The Official Unofficial Taste Results Thread

WVTomatoMan · July 21, 2009

I am new to growing potatoes. I'm also new to tasting so many different varieties of potatoes. So, I thought a thread where people summarize potatoes with respect to taste might be helpful to other growers with regards to future variety selection.

I'll start off. The first thing I noticed was that all of the potatoes I've had so far have a lot more flavor than grocery store potatoes.

We (my wife and I) have been having baked potatoes head to head so to speak. I try to say nothing to influence her. Here are the results so far.

Annie's Gold* vs. Yukon Gold - Yukon Gold is a fairly famous variety so I won't go into much description here. It had good taste and texture. Better than many baked potatoes I've had even in restaurants. However, as my wife said the one with the red skin was better. I agreed. Annie's Gold just tasted better than Yukon Gold.

Carola vs. Lumpers* - We couldn't tell. They tasted so similar that we just couldn't tell. So, my wife finally said I prefer the texture of the non ugly one meaning that she preferred the Carola . Sorry Tom the wife thinks Lumpers is ugly. Well, truth be told she has a point.

I don't know that any of the potatoes above are considered baking potatoes. However, a really good potato should be versitile and able to perform in many settings.

Earlier we had Carola as a fried potato (with fried onions). At that time my wife said that she didn't know about other applications, but as a fried potato it was excellent.

We will be having more contests and will be doing more tastings and I will update this thread with the results. It is interesting that Tom Wagner's varieties are holding their own or beating some pretty big name varieties. I would suspect that a lot of Tom's breeding efforts are with respect to taste.

Randy

*Note: BTW, for those of you who don't know Annie's Gold and Lumpers are varieties bred by Tom Wagner who is a frequent poster and a moderator here at Potatoville. Oops I meant Tomatoville.

velikipop · July 30, 2009

Randy,

I would recommend any of the fingerling types. They are great roasted, boiled and fantastic in salads. My favorite is French Fingerling. We also like German Butterball. It is one of the sweetest potatoes with great texture.
Purple Viking is a mainstay as an all round, no pun intended, spud and Kerr's Pink was a great surprise this year.

Alex

WVTomatoMan · July 31, 2009

Alex,

Thanks for the info. I have French Fingerling and German Butterball and they just recently died back. I haven't dug them up yet because of the rain, but I'll have to this weekend. Now I can't wait to try both.

Randy

July 21, 2009	#1
WVTomatoMan Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: West Virginia - Zone 6 Posts: 594	The Official Unofficial Taste Results Thread I am new to growing potatoes. I'm also new to tasting so many different varieties of potatoes. So, I thought a thread where people summarize potatoes with respect to taste might be helpful to other growers with regards to future variety selection. I'll start off. The first thing I noticed was that all of the potatoes I've had so far have a lot more flavor than grocery store potatoes. We (my wife and I) have been having baked potatoes head to head so to speak. I try to say nothing to influence her. Here are the results so far. Annie's Gold* vs. Yukon Gold - Yukon Gold is a fairly famous variety so I won't go into much description here. It had good taste and texture. Better than many baked potatoes I've had even in restaurants. However, as my wife said the one with the red skin was better. I agreed. Annie's Gold just tasted better than Yukon Gold. Carola vs. Lumpers* - We couldn't tell. They tasted so similar that we just couldn't tell. So, my wife finally said I prefer the texture of the non ugly one meaning that she preferred the Carola . Sorry Tom the wife thinks Lumpers is ugly. Well, truth be told she has a point. I don't know that any of the potatoes above are considered baking potatoes. However, a really good potato should be versitile and able to perform in many settings. Earlier we had Carola as a fried potato (with fried onions). At that time my wife said that she didn't know about other applications, but as a fried potato it was excellent. We will be having more contests and will be doing more tastings and I will update this thread with the results. It is interesting that Tom Wagner's varieties are holding their own or beating some pretty big name varieties. I would suspect that a lot of Tom's breeding efforts are with respect to taste. Randy *Note: BTW, for those of you who don't know Annie's Gold and Lumpers are varieties bred by Tom Wagner who is a frequent poster and a moderator here at Potatoville. Oops I meant Tomatoville.

July 30, 2009	#2
velikipop Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Langley, BC Posts: 768	Randy, I would recommend any of the fingerling types. They are great roasted, boiled and fantastic in salads. My favorite is French Fingerling. We also like German Butterball. It is one of the sweetest potatoes with great texture. Purple Viking is a mainstay as an all round, no pun intended, spud and Kerr's Pink was a great surprise this year. Alex __________________ I'll plant and I'll harvest what the earth brings forth The hammer's on the table, the pitchfork's on the shelf Bob Dylan

July 31, 2009	#3
WVTomatoMan Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: West Virginia - Zone 6 Posts: 594	Alex, Thanks for the info. I have French Fingerling and German Butterball and they just recently died back. I haven't dug them up yet because of the rain, but I'll have to this weekend. Now I can't wait to try both. Randy