They make soggy hash browns that I can’t eat. They make mushy flaccid fries. I see water running off the cut surface and knife. Is this wetness a characteristic of russets or do I have some that are rare. Is it because they grew them with irrigation and irrigated potatoes are to hydrated to be any good. Are there any varieties that solid and not super hydrated. I have some purple ones I grew and they are nice and solid, and fry up great. I don’t want to waste my limited quantity on something greasy like fries or hash browns, because they have a wonderful flavor plain. I don’t know if the low water content is my growing conditions or the variety.
Why do these russets from the store turn to mush when fried and leak a lot of water when cut? Give my the name of a variety that is good if the variety matters for this water issue.
Yukon Gold is an excellent standard potato for most purposes. The only things I’d actually use russets for is baking, mashing or roasting. High, dry-heat kind of endeavors.
Klondike Rose is a good potato to try. I’m however looking for a reason for the mushiness and a solution as to is it a variety problem or a growing conditions problem. Can I count on a certain variety to always not be mushy?
I think the point of the earlier posts is that, yes, you can count on Yukon Gold to not be mushy. There are significant differences in potato varieties.
Quite frankly, I think you’re probably doing something in the kitchen that will yield similar results once you switch varieties. I’ve never run into any of the problems you describe & I use both Russets & YG all the time.
It’s not how I cook these. I have cooked these dishes before and the stuff has turned out fine. The insides of the hash browns ran out of the crusty outside when I cut into them. Not squished out, they ran out setting on the plate. Had the inside been mashed potatoes I would have microwaved them to boil away some of the water to make it not runny.
If you get mushy fries from russet potatoes, you’re not frying them right. Cook them twice, first at a low temp (about 320) until they’re limp, and then again at a higher temp (about 375 F) to crisp them up. Works like a charm.
I’ve never made hashbrowns but I have attempted to make home fries with russet potatoes (and failed to get that crispy exterior and fluffy interior).
When you cooked them before, when they turned out fine, were you using russets? I’ve never experienced anything like what you describe, so I’m wondering if you got a bad bag or somthong.
I do cook them twice. I even cut up a russet into pieces one eighth inch by one eighth inch in desperation and double fried them. They still were mush unless I burnt them completely through. My purple potatoes I grew were great as regular sliced fries. The same oil and fryer was used.
Hmm that’s strange. Was it new oil that you fried in? The few times my fries have failed to crisp was likely because I was using completely new oil. Did you also soak them in cold water for a while before frying to get rid of excess starch?
Odd. Russets are generally high-starch, low-moisture potatoes, perfect for that sort of application. They are the quintessential baking or frying potato. I’m not sure why you’re having problem with yours.
Could it be seasonal? That is, could you be getting the first of the new crop, or the last of the old? I don’t know the routine for harvesting, storing and shipping potatoes, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some variation in the quality of potatoes throughout the year, even though we can always buy them at the supermarket.
I’ve got some sort of culinary block when it comes to making hash browns, but my SO is awesome at it. He tells me, however, that soaking and then surface drying the potatoes is critical to getting a good end product. He uses russets, because that’s what we have because they’re cheap.
I use russets all the time for both frying and hash browns. I’ve never had the problems you are having with them. Do you dry them off with paper towels before you cook them?
BTW, my favorite hash browns are made with baked potatoes that have been grated on a hand held grater. Those are never mushy or watery.