Can anyone tell me what I have done wrong. I grew potatoes for the first
time this year. For Earlies I planted Rocket, and for Maincrop used King
Edward. Both types produced wh\t I considered decent looking spuds in
reasonable quantities, but when I tried to ccok them they were bopth
terrible. Both varieties turned to a mushy pulp when boiled, but both were
ok when chipped. What did I do wrong?

Vincent Burgum wrote:
:: Can anyone tell me what I have done wrong. I grew potatoes for the
:: first time this year. For Earlies I planted Rocket, and for
:: Maincrop used King Edward. Both types produced wh\t I considered
:: decent looking spuds in reasonable quantities, but when I tried to
:: ccok them they were bopth terrible. Both varieties turned to a
:: mushy pulp when boiled, but both were ok when chipped. What did I
:: do wrong?

boiled them too long?

"Vincent Burgum" wrote in message
...
Can anyone tell me what I have done wrong. I grew potatoes for the first
time this year. For Earlies I planted Rocket, and for Maincrop used King
Edward. Both types produced wh\t I considered decent looking spuds in
reasonable quantities, but when I tried to ccok them they were bopth
terrible. Both varieties turned to a mushy pulp when boiled, but both were
ok when chipped. What did I do wrong?


I think you grew the wrong varieties for boilling. K.E. do go mushy when
bopiled, they are great for roasting and chips though. I'm not familiar with
the other variety.
For excellent boilers next year try nadine or wilja. Both are a nice firm
boiling spud.
I have also had picasso which is a good boiler but the first 2 are my
favourites.

"Vincent Burgum" wrote...
Can anyone tell me what I have done wrong. I grew potatoes for the first
time this year. For Earlies I planted Rocket, and for Maincrop used King
Edward. Both types produced wh\t I considered decent looking spuds in
reasonable quantities, but when I tried to ccok them they were bopth
terrible. Both varieties turned to a mushy pulp when boiled, but both were
ok when chipped. What did I do wrong?

What you did wrong was plant the wrong varieties.
Rocket is supposed to be a good all-rounder with a waxy texture but
obviously on your soil it isn't.
King Edward is a floury spud and will beak up on boiling, which is why it
good for roasting, baking, chips and mash.
Both these varieties have a rating of 6 for disintegration on boiling.
For next year try the following if you like your spuds boiled but don't like
them mushy. (information from British Potato Council)
First Early...
Arran Pilot; Duke of York( when young); Dundrod
Second Early ...
Carlingford; Maris Peer; Spunta; Wilja
Main Crop...
Nicola; Pentland Hawk;
All the above have a rating of 8 or 9.

--
Regards
Bob
In Runnymede, 17 miles West of London

"Bob Hobden" wrote in message
...

"Vincent Burgum" wrote...
Can anyone tell me what I have done wrong. I grew potatoes for the first
time this year. For Earlies I planted Rocket, and for Maincrop used King
Edward. Both types produced wh\t I considered decent looking spuds in
reasonable quantities, but when I tried to ccok them they were bopth
terrible. Both varieties turned to a mushy pulp when boiled, but both
were
ok when chipped. What did I do wrong?

What you did wrong was plant the wrong varieties.
Rocket is supposed to be a good all-rounder with a waxy texture but
obviously on your soil it isn't.
King Edward is a floury spud and will beak up on boiling, which is why it
good for roasting, baking, chips and mash.
Both these varieties have a rating of 6 for disintegration on boiling.
For next year try the following if you like your spuds boiled but don't
like them mushy. (information from British Potato Council)
First Early...
Arran Pilot; Duke of York( when young); Dundrod
Second Early ...
Carlingford; Maris Peer; Spunta; Wilja
Main Crop...
Nicola; Pentland Hawk;
All the above have a rating of 8 or 9.

--
Regards
Bob
In Runnymede, 17 miles West of London


I had the same problem with Rocket, grown in the light sandy soil of the
garden I then had. Even when dug very young, it still disintegrated in a few
minutes when boiled. I only grew it the once!

Neil.

On 10/17/04 12:07 PM, in article , "Vincent
Burgum" wrote:

Can anyone tell me what I have done wrong.
It sounds like you did many things right. You planted potatoes and they
grew successfully! Yippee!...oh sorry I keep forgetting this is a UK
newsgroup...'Yippee' should read....'jolly good, old chap!'
I grew potatoes for the first time this year. For Earlies I planted Rocket, and
for Maincrop used King
Edward. Both types produced wh\t I considered decent looking spuds in
reasonable quantities, but when I tried to ccok them they were bopth
terrible. Both varieties turned to a mushy pulp when boiled, but both were
ok when chipped. What did I do wrong?
I have had similar experiences with different potato varieties that I
have grown. I was able to have success by changing my cooking procedure and
pot.
I use a heavy stainless steel pot with a heavy lid. (usually a more
expensive pot but worth it). I try not to have too much water in the pot.
Once the water starts boiling (lid on and spitting) I turn the heat down to
low (keep lid on). The spitting soon stops...
I then cook at this low heat until done....the more times you lift the
lid the more heat you will lose from the cooking process. Note: Stainless
steel is a poor conductor of heat...it takes longer to heat it up but once
the heat is in the pot, it takes longer to cool, so the heat stays in the
pot and cooks the potatoes. I add no salt to the water as some say this
removes the nutrients. I salt to taste later after they are cooked.
You could try this but you will have to experiment with the amount of
water you put in the pot and the length of time you leave the pot unopened.
It works for me although I did have to experiment a little during the
learning curve. Good luck
Gary
Fort Langley, BC
PS: "My" ideal pot and lid have a flat surface where the lid sits on the
pot...
Canada

"Neil Tonks" wrote after...

