There's More Than One Way to Prepare a Potato

Taste & Texture

Each variety of Klondike Potato™ has unique characteristics that make them ideal for different preparations.

Klondike Petite® Red Skin, White Flesh
Red potatoes are a perfect choice for potato salads, or grilled skewers, because of their firmness and smooth texture. These baby red potatoes are perfect for adding to many dishes, and add pizazz with their vibrant red color.
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Klondike Gourmet® Purples
These vibrant purple potatoes are perfectly portioned for salads, grilling and roasting. Their mildly earthy taste and firm texture create not only delicious, but visually appealing potato dishes.
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Klondike Gourmet® Red Skin, Golden Flesh
This baby potato Klondike Rose® potato has the same smooth texture and natural, buttery flavor; all wrapped up in a bite sized portion.
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Klondike Goldust®
The firm texture of Klondike Goldust® potatoes makes them ideal for any preparation, especially for boiling, salads, or mashing. Their natural buttery flavor adds richness to any dish without adding unnecessary calories.
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Klondike Gourmet® Yellow Skin, Golden Flesh
The firm texture of Klondike Goldust® potatoes, with the same buttery flesh in a baby potato. Perfect for salads, roasting, and grilling. Try these perfect baby potatoes today!
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Klondike Rose®
The smooth texture of Klondike Rose® potatoes makes them ideal for any preparation, especially high-heat methods like roasting and grilling. Their natural, buttery flavor also reduces the need for heavy seasoning or added fat.
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Preparation Secrets

Mashing

Klondike Potato Prep Techniques
[watch video]

Preparing Klondike Potatoes Using Three Different Culinary Techniques
Mashed potato add-ins

Try adding a dollop of mayonnaise to your mashed potatoes for a different creamy taste.
Freeze Leftovers

Leftover mashed potatoes can be frozen in an airtight container or zip-top bag for up to ten months.
Use up those leftovers

Use leftover mashed potatoes to thicken soups and sauces, or dip in beaten egg and crumbs. Refrigerate for an hour and fry until crispy.
Pretty Casseroles

Use mashed potatoes as a decorative yet tasty touch to baked casseroles.  Add a lightly beaten egg to the mashed potatoes and force through a piping bag on top of the dish before baking.
Enhance flavor

Add a pinch of nutmeg to your mashed potatoes for enhanced flavor.
Don't Overbeat

Don't overbeat - overbeating can cause starchy, sticky glue-like mashed potatoes.
Use Buttermilk

Try using buttermilk instead of milk or cream, it adds a tangy sour cream flavor without the added calories and fat.
Rinsing with water

Do not rinse boiled potatoes in cold water.  Drain, rinse in hot water if desired, and then mash.  Rinsing in cold water will cause potatoes to lump when mashing.
Rice, don't mash

Try using a potato ricer instead of a masher or mixer to get the most consistent mashed potatoes. So easy to do!
Saving overcooked potatoes

If you have overcooked your potatoes, instead of adding milk, add powdered milk.  It will give you a fluffy texture rather than a mushy soggy mashed potato.
Easily Add a Ton of Flavor

If you’re mashing your potatoes, try boiling them in salty water or in chicken broth. This will add flavor to your potatoes as they cook instead of trying to add it after they’ve already been cooked.

Microwaving

Fast and Easy

Klondike Express® is so fast and easy! Use these delicious, easy to prepare potatoes to make a quick meal, potato salad, or appetizer. Cooking time will be cut dramatically!
Use a paper bag

Place potatoes inside of a paper bag before microwaving to help produce a tastier, more moist potato, by trapping the potatoes natural moisture in the bag while cooking.
Microwavable Steamers

Steamers provide not only a delicious, easy to prepare side dish on their own, but you can also use them as the base for many other dishes! Experiment with adding different flavors to your favorite dishes!
Release the steam

When baking a potato in the micorwave, the secret is to cut a length-wise slit, which allows the steam to escape, resulting in a light and fluffy baked potato.

