Sweet potatoes grow in the ground, and skipping the cleaning step means dirt or grit can end up in your sweet potato casserole. Before cooking or cutting sweet potatoes, wash the skins and give them a scrub with a clean vegetable brush.
Wait to wash your sweet potatoes until you are ready to use them. The moisture could cause them to rot and lead to mold. If you'd like, use a dry cloth to brush off any dirt before storing, especially if it will dirty up your shelf or cabinet.
Like most potatoes, sweet potatoes grow underground and should be rinsed and lightly scrubbed before peeling. Peel the sweet potato from root to tip: Obvious, but helpful! Use a serrated peeler if you've got it, although a regular peeler is fine.
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!
It's not necessary to soak sliced sweet potatoes before frying, but if you do soak them, they will come out crispier. Soaking sweet potatoes in cold water will help release the starch, making them more available to crisp up.
This works best with smaller potatoes. Boiling sweet potatoes does leach out nutrients, but according to physician and author Dr. Michael Greger, of NutritionFacts.org, boiling sweet potatoes lowers their glycemic index, which means you get less insulin spike after eating them.
It may contain some soap residue, which might get onto the potato. If you don't have a vegetable scrubbing brush, find a clean sponge with a scratchy, scrubby side, and use that instead.
Sweet potato skins are safe to eat and can be easily added to most recipes. They're rich in fiber, other nutrients, and antioxidants that can help support a healthy gut, increase feelings of fullness, and prevent chronic disease. If you're looking to get the most nutrition out of your sweet potato, keep the peel on.
You can peel and cut sweet potatoes and store them in the fridge up to 24 hours in advance for easier meal prep. Store the raw, cut sweet potatoes in a bowl of water in the fridge to keep them fresh.
The 2022 Clean 15 list now contains mango, sweet potato, and watermelon, taking the place of eggplant, broccoli, and cauliflower. Overall, nearly 70% of these fruit and veggie samples had no detectable pesticide residue after proper preparation.
All potatoes are flumed in water as they go down the sorting lines and washed before being packed into cartons or bags, it doesn't hurt to rinse them one more time to get any surface dirt or sand off the potatoes you receive.
Leaving them unwashed if you're looking for longevity, as unwashed potatoes will last a little longer as the dirt protects them from light. Washed potatoes often lose some of their skin in the washing process, making them more susceptible to air and potential mould spores.
Yes, you can cut that sweet potato in half and save the rest for later! You can absolutely cut a large sweet potato in half–the unused half will heal itself right before your eyes. Sweet potatoes, a member of the morning glory family of vines, are a warm-weather root crop that grow underground like white potatoes.
You can eat sweet potato skin. It's a good source of fiber, a nutrient that may help lower the risk of heart disease and keep you feeling full for longer periods of time. The next time you make a sweet potato dish, whether it's a roasted side dish or a hearty, cozy casserole, leave the peel on.
There is not much difference between boiling sweet potatoes with the skins on versus peeling them, but you will get a boost of fiber and potassium if you keep the skin on. The skin also adds a subtle texture to each bite. If you're looking for a smoother mash, peel the potatoes first before boiling.
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.
Most vegetables like potato, peas, corn, sweet potato and pumpkin have starch present in them. The ideal method to de-starch them is to soak them for a while. Soaking these vegetables can help reduce the levels of acrylamide, making them slightly healthier.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, at a minimum, potatoes should be rinsed with water before cutting for cooking. Since potatoes are firm, use a clean brush to scrub them. Do not use soap, bleach, disinfectants, or chemicals to clean produce.
Soak in cold water
Once you've cut the sweet potatoes into wedges, an absolutely crucial step is soaking them in cold water. By soaking the wedges you draw out the starch from the potato.
Do I Need to Peel Before Boiling? You do not need to peel sweet potatoes before boiling. If leaving the peel on, you will need to pierce the skin of the potato with a fork a few times. Also, boiling a sweet potato with the peel will require slightly more time for it to cook through.
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.
At the same time, the glycemic index of boiled sweet potatoes was found to be about half that of baking or roasting, so boiled sweet potatoes give us less of a blood sugar spike. Make sure to keep the skin on, though.
How long do you need to soak the potatoes? Thirty minutes is enough, but if you want to prep ahead you can leave the sweet potatoes submerged in cold water in your fridge for up to 24 hours. After soaking, you'll drain and rinse the potatoes in a colander and then dry them well by patting them with a clean towel.
Why use salt water for soaking potatoes? There's moisture naturally found in potatoes, and moisture is drawn to higher concentrations of salt. (This is a process called osmosis.) So, if you put the potatoes in a salt water bath, that will help draw out some of their moisture, resulting in crispier fries.