Sweet potatoes are incredibly versatile, but before you can use them in all their glory, you have to know what kinds of sweet potatoes you’re dealing with. Yes, there’s more than one type of sweet potato at your local grocery store. Here are 16 different sweet spuds in a range of colors, textures, and flavors to consider as you make your favorite sweet potato recipes.
The jewel sweet potato, with its copper skin and deep-orange flesh, is probably what you think of when you think sweet potato. It’s traditionally used for baking and casseroles, especially around holidays. But there are also sweet potatoes, such as the hannah variety, that doesn’t have an orange interior at all. We’d bet you’ve never heard of a speckled purple sweet potato either. It’s never too late to become well-acquainted with these lovable spuds.
“A general guideline to estimating how many sweet potatoes you need when hosting friends or family for a meal is one medium sweet potato per person,” Burgess says, as if she's done this many times before.
Which sweet potato is the sweetest? Sweetest is subjective but relatively speaking, Garnets and Hannahs are mildly sweet. Purple and Jewels are moderately sweet and the Japanese variety tend to be the sweetest.
The best time to plant sweet potato plants is after the ground is thawed and after the last spring frost date has passed. If the ground doesn't freeze in your location, then the best time to plant is usually a month after your last spring frost date.
In USDA Hardiness Zones 9-11, sweet potato vines can be considered perennials and they'll come back in the spring. In colder regions, the first frost will destroy the foliage above ground, but if you can protect the roots and keep them from freezing, they may come back in the spring!
The most versatile and sweetest variation of sweet potatoes is the Beauregard. Throughout the United States, you will see this species stacked high in the grocery stores during the holiday season. Beauregard's have a bit of a stringy texture, but they stay soft: this is what makes them so popular.
Sweet potatoes with orange flesh are richest in beta-carotene. Sweet potatoes with purple flesh are richer in anthocyanins. Beta-carotene and anthocyanins are naturally occurring plant “phyto” chemicals that give vegetables their bright colors.
When to harvest sweet potatoes for the best crop? In fall, when the weather begins to turn cool and the vines start to wither. Aim to harvest before the first fall frost—a light frost won't usually damage the roots, but a hard frost might injure roots near the soil surface.
You can even grow sweet potatoes in large pots or buckets! If raised beds are not possible, dig down into your planned bed at least 12” and create mounded rows or hills for each plant. This adds extra inches for tuber development.
A slip is a rooted sprout from a mature sweet potato.
You can order sweet potato slips online, or you can grow your own.) Expect a 5-gallon bucket to yield a couple of pounds of potatoes. To grow your own slips, wait for a sweet potato to sprout on your counter.
The tuberous roots should be harvested by the time frost kills the vines or soon thereafter. Sweet potato roots continue to grow until frost kills the vines. Roots can be left in the ground for a short while; however, a hard frost can cause damage to roots near the surface.
How long sweet potatoes last in normal room temperature depends on many factors, and it's best to keep them in a pantry to last 3–5 weeks. You can also store sweet potatoes in the fridge for 2–3 months, or freeze them to last even longer.
Peel and season with butter and salt to taste. Use 1 medium sweet potato per person. Boiled sweet potatoes can be used for pies, cookies, casseroles, glazed, candied or frozen.
Introduction: My name is Neely Ledner, I am a bright, determined, beautiful, adventurous, adventurous, spotless, calm person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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