I Need Potato Help! :-)

Kate

Kate

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10 Sep 2013
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Odd request, but really, this is driving me batty! I've heard so much conflicting information over the years on how to properly store potatoes. First it was "keep them cool, the fridge's crisper drawer is best"... and then it was "keep them cool, but never in the fridge."

Bottom line is that I can't keep potatoes for nearly as long as I know they last for other people. What on earth am I doing wrong? It doesn't matter whether I keep them in or out of the fridge, they just don't last long... why do my spuds hate me, and how do I fix it? :cry:
 
I keep mine in a cupboard where it is dark but not chilled. shop bought spuds will last about 6-8 Weeks if I haven't eaten them in this time before they start to sprout. if they sprout but are not green I will still happily eat them. if they have gone green which is usually caused by exposure to daylight then don't rest them. the green is poisonous and the entire potato should be thrown/composted.
 
I usually keep them in a dark drawer where it is dry but not cold. I never kept them in a fridge and never heard of anyone that I know keeping potatoes in the fridge.
I don't really know how long it take for my potatoes to go bad because I usually use them before they have the chance to go bad!
 
We keep ours in the barn (unheated :wink:) they usually last from September, when we dig them up to about March, when we've eaten them :whistling:. Some loss, but not a great deal - say 5%. Temperatures in the winter can go as low as -15°C, but that's exceptional - it's about 2°C today.

I think keeping them in the fridge will make them damp, speeding up their decay.
 
My folks had an allotment and after digging up the spuds they stored them in a large brown paper sack in the cupboard under the stairs, access was from the alleyway at the side of the house so the cupboard was dark and cool, they kept for a very long time in there.
 
You want a place that is dark and dry, I don't think the temperature is that important. (and use common sense, because if not someone will store them in a heated oven because "temperature is not that important")
 
I keep potatoes in racks outside the fridge and out of the sunlight, and this is only care they receive. Racks allow ventilation that seems to contribute with long storage periods of over a month.
 
I just keep them in our pantry, which is dry and dark and far enough away from the appliances that it doesn't get too hot. We used to have a fruit cellar in our basement, and would store them down there, but it was too damp and moldy down there. We were constantly having to run a dehumidifier. I've never heard of storing potatoes in a refrigerator though, unless they were already cooked. I would worry about them sprouting sooner due to the moisture in fridges.
 
Thank you, everyone. Obviously the advice from the person concerning storing them in the crisper drawer wasn't very stellar advice. :laugh:

I do think part of my issue is where I buy them, too... I've bought potatoes once in a while from a farmers market that lasted a lot longer than those I bought at the store and shipped in from who knows where.
 
Growing up my mom would always put our potatoes in a short, but long tub that fit perfectly in a cupboard drawer. So it would be dark in there and possibly cool, but definitely dark. And they'd last for quite a long time, at least long enough for us to go through them and need to refill the drawer.

Otherwise the only other place we would keep them would be stored in closed boxes in our basement in a room. Our basement is cooler than the rest of our house and quite dark. Plus they were in the boxes, so..... We'd only do this when we harvested the potatoes from our garden. We would get so many that it was impossible to fit them all in the drawer and use them up quickly.
 
I think sometimes this has to do with moisture as well, which you may have a hard time changing in your house. I've always kept my potatoes in a dry and dark cabinet or pantry, but the amount of time they last can vary. When I lived in the south, they began sprouting (or rotting) much faster.
 
If you are worried about some of them going bad, you could also peel and cube them, then parboil them and freeze them for use in soups or home fries. I go through potatoes so fast in my house, that it's hard for me to keep a bag that long, lol.

I'm convinced there has to be a way to make your own "freezer fries" at home. Perhaps salting the water when parboiling them, and tossing them in a little oil before freezing them? It kills me when I see a 5lb bag of potatoes on sale for 99 cents, and I realize how many french fries I could be making out of that.
 
OhioTom76 said:
If you are worried about some of them going bad, you could also peel and cube them, then parboil them and freeze them for use in soups or home fries. I go through potatoes so fast in my house, that it's hard for me to keep a bag that long, lol.
Click to expand...

Is there something special you do when you use that method to prevent them from losing their consistency and getting mushy when they're frozen, OhioTom76?
 
Potatoes in nature do not need a chiller to keep them intact. So, by the same logic they need to be kept cool and not in a fridge (over cool). Also, if you keep them in damp places then you are basically feeding them to sprout. That would mean that your potatoes are going to bud and look nasty after a while.

So, just keep them dry and cool and use them within a month's time.
 
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