Potato peeler

Annie I've never got on with a peeler and now buy bags of baby potatoes from the supermarket, which I just wash then boil or steam with the skins on. If I'm making potato salad I let them get cold then the skins peel off so easily, after being started with the tip of a knife blade, or even a finger nail! If I'm doing something with cabbage I do enough for 2 days, so on the next day I can peel then slice them for bubble & squeak with the remains of the cabbage!

My DS roasts the baby spuds too with skins on but I rely on Aunt Bessie-type roasties

That's tough Annie.
I had a bad flare of RA some years ago, which meant I couldn't hold a potato to peel. I did as Swanny suggests - we were only two at home so buying small bags of baby potatoes was financially doable and meant I felt independent.

Have you had an OT assessment? I know the cuts are affecting that service but I found it invaluable. They gave great advice about planning for when pans/kettles/taps etc needed changing. They gave me peelers and also plastic things that look like doilies. You'd put a jar on top of one and use a 2nd one to remove a lid. Until I had their input I couldn't use a tin opener, veg peeler, take lids off any thing. My GP made the initial referral. We have Dunelm Mill alongside some specialist shops that sell this kind of item to help those of us whose hands, fingers and wrists are not quite as strong or flexible as we'd like

Annieb
There are loads of gadgets around to help. Get a catalogue from your nearest chemist

I've found the cuisinart electric jar and tin openers fantastic

Yes I have had advice from OT which has been a great help , boil veg in a basket, turn tins upside down to use tin opener etc.

Have always scrubbed potatoes , now I shall do as Swanny advised, wash em and cook . Feel rather stupid really, struggling to scrub baby potatoes but eat jacket potatoes , duh

Thank you all X

My Mil used to put a couple of rough stones in a bowl of water with new potatoes and just swish about for a while. Magic. I only buy washed ones and eat the skins!

kitty When I was a child we had quite a big veg garden and it was my job to swirl the freshly dug potatoes in a bucket of cold water with what looked like half a broom handle, to get the dirt off. They were then cooked and eaten. Oh so delicious!

Annie, what type of peeler were you using before?

I cannot manage what I believe is called Lincoln peeler at all, but have one that I can use, although doing a lot of spuds would probably result in painful hands.

(Heaven help me, I'm not even 60 yet! My GP puts most of it down to many years working with horses, and then keyboard stuff, typing, not music, btw)

Annie, my apologies, I was considering your thread title, I.e. peelers, and I was thinking of hand held ones .Just re-read your post and realised that you were asking about scrubbing small ones.

Sorry!

No apology needed Phoenix, ?

I just wash them nowadays; for years I spent ages scraping new potatoes and ending up with stained thumb and finger on my right hand.
Wash and boil little ones, wash and bake large ones

I have got a special cloth which is for scrubbing vegetables which is good, you could put a small potato in it and rub it but if you are finding it hard to grip it may not be suitable:
www.enjo.org.uk/res_website.asp?page=directory&supplierCode=enjo&cat1=281&cat2=285&productId=1469

but I just noticed the price - mine was given to me!

Wash in cold water then boil in their skins. Any kind of potato.
If you really want to remove the skin it's easier to remove when boiled.
Really dirty ones from the garden - use a long handled washing up brush.

Exactly what I will do Jalima, all cooked in skins, what a waste of time over the years peeling and scrubbing them. Loss of grip is causing such problems , what can't be cured must be endured ?

I always use a wide-handled potato peeler. If you get a good quality one and replace it regularly, it requires practically no pressure, and the wide handle is easier to grasp. If I use one with a narrow handle, I always cramp up - after peeling a bag of potatoes, even my shoulder and neck will have joined in.

With this one, it really involves just a flick of the wrist. Practice is necessary, because you will tend to cramp up and hold on too tight at first.

www.wmf.com/en/kitchen-gadgets/kitchen-gadgets/peelers/peeler-1883016030-EN.html

I cannot hold a potato

Just wash them, they'll be fine - that's all I do nowadays even though I can still hold them I seem to be looking for more and more short-cuts as I get older.

We used to buy sacks of potatoes from the farm when the DC were growing up and they were unwashed - the cheapest way to do it - but nowadays I look for the cleanest potatoes in the supermarket. They are all quite clean, just need a rinse these days.

ps the vitamins are supposed to be just underneath the skin so if you peel you lose all that goodness.

There are splkey things you put the offending veg on to hold it in place while you skin the beast

Hmm? Would it work for children who don't want to get undressed?

You could turn it into a positive asset, ab. You are not "unable to peel potatoes", you are "getting all the vitamins", "cutting down waste" and "streamlining your food preparation". Every cloud and all that . . .

If you really need to peel your potatoes, there are electric machines to do the job. On the other hand it could be yet another gadget which gets pushed to the back of a cupboard!
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Laptronix-Electric-1kg-Potato-Peeler-Automatic-Cutter-Slicer-Machine-6-Blades-/192115265154?hash=item2cbaf64e82:g:SocAAOSwtfhYtGY~

Thank you all

I don't peel baby potatoes for potato salad. No need IMO.
Just boil then halve or quarter them.

My dd never peels any potatoes at all, boiled, roast or even mashed.
I haven't gone quite that far yet, but they all taste fine.

I will do the same, felt bit stupid asking now I am glad I did, I have strapping for my hands for most things but can't get them wet. Now it's wash and boil/bake/roast for my potatoes ? I realy am grateful for all your replies.