested early, before the tubers become big and starchy – they can vary in color and flavor; they are typically sweet, creamy, and firm.

The skins are quite thin, and though they roast well, new potatoes shouldn’t be baked. They are ideal for steaming, or boiling and are delicious in soups.

Examples

Take a look at these seed potato varieties to see if any are suitable for you:

Russet Burbank – for Fall planting

Yukon Gold – for Fall planting

Yukon Gold -for Spring planting

Charlotte – great for salads

 

Further reading:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/grow-to-eat/top-10-potatoes-grow-flavour/

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/potato-varieties_n_1105586/amp