topic Re: What's the best way to freeze potatoes? in Kitchen

What's the best way to freeze potatoes?

house_cat — Sat, 14 Jan 2017 17:36:19 GMT

I sent DH for potatoes and he brought home a 10 lb bag!

Yikes!

I'm wondering if I can cook them and freeze them - maybe prep mashed potatoes and freeze them that way?

I do have a Foodsaver unit if that helps.

Thank you.

Re: What's the best way to freeze potatoes?

NJgirl 1205 — Sat, 14 Jan 2017 17:48:19 GMT

@house_cat I have found that mashed potatoes freeze beautifully. You do need to add extra fat to keep them from breaking down. I don't believe in lean mashed potatoes anyway, so.... add a generous combination of cream and butter and they will reheat perfectly.

Re: What's the best way to freeze potatoes?

dex — Sat, 14 Jan 2017 17:50:12 GMT

@house_cat@I laughed at your ten pound bag...that would last a week at my house.I think cooked potatos freeze well as there are plenty of frozen entrees in the grocery store that contain them.you could make soups and stews to freeze.I think the potatoes would keep for a long time if stored uncooked in a cool dry place...don't put in fridge though or they get sweet.

Re: What's the best way to freeze potatoes?

house_cat — Sat, 14 Jan 2017 17:51:09 GMT

@NJgirl 1205

Thank you.

I think I froze Pioneer Woman's mashed potatoes once, a while back. If I remember correctly, it was very successful. Her recipe has generous amounts of butter and cream cheese, so maybe that's why. I'm thinking of freezing it in muffin tins first, then vacuum sealing them - that way I can take out just the right portions for DH and I when I want to serve it.

Re: What's the best way to freeze potatoes?

dex — Sat, 14 Jan 2017 17:56:15 GMT

@house_cat I love your muffin tin idea!I think portion wise that is a good measure.

Re: What's the best way to freeze potatoes?

Zhills — Sat, 14 Jan 2017 17:58:55 GMT

You can freeze them baked. I found instructions online. Easy....freeze, them wrap in foil ane put in a bag if needed.

Re: What's the best way to freeze potatoes?

house_cat — Sat, 14 Jan 2017 18:01:52 GMT

@dex wrote:
@house_cat I love your muffin tin idea!I think portion wise that is a good measure.

@dex

I do this with most everything nowadays.

I have bags full of muffin shaped buttermilk, Greek yogurt, orange juice.. you name it. It works beautifully.

Re: What's the best way to freeze potatoes?

PinkyPetunia — Sat, 14 Jan 2017 18:24:52 GMT

Mashed potatoes might be ok to freeze, but it's winter now and the raw potatoes will last a long time if kept in a cool area. I keep mine in the garage or basement if the garage gets too cold.

Re: What's the best way to freeze potatoes?

chickenbutt — Sat, 14 Jan 2017 18:28:34 GMT

Good thing you like mashed potatoes! At somebody's suggestion, I froze a bunch of mashed potatoes and have tried one serving and it was perfectly good.

What I did was to put the cold mashed potatoes into Lock & Locks of whatever serving size I wanted and froze them. Then I pushed them out and vacuum sealed each one so I can just pull out what I want at a time.

They don't pop out of the L&L as quickly as some things I make, like soup or chili, but it just took a little more effort - not much at all. I put the frozen L&Ls down on the counter, upside down. As I am doing other things, I just push on the bottoms with the heel of my hand every now and then. After a few times they release. As soon as they release they will slide right out.

I probably don't make mine like anybody else but there is plenty o fat in there. I just use some asiago and a bunch of butter, and s&p. That's it. Hand-mash and they come out beautifully. I just never preferred adding cream/milk to them or blending them into baby food consistency. But that's what we like. YMMV.

Re: What's the best way to freeze potatoes?

Carmie — Sat, 14 Jan 2017 19:53:19 GMT

10 lbs of potatoes are not all that many.

If you store them in a ventilated container in a dark, cool, dry place they will keep for months.

Just be sure to remove any potatoes with bad or soft spots and use them first. Do not store blemished potatoes.

My parents used to buy 50 lb bags of potatoes and keep them in the cellar all year round.

