The Similarities of the White Potato & the Sweet Potato

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The sweet potato is not really a potato at all, more closely related to a morning glory flower than to a white potato. Despite having different origins, sweet potatoes and white potatoes do have plenty of characteristics in common once they reach the kitchen. Both have similar starch content, and chefs can prepare them in similar ways. Both white potatoes and sweet potatoes fit into a balanced diet, as well.

  1. Texture

    • Firm root vegetables lend themselves well to deep-frying, roasting, baking and stewing. White potatoes and sweet potatoes have no internal grain and hold a cut shape well; the two roots are interchangeable when they play a textural component in dishes rather than a flavorful one. Well-cooked sweet potato varieties with a high sugar content become softer and more moist than white potatoes, but starchier types match the potato’s texture more closely.

    Nutritional Value

    • Although sweet potatoes and white potatoes provide a different array of nutrients, both roots have nutritional value. White potatoes contain more iron and potassium, while sweet potatoes are richer in fiber and vitamin A. The two tubers also contain similar calories — a little over 200 calories per 7 oz. potato for each variety — and both provide a substantial amount of food per serving. All types of potato have edible skin, as well, boosting the potato’s fiber content higher.

    Cooking Methods

    • Chefs and home cooks can treat sweet potatoes and white potatoes almost identically, as both roots behave the same under similar cooking conditions. Both white and sweet potatoes make delicious French fries and chips, although orange sweet potato fries brown more easily and require a lower cooking temperature due to its higher sugar content. Baking either sort of tuber yields a soft, creamy flesh that needs little more than fluffing with a fork and seasoning with spices to accompany a meal.

    Flavor

    • Sweet potatoes got their name because of their markedly sweeter taste. However, not all varieties are equally sweet. While processed canned sweet potatoes in syrup resemble dessert more than dinner, fresh sweet potatoes vary from custard-like sweetness to potato-like starchiness. Sweet potatoes typically get a sweet treatment for holidays as cooks layer them with marshmallows, syrup, brown sugar or pecans. Eat them mashed with salt, pepper, milk and butter to turn them into a savory dish that looks different from standard mashed potatoes, yet tastes similar. Mixing the two potato types confers the nutritional benefits of both kinds of roots.

How to Bake Potatoes for Potato Salad

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Potato salad is a tasty comfort food normally made with boiled potatoes. Baking the potatoes adds a new twist, providing a fluffy texture. Potatoes can be baked in the oven or in the microwave. Baking potatoes in a microwave is faster, but many of the nutrients are lost. Oven-baked potatoes take 45 minutes to an hour and a half, depending on the temperature you choose. Russet potatoes are the most popular for baking.

Difficulty:
Easy

Instructions

Things You’ll Need

  • Stiff-bristled brush
  • Knife
  • Fork
  • Olive oil (optional)
  • Vegetable oil (optional)
  • Melted butter (optional)
  • Pan
  • Tin foil (optional)
    • 1

      Preheat your oven. Higher temperatures shorten the cooking time and yield crustier skins. For baking times, choosing 325 degrees takes an hour and a half, 350 takes an hour to an hour and 15 minutes, and 400 degrees takes 45 minutes.

    • 2

      Choose potatoes of uniform sizes so they cook in the same amount of time.

    • 3

      Scrub the potatoes with a stiff-bristled brush and rinse them under cold water. Remove any bruises, discolored spots and sprouts with a knife.

    • 4

      Poke each potato deeply with a fork four or five times on each side. Poking the potatoes allows steam to escape while baking. If you do not poke the potatoes, they may explode.

    • 5

      Brush the potatoes lightly with olive oil, vegetable oil or melted butter. Rolling the potatoes in salt adds flavor to the skin.

    • 6

      Bake the potatoes on the middle rack of the oven. Place a pan underneath the potatoes to catch any drippings. Halfway through your cooking time, turn the potatoes over.

    • 7

      Test your potatoes near the end of your cooking time. Fully baked potatoes are soft to the touch and easily pierced with a fork.

How to Reheat Grocery Twice-Baked Potatoes

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Twice-baked potatoes freeze well, so many grocery stores offer them in the frozen food section. You can also make twice-baked potatoes with ingredients from the grocery store and freeze them to use later. The potatoes are full of a variety of flavors, such as sour cream, bacon and cheese. Freezing the potatoes properly preserves the flavor and texture. Once you are ready to enjoy the twice-baked potatoes, reheat them properly so they taste fresh and flavorful.

