Selecting Cultivars and Obtaining Healthy Seed Lots. Frying drives much of the water out of chips, for example, and replaces it with oil. Even very low levels of sugar cause chips and fries to turn dark brown during frying. For that reason, varieties intended for processing either as chips or fries, especially during the winter and early spring, must have low levels of reducing sugars both in the field and storage. Very smooth tubers with good processing characteristics and excellent fresh market quality.
Tubers are long, uniformly russeted and show numerous eyes of medium depth.
Russet Burbank produces medium to high total yields but a very low percentage of U.S. No. 1 tubers. It is late maturing, has a long dormancy, and stores extremely well. Starch and sugar contents are medium compared to other processing varieties. Common defects include second growth, growth cracks, internal brown spot, sugar ends, hollow heart, and blackspot bruise. Russet Burbank is widely used for processing both directly from the field and from storage.