utilization of the Sweet Potato Sit 



wooden frames of the desired size, and suspended above 

 the cookstove. Fig. 4 shows a very efficient but inex- 

 pensive cookstove drier which is well adapted to the 

 desiccation of sweets. A somewhat similar drier is 

 shown in operation in Fig. 5. The housewife will fre- 

 quently find it convenient to dry sweets in the stove oven 

 without any special apparatus. 



The desiccation of sweet potatoes is especially valu- 

 able in disposing of the small, extra long or ill-shaped 

 roots. In preparing for the drying process, they should 

 be washed and peeled with as little waste as possible, 

 after which they are cut into slices or split lengthwise 

 into quarters or eighths according to size. Peeling 

 must ordinarily be done by hand or with a rotary 

 slicer (Fig. 3). The rotary peelers sometimes used for 

 Irish potatoes are not satisfactory for the sweets. The 

 slices should be as near the same thickness as possible 

 to insure uniform drying. As the potatoes are sliced, 

 they should be blanched by dipping into boiling water 

 from six to ten minutes. The sliced pieces are placed 

 in a wire basket, or wire-bottom box, to a depth of not 

 over 6 inches and plunged into the water, which should 

 be boiling violently enough to stir and separate the 

 slices. If cut into slices ^4 ^^^^ thick, six to eight 

 minutes is sufficient for blanching, but when cut into 

 larger pieces ten minutes is necessary ,to secure the de- 

 sired results. Blanching is done to prevent darkening 

 and it is desirable to prolong the blanching process until 

 partial cooking results. As soon as blanched, they 

 should be drained quickly and placed in the drier. A 

 beginning temperature of 145° to 150° F. should be 

 used and as the product loses moisture, this should 

 gradually be raised to around 160° F. Drying is com- 



