help me help my sister make latkes!

December 23, 2005 12:52 PM

ChrismukkahFilter! My sister's asked me to help on Xmas/Hanukkah by grating the potatoes and onions for the latkes ahead of time. Help me avoid the dreaded oxidation.

My sis & BIL have 3 small kids, so she understandably wants to minimize kitchen time that day. How much ahead of time can I grate/squeeze the potatoes and onions? (My drive to my sister's will be about 20 minutes or so, so factor that into the total time.) If I cover them with plastic wrap directly on the surface, will that help avoid oxidation? And I'm assuming I shouldn't refrigerate them after grating since the cold will turn the potato starch to sugar, no?

posted by scody to Food & Drink (13 answers total)

Immerse them in cold water.
posted by birdie birdington at 12:54 PM on December 23, 2005

Here's a link.
posted by birdie birdington at 12:55 PM on December 23, 2005

keep your mouth closed while you deal with the onions and they won't make you cry ... not what you asked, but it's a good tip
posted by pyramid termite at 1:06 PM on December 23, 2005

yup--cold water. have fun! (we're more of a matzoh meal pancake family--try those too--easier and tastier, esp. with cinnamon and sugar sprinkled on top)
posted by amberglow at 1:07 PM on December 23, 2005

why would refrigeration turn starch to sugar?
posted by andrew cooke at 1:23 PM on December 23, 2005

Another alternative is to fully make the latkes ahead of time, then freeze them in single layers. Then, when you're ready to roll, you just bake them in a 425 oven for about 15-20 minutes.

At the bottom (sorry, no anchor) of this page, there's the recipe I use ("Make Ahead Potato Latkes")
posted by jasper411 at 1:30 PM on December 23, 2005

I was just about to make jasper411's suggestion. That's how my ma always does the latkes.
posted by elisabeth r at 2:00 PM on December 23, 2005

My best latke-making lifehack was to buy a food processor with a grater attachment. An hour of grating onions and potatoes turned into five minutes work, which certainly cut down on kitchen prep time.
posted by booknerd at 3:00 PM on December 23, 2005

Ice water with a couple teaspoons of lemon juice works well but be sure to wrap the grated potatoes in a towel and wring the excess water out of them before you use them for cooking.
posted by Mr T at 5:32 PM on December 23, 2005

Response by poster: Thanks everyone! Looks like I'll be transporting 'em in a couple of big tupperware containers of water.
posted by scody at 5:49 PM on December 23, 2005

Mr T is right. Lemon or vinegar; something acidic. Not too much.

This works with other things, too, like sliced apples and whatnot.
posted by kenko at 8:08 PM on December 23, 2005

Add some lemon juice to the water.

That is perhaps the only thing I learned in all of 6th grade, but I did my science fair project on food oxidation and prevention.
posted by jacquilynne at 8:27 PM on December 23, 2005

Be aware that submerging shredded potatoes in water for any significant amount of time will make things a bit more difficult in the end. As Mr T pointed out, be sure to squeeze as much of the water from the potatoes as possible before using/mixing the latke mixture (water + hot oil = lots of splattering-- ouch!). Also, you may need to use a few eggs for binding the potato/onion mixture together as much of the naturally-binding potato starch will be lost to the water (happens regardless, but pre-shredding and soaking will make this worse).

Finally, don't wear anything you love or can't wash--- (un)fortunately, homemade potato latkes leave the whole house smelling of them (including you)!
posted by chefscotticus at 9:13 PM on December 23, 2005