# How the hell do you store Potatoes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 23, 2009, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-the-hell-do-you-store-potatoes/522289 "2009-12-23T04:29:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-the-hell-do-you-store-potatoes/522289/21 "2009-12-23T17:34:47Z")
> [@Omniscient](#): > > I don’t shop frequently, usually once every 10 days to 2 weeks or so so when I do buy things I tend to opt for the larger size. Well, we are extreme opposites here. Rather than trying to keep fruits/vegies happy for long periods, I shop on a nearly daily basis. Produce can’t go bad if you use it the day it is purchased. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-the-hell-do-you-store-potatoes/522289/22 "2009-12-23T17:59:15Z")
Well, different people will have differing time management strategies and priorities. ---
**Author:** ![lexi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lexi/32/6806_2.png) [@lexi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lexi)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-the-hell-do-you-store-potatoes/522289/23 "2009-12-23T18:10:15Z")
Mine keep for almost a month - taken out of the bag, in a box lined with newspaper in our pantry closet which is away from light & heat. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-the-hell-do-you-store-potatoes/522289/24 "2009-12-23T18:35:26Z")
I bought [these containers.](http://reviews.chefscatalog.com/8855/23810/reviews.htm) See the holes around the bottom? Taters, onions and garlic all stay fresh a long time. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-the-hell-do-you-store-potatoes/522289/25 "2009-12-23T18:52:13Z")
What you can do, with a small apartment and not much space, is buy one of those triplicate hanging baskets, and dangle it from the ceiling. You can put potatoes and onions in these, just make sure it’s secure so the whole thing doesn’t come crashing down on your head one day. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-the-hell-do-you-store-potatoes/522289/26 "2009-12-23T19:02:20Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > just make sure it’s secure so the whole thing doesn’t come crashing down on your head one day. Is that the hard-won voice of experience? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-the-hell-do-you-store-potatoes/522289/27 "2009-12-23T20:43:43Z")
From scanning the literature on commercial potato storage it seems to me that you want to remove carbon dioxide and prevent formation of sugar. So a cool ventilated place outside the refrigerator, perhaps. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-the-hell-do-you-store-potatoes/522289/28 "2009-12-23T20:52:42Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > By the way health authorities say not to store potatoes in the fridge. For instance [Food Standards Agency](http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/healthissues/factsbehindissues/acrylamide/). Bah - I rarely deep-fry my potatoes, so in the fridge they will stay. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [December 23, 2009, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-the-hell-do-you-store-potatoes/522289/29 "2009-12-23T21:12:54Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > The fridge is not a good storage place. It triggers changes in them. [Cite!](http://www.writerman.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/potato_salad_goes_bad.jpg) (First thing that came to mind.) ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2009, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-the-hell-do-you-store-potatoes/522289/30 "2009-12-24T01:34:41Z")
I was curious myself and did an experiment once. I took six potatoes and put half in brown paper bags, and half in plastic bags. Then I put one of each in the cupboard, one of each on the counter, and one of each in the fridge. The one in the brown bag in the fridge looked good-as-new 3 weeks later and the rest had all sprouted or gone mushy. Unfortunately a bag of potatoes takes up too much room in my fridge. I need that space for rotting leftovers! ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2009, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-the-hell-do-you-store-potatoes/522289/31 "2009-12-24T01:43:20Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by [**The Food Standards Agency**](http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/healthissues/factsbehindissues/acrylamide/) (emphasis added) > > Acrylamide is produced naturally when starchy foods are cooked at high temperatures. > > Acrylamide causes cancer in animals and so **might** also harm people’s health. > > From the research available so far, it seems that boiling food doesn’t produce acrylamide. > > Potatoes should be kept somewhere cool and dry but not in the fridge. This is because putting potatoes in the fridge **can** increase the amount of sugar they contain, this **could** lead to higher acrylamide levels when the potatoes are roasted, baked or fried at high temperatures. That is a lot of maybes about what appears to be a slightly increased risk that is apparently there anyway every time we eat a french fry. I cannot say I am terrified. I live in Southern California, and, much of the year, nowhere is very cool. Also, I believe, as potatoes start to sprout the concentration of natural toxins in them increases. So far, I am not persuaded that I am silly to keep them in the fridge, especially as I mostly boil them. (I occasionally roast. For fries I use the frozen ones.) ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2009, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-the-hell-do-you-store-potatoes/522289/32 "2009-12-24T05:07:55Z")
> [@Auntbeast](#): > > Thanks for the info folks, I too have struggled with good potatoes gone bad. I knew about not storing them in the fridge or with onions The onions problem is probably a myth, even though it’s been an Idaho potato growers website, as well as Martha Stewart’s and hundreds of others. I asked about it in GQ one time, and the only counter-evidence I had was from the U of Minn Extension Service saying it was a myth. A whole lot of dopers wrote that their families had stored onions with potatoes with no problems. > [@Anaamika](#): > > What you can do, with a small apartment and not much space, is buy one of those triplicate hanging baskets, and dangle it from the ceiling. You can put potatoes and onions in these, just make sure it’s secure so the whole thing doesn’t come crashing down on your head one day. Heh. Less than three hours ago I threaded wire through a triple decker basket’s chain to keep it from dumping potatoes. We had had one for years that finally wouldn’t stay together, and the wife went out a bought a new silver one a few days back. It collapsed under a load of potatoes and onions the first day it went up. So, I threaded picture hanging wire through the chain tonite, to take the load off the cheap ass chain. Doesn’t look awful. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2009, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-the-hell-do-you-store-potatoes/522289/33 "2009-12-24T14:11:35Z")
I looked up the acrylamide thing (I almost typed “thalidomide” - it’s waaaay too early for me to be up), and the general consensus is there is indeed acrylamide in some foods, they basically know how much, but they don’t know how much is too much. Studies are still in progress. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-the-hell-do-you-store-potatoes/522289.md?page=1)