Difficulty:
Moderately Easy

Instructions

  1. Oven

    • 1

      Defrost the twice-baked potatoes in the refrigerator overnight before you reheat them. You may place them directly in the oven if they are frozen, but they will require a longer cooking time.

    • 2

      Remove any plastic or foil wrapping from the twice-baked potatoes. Heat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

    • 3

      Place the twice-baked potatoes onto a baking sheet. Reheat the frozen potatoes for 45 minutes to one hour. Thawed potatoes will take around 35 to 40 minutes to heat thoroughly.

    • 4

      Insert a thermometer into the thickest part of the potatoes. Remove the potatoes when they reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

    Microwave

    • 1

      Thaw the potatoes in the refrigerator overnight for best results. Microwaves heat foods unevenly and the potatoes may have a mushy texture if you do not thaw them completely.

    • 2

      Remove the packaging from the potatoes. Place the potatoes onto a microwave-safe plate.

    • 3

      Cover the top of the potatoes with a paper towel to conserve the moisture. Microwave the twice-baked potatoes on the medium heat setting for two minutes.

    • 4

      Check the internal temperature of the potatoes. Microwave the potatoes for one-minute intervals until they reach 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

How to Crush Grapes

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Crushing extracts the juice from grapes. Use the juice to make wine, jellies, jams or fruit juice for cooking and drinking. Thin-skinned, seedless grapes, such as most table grape varieties, require the least amount of effort to crush and use since you don’t need to strain out the seeds or thick skins after crushing and juicing. Heat helps extract more juice from the remaining grape pulp, allowing you to get the most from your batch of grapes.

Difficulty:
Easy

Instructions

Things You’ll Need

  • Bowl
  • Potato masher
  • Pot
  • Sieve or cheesecloth
    • 1

      Rinse the grapes clean under cool water. Remove the stems and dispose of any spoiled or bruised fruits.

    • 2

      Place 2 cups of grapes in a large bowl. You can crush more than 2 cups at a time, but smaller batches are simpler to crush evenly.

    • 3

      Crush the grapes using a potato masher. Press the masher down onto the grapes, twist and lift. Repeat the mashing technique until all the grape skins burst and the fruit is evenly crushed. Repeat for each remaining batch of grapes.

    • 4

      Simmer the crushed grapes in a large pot for 10 minutes so the flesh releases the rest of its juice.

    • 5

      Strain the grapes and juice through a mesh sieve or cheesecloth to separate the grape pulp and skins from the juice. There is no need to separate the pulp and juice if you are making jam.

How to Cook Mass Quantities of Baked Potatoes in the Oven

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A large family reunion or backyard wedding reception may call for cooking mass quantities of baked potatoes in the oven. While prep may take a little longer, it is just as easy. You can bake potatoes with crispy or soft skins, or a tray of each to please everyone. Potatoes cooked with the skin attached retain nearly all of their nutrients. One baked potato provides significant amounts of the B vitamins, vitamin C and fiber.

Difficulty:
Easy

Instructions

Things You’ll Need

  • Russet potatoes
  • Vegetable brush
  • Butter or olive oil
  • Pastry brush
    • 1

      Buy Russet potatoes, as they are an excellent choice for oven baking. The high starch content in Russets results in a fluffy potato that is full of flavor and soft enough to mix with toppings.

    • 2

      Sort through potatoes and select those of the same size. If you need to cook potatoes of different sizes, then bake them in separate batches. For example, bake all medium-sized potatoes in one batch. This avoids having small potatoes over-cooked and hard as a rock while large potatoes are partially raw.

    • 3

      Scrub potatoes until the skins are completely clean. Grocers do not wash them before purchase to extend their shelf life.

    • 4

      Prick each potato three or four times with a fork to create a vent for the steam. Pressure builds up as vegetables with high water content, such as potatoes, bake in a dry environment, such as an oven or microwave, and they explode to release the steam.

    • 5

      Put oven rack in the middle and preheat to 350 F. Do not use both racks as the top of the oven is hotter than the middle — since heat rises — and you will not have even baking.

    • 6

      Brush potatoes with butter or olive oil if you prefer crispy skins. Otherwise, skip this step.

