Potato storage failure :( open to ideas

[Mel]

Curing is a factor in potato storage. I know part of it is digging the potatoes you are storing only after the stem is dead and dried down good. At this point the skin has toughened up making it keep better. There may have been more but I cant remember. Ill have to google it again.

 

[bobm]

Oh well Heather, it would have been pretty cool if they actually worked. Something like that would work
alright on freshly dug potatoes. But you can almost skin them with your bare hands.

I think the best thing would be to have a supply of eight year olds to press into potato duty.

You know that the doo gooders are listening/ reading your phone calls and postings ... When the " men in black " from OSHA , Labor Dept., and Labor Union reps. show up at your door to enforce child labor laws.

 

[thistlebloom]

You know that the doo gooders are listening/ reading your phone calls and postings ... When the " men in black " from OSHA , Labor Dept., and Labor Union reps. show up at your door to enforce child labor laws.

Well if they find any eight year olds at my house I guess we'll all be surprised!

 

[Jared77]

What about a multi pronged attack to the problem? Maybe instead of trying to store so much what if you stored some, canned some, and dehydrated some?

That way you don't have all your spuds in one basket? Plus it gives you some faster options too cutting down on your prep times. You want to do mashed potatoes tonight? Just open a quart & start smashing. You want to do a hash? Go to the storage bin and pick a few. You want to make soup? To the dehydrated spuds.

Plus your dividing up the labor and storage too. Your not running the dehydrator constantly, or peeling forever over the sink till your fingers become little nubs.

Panning and dehydrating don't have to be done immediately either. You can pod nit as you gave the time and energy to take on the tasks. That's what I'd do if I was you.

 

[thistlebloom]

Exactly Jared! That's what I was thinking too. I don't have a pressure canner, but it's on the list, probably not this year because I'm looking at cameras. But the dehydrator will come in handy, and we like twice baked potatoes so I could make up a hundred or so of those and freeze them.
That"s the nice thing about potatoes, they'll wait for you.

Oh, and I'm going to talk to dh about making a potato storage box to replace my plastic tool box. We have room to put a longer one in that spot and he could make it with three separate compartments, or something, we'll have to brainstorm on that one.

 

[digitS']

Well if they find any eight year olds at my house I guess we'll all be surprised!

If the neighbor's grandson impales himself climbing over my fence again, his grandmother may let him go for shipping costs. You are on your own with the "men in black," tho'.

Dehydrated potatoes for soup? I had only thought of chips and more chips. This idea opens another level of possibilities for DW's never-been-opened dehydrator!

And, frozen baked potatoes . . .

Steve

 

[NwMtGardener]

Frozen already baked potatoes...

yes, that sounds really convenient. Would they store okay in freezer ziplocks, do you think? If you laid them out on a cookie sheet first so they got frozen separately, then bag them up...

 

[Jared77]

What about with the food saver? Buzz them off in pairs or however many would be eating with you. They sell 8" bags so your not wasting bags.

I froze 15+ lbs of blueberries that way. Parchment paper on a cookie sheet let them sit overnight in the freezer. They were hard as marbles. Buzzed them off in so many measured out cups and labelled them so they are ready to go.

 

[thistlebloom]

Frozen already baked potatoes...

yes, that sounds really convenient. Would they store okay in freezer ziplocks, do you think? If you laid them out on a cookie sheet first so they got frozen separately, then bag them up...

You probably all know what I mean by "twice baked", but if you aren't familiar with them, they are baked potatoes cut in half lengthwise, scooped out and the scoopings mashed with butter and sour cream and chives (or green onions) and bacon. Then you scoop the mixture back in the shell, top with cheese and put back in the oven until the cheese is bubbly.
To freeze, don't do the second baking, and wait on the cheese topping until you're ready to bake them.
I wrap them individually in Saran wrap, then put them in a gallon ziploc in the freezer.
But I'm going to need to get a Foodsaver for sure.
The list of kitchen implements grows!!

 

[baymule]

Dehydrated potatoes are easy and cook up real good. Last year, I hash brown cut potatoes, blanched for 3 minutes, dunked in cold water and drained them. I dehydrated them in my Excalibur dehydrator. To use them I put the desired amount in a bowl and covered with hot water for about 45 minutes. I drained them and cooked them like I would fresh potatoes. They kept their shape better than fresh potatoes. Sometimes I used them instead of noodles in soups!

Foodsaver!! 2 words....... GET ONE!!!!!