4 Benefits of Blanching Potatoes You May Not Know

It is important to blanch potatoes in the process of making French frice wherein you have to heat them in boiling water or steam them for a certain amount of time.

Time needed to blanch the potatoes

Blanching potatoes may seem like an easy process but it needs certain amount of time to be blanched. If the potatoes are under-blanched, then it will trigger the activity of enzymes present in the potatoes that may absorb flavor, texture and color. It is always better to blanch the potatoes than under blanching them or not blanching at all. If over-blanching occurs, it will degrade the quality of potatoes as well as of the color, flavor, vitamins and minerals.

Benefits of blanching potatoes

People pay heed to blanching for a variety of reasons as they carry a range of benefits to them. Blanching the potatoes gets rid of the skin and keeps the vegetable fresh, helping preserve their quality as well. The benefits of blanching potatoes to make amazing French fries are listed below.

• It helps in cleaning the surface of potatoes

It also eliminates the presence of bacteria and other organisms present on the surface of the potatoes.

• Blanching can put a halt to the enzyme actions

When the veggies are mature, the enzyme keeps working on them to make the veggies develop a legible seed to reproduce further. Blanching can get rid of those enzymes. Hence they preserve flavor, color and texture of the potatoes. It also increases the lifespan of the storage of potatoes. After the potatoes have been blanched, they will not blacken even if subjected to oxygen.

• Blanching can gelatinize the starch.

When frying the potatoes, the blanched potatoes will rapidly form a layer of gelatinized starch on the surface layer of the potato that can stop the oil absorption and improve the texture at the same time.

• Blanching can reduce acrylamide in fries.

Blanching can effectively extract the eliminated sugars and amino acid asparagine in potatoes and bring down the acrylamide content in French fries. After they are fried, potatoes can have a uniform color. Hence, blanching is a must when making French fries for commercial use or even if it is made at home.

Apart from classic French fries, there are many variants available like masala fries, piri-piri fries and a lot more! Explore this website to know more about French fries.