Baked: Do you eat baked potato skins?
Subject: Do you eat baked potato skins?
Newsgroups: rec.food.cooking
From: edrich at halcyon.com (Ed Rich)
Date: Tue, 20 May 1997 17:33:15 GMT
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I have read that all the vitamins and good stuff is in the skin of a potato. Consequently I eat baked potato skin and all. There are some who regard this practice as weird... Is eating potato skins a common practice or am I all alone in the world.
From: patcar at symph.engr.sgi.com (Pat Caruthers)
Date: 20 May 1997 18:15:30 GMT
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i have never met anyone who thought eating the skin was "weird".
i know some who don't like it, but they don't think its Weird.
i think its the best part.
From: penmart10 at aol.com (Sheldon)
Date: 20 May 1997 16:08:58 GMT
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When potatoes first arrived in Europe, the people ate the skins, and used the insides to slop the hogs.
From: michelle.campbell at stonebow.otago.ac.nz (Miche Campbell)
Date: 20 May 1997 22:12:18 GMT
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Sheldon writes:
> When potatoes first arrived in Europe, the people ate the skins, and used
> the insides to slop the hogs.
If they ate potatoes at all. Rumours quickly spread that potatoes were poisonous.
It took a couple of hundred years for them to be regarded as acceptable food again.
ObPotatoSkins: yes, I do eat them and like a previous poster, I think they're the best part.
From: miamiflash at aol.com (MiamiFlash)
Date: 26 May 1997 00:02:52 GMT
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I agree - the skin's the best part. Although my husband and I only eat the skins at home or friends' homes and not in restaurants.
I guess I'm just paranoid that restaurants either don't wash them first, or that they don't wash them as well as I would.
It's your *friends* who are weird! :-)
From: Brian Mailman (bmailman at hooked.net)
Date: Mon, 26 May 1997 14:17:08 -0700
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MiamiFlash wrote:
> I agree - the skin's the best part. Although my husband and I only eat
> the skins at home or friends' homes and not in restaurants.
>
> I guess I'm just paranoid that restaurants either don't wash them first,
> or that they don't wash them as well as I would.
I think that anything that survives at 375-400 degrees F for an hour
will inherit the earth.
From: Sara Zarr (lassie at slip.net)
Date: 20 May 1997 20:04:26 GMT
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Ed Rich wrote:
>I have read that all the vitamins and good stuff is in the skin of a
>potato. Consequently I eat baked potato skin and all. There are
>some who regard this practice as weird... Is eating potato skins a
>common practice or am I all alone in the world.
You're not alone, Ed. I eat the baked skins as long as they're not dried beyond chewability. I leave the skin on for mashed potatoes (yeah, I like 'em lumpy, too!), scalloped potatoes, tater salad, home fries, etc, etc. Adds nice texture, I think. My mother-in-law is always horrified at this practice. Maybe that's why I do it. Heh-heh.
From: idlewild at webspan.net (Idlewild)
Date: 21 May 1997 22:33:49 EDT
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i don't eat the skins. i don't like them, usually. the only time i will eat them are with "tater skins" - which are skin plus ~1 cm of potato, topped with cheese, scallion bits, maybe bacon pieces, baked to a crisp, eaten with sour cream. (heart stopping, really.) i have also been known to eat french fries that still had their skin.
do you mean brown skin or red skin or it doesn't matter? i can eat red skin potatoes with much less convulsing. if i eat a baked idaho potato, i definitely leave the skin on the plate.
From: shipley at swcp.com (Susan Shipley)
Date: 20 May 1997 22:04:34 GMT
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Ed Rich wrote:
> I have read that all the vitamins and good stuff is in the skin of a
> potato. Consequently I eat baked potato skin and all. There are
> some who regard this practice as weird... Is eating potato skins a
> common practice or am I all alone in the world.
I prefer them to the innards! What I don't like is foil-wrapped baked potatoes or nuked baked potatoes, because the crusty texture I like so much doesn't develop. If you have to use a knife to cut the skin, it is probably the way I like it :-)
From: Kate Connally (kconnally at physast1.phyast.pitt.edu)
Date: Wed, 21 May 1997 10:20:54 -0700
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Of course, potato skins are the best part. I almost never peel my potatoes anymore. Not only do I eat the skin on a baked potato, I leave the skin on for soups and stews, potato salad, and mashed potatoes, etc.
