Why have my new potatoes when cooked in pan water keep going to mush ?

Welcome to NGA, @roseyglow !

New potatoes don't take nearly as long to cook as the potatoes you buy in the grocery. You're just cooking them too long

What variety do you have?

The above and some types of potatoes are not made for old fashioned peeling and boiling.
I have had some types do that after being stored and did not find out that some were not good for that till I started checking potato qualities before buying.

RpR -- could you be more specific as to what kind of potatoes didn't work out that way? And how you did cook them successfully?

Weedwhacker said:RpR -- could you be more specific as to what kind of potatoes didn't work out that way? And how you did cook them successfully?

The way I found out first, was a site called the Kenosha Potato Project which lists many potatoes and a comment, sometimes on what they are good and not good for.
After that I started reading many sites on potatoes, I cannot give you links as it was read and not save.
I spent hours, and I mean hours, searching the net for information on potatoes, what was out there and how to get them.
Some are available for a short time and then pffft. you cannot get them.
I probably spent over 300 dollars on seed potatoes in the past five years or so just to try different ones and see how they cooked up.

You simply learn that if you want boiled potatoes, most work but a few do not, so do not use certain ones for boiling, just as some potatoes are not the best for baking, french frying etc..
I would give the KPP a look see.

Yes, I'm familiar with the Kenosha Potato Project

And yes, some potatoes are "better" for one thing and others for another thing... russets are better for baking, and "white potatoes" are better for making potato salad, for instance; but pretty much all the ones I've ever grown or bought can be boiled until tender, or baked or tossed into the microwave, and be perfectly fine; it's more a matter of paying attention to the timing. And especially with new potatoes, they have so much more moisture inside than older ones do, they just need less cooking.

But, if you've tried $300 worth of seed potatoes, I would think you could give us a bit of a rundown on your faves for the various uses?

Several years ago I planted several rows of Yukon Gold potatoes and they produced an incredible amount and were some of the best tasting. They made really great French fries and hash browns. If I enlarge my garden for 2017 I will definitely have them on my Spring planting list.

I love Yukon Golds too, Thomas -- I like "Red Gold" potatoes even better! Nice red skin, same buttery yellow flesh, the best of both worlds . Heck, I just love potatoes, pretty much any way they're prepared, and even raw.

Weedwhacker said:I love Yukon Golds too, Thomas -- I like "Red Gold" potatoes even better! Nice red skin, same buttery yellow flesh, the best of both worlds . Heck, I just love potatoes, pretty much any way they're prepared, and even raw.

I didn't know you could eat them raw without getting sick.

As far as I know they aren't harmful, except you shouldn't eat the skin if it's greenish; I don't like the skin on raw ones, and don't eat the raw potatoes in any great amount (generally maybe half a potato when I'm getting them ready to cook). The potato plants themselves are toxic, though (as are the sprouts). They probably aren't very digestible.

Weedwhacker said:Yes, I'm familiar with the Kenosha Potato Project :smily:

But, if you've tried $300 worth of seed potatoes, I would think you could give us a bit of a rundown on your faves for the various uses?

I have had whole old potatoes turn the boiling water into a milky mess.
It was a while back so I do not remember which one it was but then that after reading quips here and there about potatoes being a, b or c that got me really checking.

As far as favorites: for simple flavor Purple Peruvian , best there is; Bake King fits its name; production Victoria was even better than Kennebec which I have eaten for decades; German Butterball and Maris Piper are two all around that are worth planting repeatedly.
Salem was a handy new one I found a couple of years back.
I generally avoid true reds as they are not great for French Fries and just do not enthuse me, while Purple Viking is probably my second favorite and Desiree is a rare red I truly like, while when all else fails Kennebec do not.
Atlantic, Snowden and Calwhite are great for french fries and potato chips.
I tried Reddale twice as it is supposed to get big but mine have been average at best.
Yukon Gold is one I have never planted
Even though I have favorites I do not repeat regularly except I have hold overs from the year before.
This year all are hold over and I did not separate them when stored so what I have is a crap shoot.