this post was submitted on 02 Sep 2023
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Like, I get comments from people telling me it's weird I always try to peel potatoes like I am trying to make the worlds longest 1-piece potato peel. To me it feels way for efficient and fun to continu down a potato in 1 peel, while circling around it, instead of randomly scraping a hundred different pieces of peel off and having to reintroduce the cutter knife to the potato for every piece.

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[–] xeddyx@lemmy.nz 37 points 1 year ago (3 children)

The most effecient way is to NOT peel potatoes. Why would you ever want to peel them? Potato skin is yum and rich in nutrients, whereas the flesh is mostly carbs. By throwing away the skin, you're not only wasting nutrients, you're getting rid of the texture and fiber it adds.

[–] fratermus@lemmy.sdf.org 22 points 1 year ago

Why would you ever want to peel them?

I used to eat the skins until my kidney stone went to the lab. No more skins or spinach for me. :-( Kidney stone pain is an amazingly-effective incentive for dietary change.

[–] GBU_28@lemm.ee 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Some recipes seek the smoothest consistency. Skin interferes.

If you aren't cooking that specifically, just wash the skin.

Do you mean there's something other than roasted and mashed?

Oh... How could I forget gnocchi?! That wondrous improvement on pasta

[–] lazynooblet@lazysoci.al 6 points 1 year ago

Mash with skin, hmmmmm.

[–] Thaolin@sh.itjust.works 35 points 1 year ago (17 children)

Given that the skin has up to 12 times the nutrients of the entire potato it covers I personally stopped peeling my potatoes in most situations. It also adds a great crispy texture when you're roasting or frying. With that said, you do you when peeling. If it's cathartic to peel it all in one piece go for it. Or you can cut the potato in half and simply use a knife to trim the skin off like a sweet potato.

[–] Heikki@lemm.ee 47 points 1 year ago

That's not true. For a potato, about half the total fiber is found in the skin. No other nutrients are drastically reduced.

Source

[–] Pantherina@feddit.de 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You should NOT do this with Potatoes. Their skin contains Solanine, which is a nightshade toxin.

Other veggies and fruits yes, but not potatoes. Other nightshades like Tomatoes and Pepper are way different.

Fresh or properly stored non "green" potatoes should be safe to eat with the skin, as the solanine content is usually below the threshold of 100mg per kg, as I understand it according to this Source. What I found interesting is that the Solanine apparently accumulates in frying oil (it starts breaking down at about 170Β°C according to Wikipedia) which might be troublesome since some places swap frying oil infrequently.

[–] freebee@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 year ago

Rather peel, peel is gross. I prefer simply boiled and salted, without skin.

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[–] mayonaise_met@feddit.nl 16 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

Bucket of water with potatoes and a drill with a toilet brush for a drill bit.

https://youtu.be/WaUoIS10dvA?si=I8U2LRj3Np0AvBPs

That is some Tim the tool man Taylor stuff!

I wanted to shit on it but I'm actually quite impressed...

What the fuck kind of toilets are they cleaning in Denmark?

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[–] BarrelAgedBoredom@lemm.ee 13 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

Hey OP, I haven't read through the entire thread yet but I have a couple of suggestions. Fancy cocktails are a hobby of mine and a high quality peeler is essential for pulling thin, delicate strands of citrus zest for garnishes. The OXO Good Grips Y Peeler is a fairly popular one. With the added benefit of being able to replace the blades when they go dull. They also make a swivel peeler (the one in your picture) if you prefer that. My personal favorite is the Viski y peeler.

There's also channel knives, they're made to specifically cut continuous long, thin strips of citrus zest so you may find those pretty fun to use on your potatoes. With a little practice, you could probably peel an entire potato without stopping once. Like peelers you have a couple of options. The Triangle knives are good. You would use them in a similar way to Y-peelers. I'm not sure what the form factor for these are called but they're used in a similar way to the peeler in your picture.

Lastly, if you'd like a very quick (efficient) way of peeling them, you could always use an apple peeler. I can guarantee those will peel anything quicker than you could do by hand. And they're kinda fun to play with too

And a tip: pull the potato, not the peeler. Use your had with the peeler as leverage, but keep it still and use your hand with the potato to move it through the blade.

[–] HumbertTetere@feddit.de 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Boy, Oxo has has a terrible website. Decline their tracking and it gets stuck "Processing request" while blocking the whole page. Accept and it's immediately usable.