From: Norm Ramsay (nramsay at magma.ca)
Date: 22 May 1997 00:53:48 GMT
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One of my favorite snacks is microwaved potato skins. After I finish eating my baked potato I zap the skin for a few minutes till the insides get brown. Don't knock it till you've tried it. Kids love it.
From: mckay at mindspring.com (KMcKay)
Date: Tue, 20 May 1997 18:16:04 -0400
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Ed Rich wrote:
>I have read that all the vitamins and good stuff is in the skin of a
>potato. Consequently I eat baked potato skin and all. There are
>some who regard this practice as weird... Is eating potato skins a
>common practice or am I all alone in the world.
At home, yes.
At restaurants, no.
At a restaurant I used to work at we'd throw a case of potatoes in the sink and rinse for about 3 seconds. I was sure they never got all the dirt rinsed off, so I gave up eating the skins.
From: patcar at symph.engr.sgi.com (Pat Caruthers)
Date: 20 May 1997 22:19:23 GMT
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Kathy McKay writes:
> At a restaurant I used to work at we'd throw a case of potatoes in
> the sink and rinse for about 3 seconds. I was sure they never got
> all the dirt rinsed off, so I gave up eating the skins.
What are you concerned about that would make it through baking process? (that doesn't affect every other thing prepared in the restaurant, i mean)
From: mckay at mindspring.com (Kathy McKay)
Date: Tue, 20 May 1997 18:27:31 -0400
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Pat Caruthers wrote:
>What are you concerned about that would make it through baking process?
>(that doesn't affect every other thing prepared in the restaurant, i mean)
I don't like to chew dirt.
From: Kate Connally (kconnally at physast1.phyast.pitt.edu)
Date: Wed, 21 May 1997 10:15:16 -0700
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KMcKay wrote:
> I don't like to chew dirt.
Well, there's this new technique that many people have been using lately. It's called washing. You hold the potato under running water and using a small brush you scrub off all the dirt. It's truly amazing how this works. I haven't eaten any dirt with my potatoes for ages.
From: rbruman at netcom.com (Ray Bruman)
Date: Wed, 21 May 1997 15:36:34 GMT
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KMcKay wrote:
> I don't like to chew dirt.
On the other hand, there are people around the world who DO like to chew dirt, and were the subject of a documentary on PBS. One of them, a housewife in England, confessed that she liked to buy the dirtiest potatoes she could find, bring them home and lick them. I'm not making this up. She said it was embarrassing, and she hoped her husband wouldn't find out, but she just loved it. The producers offered her a taste of clay from the southeastern US, where dirt-eating is fairly common. She pronounced it "quite nice."
From: kwilhite at ezinfo.ucs.indiana.edu (kevin john wilhite)
Date: 22 May 1997 05:11:28 GMT
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Ray Bruman wrote:
>On the other hand, there are people around the world who DO
>like to chew dirt, and were the subject of a documentary on
>PBS. One of them, a housewife in England, confessed that
>she liked to buy the dirtiest potatoes she could find,
>bring them home and lick them. I'm not making this up.
Well, dirt is the most natural of foods. Vegans and vegetarians can have no complaint about eating dirt. They may have some problem with the nemotodes and such.
From: weeden at leland.Stanford.EDU (Kimberly Ann Weeden)
Date: 22 May 1997 12:43:40 -0700
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In a thread totally unrelated to veg*n's eating choices...
kevin john wilhite wrote:
>Well, dirt is the most natural of foods. Vegans and vegetarians can have
>no complaint about eating dirt. They may have some problem with the
>nemotodes and such.
Funny, just two threads back on my newsreader, there was a discussion about intolerance of veg*anism. Are you trolling, or just remarkably clueless?
From: Brian Mailman (bmailman at hooked.net)
Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 13:42:51 -0700
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I've heard it said that cravings for dirt and other odd things (like kiwifruit--just had to slip that in) _can_ be a sign of serious nutritional deficiencies or anemia caused by internal bleeding. Anyone with these kinds of cravings should see a physician pronto.
From: Joel.Ehrlich at salata.com (Joel Ehrlich)
Date: 23 May 97 19:52:39 GMT
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Brian Mailman wrote:
> I've heard it said that cravings for dirt and other odd things (like
> kiwifruit--just had to slip that in) _can_ be a sign of serious
> nutritional deficiencies or anemia caused by internal bleeding.
> Anyone with these kinds of cravings should see a physician pronto.
Oh, I don't know about that Brian.
One of my horses started eating dirt recently. I took it as a clue to a mineral deficiency and went out and got a salt block. They all started working on the salt and stopped eating dirt.