Baking

Fluff with a towel

Once baked, wrap the potato in a towel. Roll gently on the counter to loosen the insides of the potato resulting in a fluffier potato.
Crispier skins

Rub a little oil, butter or bacon drippings on potatoes before baking for crispier skins.
Quick Baked Potato

You can microwave potatoes for five minutes and then finish them off in the oven for a true baked potato in less than 1/2 the time. 
Skewered bakers

A neat trick to speed baking time is to impale the potatoes on stainless steel skewers.  This cuts baking time down by half.  Do this only in the oven and not in a microwave.
Rinse the starch

Before baking an accordianed (hasselback) potato, make sure to rinse the starch off in order that the slices cook evenly and crisp.
Baked in foil

If you choose to use foil to bake your potato, wash well, then wrap in foil and bake.  Be careful when opening the foil, as the steam is going to be hot.
Bake in the crockpot

You can use a crockpot to bake your potatoes.  Wash potatoes, wrap in foil and place the potatoes in the slow cooker to bake.  The potatoes will bake in 5 - 6 hours on low. 
Foil or no foil?

You shouldn't wrap your potatoes in foil before baking them.  In fact, wrapping them actually steams them versus baking them.  For a better result, rub the potatoes lightly with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle them with sea salt, then bake.
Fancy twice baked potatoes

When preparing twice baked potatoes, an easy way to fill the shells is to put the mashed potatoes in a frosting or cake decorating bag and pipe the potatoes into the shell.  Be creative with your designs.
Pierce with a fork

Don't use a knife for opening a baked potato; it flattens the surface and alters the normal fluffy texture of a baked potato.  Instead, pierce the potato with a fork, once lengthwise and once crosswise.  Press the potato at both ends and it will "blossom".
Extra Kick of Flavor

To give your baked potato an extra kick of flavor, rub oil or bacon drippings onto the potato, then roll or sprinkle with your favorite seasoned salt.  Bake as usual.

Boiling

Baking with potatoes

When boiling potatoes, save the cooking water to add to yeast breads.  The yeast feeds on the starch, and it makes your breads very tasty and moist.
Enriching Flavor

To enrich the flavor of potatoes, boil them in your favorite stock, or for a mild, sweet taste, boil them in milk.  Potatoes boiled in milk should be peeled when cooled.
Fluffy boiled potatoes

For fluffier boiled potatoes, simply pour off all the water after they are boiled and cover the pot with a double thickness of paper towels, then cover with the saucepan lid.  In ten minutes, steam will be absorbed by the towels and your potatoes will be dry and fluffy.
Scrub, Don't Soak

Potatoes should be scrubbed before boiling rather than soaked.  Soaking potatoes in water can sap nutrients and flavor.
Seasonings for flavor

Seasonings of various kinds can be added to the water while steaming potatoes to give them a unique flavor.
Leave skins on

When boiling potatoes, it is best to leave the skin on while cooking.  That way the potato will retain more nutrients and flavor.  Skins can be removed as soon as the potato is cool enough to hold.
Steaming retains nutrients

Steaming is another popular cooking method that has a similar effect to boiling, but the potato tends to retain more nutrients when steamed because it is not immersed in water, though boiled potatoes do retain more Vitamin C.
Uniform slices

Potatoes should be cut into uniform slices or cubes so that all cook evenly.
Heat potatoes evenly

Potatoes should be placed in the cooking water before it is heated.  An alternate method is to place fresh potatoes in salted, already-boiling water.
Keep in cold water

If you are cutting or preparing potatoes ahead of time, make sure and keep them submerged in cold water to keep them from going brown.
Avoid discoloring

To prevent potatoes from discoloration after cooking, add a touch of lemon juice to the water.
Easy Peeling

To make potato peeling easier, score the potato with a sharp knife, then boil for 15 minutes.  Drain and place in a bowl full of ice water.  Using your fingers, peel the outside layers of skin off the potatoes with ease.

