How to Store Potatoes

Potatoes are pickier than most other vegetables about how they are stored. If you're not careful, they can sprout, sweeten or shrivel and then you're not going to want to eat them. Like with all fruits and vegetables you have to follow the right procedures for them to last once they've been removed from their natural environment.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Brown Paper Bags
• Potatoes
• Plastic Bags
• Burlap
• Plastic bags

1. Avoid rinsing potatoes before storing.

2. Place potatoes in a brown paper, burlap or plastic bag with holes in it.

3. Store in a cool, dark, dry place. A root cellar, if you have one, is the best storage option.

4. Make sure the temperature in the area is about 45 to 50 degrees F. Don't store potatoes in the refrigerator, or they will become too sweet.

5. Avoid storing potatoes with onions because, when close together, they produce gases that spoil both.

6. Store potatoes no longer than two months if mature. If they are new, store no longer than one week.

7. Check on them occasionally and remove those that have become soft or shriveled, as well as those that have sprouted.

Tips & Warnings

• Potatoes sprout as a result of exposure to light or warm temperatures.
• Avoid freezing uncooked potatoes.
• Sweet potatoes, although they appear similar to other potatoes, are actually much more delicate. Store sweet potatoes for a maximum of one week.

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[ncwriter]

on 8/9/2008 I'm not sure why someone said only to store sweet potatoes for a week. A sweet elderly lady named Miss Sarah used to come every autumn and bring me a big box of sweet potatoes from her garden and in exchange, she'd get virtually my whole pecan harvest. Those sweet potatoes we'd keep outside in the storage building and they were good through the whole fall and most of the winter. This is in eastern North Carolina. Definitely no need to throw out sweet potatoes after just a week. Want a decorative indoor vine? Stick a sweet potato in a jar or glass full of water so that half or less of the potato is in the glass and there is plenty of water below the bottom of the potato for roots to sprout. Eventually, the potato will start to sprout and you'll have a lovely sweet potato vine right in your kitchen window!

on 8/8/2006 Actually, there is merit to putting an apple in a bag of potatoes to store. But the trick is to cut the apple in half and put them in the bag. The sliced apples act as a sponge and extract moisture from inside the bag and help prevent premature sprouting.

on 6/30/2006 I store potatoes in my wine cooler, which is set at 55 F, but varies from about 51/52 to 56F. It seems to work quite well.

on 12/20/2005 I understand all about the ethylene gas, but I have tried it, and it does work with store bought potatoes in the bag. Just put a small apple in the bag and store them in a dark place.

on 11/22/2005 Someone suggested storing an apple with the potatoes to keep it from sprouting eyes. Apples release ethylene gas and causes potatoes to sprout. When I am getting ready to plant, I put an apple with my potatoes to encourage sprouting.