    • 7

      Assemble potatoes in oven pans, preferably not touching each other. Food cooks faster and more evenly when there is good air circulation.

    • 8

      Bake for 1 hour. Prick with a fork to determine if done. The fork will slide in easily when a potato is fully cooked. If not done, then continue baking and check every 15 minutes. The actual time depends on the accuracy of your oven thermostat as well as the number of potatoes you are baking.

    • 9

      Remove potatoes from the oven. Cut lengthwise if you plan to serve stuffed potatoes.

How to Cut Back Sweet Potato Vines

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As a member of the genus Ipomoea, sweet potato vines are closely related to common ornamental flowers, such as morning glories and moonflowers. They share a similar vining growth habit that quickly covers structures in masses of palmate foliage and trumpet-shaped flowers. Their appearance and vigorous growth habit endears them to many gardeners. The vines must be cut back at the end of the growing season about September to maintain a tidy appearance and prepare the tubers for winter dormancy. Cutting back sweet potato vines is simple and takes only a few minutes, but the tools used must be sanitized, preventing fungal infection in the tubers.

Difficulty:
Easy

Instructions

Things You’ll Need

  • Bypass shears
  • Bleach
    • 1

      Clean and sanitize the blades of a pair of sharp bypass shears before cutting back the sweet potato vine. Submerge the blades in a mix of one part bleach and nine parts water for 60 seconds. Dry the shears in the sun.

    • 2

      Pull the sweet potato vines down from whatever structure they are growing over. Avoid tugging the vines’ base when pulling them down since it disrupts the tubers.

    • 3

      Cut the vines back by half using the sanitized bypass shears. Make the cuts straight across. Discard the vines in a green-waste bin.

    • 4

      Cut the vines back further. Lift the remaining portion of the vines. Cut them flush with the ground. Discard the cut vine portions.

    • 5

      Lift the sweet potato vine tubers for winter storage, or leave them in the ground if you live in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 8 or above.

How to Make Baked Potatoes in the Oven Wrapped in Foil

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Baking potatoes in the oven takes time but requires minimal effort. Once the potatoes are baking, you are free to prepare the rest of the meal. You can bake the potatoes in the oven plain, but wrapping them in foil first helps retain moisture that is otherwise lost through steam. This results in a tender potato that isn’t too dry or flaky. The foil also retains the heat in the potato in case they are done before the rest of the meal is ready.

Difficulty:
Easy

Instructions

Things You’ll Need

  • Vegetable brush
  • Paper towel
  • Aluminum foil
  • Olive oil
  • Fork
    • 1

      Wash the potatoes thoroughly before baking, since they are served with the skin on. Scrub the skins with a vegetable brush under cool water to remove the soil then pat dry with a paper towel.

    • 2

      Pierce each potato four to five times with the tines of the fork. Piercing allows steam to escape as the potato bakes.

    • 3

      Tear a sheet of aluminum foil from the roll, making the sheet large enough to full wrap the potato. Coat one side of the foil lightly with olive oil.

    • 4

      Wrap the potato with the aluminum foil. Leave no part of the potato uncovered.

    • 5

      Bake the potato in a preheated 400 degree Fahrenheit oven for 45 minutes to one hour. The potato is done once it’s tender and easily pierced by a fork.

How to Keep Scalloped Potatoes From Curdling

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Milk is an emulsion, just like mayonnaise, hollandaise sauce and vinaigrette dressings. Emulsions are inherently unstable and tend to break when exposed to high heat or when the ratio of fats to non-fats is disproportional. Curdled scalloped potatoes usually result from using less-than-fresh milk or milk with a relatively low fat content, such as skimmed or two-percent milk fat. You can prevent curdling in scalloped potatoes by using the freshest dairy, increasing the starch content or adding an emulsifier, such as lecithin.

Difficulty:
Easy

Instructions

 

Things You’ll Need

  • High-starch potatoes
  • Half and half or heavy cream
  • Egg yolk
  • All-purpose flour
    • 1

      Use russet potatoes in the recipe. Russet potatoes have a high-starch content that thickens the milk and creates an environment not conducive to separating. Russet varietals ideal for scalloped potatoes include Burbank, Ranger, Nooksack, Gem and Norkotah.

