OT but sort of DIY

[Dave Liquorice]

B-) Use a sunflower oil mainly and a teaspon of sesame for the flavour. Olive oil won't go hot enough for decent roasties.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Interesting.. Good tip!

Not sure about that. I've done chips in olive oil..

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Dave saying something like:

When in Rome... ... get heart disease.

[Stuart Noble]

This year I grew King Edwards in builders buckets with general purpose compost and got the best damned spuds I've ever tasted. So why can't I buy a decent tasting potato in the supermarket?

[Rod]

Which is why I have banged on about Charlottes - some Cornish Charlottes bought in the past fortnight have been the best tasting potatoes we have had from a supermarket in at least a year.

And yes, we have grown pots in over-sized buckets but this a year we decided to exploit the barbecue summer by growing toms. Huh! Didn't think you could over-water toms. Runners have done OK though.

[Tim Lamb]

In message , Stuart Noble writes

Because King Edwards are disease prone and avoided by commercial growers. Yield, shape, storing quality, disease resistance come way before flavour in variety choice.

A neighbour gave me some Maris bead? earlies this year. The advice that followed was to dig the lot as soon as they are ready. Normally we dig and consume. The reason is slugs which target and destroy the tubers. Nice taste:-)

regards

[Mick Cant]

Thank you everyone for your thoughts and ideas. I will be trying them out. Mick.

[Invisible Man]

Supermarkets sell whatever has a good appearance and a long shelf life. If you want anything that does not add to the visual sale appeal like taste you need to know exactly what you want and seek it out.

[dennis]

Maris Bard. Nice white and make good chips.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Desiree is probably the best all rounder main crop that is easily found.

[Stuart Noble]

I suspect supermarket spuds are treated with all kinds of crap to improve appearance and shelf life. I think they have even found a way to prevent the discolouration when they rot so, instead of being able to cut out the mildewy bits, you cook the whole thing and ruin the meal.

[dennis]

Desiree is probably the best all rounder main crop that is easily found.

I doubt that. Anyway many moulds release toxins that are absorbed by the surrounding spud so I wouldn't bother cutting mouldy bits out, just chuck the spud.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Irradiation mostly. But not for spuds. They keep a long time.

[Stuart Noble]

Those we buy from the local farm shop have a few mouldy bits, but what isn't mouldy always tastes good. OTOH supermarket spuds are a gamble. They all look the same but the odd one can taste foul for some reason and, as I can't see which one that is going to be during the preparation, I don't buy them.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Potatoes are, by and large, alive until you cook them.

Frost makes the texture awful, and occasionally they bruise and damage, but left to their own devices they will sprout and start to grow.

[Tim Lamb]

In message , "dennis@home" writes

Ah. Bard!

It was dry here for most of the growing season so, although they yielded well, they are a bit small for conventional chips.

We normally grow Arran Pilot for earlies.

regards

[Dave Liquorice]

Thought that wasn't allowed for most things. More seems to be done with a "protective atmosphere" and plastic packaging. Probably pure nitrogen with an occasional a whiff of sulphur dioxide (if that won't affect the product).

Saw a notice on the back of a truck once "Do not enter until the doors have been open for 30 mins". Presumably the whole truck filled with an oxygen depleted atmosphere.

[dennis]

I am picking anya (sp?). odd shapes but really nice.

[dennis]

I think the salad in asda is in co2. It lasts ages in the bag and then goes off in a day.

[Andrew Gabriel]

A side effect of the refrigeration -- not actually a directly intended effect.