Opinions differ when it comes to washing potatoes. Should these first be peeled and then cleaned or vice versa? In many cases, tubers from your own garden or organic cultivation are quite dirty, as the clinging remains of soil have a positive effect on their ability to be stored.
Dirty potatoes should be washed before peeling
Before you can enjoy it, you have to wash it
Potatoes from the supermarket are usually pre-cleaned. You can only remove contamination from these after peeling. However, if the skin is very earthy, you should wash the tubers before further processing:
- Run cold water into the sink and add the potatoes.
- Leave to soak for a short time to loosen the dirt.
- Scrub the potatoes thoroughly with a special vegetable brush. You should refrain from using the dishwashing brush, as detergent residue could be transferred to the tubers.
- A sponge with a scouring side is suitable for small triplets.
- Drain the water and refill the basin with cold water.
- Clean the potatoes carefully again.
- Pluck off any germs and remove the eyes.
- Green patches on the potatoes, which contain toxic glycoalkaloids, can be seen better under the water. Cut them out generously.
Under no circumstances should you wash the potatoes before storing them, as this would spoil them much more quickly.
Peel potatoes
Depending on the recipe, you can now remove the skin from the raw potatoes with a vegetable peeler or boil them first and then peel them:
- Score the skin all over with a sharp knife.
- Boil potatoes until cooked. Don't let them get too soft or they will fall apart.
- Rinse briefly with ice cold.
- The shell can now be easily removed with your fingers and almost in one go.
tips
New potatoes still have a very fine, thin skin. Thorough brushing removes most of this so you no longer have to peel the potatoes.