Freezing provides long-term sweet-potato storage.
Sweet potatoes, also called yams, aren't true potatoes. These tuberous roots of the flowering sweet-potato vine have rich yellow or orange flesh and a sweet flavor. Homegrown sweet potatoes and yams require 3 weeks' curing in a dry, 55-degree location before they're ready for cooking and freezer storage. Store-bought sweet potatoes are cured before they are sold. These root vegetables freeze well only after they're cooked. The uncooked tubers become mealy and unappetizing if frozen.
Instructions
1. Wash the sweet potatoes in cool water. Scrub the skins lightly with a vegetable brush, removing any soil or dirt from the skins.
2. Cook the sweet potatoes using your preferred method. Bake sweet potatoes for 15 minutes at 400 F, then continue to bake at 375 F until the potatoes are tender yet firm, approximately 30 minutes. Alternatively, boil the sweet potatoes whole for 30 to 40 minutes.
3. Wrap baked sweet potatoes tightly in aluminum foil once they cool. Mash boiled yams with a fork. Mix ascorbic acid with water, according to the package directions, and stir the mixture into the mashed yams to prevent discoloration. Ascorbic acid is available where canning supplies are sold.
4. Place the foil-wrapped sweet potatoes in a freezer-storage bag. Package mashed yams in a freezer-safe storage container.
5. Store the sweet potatoes for up to 10 months in the freezer. Thaw in the refrigerator before reheating the sweet potatoes in the microwave or oven.
Tags: sweet potatoes, before they, mashed yams, sweet potatoes
