Sweet potatoes are orange-fleshed vegetables native to Central and South America. According to the University of Illinois, sweet potatoes are high in vitamin A and are not related to similar-looking yams. One of the most popular uses for cooked and pureed sweet potatoes is to make rich holiday pies or casseroles topped with melted marshmallows. When sweet potatoes are cooked, they may contain fibrous strings that must be removed through a blending process. If left intact, the strings will ruin the cooked potatoes creamy texture.
Boil the sweet potatoes until they are fork tender. Drain the potatoes in a colander and allow them to cool.
Peel the cooled sweet potatoes with a sharp paring knife, removing as many of the strings as you can by hand.
Beat the potatoes with an electric hand mixer on “medium” for three to four minutes, or until they are smooth and the remaining strings are well blended.
Sweet potatoes stored at temperatures above 60 degrees Fahrenheit will shrivel and become dry and stringy. Sweet potatoes may develop an off-flavor and the flesh may become discolored when stored at temperatures below 55 degrees Fahrenheit.
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Elizabeth Arnold has written for a wide variety of publications and websites. Her experience includes writing travel features for “Recommend” magazine and packaging marketing copy for both Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Warner Bros. consumer products. Recently, Arnold was a staff writer for “Special Events” magazine. Arnold studied English at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
How to bake and remove strings from sweet potatoes.
FAQ
Why are my cooked sweet potatoes stringy?
How do you fix a watery sweet potato casserole?
Why do sweet potatoes have strings?
Strings in sweet potatoes are fibrous strands that run along the length of the potato. They can be quite tough, making it unpleasant to eat or even difficult to chew. The presence of these strings is largely due to genetics, as some varieties simply have more fibrous strands than others.
What are the spiky things in sweet potatoes?
They are the sprouts of the potato, if they are with these tips, you can bury the potato that sprouted in the garden of your backyard and that way, new potatoes will be born. But you can also just cut them out and cook them that are ok for consumption.
Can you mess up a sweet potato casserole?
With its sweet filling and (sometimes) savory topping, sweet potato casserole is the ultimate crowd-pleaser. It’s not fancy or complicated to pull together, but that doesn’t mean there’s no room for error! Here are four ways you can mess up your sweet potato casserole—and four ways to fix it when things go wrong.
Should sweet potato casserole filling be crunchy?
There’s some debate over which is better: sweet potato casserole with a filling as smooth as silk or a filling that has a little more texture. No matter where you land, everyone can agree that the filling shouldn’t be crunchy. If it is, you’ve got a problem—and the problem is that your sweet potatoes haven’t been cooked properly.