Russet Burbank tubers,Who grows them???

LOU from WI · Oct 5, 2011

To all the home gardeners,Who has grown the Russet Burbank potatoes?We used to haul them for a local potato grower, who went out of business growing them, the other locals don't handle the same potato,too soft, don't hold for long.
We are scrounging up any information from you guys who garden.We did good with our Kennebec,but they just don't taste the same,fries aren't hard like with Russet Burbank.Come spring we are going to order some,if they aren't to difficult to grow.Interested in your factual opinion.Just to keep this tractor related,we'll plow our ground with the 706 and JD cultivator.
Regards,
LOU

DeltaRed · Oct 6, 2011

Verlin Rocky of 'Milk ranch Speacialty Potatoes'(Austin,Co.) is your best scource for potatoes.www.potatogarden.com

LOU from WI · Oct 6, 2011

Thanks DeltaRed,
We looked it up,was wondering about home gardeners here, for success with growing them.Wonder if Larry@steinscorner had tried them,or Old,Rick, or any other gardeners on YT.Appreciate your reply.
Regards LOU

Anonymous-0 · Oct 6, 2011

Might ask this guy Lou.......... he seems to be pretty knowledgeable on the subject.....

http://www.google.de/search?hl=de&a...mp;tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi

John_PA · Oct 6, 2011

How many acres do you plan to plant?

I had good luck with them, except everyone in our area grows chipping taters. They fry good, but try to enjoy one french cut and deep fried adn you'll be dissapointed.

To keep this machinery related... I made a potato planter from stock steel, a combine tailings elevator, opening runner from a John Deere 290 corn planter, and the press wheel from a Ford 309 corn planter.

You have to feed it manually, but I could do 4 or 5 acres in a day before I ran out of cut potatoes.

larry@stinescorner · Oct 6, 2011

no ,never tried them Lou,we had red norland,and yukon gold and red lasota

DeltaRed · Oct 6, 2011

Verlin is only 10 miles from me.We buy our "eating'potatoes from him.he is quite the potato breeder.

DeltaRed · Oct 6, 2011

Verlin raises Yukon Gold.I think he developed them.

Steven-Id · Oct 6, 2011

Here in Idaho I always plant red potatoes so I can have creamed peas and new potatoes. Most of the farmers plant Russets around here so they are very easy to come by. They are easy to go its just that the farmers have such an abundant supply of them. When the farmer is digging they will have some that fall off of the digger or trucks and you can go out in the fields and just pick them up. When I was a teenager working for my uncle in the harvest we even had one family that stopped picked them out of the row where the crossover digger had placed them.

Steven

LOU from WI · Oct 6, 2011

Thanks Dave2,
We tried those,but when you put them in the sack they screamed to beat HE!!, Had the cops stop us and made us put them back.Buying them from the store, when we peeled and tried to cook them, they tasted like plastic, and smelled the house something terrible.
Have a good one Dave,
LOU

LOU from WI · Oct 6, 2011

Thanks Larry,
What we tried this year was Kennebec,(Good success), but when we tried to make French fries they just soaked up the grease and turned mushy.The Russet Burbank, makes one terrifically good french fry, or baked potato.We think they were grown over in Idaho,at least by our searching on computer.They are expensive for seed per pound,but were going to try them next year.Were not doing acreage,just big rows and newly opened ground.
We even planted some red pontiac potatoes,,(for the puppy) they did good also,but same success for french fries.
Mc Donalds uses Burbank along with quite a few fast food places, and Orida uses them for their product lines(chips,fries,hash browns).Orida sure was fussy,needed specific sizes,climate controlled for storage,otherwise they wouldn't buy them.The buyer would make a special trip up to inspect them, if it didn't meet their requirements, they would refuse to buy them.
We're going to give it a go,even though the seed is expensive,just planning for next year.
Link below is one place we found that handle the seed.
Regards ,LOU
potato seed

LOU from WI · Oct 6, 2011

The farmers we worked for had that happen more times than not,people coming into the fields taking them while the machinery was still going.The owners told them to leave,until all the machinery was gone. They had to, for insurance purposes.Someone get hurt,and guess who get sued.Couldn't blame them (farmers) better to be safe than sorry.
Regards,
LOU

LOU from WI · Oct 6, 2011

Thanks John_Pa,
No acreage,just a big area.Besides where we planted them last year.You should have had a pic of your planter,it would have been interesting to see.Thanks for the reply.
Regards,
LOU

RGMartin · Oct 6, 2011

I planted 150# of them this year for a donation to the local fireman's fair french fry stand. I tried to talk them into another variety, but they insisted that Russet Burbank was the only potato that was suitable for fries(they were given this bit of info from the produce vendor that was hocking RBs grown 2000 miles away...).

I slipped one tote of Kennebec into the delivery, and made sure that the guy who does the ordering got a basket of fries made with them. He said they were the best fries he had every had, and attributed it to the fresh local spuds. I just smiled, and climbed back into the truck without saying a word.

RBs are a fair baking and fry potato. I think their main claim to fame is that they grow well in Idaho, and the marketing that goes along with that. In all fairness, the RBs make a pretty fry, as they have a bit more sugar in them which causes them to darken on the outside.

