Do Potatoes Need To Be Refrigerated After Being Baked?

[sydfan]

I have a bad habit of forgetting to take leftover potatoes out of the oven. Are they still good the next day?

 

[Michael in FtW]

Technically - if you're talking about just a baked potato the answer is that they should be refrigerated - if you're talking about a baked potato dish with other ingredients then absolutely.

To solve the "out of sight - out of mind" problem next time ... remove all of your spuds from the oven at the same time. Then, when you're cleaning up after the meal they will be there on the counter to remind you to store them away properly.

 

[jennyema]

I have a bad habit of forgetting to take leftover potatoes out of the oven. Are they still good the next day?

NO.

Baked potatoes that have not been refirgerated are a potential source of botulism poisoning. This has, unfortunately, been documented.

Don't eat them if they have been sitting out for a long period of time.

 

[jpmcgrew]

NO.

Baked potatoes that have not been refirgerated are a potential source of botulism poisoning. This has, unfortunately, been documented.

Don't eat them if they have been sitting out for a long period of time.

Not only that but they also say to cut open leftover whole baked/boiled potatoes so they can cool off faster

 

[DramaQueen]

Not only that but they also say to cut open leftover whole baked/boiled potatoes so they can cool off faster

Okay, now I'm curious. I always refrigerate baked potatoes but since the question came up, a thought occured to me. Why, if the potato isn't refrigerated when you buy them and store them, do they have to be refrigerated after baking if nothing has been added to this same potato? Anyone?

 

[jpmcgrew]

Okay, now I'm curious. I always refrigerate baked potatoes but since the question came up, a thought occured to me. Why, if the potato isn't refrigerated when you buy them and store them, do they have to be refrigerated after baking if nothing has been added to this same potato? Anyone?

It's the same thing as why we need to cool pots of soup etc. If the temp stays at a certain level long enough it will breed bacteria.

 

[DramaQueen]

It's the same thing as why we need to cool pots of soup etc. If the temp stays at a certain level long enough it will breed bacteria.

Pots of soup have many different ingredients, many times meat and/or meat broth, so they have to be refrigerated. Not the same thing. A raw potato and a baked potato is still a potato. My question is: why does baking it make it bacteria prone? I'm not sure about the botulism thing. It seems that botulism takes more than that to form.

 

[jennyema]

OK, my bad. It's when they are wrapped in foil that they can grow botulism.

Botulism Linked To Baked Potatoes

Here's what the Idaho Potato Commission has to say about refrigerating baked potatoes:

After baking potatoes how many hours can you leave them out at room temperature before you eat them? Is overnight okay at room temperature?
Do not, repeat, do not leave baked potatoes out at room temperature overnight and consume them the next day. This is a food safety issue. The baked potato has a neutral PH factor and can grow microorganisms quite easily. This is especially important if you have wrapped the potatoes in foil (sort of like canning fruits and vegetables and not sealing the jar lid). Potatoes are inexpensive, so toss them or even better, refrigerate and microwave the next day. One of my favorite ways to use up leftover baked potatoes is to make twice stuffed potatoes. Cut the baked potato in half, hollow out the insides and combine the mashed mixture with sour cream, chives, grated cheese and any other favorite herbs. Then add back in to the skin, refrigerate and bake off later. Yummy!

 

[pacanis]

I don't think a baked potato is the same as a raw potato anymore than I think a cooked egg is the same as an uncooked egg. There are definite changes that take place by cooking it, which is why it doesn't revert back to its uncooked state.
JMO

 

[thymeless]

Cooking foods changes the chemical make up of them, often making them digestible or even making nutrients available that wouldn't otherwise be gained if eating them raw.

In the case of the potato we buy from the store, the potato is alive though arguably slowly dying. It acts to preserve itself largely. Once baked the potato is dead, many of its cells ruptured through the steam and the nutrients available to whatever ingests it, including bacteria.

You don't refrigerate a raw potato because the temperature triggers the cells in the potato to convert starch to sugar; it's getting ready to sprout in the spring. This changes the taste and texture of the potato.

 

[mozart]

OK, my bad. It's when they are wrapped in foil that they can grow botulism.

Botulism Linked To Baked Potatoes

Here's what the Idaho Potato Commission has to say about refrigerating baked potatoes:

After baking potatoes how many hours can you leave them out at room temperature before you eat them? Is overnight okay at room temperature?
Do not, repeat, do not leave baked potatoes out at room temperature overnight and consume them the next day. This is a food safety issue. The baked potato has a neutral PH factor and can grow microorganisms quite easily. This is especially important if you have wrapped the potatoes in foil (sort of like canning fruits and vegetables and not sealing the jar lid). Potatoes are inexpensive, so toss them or even better, refrigerate and microwave the next day. One of my favorite ways to use up leftover baked potatoes is to make twice stuffed potatoes. Cut the baked potato in half, hollow out the insides and combine the mashed mixture with sour cream, chives, grated cheese and any other favorite herbs. Then add back in to the skin, refrigerate and bake off later. Yummy!

