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Selecting and Cooking

Appearance | Storage | Cooking style | Nutrition | Retail Buying Guide | Household cooking guide
 
Potatoes are commonly found in supermarkets and greengrocer stores everywhere. Here are some tips on selecting and preparing potatoes for a meal:

Appearance

Washed potatoes are cleaner to handle and loose washed potatoes will tend to store better than potatoes in a plastic bag.
 
Brushed potatoes require washing, tend to have less reliable quality and vary in size and provide value to budget conscious people are cheaper to buy.
 
Greening in potatoes should be cut out and thrown away - the remaining potato can be used.
 
Potatoes can have several skin types and colours from smooth white to a coarse buff or red colour. Colours can also vary in the flesh ranging from white to cream and even yellow. These differences can be expected from different breeds of potatoes.
 
White skin and white flesh is most popular. Other colours are available in both skin and flesh colour depending on the breed of potato. There are no rules for colour and cooking styles.

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Storage

Potatoes are best stored in a dark, dry cupboard in a basket or paper bag but not in a closed plastic bag or closed plastic container.

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Cooking style

You can select potatoes for a cooking style based on your experience or information on the potato display stand or the package the potato comes in OR refer to our cooking styles page.
 
Avoid over-cooking potatoes as they will tend to fall apart more. Test how completely cooked a potato is by using a skewer or knife and spearing it - a well cooked potato is soft on the inside. Generally, cooking times will range between 15 and 20 minutes for boiled potatoes, around an hour for dry baked potatoes and as long as necessary for roasting. Cooking times by microwaving potatoes varies with potato size and breed of potato but will vary between 2 and 4 minutes.

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Nutrition

Fresh potatoes are one of the cheapest and most nutritious staple food sources you can buy. Did you know that potatoes have around half the vitamin C level of oranges?
 
Nutrient in 100g of potatoes Level
Protein 2.1 g
Fat 0.1 g
Carbohydrate 17.1 g
Calcium 7 mg
Phosphorus 53 mg
Magnesium 34 mg
Iron 0.6 mg
Sodium 3 mg
Potassium 407 mg
Vitamin A Trace
Vitamin B1 0.1 mg
Vitamin B2 0.04 mg
Vitamin B3 1.5 mg
Vitamin C 20 mg
Kilojoules 315
Calories 76

Potatoes are endorsed by the National Heart Foundation of Australia and help prevent colon cancer. Unpeeled potatoes are healthier because there is a concentration of nutrients under the skin of potatoes.

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Retail Buying Guide

 

Cultivar Shape Skin Colour Flesh Colour Eye
Depth		 Texture Cd(mg/kg)
Argos Oval White White Shallow Smooth 0.018
Atlantic Round White White - slight cream Shallow Smooth 0.025
Coliban Oval - Round White White Shallow Smooth 0.023
Desiree Long oval Pale red Cream - yellow Shallow - moderate Smooth 0.020
Heather Long oval Purple red Cream Shallow - moderate Smooth 0.021
Kestrel Oval White - purple eyes White - pale cream Moderate Smooth 0.036
Nadine Oval - Round White White Shallow Smooth 0.034
Redgem Oval Red pink Cream - pale yellow Shallow Smooth 0.031
Shine Oval - Round White White - cream Shallow Smooth 0.024
Valor Oval - Round White White - cream Shallow Smooth 0.025

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Household Cooking Guide

 

Boiling Baking Other
Cultivar Colour after cooking Rating Skin Inner Crisping Micro-wave Frying Mashed
Argos White

1

Soft

Smooth/Firm

Not suitable

OK

Not for chips, red and soft

OK
Atlantic Deep cream

1-2

Soft

Fluffy

Suitable

OK

First grade chips

OK
Coliban Deep cream

3

Soft

Smooth/Firm

Not suitable

OK

First grade chips

OK
Desiree Yellow

1

Soft

Smooth/Firm

Not suitable

OK

First grade chips

OK
Heather White

1

Slightly crisp

Smooth/Firm

Not suitable

OK

Second grade chips

OK
Kestrel White

1

Soft

Fluffy/Mottled

Suitable

OK

First grade chips

OK
Nadine White

1

Soft

Smooth/Hard

Not suitable

OK

Not for chips, red and soft

OK
Redgem White-Cream

1

Slightly crisp

Fluffy

Not suitable

-

Second grade chips

OK
Shine White

2-3

Soft

Smooth/Firm

Not suitable

OK

First grade chips

OK
Valor Light yellow

1-2

Soft

Fluffy

Not suitable

OK

Second grade chips

OK

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