Do Potatoes Go Bad?

Potatoes are one of the most popular foods today due to their flavor that, despite being faint, is very pleasant, also due to its versatility when cooking, it is capable of being used to prepare purees, creams, salads, tortillas, croquettes, and doughs, not to mention that if you ferment them, you can make alcohol with them.

If you want to buy potatoes to prepare a particular dish or simply because you love them and they are part of your daily diet then it is necessary that you know everything about the duration and storage of these tubers, luckily you can find all that information in this article so keep reading.

How to Store Potatoes

The benefits of the potato are numerous. It is a food rich in carbohydrates, so it gives us a lot of energy. Besides, 75% of its content is water, and it is a great source of potassium. It is also rich in vitamin C, vitamin B, folic acid, magnesium, and iron.

As you can see, potatoes turn out to be a food with great benefits and multiple uses. Still, these benefits can only be used when they are in good condition, and the way to achieve this objective is by storing them properly. In this way, you can ensure that they will be preserved in good condition for as long as possible.

When it comes to potato storage, it is a simple matter, so you don’t have to worry about carrying out some complicated procedure. Everything you have to do can be summarized in a list with the following rules:

Please do not wash them.

When you buy potatoes, they are usually dirty because they are covered with dirt. The ideal is to wait until you are going to use them to clean them. If they are filthy and imply a problem for you, you can brush them to remove as much dirt as possible. Please do not use water when you go to clean. Its use will only accelerate the deterioration process of the potato.

Keep them in a good place.

It should be noted that the optimal temperature to preserve the potatoes is 7 ° C, if you store them in a place with lower temperatures over time, the potatoes will acquire a slightly sweet flavor, and this could perhaps affect the plans of a recipe for which you were saving the potatoes. Unless you don’t mind that little change, then you can keep them in the fridge.

On the other hand, if you are a flavor purist, then an option for you is room temperature. However, we must emphasize that if you choose this path, then eventually bumps may grow on your potatoes, and you will have to cut them to be able to consume them normally.

To keep the potatoes at room temperature, you must keep them in a cool area, but away from any source of moisture or heat and that is protected from direct contact with sunlight. In general, the pantry usually covers these needs adequately, so we recommend that you use it.

Refrigerate the leftovers

When you have cooked your potatoes, the way to preserve them is by refrigerating them. For this, you must place them in an airtight container that can protect them from any contaminating agent that may negatively affect them.

Can You Freeze Potatoes?

If you have come to buy more potatoes than you could consume at the time, or you may have leftover potatoes that you cooked but don’t feel like eating it for the moment, in any situation, what you will need is to keep the potatoes In the long run, luckily that’s something you can achieve if you freeze them.

It should be noted that to be able to freeze the potatoes, you must follow a process. You cannot keep them as they are because they have a lot of moisture inside, and they would end up becoming very soft, moist, and even pasty. In short, its natural texture would be ruined by the freezing process.

To freeze the potatoes, you must first cook them lightly to get rid of the moisture they have inside. Once this is done, you must wait to cool down and store them in an airtight container or a freezer bag. Once your potatoes have been packaged, they will be ready for freezing temperatures.

How Long Does Potatoes Last

Potatoes are foods with a reasonably long shelf life, so as long as you have followed all the instructions to store them properly, you should not worry if they have only been stored for a couple of days. Most likely, they are in good condition.

It is necessary to distinguish that raw potatoes and cooked potatoes do not have the same duration. When you prepare a dish with it, you usually mix them with other elements to flavor or accompany them. These alter the duration period, not to mention that you are altering their original texture and properties when cutting and processing them, reducing their duration.

Speaking of exact dates, a potato can remain in good condition for about two weeks. If you keep it in a refrigerator, it can last for about two months. In cooked potatoes, they can be kept refrigerated for three days and frozen for up to six months.

How to Tell If Potatoes Is Bad

Even though potatoes are so versatile and have a relatively long duration compared to other vegetables, they will end up going bad over time, that is why you must be cautious and check them carefully, in this way you can prevent the possibility of poisoning you by eating food in bad condition.

When checking your potatoes, signs to watch include mold, dryness, bad odor, soft, moist, or green areas. If you see any of these signs on your potatoes, you can cut them and use the rest, but if the whole potato is affected, you should discard it.

If you have reviewed your potatoes and have not found any characteristic that indicates that it is in bad condition, you should not worry, you can use it in the dish you want to prepare with them without fear.

Sources:

Does it go bad

Eat by date

Eating well