Peeling peppers, tomatoes, and potatoes. Whats everybody's stance?

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AnonCooks

Assistant Cook
Joined
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Personally I've never had an issue when cooking with unpeeled tomatoes, potatoes, and peppers when cooking. I think it's rare that i even remove the skin when making mashed potatoes now, and i don't think I have ever removed kin from peppers and tomatoes when making sauces. There's good nutritional value in the skins and I don't like wasting food so I tend to not care so much about the skin. But whats everybody elses view? Skins, yay or nay?
 
I never peel tomatoes.
I only peel peppers when I've roasted them on the grill or gas burner.
I peel potatoes for mashed, stews, soups, etc. Not for roasted or smashed potatoes.
 
I only peel tomatoes for certain dishes.

Depends on peppers. In dishes where they are cooked with lots of other things, nope. I only use colored peppers, not green, for dishes where the pepper is a major or star component. In that case, they get peeled because my husband and I both get a bitter aftertaste if they are left unpeeled.

I mostly peel potatoes simply because I don't like the skin texture.
 
Peels, yay.
In my tomato sauce I blend the skins away rarely ever strain them away.
Raspberries and black berries, seeds, I strain out.
Peppers, only for special dishes or company, not for home cooking.
I make mashed potatoes with russet potatoes by boiling them or microwaving them, then I put them in cold water, and take the skin off with the back of the knife. If they are a softer skinned potato, like a red one, I'll leave the skin on.
 
Depends entirely on what I'm making. If I'm oven roasting potatoes, I usually leave the skins on. If they are going into a stew, I peel them before chopping.

Tomato skins I don't usually bother removing.

With thick skinned roasted peppers (e.g. poblanos, Anaheims, etc.), the skins are kind of nasty when left on. So I usually peel those.
 
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For me, it depends on the condition of the vegetables and the dish that I’m making.

I peel potatoes for potato salad or fries, tomatoes for stewed tomatoes and sauce, tough broccoli and asparagus stems, etc…
 
I rarely peel anything; peppers only when needed, like with chiles rellenos, and other Mexican dishes, potatoes and carrots when the skins aren't very good, for whatever reason, and I only occasionally peel tomatoes - that pork ragout, with fresh tomatoes, and ratatouille are two that come to mind, that I peel the tomatoes for, as the skins would end up loose, and floating around in the sauce. This is probably why I don't do that much canning, with all those tomatoes I grow - can't be bothered with it! Though I sometimes roast the tomatoes over an open flame, to char some of the peel, then blend it smooth, so the flavor is still there. Most things have the tomatoes chopped up small enough that the skin isn't a problem.
 
I don't like peppers, so I never eat them. Potatoes, I always peel simply because I don't like the skin. Unless I'm having a baked potato or stuffed potato, of course. The only time I'd ever peel a tomato would be for a sauce and I blanche them for that, although I haven't made a sauce in forever. Same with apples. I eat the skin unless I would be making a pie or something and I don't like apples enough to make stuff with them. But real tomatoes and peaches, if I'm lucky enough to get them from a farmer's market I'll eat them whole. Farmer's market peaches actually get inhaled. I love them so much and I can only get them in one place and for a short time. I refuse to buy the crap they call peaches in the store.
 
For tomatoes, I almost never peel them. I don't remember peeling them to can them, but that was decades ago. Potatoes, I didn't used to peel them for most things. I did peel them when the skins were, as an English friend put it, disreputable. But, the skins of potatoes seem to be where most of the solanine (toxic glycoalkaloid, common to many members of the nightshade family) is and it has a noticeable negative effect on my arthritis, so now, unless it's baby potatoes, they get peeled. I also peel carrots, unless they are very young, very fresh, and look nice, because they don't taste nice. Peppers, I haven't bothered yet. I would if I were roasting them, but I just buy roasted red peppers when I need them and save myself that effort.
 
Same as most...
Tomatoes, never. Unless I've thrown them in the freezer. Then I do. I don't actually know why. Habit I suppose.
Peppers only when blackening, same for eggplant.
Potatoes depends
Cucumber never
Carrots sometimes
Beets, never as I don't eat them
Apples, peaches, apricots never
Lychees, rambutan, banana, orange: always :)
 
I have never had a reason to peel tomatoes or peppers. As far as potatoes go, I get small ones, boil them, then squeeze them in the ricer. Potato comes out, skins stay behind. In fact, I just recently purchased a potato masher at the Dollar and a Quarter Tree (Formerly Dollar Tree) Store.
 
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