As long as they are in the dark area & do not freeze, a cool area is best for them.

Thanks, Loonlake. I will definitely put them in the garage for this winter. Will have to rethink what to do when the weather turns warmer and the garage is not cool.

If your garage gets cold enough to freeze then just putting them out there wouldn't be beneficial. But if you put them in a cardboard box packed into pine shavings that you can pick up in just about any pet section they might store OK for a while. That's how we used to store turnips.

If you have a closet on an exterior wall that may be a cool, dark place suitable for potatoes.

I buy singles instead of bag for the most part and as firm as possible. When in the grocery look for damp/cold firm to the touch. If you want russets but they are even slightly a bit soft to the touch, change your menu.

Holidays with mashed on the plan a good firm bag is fine....but we don't eat much potatoes though I like to have a few on hand. (I use paper thin slices for egg frittatas as the 'crust' instead of pastry)

My kitchen is always around 67º this time of winter. Pantry is on an outside wall so is 60º with doors closed.

If you can, a garage storage is good if 45-60º not near the door. But I could not check that so often to see any troubles with rot. I do that early Fall with squashes and garden produce but annoying for any year round storage.

And never store near things like onions, fruits like bananas.

If you have a garage handy spot that you pass by often...do that! Nice single layer box or tray. Near an interior door. Just one rotting will affect all surrounding potatoes.

I really wanted a mixed baby bag for a holiday meal. Used half the bag but did not last at all a week later...soft/sprouting. Should be fine for a month/6 weeks. Just not as fresh as I care for.

I have about fifty pounds of russet potatoes stored in my garage and about he same of sweet potatoes. My garage is cool, partly underground and dark. I have stored potatoes in boxes in there for many years. If it should get very, very cold, I turn on some heat.

Sue

Don't just lay them on a tray. Be sure they are covered so no light, daylight or artificial light reaches them. Besides heat and moisture, it's a death knell for potatoes. Make sure you remove any greenish parts on them (I usually toss at that point) and any sprouts fully.

Everyone’s storage conditions are different.

If you are unable to store russet potatoes, buy Yukon’s or New (red) potatoes and keep them in the fridge, or buy and use when needed.

Don't just lay them on a tray. Be sure they are covered so no light, daylight or artificial light reaches them

My garage is dark, especially by the entry door. I like the Costco cardboard stacking veg trays for veg, That has been full of garden produce now sadly emptying...still some garlic. I grew a Rama tomato long keeper last summer and just used up the last few dozen. All our climates are different. We have no snow and 40-60 days and barely freezing nights. Years past we have had snow deep freeze October through march. One pup had a tick yesterday. So need a deep freeze to kill most of the population.

Any spot above freezing temps will be the best storage. And dark.

In a warmer climate I would buy less per shopping trip and fridge.

Why store potatoes? They're cheap enough to buy in small quantities when needed.

Many garages in many locations have rodents and other varmints. Keeping potatoes or other food items in unsealed rigid containers may attract them for those that aren't yet infested.

The problem with storing them in the fridge is it can turn the starches to sugar. However, I know people who do it without, seemingly, any problem. I keep mine in a large basket on a pantry shelf. I try not to buy more than I'll be using in maybe 3 weeks or so. Make sure to keep them out of plastic bags/containers since they need good air flow...like onions and garlic. I remember my grandmother storing potatoes in a root cellar where it was dark, cool and damp.

This makes me think of a time long ago when, not knowing any better, I put a couple heads of garlic in a tightly closed container. When I finally got around to opening it all I could see was white powder. Then I realized the "powder" was moving. :-/

I refrigerate potatoes too. Have to. They'll last a day or two in the house in the Winter. They'll last at least a few weeks in the fridge, and up to a few months, and even after they're shrivelled and sprouty they rarely get moldy in the fridge. Sometimes you need a potato, but I use them rarely. I try to keep a couple on hand to use ad hoc, and buy more when I need them for a particular recipe.

ETA following Chloebud's comment above, potatoes for me don't keep a long time like they do for people who have cool storage, like for a whole year. They just keep ten times longer than out of the fridge. I don't know about the starch to sugar thing, but I do know when a potato isn't "right". That might happen in the ones I chuck for being wrong, but the ones I cook are perfectly normal.

My garage is definitely dark and cool in Winter; it may get to a freezing temp outside, but the garage has never gotten that low in temp. I do have a good place to put them.

