good morning beautiful friends!!!! I hope and pray that this glorious morning finds you all doing great. it's such a beautiful morning here in our neck of the woods. I think even all the little birds and frogs that I hear every morning are out enjoying this beautiful day, because they are quiet. but then again, they could have slept in a little longer, because it's kinda cool this morning and I love it. the cool mornings are the best. I feel a little more energetic with the briskness that cool mornings give. so I hope that wherever you all are, that you are enjoying your morning.
well, you see that title again? this is pt. 4 of the great tater caper. you also see the words "and an experiment". so I done an experiment on this last 5 lbs of potatoes just to show you all why I'm always saying rinse, rinse, rinse, and then rinse some more. this should be the defining factor as to why to rinse. there will be another experiment or two along. but for now, this is the one we have today.
the two pictures above are perfect examples of what I described in part 1 of this tater caper. rinse rinse rinse, rinse after each cut. peel and put in cold water. slice and put in fresh cold water. drain water and add fresh cold water. I do this until the water runs clear when I'm draining it. if it keeps looking milky and sudsy, I keep rinsing. then blanch for 3 or 4 minutes depending on the thickness of the slices or dices. and then back into an ice water bath until they are completely cold. this is the steps that I took for all 5 of those jars that you see above. they just couldn't be any more beautiful and perfect. please don't take this as bragging!! this is lots of time perfecting what I do with my potatoes.
a lot of people will tell others that you have to dip your potatoes in lemon juice to keep them from turning dark. I call that out right here and now. I keep lemon juice in my fridge and cabinet at all times, but I only used lemon juice one time and decided that if I want my potatoes to taste like lemon, I'll add it in the cooking process. we were not happy with every potato meal tasting like lemon juice. if that's what you want, then that's great. really it is. but if you don't want that taste all the time, then start rinsing rinsing and rinsing more until the water runs clear. I never even have to think about using lemon juice on my potatoes. when we learn the proper technique, then we have beautiful potatoes and we didn't have to use lemon juice.
ok, so the next picture I'm going to show you is what potatoes look like when you DON'T rinse, rinse, rinse. the thing to know here, is that these potatoes are perfectly fine and edible, and we will eat these potatoes. they will be the first ones we clean up, just to get them out of the cabinet. hahaha but, none the less, they are perfectly fine.
something else about these potatoes. I've heard people ask if you have to blanch them. short answer is no, you don't have to blanch them. and that's what these are. these have NOT been blanched at all. and they was only rinsed 1 time. this actually come about because I wasn't feeling too good that day and I just needed to get this done. I had peeled them and diced them the day before and put them in the fridge overnight. in the evening I was thinking about what I wanted to do for an experiment and this is what I was going to do anyway. but since I wasn't feeling to well, this was perfect. so I got up the next morning and scooped the potatoes out of the starch water and put them directly on my dehydrator. no rinsing and no blanching. and yes, these, are perfectly fine for eating. they will be cooked in soups and stews. and we won't even know the difference. ok, prepare yourself for what these looked like. remember, these have NO rinsing and NO blanching.
this is a side by side comparison of the first 3 batches I done. I have 2 jars of the thinner sliced potatoes and 2 jars of the thicker sliced potatoes and then the first cubed jar I done. they were all rinsed several times and blanched. I done 4 batches in all and these 4 jars represent the 4 batches I done. and the last jar obviously with no rinsing and no blanching. I wish I had taken a pic of them before I took them from the water in the fridge, they were beautifully cream colored. I also wish I had taken a pic of them on the trays. they had started oxidizing and turning dark before I even got a tray full. I've seen people ask about how and why this happens. my experiment showed why and how this happens.
it's quite obvious that rinsing and blanching does some amazing things for potatoes. this isn't the last of my "great tater caper" experiments. I will be doing 2 or 3 more in the near future. and these were russet potatoes. russets, I find, have a LOT of starch and that starch needs to be rinsed off really well. but I plan on doing a small test with soaking potatoes in lemon juice and sharing the results. I wish I had thought this out really well before doing it, I would have done everything I want to do right now with the four 5 lb bags of potatoes. I plan on buying 3 individual potatoes for these experiments. hahaha a russet, a yukon gold and red potato. and then I'll let the experimenting roll. I'll take 1/3 of each potato and I'll do 1. no rinsing and no blanching, 2. soaking in lemon juice and blanching, 3. rinse rinse rinse till the starch is gone and blanch. that will be my 3 experiments, all side by side for comparison. and we'll see what the results are.
while we're talking about experiments, this is the second experiment that's taking place right now.
this is a small bowl that I filled with hot tap water and put a handful of potatoes in to rehydrate and see how much starch will soak out of them. I've changed the water 2 times since starting this yesterday and I wish I would have taken pics. I can't remember everything. hahaha but the water both times looked like rusty water. it's unbelievable. well, it's actually not, because I've done this experiment before just for myself, but I didn't take pics.
anyway, hang with me on this and we'll hopefully some exciting experiments. I hope this will help some you that may be interested in dehydrating but don't know how to go about it or wondering if all the steps are worth it. quick answer, yes, the steps are worth it.
well, this is just about all I have today. I hope and pray that sometime today you'll find time to thank God for all He's done for you and continues to do for you. every breath comes from God. every blink comes from God. every heart beat is God ordained. Thank You God!!!!!
blessings on you all today. hugs and love, patty
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