Discussion Board

Hi everybody. I have a question about how you all store your potatoes. I store mine in an antique coal bin, but sometimes they start to sprout before I can use them all up. I've read that storing them in the fridge isn't good for them, but I've read that some people do. I live in Florida, where it's hot most of the time, so storing them outside the fridge in a cool, dry place, isn't exactly possible. I just wondered how you store yours.

Maybe these old threads will help:
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=26828
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=14489
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=4720

I gave up on buying and storing quantities of potatoes, especially in the summer. No matter what I tried, I'd end up with rot. Instead, I buy what I figure to use in a week, cook them when I get home from the store, and store the cooked potatoes in the fridge. No point in saving money by buying in quantity, if you end up throwing half of them out.

Thanks for the links, serenity. Gweithgar, that's probably a good idea. It's just hard passing up a sale of potatoes, so when I find one, I like to stock up. The sale won't do any good, though, if I end up throwing half of them away.

It depends on how many people in your family are eating potatoes. I have 4 grown kids and used to buy the big bags of potatoes when they were still at home. I continued to do that after they were grown and out of the house and had potatoes sprouting and rotting all the time. Now that it's just my husband and myself I either buy very small bags of potatoes or just buy the loose ones in the bins---esp. baking potatoes. I have found fingerling, red and gold potatoes in small bags. I store mine in a wood bin with wire mesh venting. It's the kind that says "taters and onions" on it. I got it at a garage sale. It's important both to keep them in a dark place and to also make sure there is adequate ventalation.

I'm the only one eating them, Gramma Jackie, but I'm a potato nut, so I eat quite a few each week. I'm so happy to be here among all of you potato lovers, because most diets won't allow potatoes to be included in your diet. I first discovered Dr. McDougall 20 years ago, when I first went vegan, so I'm no stranger to his teachings. I've fallen off the wagon off and on through the years, and gone back to vegetarianism, but I know being a vegan McDougaller is the right choice. I guess that's why I keep coming back. I do keep my potatoes in a dark, well-ventilated place, but like I said in the above post, I live in Florida, where it's never cool, so things go bad faster here.

I'm in Florida, and I've had the same experience with potatoes. There is just nowhere cool and dark enough to keep the potatoes from sprouting & rotting.

The refrigerator is the way to go for me! One of my produce bins is devoted to potatoes, and I have no problem with potatoes being stored for up to a couple of weeks.

Another tip is to buy the absolute freshest potatoes you can find... if you see any hint of eyes forming or if the bag has that "earthy" smell, pass them by. Yes, I am one of those crazy women sniffing all of the produce in Publix!

Denise

Yes, I've been an off again, on again McDougaller myself, as have several others on here. Unfortunately (or fortunately) increasing health problems brought me back to McDougalling and I knew I had to really get serious about the McDougall program this time or I would wind up being an invalid or worse. I lived in Florida many years myself--first in the Ft. Walton Beach area (my youngest son still lives there) and then later in the St. Pete/Clearwater area. My husband and I plan to retire in the Orlando area. He was transferred here to Ohio about 11 years ago. I really miss having citrus trees in my yard.

I should have known you were in Florida by your username, GatorDenise...lol. I think I'll try the fridge and see what happens. Do you wash yours before you put them in the fridge?

I had two orange trees in my yard several years ago, but we had a canker outbreak, so the state ripped them all out. I haven't planted any since that happened. Some people had their trees for 30 years, and they were all destroyed by the state coming on their property and cutting them down. There was quite an uproar about that.

I'm in the Ft. Lauderdale area, so we never really get as cool as Orlando does in the winter. I wouldn't mind moving up there, but I'm too old now...lol.

Talk about timing. I just looked at Yahoo News and there was an article about what vegetables you should never store in the fridge. Yep, potatoes were right up there on the list....lol.

Why is bad to store them in the fridge?

I keep mine in the pantry, but I'm finding I'm going through about a bag a week (love my tators!!!), so it's ok.

Btw, I'm in Key Largo. I wonder if there are any McDougallers around my area.

Hey! Another Floridian. From what I read, refrigerating them breaks down the sugars and starches and they don't cook the same. Now that I'm McDougalling, the potatoes probably won't last long enough to sprout, since I'll be eating more potatoes.

Cowpie, I put them in the fridge unwashed and then scrub when I am ready to cook them. I think they would be too wet if I washed first, although I could leave them out until dry like one poster mentioned.

I have read that about it changing the starches too, but honestly I have never noticed a difference and mine cook up just fine. If it is being metabolized differently by my body I have not noticed, although I would be interested to find out if that is the case!

Enjoy your potatoes! (And sorry about your citrus, that whole situation and the way the state handled it was awful.)

Denise

Honestly, Denise, I refrigerated some sweet potatoes one time, and never noticed any difference either. I think I'll try the fridge and see how it does.

Yes, the whole citrus cankor thing was handled very poorly. We almost had riots down here with people trying to protect their trees. Did you get hit with the citrus cankor too?