The Potato Variety To Buy For The Easiest Scrubbing

Ah, potatoes – everyone's favorite vegetable. Nearly every kind of potato makes a quick and crowd-pleasing side dish whether you're roasting fingerlings, frying up russets, or boiling baby red potatoes. No matter your mood, there's an ideal potato variety for you. However, while you may be focused on which variety to select based on your intended dish, you might want to also start paying attention to where your potatoes came from for another reason entirely: how easy they are to clean.  

In the United States, your sack of russets might have been shipped from North Dakota or your go-to red potatoes might be labeled from Colorado, but, everyone knows Idaho potatoes have long been the most famous. The state produces the most potatoes in the country, growing roughly 13 billion pounds of the crop annually, according to the Idaho Potato Commission. Idaho-grown potatoes are known for creating superior french fries and other glorious potato dishes thanks to their firm, high-quality nature, as per the Idaho State Department of Agriculture. 

However, there's another convenient reason you should be purchasing Idaho potatoes. It turns out, the conditions these potatoes are grown in not only make them super tasty but also easy to clean.

While most everyone enjoys a potato-y dish, the labor involved in prepping this ingredient might keep you from cooking them as often as you'd like. Nearly all the potatoes you pick up at the grocery store come covered in dirt that needs to be scrubbed off. While you may be tempted to skip this cleaning step, it's important that you wash your spuds thoroughly. Your potatoes may come covered in pesticides that need to be washed away, and, after all, no one likes the surprising addition of grainy dirt in their mouth. But, if you're purchasing your potatoes from Idaho, you can cut down on this prep time. It's all thanks to the type of soil these tubers are grown in. 

Idaho's loose, volcanic soil creates an ideal environment for producing potatoes, and its powdery texture means the dirt falls away much easier. If you're grabbing a fresh sack shipped in from another state, you risk a sticker, clay-based soil clinging onto your potatoes. So, save yourself some time in the kitchen by purchasing Idaho potatoes. Your tastebuds and arms muscles will thank you.