How does knowing that different ways of cooking potatoes produce different tastes help and who does it help?

delilah123: How does knowing that different ways of cooking potatoes produce different tastes help and who does it help?
Im doing a science fair project and I need to know who (e.g. cooks) my experiment helps and how. Im not exactly expert on cooking so I have no idea. I guess it will benefit them that they know how to cook and when to cook their potatoes for certain results but it needs to be a lot more detailed. I want to show at least a basic understanding for cooking so could someone help me please?

Thank you so much! PLease answer ASAP!!!!

Answers and Views:

Answer by Robin
Here is a link on how to cook potatoes.

Other good cooking sites that have how to links are

www.epicurious.com

www.foodnetwork.com

Answer by Diane B.
Knowing that info about potatoes and their “tastes” and more, will help anyone who cooks (chefs, home cooks, cooks for the military or schools, etc.).
I suppose it could also help eaters know why the potatoes they just ate weren’t as good as they might have been for at least one reason.

However, knowing the *tastes* of various potatoes is much less obvious and important than knowing their *starch content* (and therefore their characteristics and *texture* when cooked) because knowing that will let the cook know at least which cooking methods will be better suited to the basic two types of potatoes (high starch and low starch).
If a particular type of potato is cooked in a “wrong” way, its texture will probably not be what is expected or desired.

In other words, high-starch potatoes (also called “baking” potatoes) will end up light and fluffy so are good for baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, fries, etc.
Low-starch potatoes (sometimes called “waxy” potatoes) have more moisture and sugar but also less starch, so will hold their shape and work better for roasting (cut up), soups, potato salad, casseroles, etc. and won’t be great for mashing.

There’s loads more info about all that in these links:
https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=cook+potatoes+waxy+starchy
https://www.google.com/images?hl=en&q=potatoe+types

P.S. It’s also important to know other things, for mashed potatoes for example, like *too much* beating (esp. with electric things) will make the resulting potatoes “glue-y” instead of the way they’re supposed to be. Using a hand masher or a “ricer” won’t break open the starch granules leading to that problem in the same way so they are recommended over food processers, hand blenders, etc., especially if those are left on more than a few seconds.

Diane B.