How to quickly peel potatoes: 5 ways

In Russian cuisine, potatoes are an indispensable ingredient in cooking. It is added to the first and second courses, as well as to salads. In some cases, peeling tubers can become a real exhausting test. The article will provide recommendations on the choice of a knife, as well as ways to peel potatoes without it.

Choosing a potato peeling knife

In most cases, peeling potatoes is done with a knife, so every cook or housewife must have a convenient tool for peeling vegetables. The knife should be lightweight, safe, comfortable and reliable.

If peeling potatoes does not take a lot of time when preparing dishes, then there is no need to buy special knives. However, when it comes to regular classes, it is worth paying attention to more convenient models. Consider the most popular of them.

Knife knife

Piller knife is a universal tool in the kitchen, because thanks to it you can peel most vegetables and fruits. In addition, the model is attractive in that it is as safe as possible, including for children. Cleaning with such a tool speeds up the process as much as possible. Difficulties in the hostess with peeling vegetables can be if the potatoes are not even enough.

There are two types of pillers on the market: slingshot and straight knife. Externally, the slingshot-piller resembles a razor with a shortened handle and a convenient blade. Cleaning knives are sloped to minimize waste when peeling potatoes.

Direct models are equipped with an extended handle. A distinctive feature of the tool is an elongated blade that helps peel potato eyes. Two tool blades are angled to each other.

Floating blade knife

After the appearance on the market, knives with a floating blade became the most popular, as this part ensures the safe cleaning of any vegetable, regardless of shape. Almost every model uses a blade with a rotation angle of 360 degrees, significantly accelerating the cleaning process of vegetables and fruits. Knives of this type have two types of blades: with and without notches. The second type of knives presented is more convenient for peeling potatoes.

Curved knife

A distinctive feature of this type of tool is a shortened, but curved blade. Thanks to this, peeling potatoes takes place quickly, without significant waste. The tool holds well in the hand, providing maximum comfort when it comes to long peeling vegetables. The knife blade is wide, allowing you to peel potatoes in a few hand movements. The pointed end helps to remove the eyes and other processes of the tuber. Nevertheless, there is a significant drawback - you must handle the tool carefully to protect yourself from accidental wounds.

How to peel potatoes

The easiest way to peel raw potatoes is to use a kitchen knife, but the whole process must be carried out in compliance with certain rules. It is advisable to peel potatoes under running water using a small kitchen knife.

Raw

First remove all excess items from the potatoes, including dirt and sand. Then start peeling the tubers with light movements. Rinse the peeled potatoes under running water, remove the remaining peel, eyes and dark spots.

Young

To clean young potatoes, we recommend using a metal sponge, which is designed for washing dishes.For safety and health reasons, it is recommended to use a new sponge without defects and rust.

Cleaning algorithm:

• wash tubers;
• rub each potato with a wire brush;
• remove the eyes with a knife.

After cleaning, wash the potatoes again under running water and, if necessary, remove the remaining peel.

Shallow

So that peeling small potatoes does not turn into torment, we recommend using salt. To do this, take small potatoes, wash it, put in a bag and pour salt there. After that, start cleaning and rub the tubers well with salt. At the end of the process, remove the vegetable from the bag and wash it under running water, removing the remaining peel. Using this method guarantees the cleaning of small potatoes with minimal assistance from the housewife.

In uniform

Boiled potatoes are often used in the preparation of various dishes and salads. Such a vegetable needs to be cleaned after cooking. There are several tricky ways to speed up the process.

After cooking the potatoes, remove them from hot water, place them on a flat plate or on a kitchen board. It is most convenient to get hot tubers with a fork. Hold the root crop with a fork with one hand, and the second with a knife, peel it from the skin. This technique is the most common among housewives, which minimizes the loss of edible mass.

The second method involves processing potatoes after cooking using heat treatment. After cooking, drain the hot water from the pan, and pour the cold, adding ice to the potatoes. Support the root crop in ice water for several minutes. As a result, the peel of the potato itself will begin to lag behind the fruits, without much effort on the part of the housewife. A similar technique can also be resorted to when cleaning a young root crop.

The third method of peeling involves the initial preparation of the vegetable for subsequent cleaning. Wash tubers first before boiling. Before proceeding with the preparation, make a circular incision around the entire perimeter of the root crop, while the incision should coincide on all sides. Then start cooking potatoes. Before pulling the root crop, prepare a bowl of cold water. Boiled potatoes in cold water for 10-15 seconds. After removal, allow time to cool. Then take the root crop with your hands from different ends and click on it, the peel will be easily removed without additional effort.

The above methods have proven themselves in practice. They significantly accelerate the peeling process of boiled potato peel.

Without a knife

In some cases, peeling of raw potatoes is possible without a knife. You can use improvised tools, such as a sieve. This method is suitable for peeling young potatoes. First, pick up a sieve with small cells. Then pour the root crop into a sieve and under a stream of water, roll the root crop several times. At the end, remove the eyes and thoroughly rinse the root crop before cooking.

How to store peeled potatoes

Storage of peeled potatoes is accompanied by difficulties. The root crop is covered with black spots in a short time. There are several recommended methods for long-term storage.

1. A common method is to store root vegetables in cold water. However, do not forget that storage in this form will lead to the dissolution of vitamins and nutrients in the composition. To slow down this process, store potatoes in whole tubers.
2. It should be noted that the shelf life of potatoes without loss of nutrients is no more than 3-4 hours. Premature blackening of the fruit occurs due to the active use of nitrogen during cultivation. To slow the process, add a slice of lemon to the pot along with potatoes.
3. For longer storage, it is recommended to use the method of soaking in cold water and in the refrigerator.After peeling potatoes, place them in cold water. Soaking in ice water slows down the blackening process.
4. Before starting cooking, rinse the root crop with water again. However, this technique is not suitable when it comes to cooking boiled potatoes, as long-term storage in water reduces the density of the vegetable crop.
5. To maintain the density of tubers, you need to put peeled potatoes in a bag and put it in the freezer. The package must be tied to prevent air from entering. Otherwise, the method will not have the expected success. There is no need to defrost potatoes before cooking; you can immediately lower the root crop into salted, boiling water.
6. To preserve the chopped potatoes for a long time, a cling film is required. To begin, wash peeled tubers to remove starch. Wipe the washed root crop with a towel, then proceed to cutting the potatoes. After that, wrap the chopped root vegetable in a plastic wrap and place it in the freezer. Sliced ​​potatoes can only be stored in the freezer.

Before cooking, you do not need to defrost the vegetable. If you want to cook fried potatoes, place the slices on a preheated pan, previously greased with sunflower oil. If chopped potatoes are intended for cooking, then dip it in boiling salted water.