Do I have to peel red potatoes before baking them?
I recently made some potato wedges in the oven. I shared this recipe with my relative, who admonished me for not properly peeling the red potatoes before baking them.
She claims that there are disease and viruses that lie on the skin, so peeling it will get rid of it. I bake it, so I assume that even the high heat in the oven would kill bacteria and germs. And besides that, I make sure to wash potatoes thoroughly before cooking them.
Am I in the wrong here? Should I have properly peeled the potato wedges before baking them? Personally I feel they add more flavor, and from all the pictures on the recipes online, it seems they also do not peel it.
Best Answer
No peeling is needed.
A good wash and proper cooking will handle all of your food safety needs.
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Answer 2
Absolutely no peeling necessary.
In addition to the above advice, if you (or anyone else) is overly concerned about 'germs' and the like on the skin, use a small plastic-bristled scrub brush to clean the potatoes properly under running water. I usually don't, unless they are really gritty from the field or have huge divots on the surface where water may not easily reach.
The peel improves the taste as well as the healthful perks.
Answer 3
I rarely peel my potatoes, I love the flavor and nutritional benefits (and ease) of retaining the peelings. If skin is too old or green, then I'll peel.
This discusses the concern of green potatoes:
PS: I always wash my potatoes with a vegetable brush under water; I always wash all produce.
Answer 4
Not only is peeling not needed for potatoes, but in my educated opinion peeling potatoes is not recommended.
As long as you follow proper food etiquette like washing your hands and properly washing the foods before you cook them, as well as cooking at the proper temperature, then you do not need to worry about bacteria.
Make sure to wash the potato well, under water, and preferably with a vegetable brush.
Further, it is unlikely that any bacteria could survive the high temperatures inside an oven anyway.
My last point is that, in my opinion, the skin is the most flavorful part of the potato.
On the other hand, beware of green sprouts on potatoes specifically. Make sure to remove any green sprouts, because they contain a dangerous and potentially deadly toxin called solanine. See this post for more details on the green sprouts: Is it safe to eat potatoes that have sprouted?
History Sidenote:
It's true that in the former USSR it was embedded into the culture to peel potatoes before eating them. However, this was not due to any nutritional danger, because the peels were still used and consumed separately. According to the book "Potato Ontology: Surviving Postsocialism in Russia" by Nancy Ries, on Page 195:
"Family narratives powerfully transmit potato-peeling morality. When I told her I was writing about potatoes, Marina, an erudite older friend, a Doctor of Social Sciences, plunged into a war story. She and her mother were evacuated to Kazakhstan, while her aunts remained in Moscow. When she returned after the war, the aunts told her their food stories. Always on the verge of starvation, her aunts did not waste even those dirty, unappetizing peels but saved and mashed them into pancakes." [Emphasis added.]
So, as you see, even the Soviet USSR, who emphatically peeled potatoes, still ate the potato skins (even the "dirty, unappetizing" ones), so the potato skins were not peeled because they were unhealthy, but rather merely out of tradition.
Answer 5
No, I don't think you need to peel them. That said, in some parts of the former ussr, peeling potatoes is (claimed to be) a must. So your relative's sentiment isn't without some precedent, at least.
Answer 6
No, you do not need to peel red potatoes before baking. As others have already said, good basic food hygiene washing and scrubbing plus removal of any eyes or sprouts suffices. I wonder if the emphasis is on red potatoes as opposed to white or black or other colours? I suppose your relative could have been concerned you would not recognise any green discolouration? On the other hand, people never ate the peel when I was a child, except when baking potatoes outdoors in a camp fire or on bonfire night. It is a relatively new culinary tradition to leave the peel on for baking, boiling and roasting. I think you should keep that in mind when hearing such warnings. And as you yourself say, all the recipes for potato wedges call for keeping the skin on as an integral part of the dish. Without the skin they would be potato pieces or slices, not wedges in my opinion.
Answer 7
The skin of a potato concentrates not just nutrients but also many of the chemicals used during the cultivation process (pesticides, fertilisers, etc). It is therefore preferable to peel them, unless you're cooking organic potatoes.
Answer 8
When I was a kid, I would eat the potato peels of our home grown potatoes, as my Mom peeled them. If it's dangerous, it's been dormant for 50 years:)
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