If you don't wash them first, you might end up dragging some of the bacteria or dirt onto the flesh when you go to peel them. Dampen the vegetable scrubber. Try to avoid using the same scrubber you use for your dishes. It may contain some soap residue, which might get onto the potato.
The Food and Drug Administration advises you wash potatoes before you eat them. Potatoes grow in the ground, and carry not only dirt but also bacteria to the grocery store and later, your table. Pesticides also remain on potato skin; even organic potatoes carry some degree of contaminants.
Rinsing potatoes helps remove excess starch, so it is recommended to rinse the potatoes before cooking. To ensure even more starch is out of the way, it's recommended that they even be quickly rinsed after boiling.
You should certainly rinse the potatoes — we prefer russets — to remove any dirt and debris. You can even give them a quick scrub with a vegetable brush. But you need to dry the spuds well after the bath. Excess moisture on the skin can seep into the potato during baking and cause soggy skins.
Pesticide is absorbed not just into a potato's skin but its flesh as well; scrubbing or peeling can make a difference, but won't remove all the pesticides. On that somber note: To scrub potatoes, rinse them under cool water then brush them with a vegetable brush if you want to be extra thorough.
You can eat the skin of any potato you choose, but the peel on a russet may be tougher to chew. If you want the peel in your dish, opt for a Yukon Gold instead, which checks off the high-starch requirement but with slightly more tender skin.
"Potatoes are firmly in the buried-in-soil category, so they'll need a thorough wash before cooking," says Catt Fields White, a former chef and the founder of San Diego Markets and The Farmers Market Pros. "In addition to good and bad bacterias, pesticides can linger in the soil and those need to go."
Rinsing or soaking the potatoes for an hour (or, even better, overnight) will remove some of the starch from the surface and prevent the sugars from browning before the potatoes are cooked.
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.
And once you wash your spuds, it's best to start cooking with them as opposed to storing them somewhere else. This is because potatoes that have been washed can become a breeding ground for harmful bacteria, which can make you sick.
The short answer is yes. Potatoes that have sprouted are still OK to eat, but only once you've removed the sprouts.
Produce can carry dangerous bacteria
Sometimes dirty produce can result in foodborne sickness. We have seen recent outbreaks of veggies with E. coli, Salmonella, and more,” Janette Nesheiwat, MD, says. “This can result in nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach cramps, and fever, along with dehydration.”
When stored in a cool, dark place, (warmer than the fridge but colder than the average temperature of your kitchen) whole, uncooked potatoes can last up to two months. At room temperature, on the counter, for example, potatoes will last up to two weeks.
Soaking potatoes in water helps remove excess starch. Excess starch can inhibit the potatoes from cooking evenly as well as creating a gummy or sticky texture on the outside of your potatoes. Cold water is used because hot water would react with the starch activating it, making it harder to separate from the potatoes.
Washing of tubers to remove adhering dust, soil and clay caps usually takes place in the processing factory prior to peeling. Moreover, packers generally wash the tubers and subsequently dry them before they are packed in supermarket ready wrapping.
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.
Don't store potatoes in the fridge.
Raw potatoes have lots of starches, and the cold temperatures can turn the starches into sugars. This can make your potatoes turn sweeter and darker during cooking.
Do you have to wash peeled potatoes? You should rinse them, since they could get some dirt from the skin in the peeling process. If you like grit in your potatoes, don't wash them.
Removing the starch reduces the carbohydrate content, which is helpful when you're following a low-carb diet. In addition, cooking high-starch potatoes makes them soft and crumbly. Remove the starch when you want to cook crispy potato dishes, such as chips, French fries or hash browns.
Actually, it makes them crisper. Soaking removes excess starch and sugars that inhibit crisping, and reveals better flavor.
You bet! Affected spuds, while unsightly, are safe to eat. Just cut away the corky spots from skin and/or flesh and prepare as you normally would. Potato scab is caused by a bacterium-like organism, Streptomyces scabies, that overwinters in soil and fallen leaves.
"The skin of the potato is very high in fibre, potassium, vitamin C, vitamin B — all of those good, healthy things are in high concentration in the skin."
Benefits for health
However, most of the fiber in potatoes is located in the skin. By leaving the skin on, you are consuming more of this beneficial nutrient. Additionally, the skin contains other important nutrients such as potassium, vitamin C, and antioxidants.
While the skin does contain approximately half of the total dietary fiber, the majority (> 50%) of the nutrients are found within the potato itself. The only nutrient significantly lost when the skin is removed is fiber. Potassium and vitamin C are found predominantly in the flesh of the potato.