Mushy Spuds

[Ananke]

I commented on a post a few weeks ago (can't find it now) the poster was asking why his spuds were turning to mush when cooking. I was having the same problem and suggested letting them dry out for a few days before cooking.

Turns out mine were still turning to mush even when I left them to dry for a while. Within 3 or 4 minutes of cooking, the outside breaks down into the cooking water while the middle is still hard and by the time the middle is cooked it looks like a pot of potato soup.

Varieties were...
Sharpes Express
Casablanca
2 of my own varieties (one waxy, one floury, the waxy one stood up a bit better but still broke down)

Any ideas?

[Fleurisa]

Can you try steaming them instead?

[noviceveggrower]

I grew Sharps Express this year only because my neighbour gave me them. I looked them up in one of my books and it said that they were only suitable for roasting and chipping as they go mushy.
I gave some to my mom and she roasted them. She roasted them for a sunday lunch but said that they still went a bit soft but then my mom cooks them with hot fat.
My sister took the other half and she cooked them as healthy chips and she said that they kept together really well. Think she used an air fryer thing to cook them.

[arpoet]

I always use a presser cooker and never have mushy tatties

[veggiechicken]

Here's a couple of previous Mushy threads http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...eds_81746.html
http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...uds_81590.html

and here's your comment Ananke - on another thread http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ml#post1276048

[Aberdeenplotter]

pre boil the water before adding the spuds. Works for me

[poly]

I've had potatoes turn to mush a couple of years, including waxy salad types - my favourite. It's quite frustrating and as you describe, they start to break up after a short time boiling. I'm pretty sure it is due to a dry growing season, though I think there may be other contributing factors. Grown under these conditions the tubers become higher in dry matter, which affects their cooking qualities, particularly if harvested when the soil is very dry. If the ground becomes more moist before harvest I've found the potatoes return to norm.

[realfood]

I always micro wave in a covered container. Never have had mushy potatoes.

[Chippy Minton]

pre boil the water before adding the spuds. Works for me

Interesting, when I had this problem I found that putting them in and bringing gently to a boil helped, plus standing over them to whip them off once cooked. The mushiness came from rapid boiling, needed a poaching rather than boiling

[brownfingers]

Some food for thought there.

Last Sunday, I watched over mine carefully and as soon as they showed signs of breaking up, I whipped them off. They were still really solid in the middle, so I stuck them in a big pyrex dish and finished them off in the microwave. Worked a treat. We shouldn't have to go to all this trouble though. I blame the Tories, especially George Osborne.

[Ananke]

Omg, that made me LOL Brownfingers.

OH agrees with AP, pre boiling the water could help.

Strange that all varieties done the same though, one was not just as bad as the others but still not "normal". Dry conditions could be it as we don't often get that problem up here. Wish I wasn't so lazy and kept a growing diary.

Thanks for the links VC, I'll go back and have a read

[Ananke]

I hope they never call me up as a witness, weeks after an event lol. Just read my previous post ....

"So, I decided not to cook them as I was lifting them and let them sit a day or two in the shed and they were perfect. I don't remember ever having this problem before but maybe I just didn't cook them the same day I lifted them, can't remember".

So, clearly one variety was "perfect", OH says it was the one we called Dozer, a variety grown from TPS a few years ago.

I've left a few trays of earlies out in the cellar to dry out so that I could pressure can them for the winter but if being too dry could be the problem then I imagine that I'll be left with jars of potato soup if I do that. Maybe I'll just play them at their own game and make potato and leek soup with them