Carbs in potato skins?

[hirezmary]

I know whole potatos are of course quite high in carbs. Does anyone know
how much carbs you would have if you take maybe 2 large potatos, and leave just a tiny bit of the potato? I was thinking it would be lovely to make some
"skins" with cheese, sour cream, etc. But if the skins are pretty carby too, it might not be worth it.

By the way, I googled for carb info and got this:

Food Item: Potato, baked, flesh and skin
Food Quantity: 1 potato
Carbs: 42.7g
Dietary Fiber: 6.9g
Net Carbs: 35.8g

Humm, googled some more and I see that 1 potota skin has a little less
than 4 net carbs. Maybe this would be worth while as a goodie once in a while. If you splurged and made loaded skins from 2 pototas, with a wee
bit of the potato included, maybe something like this for 4 large "skins"
made from 2 large potatos - aprox 8 carbs for the skins and maybe about
1/8 of a potato flesh from each one = aprox 5 carbs each, so I get
about 18 carbs before you load up with cheese, sour cream, onion, or other
goodies. I'm think this is worth it for a weekend treat every so often.
Of course, on that day, I'd stick pretty much to just meat & eggs the rest of the day!!

Do I hear any takers??

I was wondering this very same thing the other day..except with scraping away all of the potato 'flesh' ..I really only like the crunchy baked part..with some crumbled bacon, snipped chives a little grated aged cheddar and a dollop of sour cream. I've never found a carb count...hopefully someone will know the answer. I'd think the skin part would be mostly fiber carbs?

Mandy

LOL.. you edited to add the carb info on your post while i was typing mine.

You gave the net carbs for the skin as being 4..what was the total?....I don't count net carbs.

Thanks

[hirezmary]

Dont you just love this WOE? I still get excited telling my kids about a new recipe I discover and even though it's slow, watching the scale move. For me, it only works if I'm not overly strict. Some days I go the a favorite Italian hoagie restaurant in SF where I work. The rolls are a big 40 carbs if you eat the whole thing but every so often I'll get the big sandwich, eat just half the roll with the extra meat piled on, and toss the 1/2 bun. 20 carbs is not low, but if I watch it the rest of the day it works out well!

[hirezmary]

If you dont subtract fiber, It get a little over 20. Still pretty good for 4 large skins. Yummm!!
Also, each potato skin alone is 5 carbs including fiber

So just the skin (completely scraped out) of a large spud is only 5 total carbs??? Wooohooo...I'm there!

[hirezmary]

By the way MandyDee, I just noticed your stats. Fantastic. Contrats to you. It's amazing all the weight you loss!

Thank you!

Looks like you are doing great too! This woe soooooooooooooo rocks!

OK..so that we have a definitive answer, I've emailed the atkins website to see if they have this info Let's see what we get back

Mandy

According to ******..for 1 potato skin!!!

Amount Per 1 potato skin
Calories 114.84
Calories from Fat 0.522

Total Fat 0.058g 0%
Saturated Fat 0.0151g 0%
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.0249g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.00116g
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 12.18mg 1%
Potassium 332.34mg 9%
Total Carbohydrate 26.72g 9%
Dietary Fiber 4.58g 18%
Protein 2.49g 5

What did they do? Leave ALL the potato in it??? geesh!

OK..I've also emailed the Wisconsin Potato Growers Association too. Let's see who answers first..lol

And the PEI potato people! LOL..guess I really want to know huh? lol

[oliveoyl]

I've always preferred the skin to the potato anyway -- I'll butter one of my kids' potato skins and that's my potato for dinner. Fran McCullough in The Low Carb Cookbook has recipe ideas for baked potato skins that are great! She says the skin from a large potato has 10 net carbs.

Originally Posted by oliveoyl

I've always preferred the skin to the potato anyway -- I'll butter one of my kids' potato skins and that's my potato for dinner. Fran McCullough in The Low Carb Cookbook has recipe ideas for baked potato skins that are great! She says the skin from a large potato has 10 net carbs.

Does she list the TOTAL carbs too? I wonder if this is with the typical 1/4 inch of spud left on it? or does she say to scrape them completely?

[mamagiff]

When I was a kid, we always used to cut a baked potato in half, scoop the innards out, add a gob of butter and eat the butter filled skins as soon as the butter was all melted! It was so yummy!

Can't help with the carb counts but it was nice to remember those skins oozing with butter!

[Xander's Grandm]

Linda! That is exactly how we ate them! Remember telling my Mom that she should make just potato skins and chicken skins...she made the oven fried that were wonderful!

Maureen

[LindaSue]

I looked up potato skins in Corinne Netzer's book of food counts and she lists 1 ounce baked potato skin (skin only) as having 13.1 carbs and 2.2 grams of fiber. I'd guess that 1 ounce of skin would be about the equivalent from an average baked potato. If you only eat half, that would work out to around 5-6 net carbs as someone mentioned.

I also looked on the USDA site and they list 26.71 carbs/4.6 grams fiber for 2 ounces of potato skin. That is exactly the same as Netzer's figures.

Hmm..strange..the USDA site and ****** get their information from the same data base..so ****** says 26.72 per one potato skin yet the USDA site says 26.72 for 2 oz of potato skin? that doesn't make sense as I doubt one potato skin would weigh 2 oz unless you are leaving a LOT of potato in it..which must be the case as per the original post the entire potato has 42.7 carbs...this would mean the ENTIRE starchy part of the potato has only 18.5 carbs???????

