Updated July 2019 When you envision large Idaho potatoes, incorporating four potatoes into one person’s meal is way too much eating. But, when you look at delectably small potatoes, those bursting with flavor (and nutrition!), then this proverb makes perfect sense. Here is some insight into potato sizes – and the benefits of using small potatoes in your culinary dishes. “Back in the day,” Farmer Lee Jones remembers, “farmers didn’t even bother to pick the small potatoes, because they weren’t worth the trouble. At The Chef’s Garden, though, we take the opposite approach, sorting out the large ones and sending them to the food bank.”
Potatoes sold at grocery stores are typically:
“Well,” Lee says, “C-sized potatoes definitely are smaller than those sized A and B, but we offer small and delicious potatoes that are sized D, E and F – as well as G and H. We plant our potatoes closely together, cramping them because we’re striving for small, flavor-packed potatoes. We harvest them early, when they are delicate and delicious, when they make a great presentation on the plate.”
D 1 ¼” – 1 ½” E 1” – 1” F ¾” - 1” G ½” – ¾” H ¼” – ½” Now, before we go any further, we want to share how you can order farm-fresh potatoes in just the right sizes for your dishes. Just contact us online and we can get you set up with a product specialist who will help you to get exactly what you need, including more information about our potato sizing chart. Here is more shipping information for your potatoes and other produce.
This video shows how the team at The Chef’s Garden uses a 1952 John Deere potato planter, slightly modified, to plant potatoes. This equipment is chosen for its gentle handling and ability to space the potatoes just right in the soil, an ideal method to prevent unwanted soil compaction during planting. Watch as potatoes from the previous fall season, saved for seed, are planted into rich loam soil. Rather than choosing to plant varieties of potatoes that will yield tons per acre, potatoes from The Chef’s Garden are chosen for their premier flavor and nutrition, and Farmer Lee encourages people to eat them with the skin (the most nutritious part of the potato!) still on. Besides adding a punch of flavor and nutrition, the range of colors available in potato skins create an attractive presentation on the plate (more about the visual appeal later!).
In the video, you can also see how gently potatoes are harvested at The Chef’s Garden, using an heirloom Hoover potato digger. That way, they don’t get bruised or skinned. Although hand harvesting is labor intensive, the result for our small potatoes is worth the effort. “These morsels are tender and tiny,” Lee says, “potatoes you don’t have to peel. They create a fun, unique, tantalizing and flavorful presentation, ideal because we eat with our eyes first.”
“We’re always excited to discover how chefs use our bite-sized potatoes in their creative culinary dishes,” Lee adds, “and love it when chefs share pictures of their masterpieces with us!”
Here are our varieties of potatoes and sweet potatoes that are available in a rainbow of sizes.
All Blue Potatoes are available year-round at The Chef’s Garden, with a range of colors from light- to medium- to dark-purple tones. They offer up a creamy flavor, spicy like black pepper and tomato skin. These loosely bound, tender potatoes are less dense than other options, with relatively high moisture. Potato sizes range from the B potato (2 ¼” – 2 ½”) to potato size H ((¼” – ½”), and everything in between.
Austrian Crescent Potatoes are also available throughout the year. The flavor is slightly creamy, one with a bittersweet, almost cake-like quality. The flesh is brittle, dense and dry, with a granular structure. Potato sizes range from potato B (2 ¼” – 2 ½”) to potato size H (¼” – ½”), and everything in between.
No matter what time of year it is, these German Butterball Potatoes are available. This round to oblong tuber has golden skin with bright yellow flesh—and a soft, buttery flavor. The texture is firm with somewhat flaky skin and shallow eyes. As far as potato sizes, you guessed it! They’re available from the B potato (2 ¼” – 2 ½”) to potato size H (¼” – ½”), and everything in between.
These stunning Red Thumb Potatoes have a spotted maroon exterior with a gemstone interior—rose quartz, that is. These medium to long tubers are uniformly shaped, with colors fading from darker on the edges and lighter in the center. They offer up the sweetest flavor imaginable; earthy, too. The texture is dry and waxy, and you know the drill about potato sizes: from potato B to H (C, D, E, F, and G, too!)
Also consider using a flavorful mix of potatoes in dishes. Our mixed potato offerings include both round and fingerling potatoes, a marvelous mix of round and elongated tubers. Available year round, you may receive potatoes ranging from light brown to tan, gold to yellow, and cream, and from rose to amethyst. Flavors range from mild to rich, with textures also encompassing the rainbow of firm to soft. And, yes. These mixed potatoes come in the entire range of sizes! You can find even more information of potato offerings here. As far as sweet potatoes, The Chef’s Garden offers chefs with many different varieties of flavorful, nutrient-rich choices, along with best-of-the-day mixed sweet potatoes. These include (but may not necessarily be limited to!):
Now, here is the recipe to make ten pounds of mashed potatoes. 6 lbs. (60%) burgundy potatoes 3 lbs. (30%) dry white potatoes (russet will work) 1/3 lb. (.33%) milk 1/3 lb. (.33%) cream 1/8 lb. (.12%) green garlic 1/2 lb. (.50%) brown butter (2 sticks) 1/8 lb. (.12%) salt Boil the white potatoes in salted water until soft and mash them. Roast the sweet potatoes and blend them. Blend the garlic shoots. Heat up all dairy and add it slowly to the mashed white potatoes. Fold in the sweet potatoes and garlic and add salt. Keep these items warm until ready to serve. Note from Chef Jamie: I used brown butter instead of regular butter and approximately 30 percent white potato by volume (this lightens the texture.) The dairy element is equal parts milk and cream. We will call it… half and half. Brown butter can be made very easily by cooking your butter in a pot gently until it turns brown visually and aromatic wafts of nuts and toast fill the room. Then, it is ready to use.
Let us be your personal farmer! For decades, we have been providing chefs with sustainably farmed, flavorful, nutritious fresh vegetables, herbs, edible flowers, microgreens and more. If you’re already a customer, thank you very much! We look forward to serving you again. If you’re a first-time customer, know that we’re thrilled to have you join our family! You can contact us online and we’ll provide you with a product specialist who is passionate about providing you exactly what you need, right when you need it—including precisely the right potato sizes.