Daft question about cleaning vs curing harvested potatoes

[self-contained]

I got curious and decided to tip out one of my containers of second early potatoes. It's a pretty small harvest (!) but that may be because it was the container that I stuck the leftover seed potatoes in, so there was a mixture of kestrel and anya potato plants competing with each other (probably one anya and two kestrels). It's also probably a bit early as the plants were only just starting to die back a bit, although there were only two or three teeny potatoes-in-waiting, so maybe I wouldn't have got much more if I'd left them a couple more weeks.

Anyway, I now have a tiny number of anya potatoes and a slightly better number of kestrels. Probably enough for two or three portions, so I can easily eat them in a few days and don't need to worry about storage.

So, this may sound silly, but I don't know how to clean them so I can eat them! They have really thin skins, and just furtling around in the soil was enough to slightly pull the skin away in some places. I want to eat the skin, but suspect just gently rinsing won't get rid of all the soil. I have some veg scrubbing brushes but I am sure that they will take most of the skin off. So, do I need to cure them before I try to use them? I didn't think that was really the idea with early potatoes. Or should I just be really gentle with rinsing, or do I need to accept that I will be eating them without skin?

[veggiechicken]

I just wash the mud off.

[Snoop Puss]

I find it nigh-on impossible to keep all the skin with very early first earlies. Even gently rubbing the mud off with your hands ends up removing a bit of skin. However, it is only the skin you are removing and not the outer layer of potato, which is where lots of the flavour and nutrients are (or so I've been told).

For best flavour, don't store or cure first earlies. Don't peel, just gently rub. But I'm afraid you'll have to accept that you will lose some of the skin.

[4Shoes]

For clean early potatoes, bung then into a pail with a splash of Water. Swirl. Put in pan - job done.

remembering to turn it on (and to have a nice knob of butter to serve)

Heavy soils, scrubbing brush may be needed.

[self-contained]

Thank you. I left them out for about an hour before washing them and that seems to have stopped them losing too much skin.

What surprised me the most was how quickly they cooked. To be fair, I did chop them into fairly small chunks (large bite-sized) but they were done very shortly after the water cane back to the boil. Like I said before, I rarely buy/cook potatoes, but I feel like bought ones usually take much longer.

[Snoop Puss]

^And the taste?

Edited to add: Scrub that question. I've just read your post on the what makes you happy thread.

[self-contained]

Here they are:




(Does it remind anyone else of a Picasso?)



Not the biggest harvest, but I think not too bad for a first-time potato grower using an under-sized container, recycled compost, and a mish-mash of seed potatoes in one pot! I'm hoping for bigger yields from my potato bags.

[4Shoes]

With Pink fir / Anya potatoes I like to just boil them whole if possible or cut them in half if larger. The skin helps to told them together and retain the flavour.


Glad you enjoyed them.

[Snoop Puss]

On the Picasso I've grown (three years but not this year), the purple was a bit pinker and the eyes weren't quite as deep. But yes, very similar. The other thing, though, is that because Picasso is a maincrop, I wouldn't have expected them to be as big as that so early. Mind you, they are very productive, so maybe you're right.

[self-contained]

On the Picasso I've grown (three years but not this year), the purple was a bit pinker and the eyes weren't quite as deep. But yes, very similar. The other thing, though, is that because Picasso is a maincrop, I wouldn't have expected them to be as big as that so early. Mind you, they are very productive, so maybe you're right.

Well, it turns out that there is a potato variety called Picasso. I didn't know that when I made my comment! I just meant it looked like a Picasso painting

[Bluenowhere]

I’ve just got a new vegetable brush from am@zon it’s got bristles made of silicone and seems gentler to clean dirt off earlies. I’m on clay so brush is needed to get the soil off.

[rary]

I give my new potatoes a wash then boil them the boiling will remove any soil residue, and if not it will be sterilized any way