Bad tasting potato!!!!

Worth1 · February 12, 2007

My wife purchased some potatoes from the store.
They were white thin skinned potatoes and they tasted like a chemical of some sort.
They were washed and all of that sort of thing but they had an off taste to them.

I’m getting over a head cold so maybe that is it.
Has anyone else had a nice hard fresh potato that tasted like a chemical?

Worth

landarc · February 13, 2007

Yes, a perfectly good looking potato, yet, bad taste. I have no idea why, I wonder if there isn't some chemical they spray on them to make them last longer before going soft and yucky.

feraltomatoes · February 13, 2007

As far as I know all commercial non-organic potatoes are gassed with growth retardant and probably more.
Wonder if any of those high payed workers at the potato plant gas em a little too much.

Not to mention some of the other games that are played with food. Um sir that shipment of potatoes that just traveled 2000 miles might not make it till month after next, what should we do?

I had a hashbrown at a fastfood place a couple weeks ago and it had a horrible chemical taste. I ate most of it before I noticed. Two cups of coffee and I could still taste it.

cdntomato · February 13, 2007

Non-organic potato fields are also doused with liquid chemicals to kill the plant's leafy growth before mechanical harvest of tubers. How much is absorbed by the taters???

Jennifer, committed organic (or commitable)

MawkHawk · February 13, 2007

Yuck.

Althea · February 13, 2007

I first became aware of the amount of pesticides used on potato crops when I read Michael Pollan's book, "The Botany of Desire.

Here's a link to an interview where he says he learned that potatoes get 14 douses of pesticides a year.

http://www.planetaorganico.com.br/pollaneng1.htm

I don't know if that's standard for all growers.

I'm another committable organic gardener & consumer.

bizzarbazzar · February 13, 2007

Yuck, I haven't had one that tasted like chemicals to me but it looks like I'm fortunate.

landarc · February 13, 2007

I first learned about the chemicals put on a field of potatoes from my Uncle in Idaho who refused to eat any potato where the skin was still attached. He said you just don't know what is in the skin.

bizzarbazzar · February 13, 2007

Yuck

shelleybean · February 13, 2007

Wow, that stinks. People are eating their potatoes with skin thinking they're getting a little extra fiber and they're really getting chemicals??? Nasty.

Fusion_power · February 13, 2007

Potatoes produce a chemical called solanin when the tubers are exposed to light. It is very likely that the chemical taste being discussed here is just a potato doing what it does naturally.

If you are curious, next time you see a potato that has turned green under the skin, cut off a piece of the peel and taste it. Solanin is nasty stuff. It is also poisonous.

Fusion

feldon30 · February 14, 2007

I discard any potatoes that have greenish skin.

Worth1 · February 14, 2007

I never said they had green skins or anything close to it.
They were perfectly nice white potatoes with a strange taste.

Worth

February 12, 2007	#1
Worth1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Den of Drunken Fools Posts: 38,539	Bad tasting potato!!!! My wife purchased some potatoes from the store. They were white thin skinned potatoes and they tasted like a chemical of some sort. They were washed and all of that sort of thing but they had an off taste to them. I’m getting over a head cold so maybe that is it. Has anyone else had a nice hard fresh potato that tasted like a chemical? Worth

February 13, 2007	#2
landarc Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Left Coasty Posts: 964	Yes, a perfectly good looking potato, yet, bad taste. I have no idea why, I wonder if there isn't some chemical they spray on them to make them last longer before going soft and yucky. __________________ Lets see...$10 for Worth and $5 for Fusion, man. Tomatoes are expensive! Bob

February 13, 2007	#5
MawkHawk Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Metro Detroit/Z6 Posts: 168	Yuck. __________________ Mark

February 13, 2007	#6
Althea Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: z4MN Posts: 261	I first became aware of the amount of pesticides used on potato crops when I read Michael Pollan's book, "The Botany of Desire. Here's a link to an interview where he says he learned that potatoes get 14 douses of pesticides a year. http://www.planetaorganico.com.br/pollaneng1.htm I don't know if that's standard for all growers. I'm another committable organic gardener & consumer. __________________ Solanaceae Hugger

February 13, 2007	#8
landarc Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Left Coasty Posts: 964	I first learned about the chemicals put on a field of potatoes from my Uncle in Idaho who refused to eat any potato where the skin was still attached. He said you just don't know what is in the skin. __________________ Lets see...$10 for Worth and $5 for Fusion, man. Tomatoes are expensive! Bob

February 13, 2007	#3
feraltomatoes Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Home=Napa Valley/ Garden=Solano County Posts: 245	As far as I know all commercial non-organic potatoes are gassed with growth retardant and probably more. Wonder if any of those high payed workers at the potato plant gas em a little too much. Not to mention some of the other games that are played with food. Um sir that shipment of potatoes that just traveled 2000 miles might not make it till month after next, what should we do? I had a hashbrown at a fastfood place a couple weeks ago and it had a horrible chemical taste. I ate most of it before I noticed. Two cups of coffee and I could still taste it.

February 13, 2007	#4
cdntomato Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Kingston, Ontario Posts: 554	Non-organic potato fields are also doused with liquid chemicals to kill the plant's leafy growth before mechanical harvest of tubers. How much is absorbed by the taters??? Jennifer, committed organic (or commitable)

February 13, 2007	#7
bizzarbazzar Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Butte, MT Posts: 811	Yuck, I haven't had one that tasted like chemicals to me but it looks like I'm fortunate.

February 13, 2007	#10
shelleybean Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Virginia Beach Posts: 2,648	Wow, that stinks. People are eating their potatoes with skin thinking they're getting a little extra fiber and they're really getting chemicals??? Nasty. __________________ Michele

February 13, 2007	#11
Fusion_power Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Alabama Posts: 2,250	Potatoes produce a chemical called solanin when the tubers are exposed to light. It is very likely that the chemical taste being discussed here is just a potato doing what it does naturally. If you are curious, next time you see a potato that has turned green under the skin, cut off a piece of the peel and taste it. Solanin is nasty stuff. It is also poisonous. Fusion

February 14, 2007	#12
feldon30 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 5,346	I discard any potatoes that have greenish skin. __________________ [SIZE="3"]I've relaunched my gardening website -- [B]TheUnconventionalTomato.com[/B][/SIZE] * [I][SIZE="1"]*I'm not allowed to post weblinks so you'll have to copy-paste it manually.[/SIZE][/I]