As to yield, in our soil they made about 1/2 what Katahdin, or Kennebec will do. If I could get away with only one potato it would be Kennebec.

To keep this tractor related they, were planted with a IH 2 row planter towed by a DB 1210, and Dug by an IH 1 row, single web digger on a DB 770.

Edit to add:

As to seed cost... Depending on the variety, I paid $18.50-22 a bag last year for "B"(pre-sized, no cutting) seed at the local feed store. @$89 you are being forceably sodomized.

If your Kennebecs got mushy as fries, your oil wasn't hot enough. Don't let it go below 350F.

36 Coupe · Oct 6, 2011

Disagree completly on the kennebec making poor french fries.My wife lines a large bowl with paper towels and puts the frys in that before serving.I grew a row of russets this year.We used some and sold some.They dont sell well roadside.A potato grower said the Russets are over fertilized and overirrigated by commercial growers.The Russet has a rough skin the puts buyers off.I have grown many types over the years and have settled on Kennebec, red norlands Katahdin and Satina a yellow fleshed potato.

greenbeanman in Kansas · Oct 6, 2011

Cultivar information. Far from complete.

Cornell University cultivar rankings by growers.
http://vegvariety.cce.cornell.edu/main/showVarieties.php?searchCriteria=&searchIn=0&crop_id=42&sortBy=overallrating&order=DESC&sideSearch=Search
Michigan State potato cultivar information.

oldtanker · Oct 6, 2011

(quoted from post at 21:43:52 10/05/11) To all the home gardeners,Who has grown the Russet Burbank potatoes?We used to haul them for a local potato grower, who went out of business growing them, the other locals don't handle the same potato,too soft, don't hold for long.
We are scrounging up any information from you guys who garden.We did good with our Kennebec,but they just don't taste the same,fries aren't hard like with Russet Burbank.Come spring we are going to order some,if they aren't to difficult to grow.Interested in your factual opinion.Just to keep this tractor related,we'll plow our ground with the 706 and JD cultivator.
Regards,
LOU

We have had them in the past Lou and again this year with pretty good results. Your climate should be near ours or maybe a little better......and to keep it tractor related I prep my ground with the Ford 8N

Rick

LOU from WI · Oct 6, 2011

Thanks for the reply. Same information we got from the internet. Only got 3 -1/2 stars. Interesting. Gonna try em next year. regards LOU.

LOU from WI · Oct 6, 2011

Rick. where do you get the seed from? Of all the years we hauled em for Lapacinski farms from rice lake,I never bought potatoes from supermarket. These were the BEST TASTING spuds we found. Now after Lapo went and quit planting, we were forced to go to Nuto- WesLawn for potatoes. Really disappointed in both outlets. We are definatly going to order some,and try em on our other patch we opened up in the spring. regards LOU.

LOU from WI · Oct 6, 2011

Thanks for the reply. Our kennebecs did real well in our garden. Nice size, firm spud, no blight ,but didn't do well with fries. We use our cooker for hot grease, but still they turn to mush. Now the Orida company uses em in their Hash brown and thats why they are so tasty to me. Sure gain weight if I don't keep a ritual in consuming em.lol.Thanks again for the reply. Regards LOU.

oldtanker · Oct 6, 2011

Lou the wife orders em online and usually checks around for prices so she has no one set place to get em from.

Rick

tjdub · Oct 6, 2011

I agree with you on the difference between Kennebec and Russets on french fries. Russets are a much harder potato and I like the fries from them better too. On the other hand, I don't grow any Russets at all anymore. They get some type of scab disease that all the other varieties I plant seem to be immune to and I get a lot of deformed clumps of potatoes instead of nice ovals. Probably caused by the same disease.

Are you in the La Crosse area? Rudy's in Holmen, WI would have them.

Anyway, if it's any help, you can make those fries a lot less soggy by putting them in room temperature oil, then heating it up to 400F with the potatoes in it and leave them at 400F until they're done. Putting the fries in when the oil is already up to temp makes them more soggy which is the opposite of what you'd expect.

36 Coupe · Oct 9, 2011

Lou, you can buy certified seed in any hardware or general store around here for 20 bucks for a 50 lb bag.I buy them for 15 bucks often,I will save my seed this year at no cost.I find my own seed grows better than the certified stuff any way.I find rotten potatoes in certified seed bags and big baking sized potatoes,way over the size that the tag says.89 bucks for a 50 lb bag of seed is robbery.

36 Coupe · Oct 10, 2011

There are some outfits that get 10 bucks a pound or 89 bucks a bag for seed.I wonder who buys from them.I did buy 2 bags of seed this spring.19 bucks a bag.Some stores will open a bag and sell them for 69 cents a pound to small gardeners.Steep mark up.I favor small potatoes, no cutting.Ill save seed for next spring, my saved seed grows better than certified seed side by side.Wife and I dug 2 rows yesterday of kennebecs.50 pounds were for a customer who knows our potatoes are true Kennebecs.She knows her potatoes and many growers will call any white potato Kennebecs.

36 Coupe · Oct 12, 2011

Grew a row of Russets next to a row of Kennnebecs.Kennebecs produced 3x the Russets, same thing happened with Norlands.Katahdins are good producers. If you depend on your potato crop Kennebecs and Katahdins are the best choice.

Russet Burbank tubers,Who grows them???

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