baking vs boiling?

[bones]

From a nutritional stand point what is better baking or boiling? I recently got some sweet potato and don't really care about the taste just wondering which way would be healthiest? I know that adding heat damages the food but which one is least harmful?

[shelley]

Starches are better off cooked so cook them any way you find tasty.

The question you've asked is a legitamite question, how we cook things does affect their nutritional value, but cooking is sometimes unavoidable and actually to be preferred over the alternative of raw. Potatoes must be cooked or we'll cramp up and get diarrhea, we simply cannot break down the long chains of carbons properly without cooking. The main nutrients, vitamin A, are not harmed by either boiling or baking. So long as you eat the sweet potato with butter or oil you will absorb the nutrients just fine.

Be sure to read how to cook basic veggies in the FAQ, which is a kind of steamed veggies that gets them to fork-tender but still crunchy without loss of nutrients into water or the need for special equipment. I love no muss no fuss cooking.

Steam does not exceed the temperature that is safe for retaining the goodness of the veggies, so steaming is safe. A simmer rather than roiling boil is better when you have to boil something.

We tend to bake things at 350 degrees, and this is fine because the food does not actually reach 350 degrees just because the oven is. It is exposed to this degree of course but you can see with a food thermometer that many things just don't get above 160 degrees no matter how hot the oven is.

[bones]

Thanks for the reply , that clears a lot up

[Rozenkwarts]

Usually i wash the potatoes under running water and bake them in the oven for about 30 mins to 45. I find they taste best this way. Then add butter or olive oil and salt and eat the whole thing including the skin. Do you eat the skins? Are they nutritious?

roasting vegetables in the oven is really delicious too and so easy. I often chop up onions, red bell peppers, broccoli stalks and put them in the oven for about 10 to 15 minutes (5 mins for whole garlic cloves) This together with the sweet potatoes is really good and so satisfying. My family love it too!

btw have tried roasting parsnips and carrots chopped up but i find they are tough and not very digestible, best to cook them.

[Invincible]

[bones]

I sometimes eat the skin, it depends on how the skin looks. I have no idea if the skin has any nutritious elements. Will try the vegetable roasting.

[shelley]

You can eat the skin or not, it's a good idea to eat the skin because there's a layer of nutrients closest to the skin that aren't to be found further in. But I don't find it too tasty so I don't bother.

Potassium cannot be killed or denatured. It's always there unless the food is a fake, refined food.

[chickpea]

Mmmmmm I LOVE roasted/baked veggies and potatoes I usually do parsnips, sweet potatoes, or butternut squash and garlic, covered in olive oil and some herbs
Yes baked stuff like this are rich in potassium as compared to boiling them when you lose some of it in the water....unless you drink the water afterwards of course though I think they're much tastier done in the oven anyway.

[shelley]

Yeah, one of my cheats is to use Lawry's seasoned salt on my baked sweet potato fries. oh MAN that just hits the taste buds just right!

Or oil infused with rosemary.... YUM yum yum.

[Invincible]

That's good to know about the potassium. Thanks Anne and Shelley!