Thanks for all the input ladies

[LindaSue]

Originally Posted by MandyDee

Hmm..strange..the USDA site and ****** get their information from the same data base..so ****** says 26.72 per one potato skin yet the USDA site says 26.72 for 2 oz of potato skin? that doesn't make sense as I doubt one potato skin would weigh 2 oz unless you are leaving a LOT of potato in it..which must be the case as per the original post the entire potato has 42.7 carbs...this would mean the ENTIRE starchy part of the potato has only 18.5 carbs???????

Thanks for all the input ladies

The USDA site says "skin only" so I assume they mean just that. 2 ounces isn't all that much weight and they're probably talking about one of those huge russet potatoes. Netzer's potato skin is half that size so she's probably counting the carbs for a more average size potato's skin.

[cjack1]

I think the skin is the same as the potato. I grow them in my garden and if you cut one in half or injure it in some way while it is still in the ground, the skin forms from the flesh of the potato. I would bet that an ounce of skin is the same as an ounce of potato.

[hirezmary]

I dont know about all those number, but logic would tell me if you agree the whole thing is 40 something carbs then the skin carbs cant be all that much.

Here is what I found in google. I think this is more likley:


url is here:
http://www.lowcarbeating.com/bb/arch...ex.php/t-13397


And just one more:
http://www.annecollins.com/dietary-c...s-potatoes.htm

Carb Content of Potatoes
Please Note: all carbohydrate values are approximate

Potatoes, boiled, w/ skin (1 cup) 27g
Potatoes, boiled, w/o skin (1 cup) 31g

[LindaSue]

Just to further confuse things. I checked the USDA counts for 100 grams of baked potato skin against the counts for 100 grams of baked potato flesh and the skin actually has more carbs per gram than the flesh! Of course the USDA site isn't exactly known for having the most consistently accurate information, but here's what they say:

100 grams baked potato skin only
46.06 carbs
7.9 grams fiber

100 grams baked potato flesh only
21.55 carbs
1.5 grams fiber

[hirezmary]

That is pretty crazy on how many sources show such different numbers. I'm going with my gut instincts which tells me the skins are pretty high fiber and pretty safe and that fluffy startchy goodie inside is the dangerous stuff.

[jlatislaw]

How about another source?

Mastercook says: whole pot: (100 g): 18 g. carb. fiber: 1.6g = 16.40 net

skins: (100 g.) 12.4 g. carb. fiber 2.5 = 9.9 net carbs

100 g. would be about 3.5 oz. so for skins that would be quite a lot!

JL

[cjack1]

LindaSue... I think the skin would have more carbs than the flesh because the skin is just the flesh dehydrated. It would have more fiber per ounce, though.

I don't think potato skins are a good idea on low carb. Maybe someone could come up with a good substitute, since most of the flavor is from the cheese and bacon, anyway. I just made some of Sherrie's tortillas and I might try cutting one of those in triangles and frying it until browned and then put bacon and cheese on it. It would look more like a nacho, but I think it would taste something like a loaded potato skin. I'll report back when I try it.

[mesquite]

Okay ladies, may I please jump in here.
My DH loses a heck of a lot faster than I do, and as I was reading the thread I figured this would be perfect for him (occasionally).
Do I just bake the potato, scrape it out but a 1/4 inch and stuff it? And with what should I stuff it?
Hopefully this will keep him motivated, I tend to be a boring cook, plain meat and green veggies and salad.
Thanks alot
Hugs
Sue

[oliveoyl]

Bake the potato, scoop out the innards, brush it with melted butter, salt and pepper it, and add thick slices of cheese and some paprika if you want. Put it back in the oven till browned and bubbly. Top with chives, bacon, or sour cream, or jalapenos (or all of them) -- and frankly, you may want to wait until you can indulge, too, because they're unbelievably good!

[Zib]

Here's Fran McCullough's recipe from "The Low-Carb Cookbook"
----------------
Potato Skins - serves 2, carbs 10g

2 large baking potatoes
3 Tablespoons butter, melted
salt and pepper
cheese, optional
paprika, optional

Preheat the oven to 400. Scrub the potatoes and prick them in a couple of places with a fork so they won't explode. Put them directly on a rack in the hot oven for 1 hour or until the insides are tender and the skins are crisp. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly.

When the potatoes are cool enough to handle, cut them in half lengthwise. Scoop out the flesh with a big spoon - remove all of it or leave a little, as you like. Put the shells on a cookie sheet with a rim. Using a pastry brush, paint the shells generously with the melted butter, add salt, pepper, and either slices of cheese or grated Parmesan - 1 Tablespoon is about right. You can also omit the cheese and just shake on a little paprika.

Put the cookie sheet with the shells back into the oven for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the potatoes are golden and crispy.

No one's stopping you from serving these with the traditional sour cream and chives.

------

Zib

[hirezmary]

Even if the skin is a whole 10 carbs for one large potato, I think its worth it for an occasional splurge. The yummy stuff I add to it (butter, bacon, cheese, and chives) wouldnt add much more to that.

It just occured to be too, another reason I would seriously doubt that the skins could be higher in carbs than the flesh, just look at the carb counts for skinless french fries.

I sent out several emails to sites I thought may be able to give us some reliable info.

Atkins themselves have refered me to ask my question in the Atkisn University which I will do today

The PEI potato board (In Canada) was very pleasant and refered me to the USDA site for carb counts and wished me luck (had already been there however..no good info )

The Wisconsin Potato Board merely inferred that I was an idiot to be low carbing in the first place...to them I would say "Potato Growers Association of Wisconsin...BITE ME!"

I'll let you know if I hear from Idaho

Mandy