I grew Yukon Golds this Fall and this week I dug them. Of course there are those that must be used immediately since I speared them with the fork. So, I made mashed potatoes out of them and then I baked a few, too. Now I am realizing how sweet they are. Is this normal? I have never noticed any potatoes from the store being like this except for Sweet Potatoes. They are actually sticky sweet. I microwaved a few and there is a glaze on the plate from the potato water drying as they cooled off.
I wonder if that is normal, C. I know that there is a great range of flavours...but sweet like you are describing. hmmmmm. I have always wanted to grow this type of spud, but it is a bit sensitive to Phythphtora, and that is very common here. You ought to try steaming them and boiling them to see if you still get the same flavour and glazy characteristic. No way that you left them in the ground too long, is there?
I have not grown them but I do buy them for making mashed potatoes. Their buttery flavor might make them taste sweet, if you aren't used to it? I have read that if they aren't dug up before the first frost that can turn the starch into sugar resulting in the sticky glaze. Also, if you use Seasoned Salt the second ingredient is sugar.
Thanks S and Toni, No, I don't think they were in the ground too long. I didn't plant them until July 1st and the freeze is what finished the foliage off. No seasoning salt for us here. We can't have onions, so i never use mixed seasonings. They are just sweet. I made them into mashed potatoes and my nephew remarked that they were really good, but I stll can taste the "sweet". With the salt, butter milk and potato water I don't notice the sweet as much, but a plain baked potato is very noticeable. I was just wondering if anyone else had ever noticed this. I did fertilize them with rabbit "fertilizer" and the potatoes are huge (down to tiny) ( photo / image / picture from carolyn keiper's Garden ) The big potato is the one on the scale in the first picture. ( photo / image / picture from carolyn keiper's Garden ) So you can see they are nice potatoes. I dug a few that had greyish spots, but I didn't bring those in. I know we aren't supposed to wash them before storing them, but I have dried these and am taking them to my last farmers market on Saturday. So they will be gone pretty quick.
Just went and looked and almost all the sites say a Yukon Gold is a sweet tasting potato. They even suggest mixing them with sweet potatoes. So guess thats the way they are supposed to taste.
Thanks Mart. I have never had store bought YG potatoes that tasted this sweet. maybe fresh from the garden they are just naturally sweeter. I like potatoes, so it matters not whether they are sweeter than store bought. I will use them... to eat. I think we have had potatoes at every supper for the past week or more and they just don't get "old". Every dish is different from the one before.
Yukons are sweet. Coming from an Irish family, we eat a lot of potatoes. I have bought yukon gold in the store a few times, but I now avoid them. I am not a fan of a sweet tasting potato, and the few times I bought Yukon, I felt they were too sweet for most of the recipes I like.
HH, That is interesting. I have never noticed the ones I bought as being sweet. maybe sweeter than what I was used to for a potato that wasn't a sweet potato, but these are like having dessert to me.
Its possible that the soil has something to do with the amount of sugar in them !! Wonder if they would work the same as sweet potatoes for a pie ?? Maybe make them a dessert rather than a side dish !!
