Care & Handling

Availability
Green Giant Fresh Sweet Potatoes are available year round.

Selection
Select sweet potatoes that are heavy for their size, and buy similar-sized potatoes if you plan to cook them whole, so that the cooking time will be uniform. Choose potatoes that are smooth, hard, and free of bruises or decay, which may appear as shriveled or sunken areas or black spots. Even if cut away, a decayed spot may have already imparted an unpleasant flavor to the entire potato.

Storage
Despite their rugged appearance, sweet potatoes have a thin skin that is easily damaged, and they are subject to rapid spoilage. To help preserve them, growers cure them--that is, they store them at a high temperature and humidity for about 10 days before sending them to market. This process also enhances the vegetable's natural sweetness. After purchase, sweet potatoes should be kept in a cool (55°F to 60°F), dry place, such as a cellar, pantry, or garage--never in the refrigerator, where they may develop a hard core and an "off" taste. In fact, when sweet potatoes are stored at low temperatures, their natural sugars turn to starch, which does nothing to enhance their flavor.

Preparation
Moist- and dry-fleshed sweet potatoes are interchangeable in most recipes (except in baked goods, where the difference in the moisture content might be critical).

Scrub the potatoes under cold running water before cooking.

Cooking
Baking: Pierce the potatoes with a fork before baking to let the steam escape. To speed clean-up, place the potatoes on a foil-lined baking sheet to catch the sticky juices that ooze from them as they bake. Cooking time: 30 to 60 minutes in a 400°F oven, depending on size.

Boiling: If you cook the potatoes whole, there's no need to peel them first; the thin skins will slip off easily when the potatoes are done, leaving most of the nutrients intact. The skin is edible, however, and supplies additional dietary fiber. Cooking times: for whole potatoes, 15 to 35 minutes; for chunks, 10 to 15 minutes.

Microwaving: Wash the potatoes and pierce them several times with a fork, then place it on a paper towel. When you take the potatoes out of the oven, wrap in foil and let stand for five to 10 minutes. Cooking times: for two medium potatoes, five to nine minutes; for four, 10 to 13 minutes.