Russet potatoes are the most widely grown potatoes in North America and are known for their high starch content. Russet potatoes are good for baking, mashing, and making french fries. Like other starchy potatoes, they have a dry, mealy texture and an earthy, distinct potato flavor with skin that tends to split open when cooked.
Culinary uses:
Wikipedia: Russet Burbank was not initially popular, accounting for only 4% of potatoes in the US in 1930. The introduction of irrigation in Idaho increased its popularity as growers found it produced large potatoes that were easily marketed as baking potatoes. The invention of frozen french fries in the '40s and fast food restaurants in the '50s increased its popularity further. By the 2010s, Russet Burbank accounted for 70% of the processed potato market in North America, and over 40% of the potato growing area in the US. Restaurants such as McDonald's favor russet potatoes for their size, which produce long pieces suitable for french fries. As of 2009, "McDonald's top tuber is the Russet Burbank". After decades of consumption in North America, consumers and processors consider it the standard potato against which others are judged.
Storing:
The Russet Burbank variety stores very well for long periods of time. It can be stored at 45 F for up to five months without the need to apply gasses that inhibit sprouting. One issue that can occur while in storage is internal black spot, also known as IBS. Also, if the potatoes are harvested too early there could be a skinning issue
Nutritional information:
From “https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato”: The potato contains vitamins and minerals, as well as an assortment of phytochemicals, such as carotenoids and natural phenols. Chlorogenic acid constitutes up to 90% of the potato tuber natural phenols. ... A medium-size 150 g (5.3 oz) potato with the skin provides 27 mg of vitamin C (45% of the Daily Value (DV)), 620 mg of potassium (18% of DV), 0.2 mg vitamin B6 (10% of DV) and trace amounts of thiamin, riboflavin, folate, niacin, magnesium, phosphorus, iron, and zinc.
The potato is best known for its carbohydrate content (approximately 26 grams in a medium potato). The predominant form of this carbohydrate is starch.
The amount of resistant starch in potatoes depends much on preparation methods. Cooking and then cooling potatoes significantly increases resistant starch. For example, cooked potato starch contains about 7% resistant starch, which increases to about 13% upon cooling. The storage and cooking method used can significantly affect the nutrient availability of the potato. Potatoes are often broadly classified as high on the glycemic index (GI) and so are often excluded from the diets of individuals trying to follow a low-GI diet.
Health aspects:
A small but significant portion of this starch is resistant to digestion by enzymes in the stomach and small intestine, and so reaches the large intestine essentially intact. This resistant starch is considered to have similar physiological effects and health benefits as fiber: It provides bulk, offers protection against colon cancer, improves glucose tolerance and "insulinsensitivity", lowers plasma cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations, increases satiety, and possibly even reduces fat storage.
General information:
Russet Burbank is a potato cultivar with dark brown skin and few eyes that is the most widely grown potato in North America. A russet type, its flesh is white, dry, and mealy, and it is good for baking, mashing, and french fries. It is a common and popular potato.
Origin:
This variety is a mutation (or sport) of the cultivar 'Burbank' that was selected by the plant breeder Luther Burbank. The known lineage of Russet Burbank began in 1851 when Chauncey E. Goodrich imported Rough Purple Chili from South America in an attempt to add diversity to American potato stocks which were susceptible to late blight. Goodrich bred Garnet Chili from Rough Purple Chili and Albert Bresee bred Early Rose from Garnet Chili, from which Luther Burbank bred Burbank. All the crosses were open pollinated and only the maternal parents are known. Russet Burbank has widely, but incorrectly, been reported to have selected in 1914 by the Colorado potato grower Lou D. Sweet. A 2014 study confirmed that it was originally released in 1902 by L. L. May & Co and was first known as Netted Gem.To improve the disease resistance of Irish potatoes, Luther Burbank selected the potato that became known as "the Burbank". It was not patented because plants such as potatoes propagated from tubers, were not granted patents in the United States
Botanical features:
The Russet Burbank plants are medium sized with stems that have a medium thickness that are prominently angled. The leaves of this variety are medium sized with large terminal and primary leaflets. The flowers of the plant are medium sized with dark green buds that drop readily. The variety has large, long tubers that are cylindrical or slightly flat. There are numerous eyes on the potato that are evenly distributed and the sprouts are a brownish purple color
Comments