So you see, eating dirt could just be an indication of a dietary deficiency.
From: pattee at CUBoulder.Colorado.EDU (Donna Pattee)
Date: 27 May 1997 15:27:04 -0600
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Joel Ehrlich wrote:
>One of my horses started eating dirt recently. I took it as a clue to
>a mineral deficiency and went out and got a salt block. They all started
>working on the salt and stopped eating dirt.
Really?? I thought they were just trying to find all the little pieces of hay that were left in the dirt. Guess I'd better check and see if they still have any salt block left in the pen.
>So you see, eating dirt could just be an indication of a dietary
>deficiency.
(Wait! Is this rec.equestrian or rec.food.cooking?)
From: alan at no.spam.com
Date: Sat, 24 May 1997 20:24:00 GMT
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Me, I buy clean potatoes and just bake them. No washing.
From: jot at visi.com (J. Otto Tennant)
Date: 22 May 1997 00:27:32 GMT
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The dirt is cooked right along with the rest, no?
And homo sapiens sapiens would not have survived if dirt were particularly poisonous, considering the eating preferences of infants.
From: nancy-dooley at uiowa.edu (Nancy Dooley)
Date: Thu, 22 May 1997 15:43:27 GMT
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>The dirt is cooked right along with the rest, no?
>
>And homo sapiens sapiens would not have survived if dirt were
>particularly poisonous, considering the eating preferences of
>infants.
True, but I don't like gritty food.
From: cogman at cyberenet.net (Friend )
Date: 21 May 1997 20:43:50 GMT
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KMcKay wrote:
: I don't like to chew dirt.
I found that washing the spuds before cooking them removes the dirt. Problem solved.
From: Trica (calbar at accutek.com)
Date: Wed, 21 May 1997 07:12:26 -0700
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I went to the Sizzler one time and got a potatoe that definately wasn't washed. It was so dirty in fact that when I cut into it, dirt fell off into the inside. Something about that just made me ill. I used to eat there quite often but for some reason I prefer to go elsewhere nowadays.
That place has go down hill since their money proplems anyway.
From: Liz (lswanson at sfo.com)
Date: Sat, 24 May 1997 22:45:27 -0700
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We all have to agree that potato skins taste really bad and that's why we're lead to believe they're actually good for you. They are, marginially speaking, great for fiber, but that's about it. And there's a lot more tasty nutritional things available. I use them for the compost heap, myself.
From: thelma at alpha2.csd.uwm.edu (Thelma Lubkin)
Date: 25 May 1997 07:35:52 GMT
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Liz wrote:
: We all have to agree that potato skins taste really bad and that's why
: we're lead to believe they're actually good for you. They are,
No, we certainly don't ALL agree: I've been too lazy to do it in recent years, but I used to bake potatoes for so long that the insides dried to almost nothing, and then I'd gorge on that really tasty part, the crisp skin. I will readily agree that you think potato skins taste bad, but please don't try to speak for all of us--we are interesting because we vary.
From: dweller at netcomuk.co.uk (Doug Weller)
Date: Sun, 25 May 1997 08:45:20 GMT
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Liz wrote:
>We all have to agree that potato skins taste really bad and that's why
You misspelled delicious.
From: sbhattac at u2.farm.idt.net (Shankar Bhattacharyya)
Date: 25 May 1997 09:12:39 -0400
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Yeah, what he sez.
In Bengal we cook potato skins into a chochhori, which is a rather dry curry made by sauteeing the skins in a small amount of oil and usually letting it cook in its own moisture. The oil is first flavoured with a phoron of whole spices and some powdered spices might get scattered into the dish after the vegetables go in.
We make chocchories out of lots of different vegetables, typically vegetables which hold their moisture well. You don't want the chochhori to get waterlogged.
Chochhories get served early in the meal, in small quantities, almost as a palate-waker-upper. They tend to be a little oily but mixed in with rice or wrapped in a bit of bread - ah, bliss.
From: Edwin Pawlowski (esp at snet.net)
Date: 25 May 1997 20:11:18 GMT
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Liz wrote:
> We all have to agree that potato skins taste really bad and that's why
If they taste bad, you are doing something WRONG. I love them. A little butter and salt on a crispy skin is better than the insides.
From: cogman at cyberenet.net (Friend )
Date: 27 May 1997 21:06:07 GMT
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Liz wrote:
: We all have to agree that potato skins taste really bad and that's why
Not only do we all not have to agree with you, but lots of us flat out disagree. I love the taste of bake potato skins! Yum! Yum!
