To fridge or not to fridge, that is the question

joedenise

If only I had the fridge space!  I have a reasonable sized fridge but definitely not enough room to store potatoes in it.

I transfer mine into a paper sack standing on a concrete floor in a corner of the garage.  I buy 7.5 Kg at a time (in a paper not polybag) and there are only 2 of us but we probably eat potatoes 4-5 times a week but they last pretty well even in this weather. When the family were living at home I used to buy a sack at a time.

suki1964

Ive been buying a 25kg sack and splitting it with a neighbour. So around 12kgs, in a sack in the garage, lasted a month so far

I do store salad spuds in the fridge though

wort

My potatoes are in a wicker basket in the cupboard ,along with the onions both last ages . I rarely have potatoes sprout! Just myself living here and only have potato about once or twice a week. I tip them out of the plastic bag into basket which has paper in the bottom .

cymruchris

My first thought when you asked about putting a potato in the fridge conjured up memories of Boris Johnson hiding in one during the last election campaign. However - i have to agree, potatoes do seem to last considerably longer in the fridge if you happen to have the room. (You might need to ask Boris to leave first though)

unforeseen

Keeping them in the fridge must be OK. 

There was an inside the factory program on a while back where they showed hundreds of tons of potatoes being stored in chilled conditions to cover the out of season period for them. 

suki1964

unforeseen said:

Keeping them in the fridge must be OK. 

There was an inside the factory program on a while back where they showed hundreds of tons of potatoes being stored in chilled conditions to cover the out of season period for them. 

Cold storage of vegetables is a completely different kettle of fish from home storing

Spuds are stored in precise temperature  and humidity , where they can sit for up to a year before they hit the shops

Once they come out of storage, they start breaking down so by the time you buy them, they have already gone over and no amount of storage will save them

This time of year, spuds get awful, we are all waiting on the new potatoes to come through, at the moment we are using spuds that are at least 8 months old. New potatoes have very fragile skins, they haven't had time to dry and toughen before they are on the shelves so they need even more under loving care. New spuds are very wet, internally and externally, so they need to be removed from the bag asap. When I was  a lot younger working for Sainsburys, we used to get the new spuds in dirty, have to sieve them before they went out on the shelves and then every night, those not sold recovered with the soil we had removed

Best way to buy spuds is by the sack, unwashed. just rumbled so the mud clumps are off. If you cant use a 25kg sack within a month, split a bag between neighbours as I do.

rhcp

Do people throw out their potatoes if they are starting to go off?

I've got them sprouting, going green, never a problem to eat.  I had one today that was going soft, I just cut around the not so good bit and the rest of the potato was fine.  Seem daft to waste them unless they have really gone.

GaleSF63

I've cooked potatoes which have gone soft with ones that haven't and not been able to tell the difference when they were cooked. 

My mother used to keep her potatoes on black bags made from a dense fabric like blackout material and they never went green at all. 

rach_k

Storing potatoes in the fridge is supposed to affect their taste so we don't.  I'd never heard of it being dangerous!  If you can't use up a bag of potatoes quickly enough when storing them, can you make double batches when you cook and freeze the second portion?  Mash freezes very well (and is really handy to have in the freezer) and you can freeze part-cooked roast potatoes too - https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/freeze-ahead-roasties  I'm sure there are other types you can freeze too.  

suki1964

rhcp said:

Do people throw out their potatoes if they are starting to go off?

I've got them sprouting, going green, never a problem to eat.  I had one today that was going soft, I just cut around the not so good bit and the rest of the potato was fine.  Seem daft to waste them unless they have really gone.

I certainly don't.

Out of the sack I split, got to the bottom of it today and found one spud with a lovely sprout on it, any earlier in the year Id have popped it into the ground lol. Nope I cut it off and roasted it with the others, was fine