"Baz" wrote

My main maincrop, Maris Piper will remain hard no matter how long I boil
them.
I have some other varieties that are OK. but I have loads of Maris Piper.
I don't suppose there is anything I can do about it. It is going to be a
huge waste.

Some people on the allotment are going to store theirs hoping that a bit of
coolness or whatever might sort it.

Should I write them off? Or store them in the unlikely event that this
would fix them.


I've been doing some searching on this because I'd not heard of it before
and found...

"What you are describing can happen more frequently with some medium solids
(starchy) varieties. It typically is limited to the core of the potato when
it occurs, sometimes referred to as the stem. During the growing season,
unusually cold weather in a field may cause the potato matter to remain
dense thru the length of the center of the potato. When baking, I have
actually had it become stringy and resist even cooking it out in the
microwave."

So it looks like you are stuck with the problem with this years crop Baz
although not all may be affected.

I also came across this interesting comment which may explain the problem we
had roasting bought potatoes this spring/early summer, they got too dark
instead of staying golden brown, ...

"Unfortunately, when potatoes are refrigerated, their starches convert to
sugars, which wreck the fluffy, starchy texture. The good news is that this
is a reversible reaction. If you keep the potatoes warm for a day, their
sugars convert back to starch. I recommended that the ship's cooks move a
day's worth of potatoes to the hot room each day. Using potatoes that had
been hot for 24 hours, their baked potatoes were fluffy again" and "their
fries were not too dark before they were cooked"

So putting stored bought potatoes in the airing cupboard for 24 hours should
cure that problem if we run out of our own spuds. Thank you Baz for making
me find that gem.

--
Regards. Bob Hobden.
Posted to this Newsgroup from the W of London, UK