# Storing potatoes



## amber (Feb 16, 2007)

Cannot recall who it was that mentioned it is best to store potatoes in a dark place, but that tip helped me alot.  I typically store my potatoes in a hanging basket in the kitchen where it is cool this time of year.  The potatoes always turned green, so I took the tip and stored them in a dark place (cupboard) in my kitchen and the potatoes have stayed fresh, firm, and no green color at all.  Thanks whomever posted that tip!


----------



## Barb L. (Feb 16, 2007)

Thanks Amber- didn't hear about the dark place !


----------



## appletart (Feb 16, 2007)

I store mine in a basket in a dark place too..is the green safe to eat?..I usually peel it away and discard..


----------



## Uncle Bob (Feb 16, 2007)

Miss Amber..

I cannot take credit for the tip...but it is right on the money!

Another one I will throw out...don't refrigerate them...the will develope a "sweet" taste...due to starch converting to sugar...

Ever had a baked potato in restaurant that tasted that way??
keep them in a cooler they do...(sometimes/some places)


----------



## amber (Feb 16, 2007)

Barb L. said:
			
		

> Thanks Amber- didn't hear about the dark place !


Apparently light makes potatoes turn green, which I did not realize, but a cool storage place is important.

good tip uncle bob.  I never refrigerate my potatoes, just keep them in a cool and now dark place.


----------



## kadesma (Feb 16, 2007)

appletart said:
			
		

> I store mine in a basket in a dark place too..is the green safe to eat?..I usually peel it away and discard..


I just got through reading an article that says to cut off any green that it is not safe to eat. 
kadesma


----------



## babyhuggies (Feb 16, 2007)

i have a potatoe box that i stoer potatoes that will be used within a short amount of time but for long time i have a storage room under the stairs in the basement that is cool& dark---works well


----------



## Constance (Feb 16, 2007)

kadesma said:
			
		

> I just got through reading an article that says to cut off any green that it is not safe to eat.
> kadesma



Everything I've ever read in my years of gardening and cooking says that the green part of the potato "may not be" safe to eat. 

I keep my potatoes and onons in stacked wooden crates in a cool corner by my back door. Ideally, it could be a bit darker, but since it's just the two of us, I don't buy large quantities of things like that any more. 

If you have some potatoes that sprout, throw them out in the compost pile, and you'll have new potatoes this spring!


----------



## StirBlue (Feb 16, 2007)

I have a storage bin in the bottom of my refrigerator.  The large bin says Potatoes and the small one next to it says Onions.  The cooler air in the refrigerator is always at the top.  So the veggie bins are at the bottom and the meat storage is at the top.  The egg compartment is inside the box and not on the door.  It will hold two cartons of eggs in their original boxes.  The panel on the compartment says Eggs.  
   I have not had any problem with my potato storage but I do remove the potatoes from the original bag and leave them loose in the bin.  Same with the onions.  
   I try to avoid buying potatoes that have been in frozen storage before arriving at the grocery store.  You mainly find these potatoes during the summer before the fall/winter harvest.


----------



## Candocook (Feb 16, 2007)

Don't store potatoes and onions together--onions make the potatoes sprout.


----------



## StirBlue (Feb 16, 2007)

No, they do not.


----------



## appletart (Feb 17, 2007)

True, I keep my potatoes stored away from onions/garlic..potatoes by themselves can have enough moisture over time to sprout.


----------



## StirBlue (Feb 17, 2007)

appletart said:
			
		

> True, I keep my potatoes stored away from onions/garlic..potatoes by themselves can have enough moisture over time to sprout.


 
If that was true don't you think that we would have a new hybrid on the market?


----------



## appletart (Feb 17, 2007)

Hi StirBlue,

I keep my russetts together by themselves, buying about a 1/2 dozen at a time and try to use them up before they do start to sprout.


----------



## StirBlue (Feb 17, 2007)

appletart:  I keep my red potatoes, goldens and russetts together in the potato bin.  I buy five pound bags.  
   I use the red potatoes in soups, stews, potato salads and breakfast foods. They go fast and are replaced often.  
   I use the russetts for baked potatoes and sometimes frying.  They do not sprout but get old and wrinkly.  
   The golden are new to our market and I am just starting to use them as side dishes like mashed potatoes.  I also use them in pancakes and breads.  
   Onions are extremely expensive right now so I have been using frozen onions and bell peppers as staples.  
    I buy fresh onions and bell peppers for recipes (on demand) so they are not staples right now.  
    Normally I have (3)white, (3)yellow and sometimes (1)red onions in the bin.  The green onions are stored with carrots, celery ...etc.  
   The garlic is stored in a container in the cabinet with the dried spices.  I buy garlic about every two weeks.   
    I have instant potatoes in the cupboard, frozen potatoes in the freezer but I do not use canned potatoes.  
*******************************************​We had an Indian Summer during the fall and some of the garden onions that I had in a cloth bag hanging in a basket did sprout.  There were 8" sprouts growing from each.  It was very unusual.  It may have been the onion variety that my neighbor had planted.  ​


----------



## appletart (Feb 17, 2007)

Hi Stirblue,
My hubby Steve loves red potatoes more than me, but we use them and russets, in various and different ways: salads, stews, made mashed potatoes, made also cubed, then fried w/butter and  parsley, sometimes w/garlic and onions..we have saved sprouted reds and russets and tossed them into the ground and they've come up big enough size to harvest..