Re: What's the best way to freeze potatoes?

AuntG — Sat, 14 Jan 2017 20:47:49 GMT

Send him shopping for diamonds and you'll have a 10 carat beauty. I would just store the bag in a cool place and they should keep while you work on using them up.

Re: What's the best way to freeze potatoes?

house_cat — Sat, 14 Jan 2017 21:21:18 GMT

@Carmie

@PinkyPetunia

I live in a townhome - not a lot of storage space. We have a one car garage, and it's rarely cold enough to leave food out there, though this week it would be.

Re: What's the best way to freeze potatoes?

Carmie — Sat, 14 Jan 2017 21:24:59 GMT

Is your garage a comfortable room temperature? 60- 75 degrees You should not store potatoes in the cold, they will get starchy.

Re: What's the best way to freeze potatoes?

Pooky1 — Sat, 14 Jan 2017 22:23:59 GMT

a few weeks ago stop@shop had 5ld bags of potatoes bogo. i bought 4 bags. if you keep them in refrigerator they keep longer. were only 2 people and we will go thru them. and this week i bought another 10lb bag at bjs for 5.99.

Re: What's the best way to freeze potatoes?

chickenbutt — Sat, 14 Jan 2017 22:36:33 GMT

pooky1 wrote:
a few weeks ago stop@shop had 5ld bags of potatoes bogo. i bought 4 bags. if you keep them in refrigerator they keep longer. were only 2 people and we will go thru them. and this week i bought another 10lb bag at bjs for 5.99.

The only thing that might be problematic for some is that when you refrigerate potatoes it converts the starch to sugar. It's probably not that big a deal for most, though.

Usually, a cool place is good but it seems like the 'fresh' produce you get these days is not as fresh as it used to be. I remember a time when I could put apples in the bottom drawer of the refrigerator and they would stay fresh for months. Doesn't work like that anymore.

Potatoes I can keep in a cool place (I don't refrigerate them) for maybe a week - at the most. Sweet potatoes don't last that long.

I can only surmise that most of the produce of these types is warehoused for much longer before hitting the store than it used to be.

Re: What's the best way to freeze potatoes?

RedTop — Sat, 14 Jan 2017 22:41:00 GMT

Outside of making a specific potato dish to freeze and reheat later, I would not waste my time trying to freeze your extra potatoes.

As a root vegetable, potatoes are made for long term storage. That 10 lb bag of potatoes will keep well for several months. Take them out of the original bag, spread them out in a single layer in a cardboard box, and store in a cool, dark corner of your garage. Never store potatoes beside onions.

My trucker daughter just brought us 150 lbs of potatoes, that are stored near the back wall of our garage, where the inside temperature rarely drops below freezing. They will keep well out there, and will be gone before the spring/summer heat in the garage is a problem.

I also have 100 lbs of onions stored in the opposite corner of my garage. Onions bruise easily, so if I find one starting to go bad, I chop it, seal it and freeze it. I can't stand to waste food.

Re: What's the best way to freeze potatoes?

Ceramiclady — Sat, 14 Jan 2017 23:35:49 GMT

When Laura Weathers was still on for Kitchenaid she was demonstrating the food processor that has the dicing attachment. She said if you have potatoes that you need to use up just dice them and freeze them. I do this and add diced carrots celery and onions with them and seal in food saver. When I need a hurry up meal I use them as a starter for vegetable soup.

Re: What's the best way to freeze potatoes?

house_cat — Sun, 15 Jan 2017 00:20:32 GMT

@Ceramiclady

She suggested to dice them while they're raw?

I'll look into that.

Everyone seems to be saying that they should last a long time.. well, I don't know why, but if I keep them more than a week they begin to get spongy.

Re: What's the best way to freeze potatoes?

Marp — Sun, 15 Jan 2017 03:47:12 GMT

To keep potatoes from sprouting store them with an apple. Apples produce a lot of ethylene gas and while the gas causes other fruits and vegetables to ripen too quickly it slows potato sprouting.

Re: What's the best way to freeze potatoes?

house_cat — Sun, 15 Jan 2017 15:06:33 GMT

@RedTop

Why shouldn't onions and potatoes be stored near one another?