Ask Dr. Potato

Q: I’ve noticed that some chefs call for the same size potato for multiple uses, kind of an all-purpose size. They typically call for an Idaho® Russet. As a culinary student I find this confusing… it seems like it would cost more to buy a big potato when you are just going to cut it up.

Q: Could you kindly direct me to the portion of the Commission’s website where your “Technical Reports” are listed?

Q: I love potatoes and can’t get enough of them when I eat out. Are there restaurant concepts where potatoes get the respect on the menu they deserve?

Q:   What’s happening to my favorite fast food French fries?

Q: We are going to partially boil some potatoes and then slice them into wedges to bake them... Since they will be in hot water it still necessary to individually the wash and scrub each potato?

Q: In making potato salad for 100 people how many potatoes will I need? Do you have recipe that feeds that many?

Q: Can you give me some tips to fix the fry problem at my burger joint? I use the same frozen potato supplier, the same vegetable oil, the same dedicated potato fryer and yet I still get complaints. What’s up with that? Every time I work the line the potatoes seem to be just fine. The customer complaints are in order of issues that come up frequently: fries are too soggy, fries are too dark, fries from one batch are both dark and light, and fries are little bitty pieces.

Q: I have been invited to a barbecue and would like to make potato salad for the event. I need a recipe for a potato salad that does not require refrigeration. Do you know of one? No mayonnaise of course.

Q: This is a potato nutrition question that wasn't answered on your (very comprehensive FAQ) page. My mother was recently placed on a low-sodium diet. We enjoy eating baked potatoes at restaurants, and some of the establishments we frequent salt the skin of the potatoes before baking. We understand there to be very little sodium in an unsalted baked potato. However, if one were to eat a baked potato prepared with a salted skin, and did not eat the skin (only the inside), is much of that sodium absorbed? Or does it primarily remain on the skin and the inside could be viewed as having relatively low sodium content? I’m hoping that a nutritionist or food science associated with your commission might be able to provide perspective on this, because we really would like to continue to enjoy baked potatoes at restaurants.

Q: We had fish fry at church last night, we got there about noon, washed and wrapped 170 potatoes in tin foil and baked them in a confection oven till they were 210 degrees F and then kept them in a cooler, until the fish fry began at 5pm. The insides had all turned brown. What did we do wrong? There must be some way diners keep baked potatoes for a long time without this happening. Any help you can give us would be appreciated.