Q&A for How to Cook New Potatoes

Banding refers to peeling one circle around the middle of the new potato. It is done to prevent the potato from splitting when boiled or otherwise cooked whole in the skin. This can easily be done using a canelle knife run around the middle in one swift motion. It looks fancy too, when the new potatoes are all done the same way.

Not really, they're too young and fresh and will contain too much moisture. The best potatoes for making chips are old, floury ones as they have a high starch content and not much moisture. They work okay cut into halves and roasted though, which is a better use for them than chips.

Yes, new potatoes can be steamed. Use a steamer pot, add a little water to the base and bring to the boil. Add the washed new potatoes to the steamer saucepan and place on top the base saucepan, adding the lid last. Depending on size, they'll steam in about 10 to 15 minutes.

New potatoes are cooked and baked in the same ways as other potatoes, however, the skin is very thin and if boiling or steaming them it is easy to remove the peel after cooking. This saves you from removing a lot of the potato along with the peels.