Posted on 06/02/2025 6:00:50 AM PDT by 4Runner
Reds. Russets. Yukon Golds.
Up until about a year or so ago, you could throw together a pretty decent breakfast after frying up a potato, some onions, and parsley for home fries.
And you didn't have to do anything more to the potato than wash it and slice or chop it up.
Not anymore.
The spuds for sale at WalMart or Publix for five and six bucks a bag look like the real thing, but wait until you try to cook them.
The problem is, they won't. Or don't.
You can fry them all you want. Yet they'll stay raw and chewy and tasteless. And stick like glue to the bottom of the pan.
If you try to wait them out on a low heat, they'll burn.
If you par-boil them, they'll end up a glutinous sticky mess.
My cooking skills haven't changed. I still cook potatoes the same way I've always done.
In a seasoned cast-iron skillet. Except now, the results are darned near inedible and aggravating.
Is it plastics contaminating our crops? Is it the water? The soil? Or, is it the Chinese?
I have no problem at all cooking potatoes. Fried, baked, or boiled they aren’t any different than what we’ve always been eating, so I have no idea what’s causing your difficulties.
Growing them is still easy as ever,and there are more varieties to choose from than when I was a kid, such as yellow and purple fleshed ones, though nowhere near the number of varieties Peruvians grow.
Make mashed potatoes pretty often. They act as they should.
My wife and I have noticed the same issue. You buy Russets and try to bake them, and they never get done. 8 minutes in the microwave and 30 in the oven and they come out hard as a rock.
Used to be the 8 minute nuke was enough. We’ve also noticed that a lot of the chicken we buy is just rubbery no matter how you cook it.
The last time I bought bakers (loose/unbagged) was at Albertson’s for my Jalapeno Popper potatoes - about 3 months ago - and the results were quite disappointing.
At the time I thought that it was just a miscalculation of baking time for the slightly smaller bakers, but I was following a meticulous recipe I’d penned prior in the same oven. So, it was a headscratcher (until now?).
The best bakers I’ve found have been at Walmart, but that was over a year ago when I penned my recipe. I’ll have to try another batch of Popper Potatoes after my vacation.
I am not having any issues with potatoes. They cook fine, they eat fine. I see no difference in potatoes now and from back in the day other than we have more varieties available to us. Growing up in a small town that wasn’t near a large town, we had regular potatoes or sweet potatoes. That was all.
I can’t. I used to every year. I am in my early seventies now. Hubby died and I live in an apartment.
I grew huge tasty tomatoes that were full of flavor. Haven’t had one as good as that since then.
Investing in potato futures could get ya skinned alive.
People on Capitol Hill aren’t diggin’ this.
BTW, this is unrelated to the recent demise of that actress who was on M*A*S*H.
It's easy. We grow most of everything. What you buy from stores is pure crap and compared to home grown tastes like it.
On principle, I won't do a high tunnel. You should hear the little lady bitch during the winter about cost and taste for fresh greens. And she buys from farm markets.
We put up enough of every thing else to get us through. Cold spring here but we've had rhubarb, kale, asparagus, Jerusalem artichokes, overwintered carrots, stored squash, overwintered potatoes, radish. Peas and collards get harvested next week.
She has made tons of sourdough. Put up redbud and,today rose petal jelly. Put in 240 onion starts. All other vegetables going into the ground now that it has turned warm. Garlic gets pulled July 4.
We often have complete meals with everything from our land. But potatoes? You can grow them in large grow bags on your balcony.
Understood. Circumstances change. Blessings 4U.
A close “kissing” cousin, however, because
“Hot Lips”
Folks are really getting burned on these taters..
Dang I meant “Burns”...
Potatoes I’ve gotten are fine. Maybe Walmart froze them. My wife used to get me peaches from Walmart, finally I told her to stop, they were always freezer burned and disgusting. She said they were cheaper, I said not if I throw them out. I’ve never trusted Walmart produce since.
It's not unheard of for vendors at a "farmer's market" to buy their produce from wholesalers, so you might be getting Mexican produce anyway.
Nice setup! :^)
We buy potatoes every week, no problems. They cook and taste just fine.
Find and patronize regenerative farming farmers’ markets. Great produce, full of healthy stuff.
Selective breeding for storage and transportation.
We’ve got one of those, too. We love it. We don’t use it enough.
I’ve noticed no change in potatoes. Microwave them, cool, then slice, then fry. Easy Peasy.
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