Why It's Usually A Mistake To Boil Sweet Potatoes - Chowhound (2024)

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Why It's Usually A Mistake To Boil Sweet Potatoes - Chowhound? ›

Bake, don't boil

To be specific, Sapola says that roasting sweet potatoes can take their glycemic index score from a 60 to a 90—pretty drastic for such a simple change. Now, experts will usually advise against boiling your vegetables, since you lose many of their valuable nutrients in the cooking water.

Boiling may actually retain most of the antioxidant power of sweet potatoes, compared to roasting and steaming. If we compare baking to boiling microscopically, boiling helps thin out the cell walls and gelatinize the starch, which may enhance the bioavailability of nutrients.

Sweet potatoes are rich in oxalate content and can result in the formation of kidney stones. Consuming sweet potatoes in excess can result in sweet potato side effects such as Vitamin A toxicity, which is manifested in skin rashes and headaches.

Typically when you roast sweet potatoes, they end up mushy, not crispy. That's because the high sugar content and moisture in the potato creates a softer result. In this case, they get their crispiness not by deep frying, but by sprinkling a secret ingredient over and baking them!

Boiled sweet potatoes affect blood sugar levels far less than other varieties, such as fried, roasted, or baked versions. Longer boiling times reduce the GI further. To support better blood sugar control, it's best to select healthy cooking methods and enjoy sweet potatoes in moderation.

(Another hot tip if you're boiling your sweet potatoes: Don't overcook them! They tend to absorb water, which could make the filling watery.) So, say you do have some undercooked bits of sweet potato. You have two choices: Pick them out or bake your sweet potato casserole long enough to soften the underdone pieces.

How to tell if sweet potatoes have gone bad. If your sweet potato is soft in spots, smells rotten, or oozes a mysterious liquid, that potato should be discarded. Another sign that sweet potatoes have taken a turn for the worse is if they start growing stalky purplish sprouts.

If you enjoy sweet potatoes, you can absolutely enjoy them daily. However, eating multiple sweet potatoes every day could cause a harmless condition called carotenodermia, where your skin turns yellow-orange. You may also want to be cautious about your sweet potato intake if you have a history of kidney stones.

Though they can both be part of a healthy diet, sweet potatoes are generally healthier than regular potatoes, partly because of their incredibly high vitamin A content. Sweet potatoes are also lower on the glycemic index, meaning that they are less likely than regular potatoes to make your blood sugar spike.

How to stop sweet potatoes from going mushy? ›

The potato pulled at 1 hour reached about 180 degrees, the 2-hour potato reached about 190 degrees, and the 3-hour potato reached about 200 degrees. Only the potato that cooked for the full 3 hours boasted the creamy, soft consistency and caramelized sweetness I wanted.

If your sweet potatoes cook too long in the oven they can overbake and become dry. The insides will become mushy. Moving your sweet potato cubes around and checking them periodically can help avoid overcooking.

Combine russet potatoes and sweet potatoes in a large pot. Pour enough water over potatoes to cover; add chicken bouillon. Bring water to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until tender, 15 to 20 minutes; drain.

Potatoes do contain starch, which is a complex carbohydrate made up of long chains of glucose molecules. However, the taste of potatoes when they are boiled or cooked doesn't usually come across as sweet because the starches in potatoes are not broken down into simpler sugars like glucose during cooking.

The antioxidants in the tuberous vegetable contain many health benefits, including by boosting the immune system, fighting cancer, and improving gut, heart, and eye health, and more. Surprisingly, boiling retains most nutrients and is one of the best ways to cook sweet potatoes.

Texture: Boiling sweet potatoes causes them to absorb water, resulting in a slightly wetter texture and softened flavor expression. A perfectly steamed sweet potato should hold its shape but turn velvety soft once cut into, like baked sweet potatoes.