It's pretty hard to overcook them, but an undercooked one will be gross! For my microwave, it's usually 5 minutes to get perfection, but for the rare super-large potato, I usually try 5 minutes, give it a squeeze, and if it's not super soft, throw it back in for another minute at a time until it is soft.
Is it bad to cook a sweet potato in the microwave? No, it's not bad to cook sweet potatoes in the microwave. Some people worry that cooking food in the microwave destroys all its nutrients, but this is simply not true.
Can you overcook a sweet potato? Yes, you can overcook a sweet potato. If you cook the potato for too long, the exterior will become dry, and the interior will become mushy. To prevent this, be sure to check on the potato regularly and remove it from the oven as soon as it's tender.
Step 1Wash sweet potato thoroughly, pat dry, and pierce 3-4 times with a fork. Place potato on microwave-safe plate and microwave 5 minutes, turning halfway through. Step 2If your potato isn't fork tender after 5 minutes, continue microwaving in 30 second increments.
You'll know the sweet potatoes are done by piercing the center of the sweet potato with the tip of a sharp knife; the flesh should yield easily. Wearing an oven mitt, you can also squeeze the sides to check for doneness; there should be a little bit of give.
Do sweet potatoes take longer to bake than regular potatoes? Sweet potatoes generally cook faster than russet potatoes.
There is nothing worse than an undercooked sweet potato. Instead of being tender and moist, it'll be hard and crunchy. That's a sure-fire way to ruin Thanksgiving dinner!
Since sweet potatoes are exposed to heat for a shorter time in the microwave than when they're cooked in the oven, they may actually retain more nutrients. In fact, some studies show that vegetables cooked in the microwave retain more of their water-soluble nutrients, such as vitamin C, than when they're boiled.
Boiling sweet potatoes retains more beta-carotene and makes the nutrient more absorbable than other cooking methods such as baking or frying. Up to 92% of the nutrient can be retained by limiting the cook time, such as boiling in a pot with a tightly covered lid for 20 minutes.
How Long to Microwave Baked Potatoes. We find that this 10-minute method works well to create a perfectly tender baked potato – 5 minutes on one side, 5 minutes on the other. However, not all microwaves cook at exactly the same power.
Potatoes heavy in starch, like Russet and Baking potatoes, will get dry and crumbly if you overcook them but will be fine if you just mash them. Waxy potatoes, like Fingerlings, can be rescued by tossing them gently with oil and roasting them.
Health experts have warned that overcooking foods such as toast, roast potatoes, chips and vegetables can lead to cancer. The Food Standards Agency says that starchy foods cooked at high temperatures for too long form acrylamide - a compound thought to be carcinogenic.
Overcooked potatoes aren't always dry and hard, as it's possible to overboil a potato too. When you do so, more water is absorbed by the potato. Then, when you go to mash them, the water releases, resulting in that sad, soupy mess you may want to toss in a compost pile far, far away.
Minerals and metal
These minerals - which include iron, magnesium, and selenium – act like tiny pieces of metal and create what is known as an “arcing effect” in microwaves. An arcing effect is when sparks occur as a result of electromagnetic waves in a microwave reflecting or bouncing off metal.
Ignore what sounds like your potato screaming for help — it's just potato moisture turning into potato steam and escaping through the fork holes as potato vapor. Turn the spud over and repeat for another four minutes.
Sweet Potatoes:
DO NOT remove or poke holes in the wrap. For one potato, microwave on HIGH for 8 minutes. For more than one potato, microwave on HIGH for 6 minutes per potato.
It's really the best way. Microwaving sweet potatoes cuts down cook time by 45 to 55 minutes and helps maintain nutritional value. All cooking methods cause foods to lose some of their nutrients, but the quicker your potato cooks, the more nutrients it will retain.
Sweet potatoes contain more calories, carbohydrates and fat than regular boiled potato but the regular potato had more protein. Unsurprisingly, boiled sweet potatoes contain more than 14 times the amount of sugar of regular boiled potatoes (11.6g compared to 0.8g per 100g).
Although the interior of the sweet potatoes boasts the same nutrients, Livestrong reports that the skins hold more concentrated levels of vitamins and minerals like manganese, potassium, and vitamins like A, C, and E.
Sweet potato skins are both edible and highly nutritious.
They are rich in fiber, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytochemicals that have health-promoting properties. Here are 6 nutrients in sweet potato skins that you may be missing out on by discarding them.
If you want to soften them slightly to make them easier to cut, poke several holes in the skin with a fork then microwave for 1 to 2 minutes to soften. Be sure to use an oven mitt to remove the potato from the microwave; it will be really hot!
While microwaving to completely cook the potato will result in a soft and mealy Russet, cooking in the microwave for just 5 to 6 minutes before placing in the oven keeps the potato's original texture. Drizzling with olive oil and sprinkling with salt before baking at 400 F will allow the skin to get nice and crisp.
While both our experts say eating a sweet potato a day is certainly healthy, they don't recommend more than that, since there are plenty of other vegetables to enjoy too. “If you're eating more than one a day, you might want to consider varying up your food choices so you get a variety of nutrients,” Rizzo says.
"Yes, it's good to prick them," Smith told Food52. "It pokes holes in the skin, which allows steam to escape. Otherwise, they could explode—it doesn't happen all the time, but it happens every once in a while. The potato is full of water it's trying to turn to steam, or water vapor.
You do not need to peel a sweet potato prior to cooking it in the oven. The skins of sweet potatoes are safe to eat, both raw and cooked, and contain nutrients such as fiber and antioxidants. Whether or not you peel the potato is completely personal preference.