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Jerrybo66's avatar
Jerrybo66
Explorer
Dec 02, 2013

Red yams..??

What is the difference between red yams compared to yams? My wife is considered the guru of potato salad and scalloped potatoes in the family. She found a recipe that included yams mixed with scalloped white potatoes that she wanted to try. My theory, if it ain't broke don't fix it but it didn't change her mind so I bought yams, red yams.. After bagging the red yams I saw a bin of "yams" and didn't think worth the time to switch. I think it was a bad move. Bottom line, I don't think she will ever want to try it again. Her scallop spuds are safe. Even she didn't like the results. We both like yams but for some reason the "scallops" didn't turn out. Thankfully. Do Red yams have a different taste than standard yams?? Thanks...

16 Replies

  • We grow sweet potatoes. The two most favorite names are beaugard, and Georgia jets, that are sold here in the South. The beaugard are the ones we grow. The outside skin is Red with orange flesh on the inside. My sister grows the Georgia Jets which have the red skin and orange flesh inside. Never seen anything in our grocery stores labeled yams, just sweet potatoes.
  • There's no such thing as a "red yam".

    There are "yams", which are mostly orange though some can be dark enough to approach red. Then there are "sweet potatoes", which are never red, orange, or any other color but various shades of creamy white.
  • Google "yams vs sweet potato". Big difference. I have never seen any yams around here, only sweet potatoes.
  • My guess would be that you were cooking sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes are usually baked and eaten with brown sugar, cinnamon, butter. My favorite way to eat sweet potatoes is in a casserole. Some are sweeter than others. Sweet potatoes are frequently mistaken for yams. We grow lots of sweet potatoes in our garden each year and donate boxes to our church for our free Thanksgiving meal to those less fortunate. Volunteers pick up the potatoes, make a delicious casserole and we serve folks a free meal. Thanksgiving day we served 700 at our church plus Salvation Army delivered 300 plates. We've been doing this for 7 years and it gets bigger every year.
  • coolbreeze01 wrote:
    Sweet potatoes taste better than yams........

    I just know I like the dark better than the light. And both are good with lots of butter and brown sugar!!! ;)