I find out that peeling the skin does make the Jerusalem artichoke taste better when cooked as potatoes. For pickling there is no need to peel.
Besides the shape difference among varieties, growing conditions affect the shapes of the tubers too. Tubers tend to be knobbier in sandy soil than in clay. (
growerjim.blogspot.com ). The french mammoth sunchokes I grow in either lean or slightly fertile clay produce two types of tubers. The former tend to be smaller, smooth and round while the latter have many eyes developing resulting in large clumps with many bumps. I sort them out and use one for cooking and the other for replanting.