This time of year brings big deals on yams and I always stock up and preserve them for future use when they are cheap. Yam powder is my favorite way to utilize the yam. I use it in all our pancake, waffle and breakfast foods. I have even been substituting 1/4 cup of the breakfast flour in our Banana Chocolate Chip Pancakes with 1/4 cup of the yam powder and really love the texture and flavor. I also love to make a puree and freeze in the cubes, like we did with the pumpkin. I like to add the cubes to hot cereal, hidden in hot chocolate, mixed into soups, blended in smoothies and defrosted for instant baby food or as a side for dinner or lunch spread with butter and sprinkled with some Breakfast Sprinkle or Cold Remedy Spice Mix. And of course you can always do the traditional method of canning them.
Yam Powder
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I did a little experimentation with my yam to see how to make the best powder. I first tried to cook, puree and then dehydrate, with not so fantastic result. You can see in the first picture how the puree became clumpy and hard, rather than soft and fluffy, like a flour. So I used that in dishes I was blending before hand and tried again, this time peeling and dehydrating raw. That is the method that works!
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Peel your yams and cut into 1/4 inch slices. Place on the dehydrator trays and dehydrate on the fruit/veggie setting, which is 135. I usually do mine overnight and in the morning they are ready. I test readiness by snapping them in half, if they snap they are ready. Place in your blender, I find the high powered blenders work the best for powders that turn out like flour. I use a Blendtec and usually blend it on speed 3 or 4, then pour into a glass jar and label!
Yam Food Cubes
I love my food cubes and yam puree is my favorite! Bake your yams at 350 for an hour or so, until soft. Peel off the skin (great compost material) and cut into chunks. Place the chunks with a 1/4 cup or so of water into your blender and blend until pureed, using more water if needed. You could also put the cooked chunks into a food processor and process until the right consistency. Fill ice cube trays with puree and freeze, once frozen place into a freezer bag and label. Two food cubes equals 1/4 cup.
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Nutrition Information
Yams are not only deliciously sweet, they are also full of vitamins and minerals.
- B-complex group of vitamins, riboflavin, folic acid, pantothenic acid and niacin. These vitamins mediate various metabolic functions in the body.
- They contain small amounts of vitamin-A, and beta-carotene levels. Carotenes convert to vitamin A in the body. Both these compounds are strong antioxidants. Vitamin A has many functions like maintaining healthy mucus membranes and skin, night vision, growth and protection from lung and oral cavity cancers.
- Rich sources of minerals like copper, calcium, potassium, iron, manganese, and phosphorus. Potassium is an important component of cell and body fluids, which helps controlling heart rate and blood pressure by countering hypertensive effects of sodium. Copper is required in the production of red blood cells. Iron is required for red blood cell formation.
Resource and more information on nutritional benefits of yams
