It's difficult to remove too much starch—a potato is about 80% water and 20% starch. When you soak cut potato pieces in water, you are only removing the outer surface of the potato.
Soaking peeled, washed, and cut fries in cold water overnight removes excess potato starch, which prevents fries from sticking together and helps achieve maximum crispness.
Soaking the cut potatoes for at least five minutes or rinsing them under cold water removes the starch from the surface, but there is no evidence that soaking removes a significant amount of carbohydrate.
Blanch in hot water
Blanching potatoes in hot water helps to remove even more starch. They only need to be cooked for a few minutes until tender. The tiny starch granules absorb the hot water and swell and burst, transferring the starch from the potato to the boiling water.
Why soak potatoes in water before frying? The excess potato starch that forms when potatoes are peeled and sliced must be rinsed off the chips with water. If not, the surface starch will block the evaporation of moisture from the potato and lead to mushy, dark brown chips.
Allow the water to rest for about 30 minutes so the starch settles. Pour the water out of the bowl, leaving the starch at the bottom of the bowl. Combine the starch and potatoes just before cooking.
Waxy potatoes have less starch than Starchy potatoes and contain more moisture and sugar. They are often smaller with a waxy outer skin and a creamy, firm and moist flesh. When to use: Waxy potatoes hold their shape well after cooking so are great for boiling, roasting or slicing.
Leaching method: Peel and dice potatoes. Place in a large pot of warm tap water and soak for 2 to 4 hours. Drain and set aside.
To extract the starch, the potatoes are crushed, and the starch grains are released from the destroyed cells. The starch is then left to settle out of solution or separated by hydrocyclones, then dried to powder.
A: Chilling the water or adding ice is a method that helps the cells seal up and makes for a crisper fry when blanched. Warm or room temp water is better for leaching the starches, some operators or manufacturers actually blanch (or boil) the potatoes in water to remove excess starches.
The presence of starch makes the texture of the potatoes soft and mushy, but at the same time it also adds on the carbohydrate content of potatoes. So, if you are planning to cut down on calories and enjoy your favourite potatoes without feeling guilty, then removing the starch content is the best thing to go for.
The way to get the most potassium out of the potatoes is to slice them one-eighth-inch thick, soak in a large pot of water for a minimum of 2 hours, dump the water, and cook the potatoes in a large quantity of fresh water. For people interested in keeping the most nutrients in their potatoes, bake them.
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.
Don't soak cut potatoes longer than overnight.
If keeping potatoes in water for more than an hour, refrigerate. However, don't soak them any longer than overnight—after that, the potatoes start to lose their structure and flavor.
Chilling is the crucial step to dramatically lower the glycemic index, so you can certainly enjoy a cold potato salad. If you're trying to control your weight, though, you may want to avoid even baked french fries.
Try cooking rice, potatoes, beans, and pasta a day in advance and cool in the refrigerator overnight. It's ok to reheat the starch before eating. Reheating doesn't decrease the amount of resistant starch.
The presence of starch can be measured by its reaction with iodine. Starch and iodine form a dark-blue complex with an absorbance maximum at 600 nm [1]. This application note describes a simple procedure to extract soluble starch from fresh potatoes.
2.1.
The starch content of a potato can be highly variable. In general terms fresh potatoes contain ~20% dry matter (DM) of which 60–80% is starch, with 70–80% of this starch as amylopectin [23].
As already discussed, pastiness is caused by too much potato starch being worked into the mashed potatoes. The main way we combat this problem is by rinsing away starch, both before and after cooking potatoes for fluffy mashed potatoes. Rinsing off starch means that there is less of it that can end up in the dish.
Results: Mean potassium content was highest in the purple Viking potato (448.1 6 60.5 mg [11.5 6 1.6 mEq]/100 g [values are mean 6 SD unless otherwise noted]), and lowest in the Idaho potato (295 6 15.7 mg [7.6 6 0.4 mEq]/100 g).
If boiling isn't the planned cooking method, potassium may still be reduced by slicing or cutting potatoes into small pieces or grating them and soaking them in a large amount of water at room temperature or warmer for greater potassium removal.
Floury potatoes
Including sebago (brushed) and golden delight potatoes. These are high in starch and low in sugar and moisture. They're great for roasting, mashing and making into chips, but aren't ideal for salads as they break up during cooking.
The best may be purple potatoes, not just purple-skinned potatoes but purple-fleshed. Here's why: They cause less of an insulin and blood sugar spike compared to even the yellow-fleshed potatoes. Their pigments may also affect significantly lower inflammation.
You could be using the wrong potatoes. Potatoes are generally considered "waxy" or "starchy." Waxy potatoes (like white potatoes and red potatoes) are more prone to gumminess when mashed, as opposed to starchy potatoes (like Yukon Golds and russets). Choose starchy potatoes or a mixture of waxy and starchy potatoes.