In article >, Omelet > wrote:
>In article
>,
> Cindy Hamilton > wrote:
>> On Apr 9, 3:34*pm, Omelet > wrote:
[snip]
>> > I don't do a lot of baking so rarely serve [spuds] truly baked. (Been
>> > without a stove now for about 3 years so cook everything on hot plates,
>> > electric grill, microwave, or BBQ.)
[...]

G'day Om,

Does your BBQ have a cover and, if so, do you cook roasts in it?

My oven has been US for some time now. I've tried roasting pork,
lamb, beef, in an electric fry pan with a high-domed lid. They come
out okay, but not as good as in an oven IME. (Also, I don't really
attempt it often enough to get a truly consistent result.

It has occurred to me that getting one of those hooded BBQs may be the
way to go if they're capable of cooking decent roasts -- hence my
request for guidance from the enlightened! (The BBQ approach has
another potential advantage too -- it would keep the heat outside the
house, which is not something to be lightly dismissed here in the deep
north of the deep south for many months of the year.)

Now, returning you to your original programme:

>Not really. :-) Have you experimented with different types of spuds?
>They are in the nightshade family tho' and sometimes disagree with me
>too if I eat too large an amount. I've found that I'm sensitive to the
>nightshade family too (including tomatoes and peppers) but can handle
>them ok in SMALL portions.
[...]

I presume you don't try eating spuds with a greenish tinge? Also, if
they've started to sprout they are likely to have elevated levels of
solanine. Damaged tubers will also have higher levels of this toxin.

<Quoting an extract from USDA article on spud storage>
Greening may occur in part of a tuber exposed to light. Affected
tubers are easily culled at grading and rarely proceed to marketing
channels. Darkness is essential for long-term storage because greening
can occur during storage or marketing. Exposure to bright light during
postharvest handling, or longer periods (1 to 2 weeks) of low light,
can result in development of chlorophyll (greening) and bitter, toxic
glycoalkaloids, such as solanine.

Solanine also forms in response to bruising, wounding (including fresh
processing followed by storage), and during sprouting.

Glycoalkaloids are heat stable and minimally degraded by cooking.
Tubers in market displays should be replaced daily or more frequently
to minimize greening.
</quoting>
Ref: <http://www.ba.ars.usda.gov/hb66/114potato.pdf> [Note: .PDF]

Further reading: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solanine>

Cheers, Phred.

--
LID