Crash Hot Sweet Potatoes (Awesome Easy Recipe + Video) (2024)

FAQs

Do sweet potatoes get sweeter the longer you cook them? ›

The longer and slower you cook a sweet potato, the more maltose is formed and the sweeter it will taste.

The variety most often recommended was 'Georgia Jet'. It has the reputation for high yields, cold tolerance (relative to other varieties), and producing well even in a short growing season; about 90 days to maturity from transplant.

Season with paprika, brown sugar, black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, poultry seasoning, chili powder, and cayenne pepper; toss until potatoes are evenly coated.

Start in February or March.

Sweet potatoes are often touted as being healthier than white potatoes, but in reality, both types can be highly nutritious. While regular and sweet potatoes are comparable in their calorie, protein, and carb content, white potatoes provide more potassium, whereas sweet potatoes are incredibly high in vitamin A.

Baking whole sweet potatoes in the oven or cutting them into cubes and roasting them caramelizes the potatoes' starchy flesh, making it sweeter and giving it a silky smooth texture. Even if you are making mashed sweet potatoes, they will taste better with oven-cooked potatoes.

Root crops such as beets and parsnips work well with Sweet potatoes. Lemon balm attracts parasitic wasps and hoverflies and can help manage all the worms affecting Sweet potatoes. Summer savory helps to confuse and repel the Sweet potato weevil. It is good to attract honey bees too.

One potato tuber will often produce more than a handful of sprouts or slips. These slips are removed from the original tuber by a careful twist, or, by keeping them attached to the tuber and slicing them off. Each of those slips can grow into a plant that can produce about 6 sweet potatoes.

Bone meal, kelp meal, and green sand are my favorite organic choices for sweet potatoes that are lower in nitrogen than potassium and phosphorus. Don't over-fertilize! Sweet potatoes are not heavy feeders, so these should just be an occasional snack if your soil is less than ideal.

So if you want a sweet, sweet potato, you have to cook it until it reaches 135–170°F (57–77°C). And you want to keep sweet potatoes in that range for as long as possible. That will maximize how sweet the potatoes taste.

What is the difference between a yam and a sweet potato? ›

Are Yams and Sweet Potatoes the Same? No, yams and sweet potatoes are not the same. Yams have rough, dark brown skin that is often compared to tree bark, and their flesh is dry and starchy like a regular potato. Sweet potatoes have smooth reddish skin, softer flesh (when cooked), and a sweet flavor.

Sweet potatoes grow best in light, sandy soils but grow well on heavier soils, high in clay and amended with organic matter. Full sun requires direct light at least 6 hours/day; prefers 8 - 10 hours/day. Days to maturity: 85 - 120. Spacing: 12" in-rows x 40" between row.

Sweet potato plants come back every year if you live in a warmer growing zone (USDA zones 8 through 11). The orange-fleshed sweet potatoes are the most familiar, but sweet potatoes can be white, yellow, and even purple. If you have a smaller garden, you can grow bush varieties.

Sweet potatoes mature in 85 to 120 days and they're extremely frost sensitive. Plant them in full sun three to four weeks after the last frost when the soil has warmed. Make holes 6 inches deep and 12 inches apart. Bury slips up to the top leaves, press the soil down gently but firmly, and water well.

So if you want a sweet, sweet potato, you have to cook it until it reaches 135–170°F (57–77°C). And you want to keep sweet potatoes in that range for as long as possible. That will maximize how sweet the potatoes taste.

Can you overcook sweet potatoes? Unfortunately, yes! If your sweet potatoes cook too long in the oven they can overbake and become dry. The insides will become mushy.

Cut into eighths and place in a large pot. Add enough water to just cover the potatoes, and a pinch of salt. Boil sweet potatoes for 15 to 20 minutes, until they are tender when pierced with a fork. It will take less time if you cut the sweet potatoes into smaller pieces.

Sweet Potatoes:Sweet potatoes tend to have a higher moisture content than regular potatoes. This can result in a slightly faster baking time. When baked at the same temperature, a medium-sized sweet potato might take anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour at 425°F (220°C) to become fully tender.