Salads

Cook potatoes with vinegar

When cooking potatoes to use in potato salad, add a little vinegar to the water when boiling the potatoes.  The vinegar causes the potatoes to form a thin crust, which helps them hold their shape.
Add to warm potatoes

To ensure dressing coats potatoes well, add it to warm potatoes (even if you serve the salad cold).  The heat of the potatoes will melt the dressing ingredients slightly and distribute it throughout the salad more evenly.

Grilling

Simple Skewers

Skewer small potatoes, brush them with oil and sprinkle with seasonings, then grill them for a great side of potatoes off the grill.
Don't cut pieces too small

Cutting potatoes into smaller or thinner pieces will alllow them to cook faster on the grill, but do not cut too small if placing directly on the grill.  If they are too small, they may fall through the grates or fall apart when turning them.
Simple grilled side dish

Grill potatoes with other vegetables, such as onions, peppers and carrots, for a great grilled side dish.  Wrap tightly in foil and grill for about 40 minutes on high.  Turn the foil packet over half way through the grilling time.
Parboil for fast grilling

The fastest way to grill your potatoes is to parboil them first.  This is done by taking your sliced potatoes and throwing them in boiling water for about 10 minutes.  Drain and place on a medium hot grill and they will be cooked through in another 5 to 10 minutes.  When you take the potatoes out of the hot water it is best to drain them well and then coat them with whatever seasoning you choose.

Roasting

Roast with Skins on

Any kind of potato is a good match for roasting.  You can peel them or keep their skins on to add a little variety to the dish.
Use pan drippings for flavor

When roasting potatoes, use pan drippings from a roast, bacon drippings or lard for extra flavor.
Toss for crispy potatoes

To get crispier roasted potatoes, toss regularly during the cooking process to ensure that the potatoes cook evenly.

Preparation Techniques

Spiral Cut

Start by cutting off one end of the potato and put the cut side on a cutting board. Insert a skewer into the potato and gently push the skewer all the way through it. Hold a sharp, thin knife at an angle and cut in the opposite direction you are turning the skewered potato. Slice the entire potato until it touches the skewer and then fan out the potato until you have even gaps between slices.

Slice/ Chip

Start by cutting off both ends of the potato. Next, square off one side of the potato so that you can anchor it on the cutting board. slice the potato into round slices, to your required thickness.

Wedge

Cut your potato in half lengthwise. Cut in half again and then cut wedges.

Chunk

With the skin still on, cut your potato into large 3/4 inch or 1/2 inch chunks.

Dice

To dice a potato, cut like a batonnet. Cross cut the strips horixontally into 1/4 inch cubes

Large dice are 3/4 inch cubed.

Medium dice are 1/2 inch cubed.

Small dice are 1/4 inch cubed.

Brunoise are 1/8 inch cubed. 

Fine brunoise are 1/16 inch cubed.

Julienne

To julienne a potato, cut like a batonnet; however, your cuts should be 1/16 inch to 1/8 inch. Regular julienne are 1/8 inch by 1/8 inch. Fine Julienne are 1/16 inch by 1/16 inch.

Shoestring

Cut the shoestring just like the frech fry, only your cuts should have a 1/4 inch thickness.

French Fry

To cut french fries, cut like a batonnet in the thickness that you like, up to 1/2 inch thick. There are many potato cutters on the marketing that you can use one to cut french fries so that you don't have to manually cut each one.

Basic Cut

The basis for many cuts begins as a basic rectangle. Always start by cutting off both ends of the poato. Next, square off the sides of the potato, so that you form a rectangle.

Batonnet

The batonnet will be the basis for your dice, brunoise, and julienne. Take your rectangular potato and cut it into 1/4 inch slabs. Stack the slabs and cut them into 1/4 inch strips.

Storage & Handling

Potatoes Store Best in a Dark, Dry, and well ventilated area. Optimum Temperature: 40° - 50° F