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Everyone has their favourite type of potato – from Maris Pipers and King Edwards to Desiree and Rooster potatoes. Being a potato devotee is easy, especially when you consider that one of the best things about them is their extended shelf life. In fact, when stored properly, these trusty taters can last for months at a time.
However, potatoes can still sprout prematurely, especially if they aren’t stored properly. Taking to the homemaking Tips Facebook page, one user asked for tips on storing potatoes and was met with a flurry of suggestions, with one promising their method keeps potatoes fresh for five months.
Generally, it is okay to eat a sprouted potato as long as you remove the sprout before cooking. But it’s also a good idea to check the potatoes’ overall condition for mould or green spots, which are a sure sign that they have gone bad.
Potatoes that are soft, shrivelling, or smell funky should be thrown out. You should also toss potatoes if they seem to be leaking moisture.
Good potatoes should be firm and smell earthy, but that doesn’t mean they’ll always be unblemished. You can cut off any black spots or green areas inside a potato and still consume it safely.
Fed up with her potatoes going bad fast, Sally Keller asked: “Is there a way to keep potatoes fresh longer? I can’t seem to keep mine fresh for longer than a week.”
Kater Gonzales wrote: “I always refrigerate my potatoes as they always sprout whenever I keep them in the cupboards.”
Siabela Mathew commented: “I put them inside the refrigerator, and they last forever.” Dayna Newman agreed: “I keep mine in the refrigerator too and never had a problem.”
Carmen Leyva said, “I always keep mine in the refrigerator. They lasted five months last time.”
Despite many recommending storing potatoes in the fridge, some were sceptical as to whether this storage method was safe.
While the old guidance was to store potatoes in a cool, dry and dark place, such as a cupboard, food hygiene experts are now recommending that “they should be kept in the fridge at below five degrees Celsius”, according to Love Food Hate Waste.
They added: “Doing so keeps them fresh for three times as long, so you’ll have lots more time to cook up something delicious with them.”
