Sweet potatoes are so versatile. You can have them roasted, fried, baked, boiled, and even as a lip-smacking sweet potato pie dessert. With so many ways to cook sweet potatoes, we understand why you may want to prep them beforehand.
You can peel sweet potatoes ahead of time as long as you make sure that they get stored correctly. You can submerge raw peeled sweet potatoes in water and keep them cold in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. You can also freeze sweet potatoes for up to six months as long as they have been blanched.
Prepping sweet potatoes ahead of time can save you a lot of time in the kitchen when you have to cook for a family gathering or that special holiday spread. But all this is very time-consuming. So breaking up the process can be a great way to save time and energy.
Things To Remember While Peeling Sweet Potatoes Ahead Of Time
You can absolutely peel sweet potatoes ahead of time.
However, there are a few basic guidelines that you should follow while storing sweet potatoes to ensure they remain fresh and retain their sweet flavor before you bake, mash, or fry them.
Can You Peel Sweet Potatoes The Day Before?
Peeling sweet potatoes the day before you need to cook them is a really great way to save yourself hours of prep work on the day and a few extra hours of extra sleep.
Peel the potatoes and store them correctly in the fridge overnight, in airtight containers, and covered by water.
When you prep sweet potatoes the day before you cook them, ensure that you submerge the potatoes in cold water, ensuring that the water covers the whole potato.
Stir the contents lightly to ensure all the sides of the potatoes are covered by water and that no side of it is in contact with air.
Your sweet potatoes can be stored this way in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days at a time.
Ensure your refrigerator is set at a nice crisp 40°F.
You can also add some ice cubes to the water to ensure that the sweet potatoes remain as cold as possible.
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How Far In Advance Can You Peel Sweet Potatoes?
How far in advance you peel your sweet potatoes depends on how you will store them.
If you are prepping sweet potatoes a day or two in advance from when you will be using them, then storing them in the fridge is possible as long as they are covered in water to prevent them from oxidizing and going brown.
Submerging sweet potatoes in water also helps rinse them from the starch that covers them after being cut, thus ensuring a crisp outer layer once your sweet potato is cooked.
We recommend cooking them after 24 hours.
However, there’s always that time when you were a bit overly ambitious and made way too much, so you can easily store them in the fridge for up to 4 days if need be.
Buying many sweet potatoes and prepping them beforehand to be used in the months to come is a great time saver.
It can also be a great way to save money if you buy bulk or if they are on special.
You can peel sweet potatoes six months ahead of time and freeze them in smaller batches for when you want to add them as a side dish.
Freezing is a great way of preserving large batches of sweet potatoes from getting rotten.
It’s not recommended to freeze raw sweet potatoes, as they contain a lot of water and sugar.
Freezing them raw will cause the sugar and water to crystalize and change the structure of the sweet potato.
So when it comes time to thaw and cook them, they turn into an unappetizing mush that will do your cooking reviews no good.
If you are planning to freeze your sweet potatoes, then it’s recommended that you blanch them beforehand.
Boil them for 2 to 3 minutes, then place them into an ice bath to stop the cooking process for a further 2 to 3 minutes.
After that, place them on paper towels by scooping them up with a slotted spoon.
Dry your sweet potato cubes off any excess water before placing them in airtight Ziploc bags and freezing them.
If you don’t have a vacuum sealer, we recommend getting one when you can.
Vacuum sealers are a great way to ensure that all the air around your food is removed, preventing freezer burn.
Vacuum sealing your sweet potatoes could mean you can freeze them for longer periods than six months.
How Long Do Sweet Potatoes Last Once You Peel Them?
Sweet potatoes will start to go brown quickly after they’re peeled.
This color change is because sweet potatoes are naturally starchy vegetables.
When starch is exposed to oxygen, it gets oxidized and will start turning your sweet potato gray, brown, and sometimes even black.
Sweet potatoes that have oxidized and turned brown or gray are still edible.
But let’s be honest, who wants to eat brown sweet potato mash? It really does look unappetizing.
If you plan to use them within a few hours after peeling, rather place the cut sweet potatoes in a bowl of water to prevent air from drying them out and oxidizing them.
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Can You Peel Sweet Potatoes Before Baking?
Although unnecessary, you can peel your sweet potatoes before baking them.
Some people prefer the smoother consistency of peeled sweet potatoes.
Unless you are making desserts where it’s better to peel the skin from your sweet potatoes for a smoother texture, it’s not a culinary calamity if you leave the skin on.
Sweet potato skins contain many beneficial vitamins and antioxidants that you can safely eat raw or cooked.
Please remember, if you are leaving the skin on your sweet potato, clean and scrub it properly to ensure you remove any dirt, impurities, and bacteria on the skin.
Can You Peel Sweet Potatoes Before Boiling?
There’s no right or wrong answer here. If you want to peel a sweet potato before boiling it, the choice is yours.
There’s, however, a slight difference in the end product though.
You will find that boiling a sweet potato with the skin on is easier to peel, retains more of its nutrients, and has a higher beta-carotene content.
Boiling sweet potatoes with the skin on also retains the sweetness of the potatoes instead of losing that entire flavor to the water.
