1- How Long Do Potatoes Last at Room Temperature | Shelf Life of Potatoes
Potatoes are such a good crop that can last well into the winter should you take the proper precautions with storage.
They are very nutritious and easy to cook.
Its no wonder why Americans love their spuds. Everything from french fries to baked potatoes.
You will learn the shelf life of potatoes, plus some tips on how to make potatoes last longer.
The shelf life of potatoes depends on the different storage methods that you follow.
Potatoes that are freshly harvested will last for 4 weeks in the fridge. Cooked ones will last for approximately 3-5 days in the fridge.
Frozen potatoes will last for 2-12 months in the freezer depending on your preparation techniques.
There is more to just placing potatoes in your pantry. We will explore the many different ways to extend how long potatoes last.
Our suggestions are based on the premise that you properly follow the practices of food preservation.
As always, use your best judgment when trying to determine when something is spoiled.
Let’s delve into the 7 tips to save your potatoes from spoiling too early.
You can also find some tips about the shelf life of sweet potatoes as there is some difference. Check it out here.
Contents
At room temperature – around 70 degrees Fahrenheit – potatoes can last for 1-2 weeks if properly stored.
Storing potatoes at room temperature is optimal since it’s more convenient than refrigeration.
Ideally, you should ensure a storage temperature of 45-55 degrees Fahrenheit, which is warmer than in a fridge but cooler than room temperature.
In a pantry with such temperatures, potatoes can last 2-3 months.
Some potato varieties last longer than others. In particular:
Among potato varieties that are best for long-term storage are:
In a pantry with such temperatures, potatoes can last 2-3 months. #preservation #foodstorage #prepper
When refrigerated, potatoes can last for approximately 3-4 weeks.
However, storing whole raw potatoes in a refrigerator is not ideal since they can develop a sweet taste and get dark when cooked.
Only store raw potatoes in a refrigerator if your pantry space is filled or is too hot.
Cut raw potatoes shouldn’t be left in the refrigerator for too long – use them within 24 hours.
Well, if you are cutting potatoes, you probably are going to do something with them soon anyway.
Potatoes don’t freeze well. At freezing temperatures, the water inside the potatoes forms crystals that break down the vegetable’s cell structures.
This makes potatoes mushy and inedible when defrosted. And yeah, the sweetening issues are still present with freezing.
It is ideal to cut them into french fries or wedges and fry them partially. This helps to cook out the water content and makes for better freezing.
Generally, these partially cooked potatoes will last for 2-3 months in the freezer before they lose their flavor.
When cooked, potatoes can be stored refrigerated or frozen.
When refrigerated, cooked potatoes last 3-5 days. In a freezer, you could get 10-12 months out of your cooked potatoes.
To be more precise, potatoes retain their best flavor during 10-12 months if frozen at 0 degrees Fahrenheit.
They will stay edible thereafter, but they may not retain their flavor properties.
The shelf lifetimes mentioned above can be achieved only in proper storage conditions.
With that being said, let’s find out how to properly store potatoes.
We’ll go over storing both raw and cooked potatoes.
No matter where you store the potatoes, ensure that it satisfies the requirements we mentioned above.
Also, do not store raw potatoes in a freezer or refrigerator – we’ve said earlier that potatoes can get sweet if stored at low temperatures.
Storage rules for homegrown potatoes are a little bit different. Potatoes bought from the store have likely been properly processed.
Needless to say, when growing potatoes yourself, you need to take all steps to ensure that your potatoes are safe and edible yourself.
First, you need to let your potatoes cure. Cured potatoes have thicker skins and thus longer shelf life.
Here’s how to cure potatoes:
If you are growing your own potatoes, you will need to be a little more careful with storage.
Potatoes bought from the store are mostly sprayed with growth inhibitors that slow down sprouting. Unless you do the same, you will have to deal with sprouts.
Don’t store too many potatoes – you only want to store as many as you will be able to use during the storage period. Potatoes may sprout in a few months after being harvested even in storage.
Sprouted potatoes are safe to eat once you remove the sprouts and the eyes.
The potato will begin to shrivel as starch is converted to sugar to feed the new potato growing from the sprouts if you let them sit for a long time.
With that being said, you may use sprouted potatoes to your advantage by just planting them in your garden.
Cooked potatoes should be stored in airtight containers.
Choose resealable plastic bags designed for food storage. Sealed plastic bags do not allow bacteria to grow or odors to form in potatoes.
Before storing cooked potatoes, make sure that they’ve cooled down. Hot potatoes may raise the temperature inside the fridge, which may place other food in the temperature danger zone.
As mentioned earlier, cooked potatoes last 3-5 days in the fridge and 10-12 months in the freezer.
Potatoes eventually go bad even if stored in perfect conditions. Fortunately, it’s rather easy to spot potatoes that have fallen victims to spoilage.
Among the telltale signs of spoiled potatoes are:
Freezing may be the way to go if you are looking for a long-term storage solution. #potatoes #prepper #SHTF
Freezing Potatoes
Freezing may be the way to go if you are looking for a long-term storage solution.
You can freeze potatoes either cooked or blanched, but it is more difficult to freeze them raw due to their high water content.
Storage in a freeze-safe airtight bag may help to make storing blanched ones easier.
Unless you have a very specific reason not to cook your potatoes before freezing, you should at least blanch them.
To cook and freeze potatoes, follow these steps:
Cooked potatoes need to be stored in airtight containers or resealable plastic bags. The process is the same as outlined in the freezing section.
You may choose to refrigerate or freeze your potatoes, but remember that when refrigerated, the cooked ones last much shorter than when frozen – 3-5 days versus 10-12 months.
You can opt for drying your potatoes if you don’t have enough space in your freezer refrigerator.
To dry them, follow the steps below.
We are going to overview drying potatoes in a food dehydrator:
You can rehydrate the potatoes by soaking them in water for 15 minutes & cook them as you would normally.
This method involves utilizing an acidic liquid like vinegar to add flavor and possibly help extend its shelf life. Most pickling liquid also includes the usage of salt or sugar to help to brine them.
The pickling recipes you may find to preserve potatoes will help to make them last a little longer in the fridge.
Pickled potatoes will last about 7-10 days in the fridge.
There are 2 methods of canning that we must differentiate. There is the water bath canning and there is pressure cooking canning. Potatoes require the pressure cooking canning method.
Pressure cooking canning methods will ensure that the temperature it is processed or boiled in is well above the temperature to kill off any bacterial spores that can cause botulism. The temperature in a pressure cooker is 250°F or more.
Water bath canning will never reach this temperature, so is not recommended to process potatoes. Botulism spores can actually survive normal boiling temperatures so are not quite killed off using this method.
The best guide that we use for canning and pickling is the Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving. You can find this book here.
Keep in mind that the information that we provide here is based on recommendations from the FDA, our own observations, and the data from other sources such as the Ball guide we mentioned above.
Please do your own due diligence in determining your own set of guidelines.
This information provided is at your own risk. Use your best judgment. We did our best to present you with the best information we had available at the time of this writing.
The shelf lifetimes are based on the following conditions of your storage area:
Check out our guide on ways of preserving food for more information on some of the techniques.
Last update on 2020-09-08 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
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1- How Long Do Potatoes Last at Room Temperature | Shelf Life of Potatoes
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