How to Cure Sweet Potatoes

Reader Contribution by Ilene White Freedman
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Are your sweet potatoes sweet? The first year we grew sweet potatoes, we dug some up and brought them home to bake. Our very first homegrown sweet potatoes! They were…not so great. Starchy and zero sweetness. At a total loss, we checked the internet. Little did we know, you have to cure sweet potatoes to turn their starches into sugar.

Conditions for Curing Sweet Potatoes

Curing sweet potatoes requires a warm, humid environment for a period of four days to two weeks. Ideally, 80 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit with 80 to 90 percent humidity. The closer you come to these ideal conditions, the less time it takes to do the job.

After curing, you are supposed to store them at 55 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit for six to eight weeks to finish developing the sugars. We don’t do this, and it doesn’t seem to matter.

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