From: Pocho (pocho at gte.net)
Date: 31 May 1997 09:31:29 GMT
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Marla Kay wrote:
> Amen!! Yum-yum! We were taught it was a waste not to eat them! (showing my
> age?)
Hope you don't eat um in restaurants most don't wash um, I love um at home though.
From: kwilhite at ezinfo.ucs.indiana.edu (kevin john wilhite)
Date: 21 May 1997 02:27:40 GMT
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Ed Rich wrote:
>I have read that all the vitamins and good stuff is in the skin of a
>potato. Consequently I eat baked potato skin and all. There are
>some who regard this practice as weird... Is eating potato skins a
>common practice or am I all alone in the world.
I won't say the skins are the best part, but I always save them for last. With a little butter, or gravy, or sour cream, or whatever, they are excellent. At least this is how it is with home-baked potatoes. Scrub skins well to remove dirt. coat with a bit of oil. bake at 450 or at least 1 hour.
From: HIDDA (dennisda at mauigateway.com)
Date: Tue, 20 May 1997 22:47:17 -1000
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Ed Rich wrote:
> I have read that all the vitamins and good stuff is in the skin of a
> potato. Consequently I eat baked potato skin and all. There are
> some who regard this practice as weird... Is eating potato skins a
> common practice or am I all alone in the world.
Yes! Especially if it was scrubbed well, oiled, and lightly salted. Baked at a high temp so the skin is almost crisp. I always save it for the last.
From: Judy (critterz at concentric.net)
Date: Wed, 21 May 1997 08:06:57 -0500
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On the average, the calories from the flesh of a baked potatoe is 145, eat the skin and add 115 calories, that's not counting the added butter etc.
From: Kate Connally (kconnally at physast1.phyast.pitt.edu)
Date: Wed, 21 May 1997 10:19:09 -0700
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Judy wrote:
> On the average, the calories from the flesh of a baked potatoe is 145,
> eat the skin and add 115 calories, that's not counting the added butter
> etc.
Are you sure you don't have the potato mixed up with a chicken? It's hard to believe that that itty bitty ole potato skin has nearly the same number of calories as the whole rest of the potato. Now for chicken, yeah, I can believe it. Maybe you've been eating those new hybrid potatoes that are supposed to be a cross between and potato and a chicken.
From: edrich at halcyon.com (Ed Rich)
Date: Wed, 21 May 1997 17:05:21 GMT
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>Now for chicken, yeah, I can believe it. Maybe
>you've been eating those new hybrid potatoes that
>are supposed to be a cross between and potato and
>a chicken.
I believe you have confused the potato/chicken thing with a Paratato which is a cross between a parrot and a potato. It was developed at the university of Iowa and can sing, "I've only got eyes for you."
From: penmart10 at aol.com (Sheldon)
Date: 21 May 1997 17:58:42 GMT
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Judy or Andrew writes:
>On the average, the calories from the flesh of a baked potatoe is 145,
>eat the skin and add 115 calories, that's not counting the added butter
>etc.
Wrong!
From: TBOMP at webtv.net (TONI BOMPENSIERO)
Date: Sun, 25 May 1997 10:58:49 -0700
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Extra calories in potato skins????
I'm Sure. Duh
From: cogman at cyberenet.net (Friend )
Date: 21 May 1997 20:42:17 GMT
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Judy or Andrew wrote:
: On the average, the calories from the flesh of a baked potatoe is 145,
: eat the skin and add 115 calories, that's not counting the added butter
: etc.
I find it hard to believe that the skin of a potato has so many calories, more than the meat of the potato. Where did you get this information?
From: weeden at leland.Stanford.EDU (Kimberly Ann Weeden)
Date: 22 May 1997 12:47:02 -0700
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Friend wrote:
>Judy or Andrew wrote:
>: On the average, the calories from the flesh of a baked potatoe is 145,
>: eat the skin and add 115 calories, that's not counting the added butter
>: etc.
>
>I find it hard to believe that the skin of a potato has so many calories,
>more than the meat of the potato. Where did you get this information?
Somewhere along the line, someone probably looked up "potato skins, 1 med" in a food guide. I'd be surprised if potato skins (the dish) had only 115 calories per serving...
From: Judy or Andrew (critterz at concentric.net)
Date: Sat, 24 May 1997 07:23:51 -0500
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Friend wrote:
> I find it hard to believe that the skin of a potato has so many calories,
> more than the meat of the potato. Where did you get this information?
