Jump to content
MrsSurvival Discussion Forums

Which Potato To Can


Recommended Posts

Here are a couple of links on canning potatoes. They aren’t a tutorial on canning them but an example of the different types of potatoes. The heavy ‘sediment’ in the bottoms of jars is starch. I’ve seen that starch in jars that looks like it’s an inch thick. It can be gelatinous at times. It doesn’t hurt anything and the potatoes are safe to eat. Just rinse them off before you eat them. But they do look yucky.

The first link is a video of different types of potatoes canned the same day. Nice of the lady to do. She noticed the Russet potatoes were starting to break down while setting in the jar of water.

The second link has a video but you don’t need to watch if you don’t want too. All of the info in the video is posted on the page. In a nutshell the small-ish red potatoes have the least amount of starch followed by the Yukon Gold. In last place was for the most starch was the Russet. I always try to use the Yukon Gold when I can.

I’ve found with mine, if I parboil them and skim off the foam/starch that helps. But they can come out a little soft. Cooking them for 10 minutes and then pressure canning them makes them too soft for my liking. I haven’t canned just potatoes in about five years. But I do put my Yukon’s into my soups and stews without parboiling them and they come out great; never mushy.

 

Personally, if I had a windfall of russets and I wanted to can them I'd peel them one day and set them in a pan of cold water the fridge. Sometimes a little bit of the starch will float and can be skimmed off. An 1/8 of a tsp. (or a little less) of pickle crisp might keep them firmed up better. don't know.

Starch in potatoes video



Starch in potatoes
http://www.americastestkitchenfeed.com/cooking-science/2012/10/we-prove-it-all-potatoes-are-not-created-equal/



Link to comment

I use potato starch (dried from Bob's Red Mill) instead of cornstarch for a thickener. Cornstarch gives me an allergic reaction (not a bad one), just get itchy and hyper. I bet what's in the bottom of my jars of potatoes would work just fine! Thanks, Jeepers! I wouldn't have thought about that.

Edited by snapshotmiki
Link to comment

Here in high altitude [i'm only guessing that's why it's bad here...??] boiled taters take forever to be done. At that point there is a LOT of slurpy starch at the bottom of the pan. Sometimes I freeze in a ziplock and DH uses it in the bread making. Really helps the texture! And then all that potato is not wasted.

 

MtRider .....which has nothing to do with canning potatoes except that mebbe that bottom stuff would work well in bread too???? :shrug:

Link to comment

I've canned a lot of the Russet's mainly because they're so cheap...and I usually only use them for hash browns, soups or stews. I love the Red's for mashing etc. We don't plant 'taters. They take up much too much space and require way to much soil etc., to keep them covered (and I don't like car tires) and buckets didn't produce enough to make it truly worth our time. In the buckets we planted (3 or 4 years ago) four starts of Yukon's and managed to get about a pound of potatoes.

Link to comment

I second Jeepers on the Yukon's. I did some new potatoes a couple of years ago and they did okay. I just like Yukon's better. Haven't tried my hand at growing potatoes yet. Think I will be adding some to the garden next year.

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.