"Bob Hobden" replied to"Vincent Burgum"
Can anyone tell me what I have done wrong. I grew potatoes for the first
time this year. For Earlies I planted Rocket, and for Maincrop used King
Edward. Both types produced wh\t I considered decent looking spuds in
reasonable quantities, but when I tried to ccok them they were bopth
terrible. Both varieties turned to a mushy pulp when boiled, but both
were
ok when chipped. What did I do wrong?

What you did wrong was plant the wrong varieties.
Rocket is supposed to be a good all-rounder with a waxy texture but
obviously on your soil it isn't.
King Edward is a floury spud and will beak up on boiling, which is why it
good for roasting, baking, chips and mash.
Both these varieties have a rating of 6 for disintegration on boiling.
For next year try the following if you like your spuds boiled but don't
like them mushy. (information from British Potato Council)
First Early...
Arran Pilot; Duke of York( when young); Dundrod
Second Early ...
Carlingford; Maris Peer; Spunta; Wilja
Main Crop...
Nicola; Pentland Hawk;
All the above have a rating of 8 or 9.


I had the same problem with Rocket, grown in the light sandy soil of the
garden I then had. Even when dug very young, it still disintegrated in a
few minutes when boiled. I only grew it the once!

Soil and growing conditions have a lot to do with it too. Our soil is Thames
silt/clay but as it's over gravel it dries out quickly in the summer too
leaving large cracks the spuds then lack water and then any will get floury.

Our problem is slugs; just finished digging up the last two rows of Golden
Wonder (MC) and whilst I had read they were slug resistant I reckon we only
got about 15% undamaged which means a lot get thrown away. The earlies,
Concorde, are usually OK.
Kestral (SE) have the best slug resistance I've found. (BPC rating 4) (mine
6)
Romano (EM) are the best Red for slug resistance.(BPC rating 5) (mine 4)
Looking at the British Potato Council data we might try Hermes, Lady
Rosetta, Maritiema, Midas, Pentland Dell, Spey, all of which are supposed to
be even better than Kestral for slug resistance at 5 (but I doubt it 'cause
our slugs can't read).
Now I need to look up to see if any of them are OK in clay. :-)

--
Regards
Bob
In Runnymede, 17 miles West of London

"Gary Davis" wrote in message
...
On 10/17/04 12:07 PM, in article ,
"Vincent
Burgum" wrote:

Can anyone tell me what I have done wrong.
It sounds like you did many things right. You planted potatoes and
they
grew successfully! Yippee!...oh sorry I keep forgetting this is a UK
newsgroup...'Yippee' should read....'jolly good, old chap!'
I grew potatoes for the first time this year. For Earlies I planted
Rocket, and
for Maincrop used King
Edward. Both types produced wh\t I considered decent looking spuds in
reasonable quantities, but when I tried to ccok them they were bopth
terrible. Both varieties turned to a mushy pulp when boiled, but both
were
ok when chipped. What did I do wrong?
I have had similar experiences with different potato varieties that I
have grown. I was able to have success by changing my cooking procedure
and
pot.
I use a heavy stainless steel pot with a heavy lid. (usually a more
expensive pot but worth it). I try not to have too much water in the pot.
Once the water starts boiling (lid on and spitting) I turn the heat down
to
low (keep lid on). The spitting soon stops...
I then cook at this low heat until done....the more times you lift the
lid the more heat you will lose from the cooking process. Note: Stainless
steel is a poor conductor of heat...it takes longer to heat it up but once
the heat is in the pot, it takes longer to cool, so the heat stays in the
pot and cooks the potatoes. I add no salt to the water as some say this
removes the nutrients. I salt to taste later after they are cooked.
You could try this but you will have to experiment with the amount of
water you put in the pot and the length of time you leave the pot
unopened.
It works for me although I did have to experiment a little during the
learning curve. Good luck
It really won't make any difference. Some potato varieties will turn to
mush however carefully you boil them. The trick is to learn about potato
varieties and grow one bred for good boiling qualities.

On Sun, 17 Oct 2004 20:07:26 +0100, "Vincent Burgum"
wrote:

Can anyone tell me what I have done wrong. I grew potatoes for the first
time this year. For Earlies I planted Rocket, and for Maincrop used King
Edward. Both types produced wh\t I considered decent looking spuds in
reasonable quantities, but when I tried to ccok them they were bopth
terrible. Both varieties turned to a mushy pulp when boiled, but both were
ok when chipped. What did I do wrong?

I also grew Rocket once, just ONCE. Tasteless, mushy things that the
slugs loved.
If you want firm, waxy salad potatoes, with excellent flavour try Pink
Fir Apple.



Pam in Bristol

"Vincent Burgum" wrote in message
...
Can anyone tell me what I have done wrong. I grew potatoes for the first
time this year. For Earlies I planted Rocket, and for Maincrop used King
Edward. Both types produced wh\t I considered decent looking spuds in
reasonable quantities, but when I tried to ccok them they were bopth
terrible. Both varieties turned to a mushy pulp when boiled, but both were
ok when chipped. What did I do wrong?

K.E.'s are supurb to saute`. Peel, slice and boil or microwave [1] but only
for 6 minutes, dab with kitchen paper. Fry in oil (I prefer sunflower) on
med/high, turn over and reduce to medium heat' until golden-brown.
[1] 6 mins in microwave would be ok for one lb of spuds.