Is it a sweet potato or a yam?!?!

[exer_cited]

Does anyone know what the difference is between a sweet potato and a yam? Is there a difference, does it matter?

They look exactly alike, I can't tell the difference!

Anybody???

 

[MSJ]

I think, but I could be wrong, that a yam has orange flesh and a sweet potato has more yellowy flesh. It's harder to tell them apart from the outside.

I don't think it matters though--both good and healthy.

If I'm wrong I'm sure one of the educated crowd will correct me.

Maggie

 

[Sunshine 1528]

Here's a link for you:

http://homecooking.about.com/od/howtocookvegetables/a/sweetpotatodiff.htm

 

[exer_cited]

Thanks for the link Jacque!!

I believe that I've purchased sweet potatos twice now even though the girl rang them up as yams.

Thanks girlies!!!

 

[allwildgirl]

This is what the yams in my grocery store look like. Sweet potatoes look more like potatoes, with orange flesh.

http://www.vivienne-mackie.com/articles/holidays/family/teddyyam.jpg

 

[BAM]

Are you allowed to post that pic here? }(

Bam

 

[exer_cited]

Shelley, I'm speechless....

My sweet potato or yam, whatever the heck I bought, looked NOTHING like that!!!

 

[tneah]

.....}( }(

 

[jonahnah]

I don't think yams have as nearly much nutrional value as sweet potatoes, so definitely go for the latter.

Jonahnah
Chocolate IS the answer, regardless of the question.

 

[exer_cited]

Thanks Jonahnah!!

 

[Mckmain]

yuk, both of them gross me out....x( ...Interesting pic Shelley!...

 

[MSJ]

Wow, thanks for the link. What I thought was a yam (with orange flesh) is actually a variety of sweet potato, but is erroneously labeled as a yam in the grocery store.

I don't thing I've ever seen a bona fide yam .

Maggie--always learning something new

 

[Sunshine 1528]

Too funny Shelley :7

This AM while in my garage on the TM I looked at my latest box of the "orange potatos".

It said Sweet Potatos and Yams x(

OK, which is it, huh?

Does anyone know if there are specific times of the year one is grown and the other isn't?

For some reason I seem to notice yams in the stores more around the winter but always seem to see sweet potatos year round . . .

 

[tneah]

Yams are the slimy darker orange color, sweet potatoes are more starchy and light yellowish in color, on the outside and inside.

I prefer sweet potatoes to yams any day! Yams probably contain more things like betacarotene and stuff but they are just too slimy for me.x(

Sweet potatoes taste like a sweeter version of your regular potato, more starchy than a yam.

 

[goldenpath]

This is a picture of a yam that I purchase in my local grocery store

http://food.oregonstate.edu/images/fruitveg/yam/yam3.jpg


It has a yellow inside like other have said.

The sweet potato has a yellowish flesh in side - I will try and find a picture.

I know sometimes at my local grocery store - the sign says yam and it is really sweet potato or vise vera and sometimes they actually get it right.

 

[goldenpath]

Here is a picture of a sweet potato that I buy at my local grocery store.

http://www.dkimages.com/discover/previews/920/50282487.JPG


WOO HOO!!! I am so excited this is my second that I have posted. I have to thank Nancy - I read one of her posts from September and was able to figure it out. YAHOO!!

 

[SRP]

There are several different varieties of sweet potatoes - some are redder, some are more orange or yellowish. Their textures can vary a bit. All look basically like a potato, though often more irregularly shaped.

The picture Shelley posted is a true yam. Pretty amazing, huh?