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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 63 points 1 year ago

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 40 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.

[-] foggy@lemmy.world 47 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I was a bartender for a bit.

It's normal for coworkers to complain about picky/annoying guests.

A coworker came up to me:

Jfc guy said he wanted a lot of lemon with his Pepsi, I gave him 3, he said he wants like a whole lemon worth of slices wtf

Me: Was he... Old?

Yeah...?

Me: kidney stones. That mans probably had a few, and he's done with em. Give him a sidecar of fresh lemon juice (something we had on hand), you'll make his day.

[-] sblanziko@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago

What does lemon do to kidney stones?

[-] pedro@lemm.ee 8 points 1 year ago

My guess is it helps dissolve them?

[-] drbluefall@toast.ooo 11 points 1 year ago

A quick bit of research shows that citric acid prevents kidney stones from forming, actually.

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[-] GBU_28@lemm.ee 16 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Some recipes seek the smoothest consistency. Skin interferes.

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

[-] flambonkscious@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 year ago

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
[-] Frozengyro@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

It's delicious.

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[-] Thaolin@sh.itjust.works 53 points 1 year ago

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 73 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 5 points 1 year ago

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.

[-] TalesFromTheKitchen@lemmy.ml 11 points 1 year ago

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 170°C according to Wikipedia) which might be troublesome since some places swap frying oil infrequently.

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[-] BarrelAgedBoredom@lemm.ee 27 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

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 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

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.

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[-] freebee@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 year ago

this is the quality dedicated response i'm looking for haha.

I've considered before getting something like the apple peeler, but my girlfriend was like no it's just a gimmick we don't really need it, it will just clutter up the kitchen or get forgotten about in a closet. Guess I know what I want for christmas!

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[-] mycatiskai@lemmy.one 7 points 1 year ago

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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[-] mayonaise_met@feddit.nl 24 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

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

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

[-] flambonkscious@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 year ago

That is some Tim the tool man Taylor stuff!

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

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[-] bitsplease@lemmy.ml 20 points 1 year ago

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

Speed?

Effort?

Potato wastage?

[-] schmurian@lsmu.schmurian.xyz 15 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

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

[-] Schaedelbach@feddit.de 7 points 1 year ago

We have one of those. It's called "Sparschäler" over here in Germany. I have no idea how to translate it but maybe "a thing that peels and saves as much of the veggie in the process" or savingspeeler?? Whatever, my point is: those little teeth are something else! I got them stuck in the skin of my fingers/hand so often, I got another one without the teeth. The one without teeth isn't as effective (especially when I peel carrots) and cuts more off the vegetables I peel. Feels smoother, though!

[-] freebee@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 year ago

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.

[-] Pulptastic@midwest.social 6 points 1 year ago

The one in the photo jiggles too.

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[-] linearchaos@lemmy.world 11 points 1 year ago

It depends on what exactly you're looking for in "efficiency'.

When most people peel potatoes they're looking for a time efficiency.

In the one strip method there's a lot of turning the potato going on. And a lot of careful precision. If you've been doing the one strip for enough time you might be close to the million strokes peeling being time effective but for most people...

To be honest I don't really peel potatoes anymore The only dish I would peel them for would be scalloped.

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[-] lasagna@programming.dev 11 points 1 year ago

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

[-] Krachsterben@feddit.de 5 points 1 year ago

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

[-] RelativeArea0@startrek.website 9 points 1 year ago

Steel wool and a water bucket or running water

[-] Transcendant@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago

To go further... bucket full of potatos, stick a scrubbing brush on the end of a drill, then drill that water till all the peel flies off.

Sounds mental but I swear I saw a YT video of this once

[-] bizzle@midwest.social 8 points 1 year ago

I use a lathe to peel potatoes

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[-] treadful@lemmy.zip 7 points 1 year ago

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

[-] federalreverse@feddit.de 10 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

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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Victorinox makes a very nice peeler

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[-] krayj@sh.itjust.works 6 points 1 year ago

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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[-] tintintin@discuss.tchncs.de 5 points 1 year ago

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.

[-] pisstoria@hexbear.net 5 points 1 year ago

I kinda don't see the point of peeling that kind of potato. I get them entirely because of the thin skin and would just the bigger thicker skinned ones if I minded the skin.

I've sometimes just scrubbed off the skin with some steel wool like stuff though.

[-] carbonprop@lemmy.ca 5 points 1 year ago

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

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this post was submitted on 02 Sep 2023
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