Hi Jenny:

I don't think there is any documented cases of botulism in baked potatoes unless they have been baked in foil and then left in the foil.

Regular baking without foil should kill the botulism spores, and the spores on the potato surface has to have anaerobic conditions in order for the toxin to be produced. The foil facilitates that.

Baked potatoes without foil that are left in the oven and not handled should be safe from pathogens the next morning.

Botulism Linked To Baked Potatoes

 

[thymeless]

Regular baking without foil should kill the botulism spores, and the spores on the potato surface has to have anaerobic conditions in order for the toxin to be produced. The foil facilitates that.

Baked potatoes without foil that are left in the oven and not handled should be safe from pathogens the next morning.

Baking probably won't kill the spores. The potato is really only as hot as steam, boiling temp. Spore eradication in commercial canning is usually done under pressure at 250 and held for a time. The foil only creates an anaerobic situation. It gets just as hot. So if the foil is dangerous, the unfoiled is too, just not for botulism.

Then you must consider the rule of more than 2 hours between 40 and 140 and throw it out. A cooling oven with baked potatoes will hold that temp comfortably and potatoes are a fine growing medium. Moist, warm and starchy.

Yes, you can probably get away with it a number of times. But the times you can't aren't worth it or the risk.

.

 

[mozart]

Baking probably won't kill the spores. The potato is really only as hot as steam, boiling temp. Spore eradication in commercial canning is usually done under pressure at 250 and held for a time. The foil only creates an anaerobic situation. It gets just as hot. So if the foil is dangerous, the unfoiled is too, just not for botulism.

Then you must consider the rule of more than 2 hours between 40 and 140 and throw it out.

.

Not so sure about that. Botulism spores are found on the potato skin. The skin itself when place in a 400 degree oven will get a lot hotter than 212. Steam is released from those little fork pricks we put in the potato.

Foil, however, traps the steam and keeps the whole potato cooler, but probably still hotter than 212 due to the pressure created by the foil, but not hot enough to kill the spores.

As for the two hour rule, as someone said earlier, if an unbaked potato can sit out for days at room temp, and in fact we are told NOT to refrigerate them, then I see no logic in an unfoiled backed potato left in the oven overnight being unsafe.

From my personal experience, it is clear that French Fries last a long time in the bag under the front seat of my car

 

[Constance]

I was really glad to see this thread, as I, too have left potatoes on top of the stove or in the microwave until the next day and wondered if they were safe.

Now, I know. They are not!

 

[pacanis]

I don't eat corn that was cooked in the husk and forgotten on the grill overnight either. Like I said, too much has changed in the food during the cooking process.
I don't know if it's exactly a chemical change, but I'd just as soon cut my losses.

Although it is a well known fact that French fries left under a car seat long enough will eventually turn into potato sticks, which will again become perfectly fine to eat

 

[jennyema]

Baked potatoes without foil that are left in the oven and not handled should be safe from pathogens the next morning.

Given their neutral pH, that also sounds like a dangerous proposition.

I'd certainly not eat them.

 

[jpmcgrew]

I'm gonna say this one more time. It's keeping the food too warm too long that breeds bacteria which is why one wants to cool it a soon as possible. Keeping a baked potato in a warm oven overnight since oven also takes time to cool down you are making a nice warm environment for the bugs to breed.

 

[redgriller]

Baking a potato causes a physicochemical change in the potato. In particular is cellular disintegration. This disintegration is akin to ripening, and over ripening leads to excess cellular disintegration and spoilage. From a cellular stand point, you can view cooking a potato as rapid ripening of the tuber. It is because of this cellular disintegration that a baked potato is different from an uncooked potato that sits out safely for days.

Cooking of potatoes does not cause the bursting of cell walls but
permits ready mechanical disintegration of the tuber tissue by separation
of cells. The process is characterized by such physico-chemical
changes as partial gelatinization of the starch, the solution of some of
the pectic substances, the increased digestibility of the cellulose, the
coagulation of most of the protein, and more or less caramelization of
the sugar. Probably constituents present in smaller proportions are
also important in their effects on culinary quality.
​

 

[expatgirl]

oooh........bacteria loves sugar........don't take the risk..........refrigerate your potatoes;;;;;;;;

 

[mozart]

Given their neutral pH, that also sounds like a dangerous proposition.

I'd certainly not eat them.

Hi Jenny:

I'm not saying I'd do it myself either. I think there could well be textural changes in leaving them out. But I don't believe there is a pathogenic bacterial issue as presented; baked without foil and left in the oven without handling.

Yes, the cooling oven is a perfect environment to grow bacteria in a neutral PH environment. But there will be no pathogenic bacteria left alive after cooking at 400 degrees for an hour, and as long as you don't contaminate them by handling there will be no bacteria in the oven either.

At some point you will get spoilage, but not pathogenic, bacteria present.

There also may not be enough water activity to support pathogenic bacteria as much of the free water is steamed off and vented out of the stove. This is certainly the case with potato chips.

Again, not suggesting it is a good practice, but I don't see how the 2 hours rule can possibly apply in this case.