[–] BarrelAgedBoredom@lemm.ee 2 points 1 year ago

Sorry! Had no idea. I have a network dns filter and adblocker on my browser and didn't have an issue. For what it's worth, target carries OXO brand stuff and there's plenty of sites that sell their brand as well

[–] mycatiskai@lemmy.one 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The Y peelers or as they were called in the kitchen I worked in "the lady's shaver" are great because you can cut on the back and forward motion.

Carrots, potatoes, cucumber all peeled superfast by peeling back and forth instead of only one direction.

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[–] bitsplease@lemmy.ml 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)

"most efficient" depends on what you're maximizing for

Speed?

Effort?

Potato wastage?

[–] schmurian@lsmu.schmurian.xyz 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

I would agree that the tool you use has the most impact. I really like this one. For me it works way better than the one in your picture.

Alt: Picture of a peeler, with a blade that has teeth

[–] freebee@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

true, it impacts the technical options. When my last one broke, I looked for quite a long time to find exactly one like in my picture again. The head needs to jiggle about to follow the shape of the potato while peeling. Static peelers feel very weird to me.

[–] evranch@lemmy.ca 3 points 1 year ago

I have a few of these in my drawer, I only use this style as the Y-type are awful IMO. I like the whittling motion and not the scraping motion, it feels natural. All other styles are a gimmick.

I just took a look. All have floating blades and my current favourite is probably the "Kuraidori" from Home Hardware. Lots of blade, not much guard, solid stiff single piece handle and thick blade. Blade is marked "Solingen Duo-Cut Germany".

I farm, grow a lot of potatoes in my garden and they are a staple of my family's diet. I just go ham on the potato with that style of peeler, must be only a couple seconds per potato. I definitely overcut sometimes but as potatoes are nearly worthless to me compared to the peeling time, NBD.

Another hot potato tip, I always pressure cook them if not baking or roasting. It turns out reliable results super fast and uses very little water.

[–] Pulptastic@midwest.social 3 points 1 year ago

The one in the photo jiggles too.

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[–] lasagna@programming.dev 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I don't think hands are good at peeling potatoes. Maybe if you sharpen your nails?

[–] Krachsterben@feddit.de 3 points 1 year ago

The skin flakes off really easily if you cook them first. No nails needed

[–] bizzle@midwest.social 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I use a lathe to peel potatoes

[–] lapommedeterre@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] bizzle@midwest.social 4 points 1 year ago
  1. If I fuck up it's just mashed potatoes so I mean win win
[–] krayj@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I don't normally peel my potatoes, but when I do, I use the peeler like I'm whittling a piece of wood.

But peeling oranges...I do the same thing you try to do with potatoes: I try to get the peel off in one single long spiraling piece.

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[–] PissinSelfNdriveway@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Victorinox makes a very nice peeler

[–] Dorgel@feddit.de 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

The one with the serrated edges? I don't like it, it's a bitch to clean, even though it saves x amount of cutoff... I much prefer the type linked by op, I have an even more ergonomic one from wmf that I love

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[–] treadful@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I want to know more about the peeler in the photo. I've never seen anything like that.

[–] federalreverse@feddit.de 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

German Amazon has it. It is not particularly special o'er 'ere.

In terms of ergonomics, I much prefer this one, though.

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[–] Schmuppes@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

It's called "SparschΓ€ler".

[–] Shortstack@reddthat.com 3 points 1 year ago (7 children)
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Steel wool and a water bucket or running water

From experience in Restaurants: boil them first and usually you can peel them then by hand. Like ripping the skin of in two parts with each hand.

[–] PaulSmackage@hexbear.net 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)
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[–] ChicoSuave@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

If efficiency is the goal, spiral is good. If speed is the goal, rapid cuts are best. If both speed and efficiency are the goal, go mechanized.

[–] carbonprop@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Same for peeling apples. One long continuous peel is so satisfying.

[–] Pulptastic@midwest.social 2 points 1 year ago

I have an apple peeler/slicer/corer that does that. I use it to quickly peel and slice apples in bulk for apple pie.

[–] ShadowRam@kbin.social 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

If you can understand the accent, this is the best way to peel potato's,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drVqGhjI558

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You can heat them, then rapidly cool them in cold water and the Peel will slip right off.

Might not be the most energy efficient way.

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