From 'The Fat Counter' by Anenette B Natow, PH.D, R.D. I'll quote:
baked, flesh only 5 oz.: 145 cal, trace fat
baked, skin only from 1 potato: 115 cal, trace fat
From: penmart10 at aol.com (Sheldon)
Date: 24 May 1997 17:31:19 GMT
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Judy or Andrew writes:
>From 'The Fat Counter' by Anenette B Natow, PH.D, R.D. I'll quote:
>baked, flesh only 5 oz.: 145 cal, trace fat
>baked, skin only from 1 potato: 115 cal, trace fat
Hmmm, 5 oz. of flesh -- skin weighs ?
Ya must got some purty thick skin on yer spud, 'cause yer 'citation can't be verra ackquerit Ms. 1 "potatoe" head "PH.D" Reg. Dem.!
Hoo Hooo Ha Ha Hoo Ha Ha Hee Heeee Heeeeeeeeeeee e e e e e e e . . . .
Ph.D
From: penmart10 at aol.com (Sheldon)
Date: 30 May 1997 00:06:28 GMT
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Read it again Dan. Main question is about the calzoneories contained in the skin of indeterminate weight. Wouldn't ya think the skin would have to contain most of the potato flesh for it to contain 115 calzoneories, considering the poster cites "5ozs potato flesh alone = 145 calzoneries". All my references state 1 med. (6oz.) potato contain 90-110 calzoneries, the entire potato, including the skin.
Anyone know if potato eyes contain an inordinate number of calzoneries? If so, maybe the good Dr. measured the calzoneries of a potato with JiBBillions of eyes!
Maybe Dan needs a potato eye transplant! Hahahahahahahahahaha. . . .
From: nancy at world.std.com (Nancy C Reynolds)
Date: Wed, 21 May 1997 16:35:40 GMT
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Ed Rich writes:
>I have read that all the vitamins and good stuff is in the skin of a
>potato. Consequently I eat baked potato skin and all. There are
>some who regard this practice as weird... Is eating potato skins a
>common practice or am I all alone in the world.
I don't know how much it's regional, a change in the times or individual taste, but growing up in Illinois, I *never* saw anyone eat potato skin intentionally. Serving potato salad with the skins still on would have been cause for embarrassment! There's no way there would have been "potato skins" on the menu as an appetizer back when I lived there! Maybe things have changed in Illinois. Here in Boston, it's all too common to see potato skins on potato salad. Many people seem to eat potato skins on baked potatoes. My husband (from NYC) does and sometimes I have, if I was hungry enough or bored and wanted a different taste. Now that I eat so little, I don't even get to eat the entire inside of a potato, never mind the skin!
From: howells at athena.mit.edu (Nancy A. Howells)
Date: 22 May 1997 17:36:41 GMT
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Growing up in Michigan, my family ate the skins on baked potatoes, and boiled potatoes with skins on (most of the time - sometimes we'd peel those, too, for a change) but we *always* had peeled mashed and peeled potato salad and peeled homefries.
Now, I eat the potato and the skin when baked (as usual), make potato salad some of the time with skins on, make mashed with no skins, make homefries with skins, boil potatoes with skins (for various eating things) and peel as little as possible. I LOVE the taste of potato skins - they're the best part of the potato, and I like the innards a lot,too. My husband isn't much of a potato eater, something which sort of annoys me, because if it were up to me, I'd eat 'em every day, particularly in the baked or micro-baked form.
From: Randy & Jody Abbott (skunka at btc-bci.com)
Date: 25 May 1997 13:57:18 GMT
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Hi,
I eat baked potato skins...always have...Mother used to recite this:
People in Donnegal, eat potato skins and all.
She's from Pennsylvania, where there is a Donnegal,
although I believe it is a reference to Donnegal, Ireland and the Potato Fammine.
The Potato Licker Woman may have suffered a Mineral Deficiency...I've heard of cows eating dirt when they had the same affliction...Is this also why some young school children eat Paste?
:-) Jody
From: nancy-dooley at uiowa.edu (Nancy Dooley)
Date: Tue, 27 May 1997 17:35:20 GMT
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>Deficiency...I've heard of cows eating dirt when they
>had the same affliction...Is this also why some young
>school children eat Paste?
>:-) Jody
Yes, I believe the desire to eat dirt, chalk and other things commonly thought of as inedible is called "pica."