With a cold snap currently sweeping the UK, people are likely starting to think about those winter warming comfort meals – soups, stews and roasts. All of these comfort classics share one common feature – potatoes.
But there’s nothing worse than going to rustle up a cosy evening meal to find that your potatoes have sprouted and grown a life of their own in the cupboard.
Anna Zita, the chef and cooking teacher at the New York Institute of Culinary Education shared her best tips with Martha Stewart for ensuring your potatoes stay fresh for as long as you need them.
First of all, you need to keep them away from light. Exposure to sunlight will make your potato skins turn green and any parts which have this hue will become bitter and unsafe to eat.
However, if you’re desperate and the green isn’t too widespread or deep, it is possible to remove the skin and eat them still – but it’s not ideal.
So ideally, you want to keep them in a dry and dark place with good air circulation, such as the kitchen cupboard.
Another frequent mistake people make is storing their potatoes near their onions – an easy mistake, as they’re often found in close proximity in the supermarket.
However, this can cause your potatoes to sprout even faster due to the ethylene in the onions which can also cause the flavour of the onion to leech into the potato, which may not be what your recipe calls for.
It’s also important to make sure your potatoes can breathe. If you store them in an unventilated area such as a plastic bag or sealed tub, this can let moisture accumulate and make them more likely to rot.
It’s the same reason Zita recommends you never wash your potatoes before storing them.
Although potatoes like cool, dark places they should never be refrigerated. The low temperatures can convert the starch in potatoes into sugars which turns them a dark colour when cooked. They will also produce higher levels of acrylamide – a carcinogen, according to the Food and Drug Administration.
Once your properly stored potatoes have been cooked, the rules for storing leftovers are much the same as they would be for any other food.
Refrigerate them in an airtight container, make sure you reheat them thoroughly before you enjoy them and make sure to finish them in three to four days.
