Topic: red duke of york and picasso vs cara?

[watkin girl]

those who have grown red duke of york potatoes, are they a good taste? can you use them for any cooking use?
And i would like a kind of vote of whats best  picasso or cara i would like to try growing one but don;t know which to choose.  :-\

[Curryandchips]

Can't comment on R DoY, regarding Picasso vs Cara, I would suggest you try a half quantity of both, so you can make your own judgement. The reason being, that individual conditions can swing the balance, despite what people tell you ...

[Merry Tiller]

RDoY is my favourite first early, when small they make great new potatoes and when a little more mature they start getting dryer and make fantastic mash, roasties and chips. I find they also keep reasonably well for an early, had the last of ours 2 weeks ago. Best flavour IMO closely followed by Epicure.

Don't know about Cara but Picasso were very good this year, will be growing more next year, flavour not the best but a very good all rounder.

[Curryandchips]

Forgot to add, I am not a great spud eater, so flavour is probably paramount for me. Not grown picasso, only cara, but cannot fault them using my judgement. Roast, boiled or jackets, full of delicious nutty flavour. Thus, you have different preferences based upon individual experiences, hence my comment about trying both.

[saddad]

I grow Epicure and Red Dukes as FE's but prefer Epicure as boiled and Red D's for Mash and Jcaket/Roasts.
Haven't grown Cara and Picasso for comparison but grow Picasso and am happy with its performance last year and eating weel now!
 ???

[adrianhumph]

Hi all,  :D
                I grew R DOY this year expecting them to be a salad spud as they are first early, however like others here ,I found them vey floury, ok for mash but useless for a boiled spud. Taste was ok. I recommend picasso , even in this years drought conditions, they performed well. I had a good yield of spuds, no scab or other nasties. They store well, and are a good all rounder suitable for boil mash or roast, what more could you want.  ;D

                                                       Adrian.

[weedin project]

We've never grown the other 2, but this year we grew Cara as a 2nd early and were mightily impressed with them. 
Excellent all-round cooking spud, good flavour, almost completely slug-proof and didn't seem to suffer from blight (although I did dig them before the outdoor toms got hit).
Seriously thinking of using them as a maincrop in place of King Eds next year. ???

[real food]

I am very surprised to see in the various potato threads that you are still boiling your potatoes!!
It is so much easier, quicker, and to get the best taste from your taties, you should microwave them in a covered container. I cut mine into large egg sized pieces and a family sized helping is done in 8 mins.
It is particularly useful for floury potatoes, as they stay whole and their flavour and vitamins are not washed away with the boiling water.
If you do not believe me, try it and see!!

[Merry Tiller]

Do you put any water in with them?

[jennym]

I grow Red Duke of York and they do well in my slug-ridden heavy clay soil, and the flavout is good, they roast ok as well as mashing well.

[Merry Tiller]

Red spuds are reputed to be less attractive to slugs, so far I have to agree, anyone else have evidence of this?

[saddad]

The Red DOY's have a very tough skin, which is why they make good jackets and that probably reduces the slug damage!
 8)

[jennym]

Red spuds are reputed to be less attractive to slugs, so far I have to agree, anyone else have evidence of this?

I found Kestrel aren't bad for slugs either, but they've just got reddish eyes.

[Curryandchips]

but they've just got reddish eyes.

So have I this morning ...  :D

[real food]

When I am microwaving potatoes in a covered container, I do not bother adding any water.
In general, the slug resistance of coloured potatoes is better. This is probably because the colour is contained within an extra layer of skin, over the ordinary clear skin.

[djbrenton]

I grow Cara but they are more prone to slug damage than Picasso. On our site, Picasso performed better than Cara this year ( although it's the first year we've compared them). Interestingly, the large greengrocers near our allotment take Estima as their first choice baking potato. I tried them and they are pretty good. I eat most potatoes with skin on, so Red Duke of York don't suit me as they are thick skinned.

[tim]

Belatedly - RDY. A useful variety, less sluggery than white ones I think. Picasso has done much better than Cara but, as said elsewhere, could be in the treatment?


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v164/photo04/veg/rdy.jpg

[Curryandchips]

I was discussing the picasso/cara issue with a neighbour on the plot today, and he said that he had seen a newspaper article recently that cited picasso as prone to slugs ... hence I continually revert back to my previous comments, it is results on your own soil that count ...  :-\