    • 2

      Substitute half and half or heavy cream for an equal quantity of milk. High-fat dairy resists curdling more capably than regular or low-fat dairy.

    • 3

      Mix 1 egg yolk with the milk. The lecithin in the yolk stabilizes emulsions.

    • 4

      Mix 1 tsp. of all-purpose flour per 1 cup of milk used. Similar to the starch in potatoes, the starch in flour binds the fats and non-fats together to create a stable emulsion.

    • 5

      Bake your scalloped potatoes at 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Moderately low baking temperatures prompt the potatoes to absorb the milk before it curdles.

How to Keep the Skin Firm on a Twice Baked Potato

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While simple baked potatoes typically require toppings after leaving the oven, twice-baked potatoes incorporate flavorful ingredients into the potato and need no extra condiments. Twice-baked potato shells must stand up to scraping, stuffing and another round of baking. The potato skins will hold their shape well if you let them bake uncovered and leave enough flesh inside to form a thick foundation for the filling.

Difficulty:
Easy

Instructions

 

Things You’ll Need

  • Vegetable brush
  • Fork
  • Dishcloth
  • Knife
  • Spoon
    • 1

      Choose potatoes with firmer skins rather than tender new potatoes or thin-skinned varieties. Brown-skinned russet potatoes have hardy skins and a low moisture content that keeps them fluffy when they bake.

    • 2

      Wash the potatoes under clean running water and scrub them gently with a vegetable brush to dislodge any dirt remaining on the potatoes’ skin.

    • 3

      Prick the raw potatoes five or six times with a fork; this will prevent the skin from bursting as steam builds in the tuber’s interior. Poke the potato on its edges and underside if you want to serve an unpunctured potato skin.

    • 4

      Bake the potatoes uncovered, unoiled and unwrapped at 400 degrees F. Leaving the potato skins bare allows them to become crisp and firm instead of tender, giving you a stronger shell for the next phase of baking. Cook the potatoes for an hour to an hour and a half, depending on their size, and check for doneness with a fork pushed to the center of the potato.

    • 5

      Remove the potatoes from the oven and split them in half lengthwise, holding them with the folded dish towel to keep your hand from burning as you work with the hot food.

    • 6

      Scoop the fluffy flesh from the interior of the potato with a spoon, leaving a 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch rind of white flesh nearest the potatoes’ skins. The finished product should resemble a tiny dugout canoe with thick walls.

    • 7

      Mix the potato stuffing with ingredients of your choice and fill the skins with the stuffing. Leave the stuffing fairly loose rather than trying to force it into the potato; pressing too hard will fracture the potato skins. If you have plenty of potato stuffing, mound it onto the potatoes or bake it separately instead of forcing it into the potato skins.

    • 8

      Bake the stuffed potatoes until the stuffing browns.

How to Exterminate Little White Bugs on Sweet Potato Leaves

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Whiteflies often invade sweet potato patches, where they suck the juices from the leaves of the plant as it is growing aboveground. The whitefly that most often attacks sweet potatoes is called the silverleaf whitefly. This introduced insect was responsible for over $500 million worth of damage to sweet potato crops in the U.S. in 1991 alone. It has been found in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, New Mexico and Texas and also feeds on other crops, such as cucumbers, tomatoes, cabbage, cauliflower, peppers, squash and watermelon.

Difficulty:
Moderate

Instructions

Things You’ll Need

  • Gloves
  • Clippers
  • Sticky traps
  • Vacuum cleaner
  • Reflective mulch
  • Insecticidal oil
  • Neem oil extract
  • Predatory insects
    • 1

      Cut off sweet potato leaves that show signs of the small whitefly because immature insects are likely to inhabit areas where the adult insects gather. Put all plant material in a sealed bag—do not add it to a compost pile.

    • 2

      Hang yellow sticky traps in all areas where you have seen whiteflies.

    • 3

      Pull weeds from your sweet potato growing area and then lay down an aluminum or reflective plastic mulch.

    • 4

      Vacuum whiteflies in early morning when they are sluggish, using a handheld vacuum cleaner.

    • 5

      Spray your plants with insecticidal oil or neem oil extract.

    • 6

      Release predatory insects into the area where the whiteflies exist. Ladybugs, lacewings, big-eyed bugs and minute pirate bugs are some of the insects that feed on them.