I recall my aunt buying those red nylon bags of red potatoes. She’d pick out any rotten ones and then put the bag under the sink. Sweet Potatoes were stored in paper bags (never the plastic store bags) under the sink.
Is that still considered the best place?
I worry about roaches and other bugs. I had a roach infestation a few years ago. I signed up with a pest company and it took repeated spraying over a 4 month period to get rid of them. I’ve been roach free for about 5 years now and still get quarterly sprayings. I never want those things back. Are potatoes under the sink just inviting bug trouble?
I’ve been buy just 3 or 4 potatoes (red or sweet) and storing them on the counter. I try to use them within a week or two. I know the counter isn’t a good storage area. I just found a rotten sweet potato that I bought 2 weeks ago. I’ve never understood why sometimes they sprout and other times they rot.
You want to keep them someplace cool, dry and dark, with enough air space so that the potatoes don’t appreciably increase the humidity. In a cupboard under a sink can be a good place, assuming it stays cool and dry in there. Your aunt was right to avoid plastic bags - they don’t breathe, so potatoes stored in them tend to rot.
I suppose potatoes might attract cockroaches - they’ll eat almost anything. But if you’re getting quarterly sprayings they probably won’t be a problem. Be careful, though, to put the potatoes in a safe place during bug treatments, unless you like eating insecticide.
I know what they say, but I find they stay best in the fridge. I originally did it for the same reason you mentioned–to avoid bugs–as potato bags have holes in them. But ever since then I’ve yet to see potatoes go bad while in the fridge.
I actually accidentally kept one in there for three or four months without any noticeable signs of decay (although I played it safe and threw it away anyway).
We’ve always just kept them in the basement or in the stairway to the basement, either in the nylon meshing or in a wicker basket. Just a cool, dark place with air circulation. Never had any sorts of bug problems that I remember.
All potatoes (sweet, red, russet) are stored loose in a wooden basket on the pantry shelf in the kitchen. Onions go in that basket, too. We’ve rarely had one go bad, even after weeks. Usually we eat them sooner than that, though. We’ve never had bugs.
You’re not supposed to keep them in the fridge. Something about the chill converting the starches to sugars. It also supposedly increases acrylamide content. You may be able to use them if you remove quite ahead of time (24h?) to allow the starch to increase, although I can’t find a cite for that last one right now.
I mostly buy sweet potatoes now and frozen fries. But my aunt went through a lot of bags of potatoes making big family meals. We bought a bag of red potatoes yesterday. Fresh mashed taters are in my future.
I’ll be sure to move them before the bug guy sprays under the sink.
