Russet or Idaho potatoes have a high starch and low moisture content, meaning they bake well, are fluffy when mashed and make excellent French fries. Because they tend to fall apart when cooked, use a waxy variety when making a potato salad or a gratin.

Potato starch or potato flour, made by grinding cooked, dried potatoes, is a gluten-free thickening agent. Be careful not to boil a preparation once it has been thickened with potato starch. Potato starch is also an approved ingredient for Jewish Passover preparations, because it is not grain-based like cornstarch.

Store potatoes in a cool, dark place. Refrigeration will turn their starch to unwanted sugar, making them grow unpleasantly dark when cooked.