Expert's hack to store potatoes and stop 'premature sprouting' immediately
Potatoes boast a longer shelf life than many other vegetables, yet they are still susceptible to going off in various ways. Getting savvy with storage, particularly for the diminutive new potato variety, can be a game-changer for maintaining their sprightliness and zest.
While a whole host of strategies are advocated by food expert to keep your potatoes taut, sprout-free, and meal-ready, some outshine the rest. If you're aiming to achieve optimum longevity for your spuds at home, zeroing in on a cool, dry location is an excellent starting point. A Food52 pundit elaborated: "The key is to store potatoes in a cool dry place, like in the cabinet of a pantry, in a paper bag or cardboard box."
They expanded: "It's important to keep potatoes at the cool, ideal temperature (but not, surprisingly, the fridge) to prevent them from turning green, getting soft spots, or pre-maturely sprouting. Once this happens, it's a sign that they're past their peak."
But fear not; we'll delve deeper into all these details shortly. First, let us acquaint you with the factors that hasten potatoes' ripeness and how to prime them for extended keeping.
Seek out spots in the kitchen where the temperature hovers consistently around 10C, complemented by 90 to 95 percent humidity – though that might require some guesswork.
Per the Food52 connoisseur, pretty much any space is better than the bare worktop, provided it is sequestered from sizzling gadgets and the glare of sunlight.
They advised: "Keep them in a drawer, in a basket, in a closet, in a paper bag, or in a bamboo vegetable steamer - anywhere that's dark - and they should last for one to two weeks."
This involves removing new potatoes from the plastic packaging they're often sold in, which isn't suited for storage due to a specific reason, reports the Express.
The food preservation expert stated: "Potatoes are plants, after all. If they see sunlight, they will do their photosynthesis thing and turn green, and eventually wrinkle and rot."
It's also vital to consider that potatoes will respond adversely to extreme temperatures, whether too chilly or overly warm.
Be wary of placing them in the hottest areas of the kitchen, like near the stove, beneath the sink, or atop the refrigerator, yet also steer clear of refrigerating them.
Although the Committee on the Toxicity of Chemicals in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT) concluded that it's safe to chill spuds in the fridge, culinary expert Harold McGee, author of On Food and Cooking, articulated why this might not be ideal.
In his esteemed tome, he revealed that when potatoes are stowed in cooler climates such as the fridge, "their metabolism shifts in a complicated way that results in the breakdown of some starch to sugars."
This alteration means that refrigerated potatoes may grow sweeter over time and come out with an unappetising brown hue when cooked.
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