Steve has quite a garden in the Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter here in Sacramento..during the year, he plants different varieties of sweet peppers, hot peppers, eggplants, tomatoes, zucchinis, lettuce, potted varieties of parseley, chives, volunteer oregano, green scallions, also cantloupes, Asian watermelons..we also have a  nectarine tree and a plum tree that has about 4 grafted varieties of plums, also a pomelo, grapefruit, lemon, blueberry bush, potted strawberries..but when we have too hot or to cold here in Sacto, the plants will suffer..but it's getting warmer again, so we'll be starting anew..


----------



## Aria (Feb 17, 2007)

I store my potatoes in what we call a "Cold Room" insulated away from the remainder of our basement.  Cooler temperature.  I have shelves for all can goods and one bin for potatoes and one for onions. (not close) 

Candocook.  Yes.  Do not keep onions and potatoes together.  I have a laundry room with tile floor and have small bin for daily potatoes and a small basket for daily onions.  The laundry room is cooler room in our house.


----------



## Poutine (Feb 17, 2007)

This web site has tips on storing lots of different foods:
Veggie Storage - Farm Direct Co-op

This site says not to store onions and potatoes together because it will cause both to spoil 
How to Store Potatoes - eHow.com

And this site says they won't affect one another but they should be stored at different temps "There is absolutely no truth to the story that potatoes and onions should not be stored together because one makes the other sprout. The truth is, they have different storage temperature requirements. The optimal storage temperature for potatoes is 40 degrees, the temperature at which onions sprout."
http://www.extension.umn.edu/yardandgarden/ygbriefs/h247onion.html

 it is funny how much different info you can find


----------



## StirBlue (Feb 17, 2007)

appletart: Thanks for sharing so much about your garden.  I noticed that Steve has potted strawberries growing in his garden.  What variety of strawberry is this and what size pot would I need.  And soil too.


----------



## appletart (Feb 17, 2007)

Hi StirBlue,

The strawberries, currently frozen, but slowly coming back is an old plant that has been cut back each year, so the fruits are getting smaller and smaller.I think we planted (a long time ago)  either Tioga or Sequoia..he used  he uses nitrogen potash, phosphorus fertilizer products and supersoil..we'll probabably start w/new plantings as soon as the risk of frost is over for the spring/summer crop ( I put them in those patio pots about 5 gallon size..


----------



## Candocook (Feb 19, 2007)

Originally Posted by *appletart*
_True, I keep my potatoes stored away from onions/garlic..potatoes by themselves can have enough moisture over time to sprout._

Stir Blue's reply  --  If that was true don't you think that we would have a new hybrid on the market? 

StirBlue -- storing potatoes and onions together does lead to spoilage. Not sure what you mean by obtaining a new hybrid. Sprouting doesn't mean cross-pollination, etc.


_From a google site concerning potato storage:_
_Avoid storing potatoes with onions because, when close together, they produce gases that spoil both. _


----------



## Michelemarie (Feb 19, 2007)

I usually store my potatoes in one basket and onions in another basket in the bottom of my pantry.  Last week the kitchen remodel started and I have stuff everywhere! I had no where to put these so I set them in the garage "for the time being".  Of course, I forgot about them and retrieved them yesterday to roast - Frozen solid - all of it - onions and potatoes! What is it about below zero that I don't understand?  After defrosting I still sliced them both and tossed them with some sweet potatoes and roasted them. The onions tasted fine the potatoes were not horrible but definately not good. Oh well, my advice - don't store them somewhere too cold because they will freeze. I only tell you guys this because I know you are my friends, I'm too embarrassed to fess this up to just anyone !


----------



## csalt (Feb 20, 2007)

I keep our potatoes ( not a large sack of them..only 2 of us) in a string bag( the kind with holes in) hanging from a hook in the roof beam of our garden shed where it's nice and cool. Other vegs also hang in other bags from time to time..on separate hooks. Onions, and sometimes carrots.


----------



## CharlieD (Feb 20, 2007)

Yeap. Potatoes are afraid of cold, but love dark kool place. Also the oniond are the worst neighbor potato can have, oof the arguments about the property they get into , okay I'm joking of course, but onions do in fact affect potato storage in a negative way. So it recomended not to store them together. As far as storage in refrigerator I have never heard such thing. Potato when it gets cold relises too much sugar, and tastes funny. Stir Blue, what kind of fridge do you have?


----------



## mudbug (Feb 20, 2007)

Been storing potatoes and onions together in wicker baskets next to each other in a bottom cabinet _for years_ and have not had problems with sprouting or spoilage.


----------

