The Absolute Best Way To Remove The Earthy Flavor From Potatoes

Our planet serves as the foundation for growing all kinds of grains, fruits, and vegetables. And sometimes, it goes a little overboard with imparting its "earthy" flavors into certain kinds of foods, namely, mushrooms, horseradish, and potatoes, per Flavor Print. But why is this so?

Idaho Potato states that the dirt on potatoes acts as a shield against blemishes and physical imperfections, such as bruising. This is great for storage purposes, but it also makes these spuds taste like the soil they grew in, as they're not fully rinsed until they're ready to be sorted and packed, as the above source states.

Spices Inc. notes that these "minerally" flavors come from geosmin, which is an organic characteristic of soil. The site continues, explaining that humans can easily smell and taste this compound, especially since many types of vegetables grow in it.

Some people love the earthy taste of potatoes, but there's also a way to remove it for those that want a potato to just taste like a potato.

According to Idaho Potato, adding potatoes to water mixed with an acidic ingredient will reduce that "dirt" flavor on potatoes. A separate Idaho Potato source states that the ratio should be 1 tablespoon of either lemon juice or white wine vinegar per gallon of water.

Potatoes are also loaded with starch, and too much of this good thing makes potatoes taste gummy, according to Potato Goodness. Fortunately, soaking helps with this conundrum as well, and Potato Goodness advises using cold water instead of hot water to avoid a reaction with the starch.

And if that's not enough, Livestrong states that soaking potatoes will decrease the amount of acrylamide within them. They explain that acrylamides may lead to health problems and are created when starchy foods, like potatoes, are fried, baked, or roasted.

It's clear that soaking potatoes provides a few other benefits aside from removing that earthy flavor. This method is also easy to implement, and we hope that you'll use it for tasty and tender potatoes for your next recipe.