As far as the refrigerator, that just does not work for me. I put them in the fridge once; when I cooked the potatoes, they were so sweet (like candy), we could not eat them. Learned my lesson.

I have even had the small 1 pound bags of small reds and golds go to waste.

Therefore, going to try the garage and see what happens. I have holey basket I put them in so the air flow is good. Will try to remember to report back as to the end results.

Thanks to all for your comments and advice. It is much appreciated.

I've never noticed my refrigerated potatoes tasting sweet. But they sure do sprout fast in my pantry. Even a few days.

WalnutCreek, do let us know how the garage works. I think the thing to do is what works best for you. I might buy a small bag of something like fingerling or baby Dutch potatoes. For the rest, it's usually individually.

When the refrigeration turns the starches to sugar, they don't necessarily taste sweet, but they turn blackish when they are cooked.

Colleenoz, I didn't know that. I have actually had my potatoes turn gray once they are boiled then cooled. Could that be why? I always thought that somehow they may have been bruised.

Yes, refrigeration affects the starch of the potatoes. That's why they say to never refrigerate them. Sometimes, I've grabbed a bag at the supermarket that was obviously just pulled from refrigerated storage, so I won't buy them.

Exactly, Ladydi. It's the refrigeration that gives you grey potatoes.

Elery used to refrigerate his potatoes as he used very few and sometimes they had a sweet flavor that I found off putting, although he didn't seem to notice it.

I keep potatoes on hand as I have a large potato-loving family. I have a storage room/root cellar that stays about 45-50 all winter. I still have some potatoes, onions and butternut squash there that were harvested in September and October, although the squash are slowly deteriorating. I usually buy a 5 pound bag unless I'm having a family dinner, then I'll buy more. I don't want to have to drive 10 miles into town for a potato.

I have cooked potatoes after they begin to soften, not mushy but just not quite firm, and haven't noticed a difference after they are cooked.

Annie

I've never, to the best of my recollection, had the potatoes turn black or gray or taste like anything but normal potatoes. But, as I said, I don't keep them for months either. I also refrigerate ripe tomatoes and they're fine, though I've come to the conclusion, based on what I've learned here, that the reason TJ's tomatoes always have no flavor is from overrefigeration while not ripe. My garage gets direct western sun. It's not cold enough, even on the coldest days, to keep produce. So interesting how different these things are for each of us.

I've always refrigerated my potatoes with no problems. But I do put them in the vegetable drawer that isn't as cold.

I keep mine in the fridge as well, in a brown paper bag, also in the crisper. I buy up to four big baking potatoes at a time, they last for weeks. Haven't noticed any difference in taste but doesn't mean there isn't some kind of chemistry going on, just never bothered me.

If I had a family to feed and needed to buy bags of potatoes, I'd find some other way of storing and extending their life. However, depends upon the menu how many I'd need to prepare at a time! :)

Mine are kept in the fridge vegetable drawers too. They sprout quickly if I leave them out here.

And in all the many years I've been doing that, I have never noticed any sign of the starch 'turning into sugar', despite reading & hearing that same warning from various sources.

Makes me wonder if that might be another of those 'myths' that just keep being repeated without evidence.

Though I have no need to park raw potatoes in the fridge, I'm tempted to do a test run with a couple just out of curiosity. I'm not convinced the "sugar to starch" is a myth, but maybe more of "can" than "will"...?

Found this info on storing potatoes, saying most homes are too warm to store potatoes & ideal temp.s are 42-50F :

https://www.extension.uidaho.edu/publishing/pdf/cis/cis1153.pdf

carol, I can definitely tell you that some potatoes, when refrigerated, get a decidedly sweet flavor. I don't know if it's the type, or the temperature, or the length of storage, or whatever, but when Elery kept his potatoes in the refrigerator they had a very sweet flavor, not like a potato at all.

I noted that WalnutCreek said the same thing, that the potatoes were sweet, and they were thrown out as a result of that flavor, so I know I'm not the only one.

And this is from the University of Idaho Extension Service:

"While colder temperatures inhibit sprouting, they also tend to cause dark colored fried potatoes. If you intend to fry your potatoes, you'll want to keep them in a slightly warmer place (in other words, not in the refrigerator). This is because potatoes that are stored in colder temperatures undergo a reaction that converts starch to sugars, which causes potatoes to turn a dark brown color when fried. Dark colored French fries and potato chips are generally not considered to be as appealing as golden colored fries and chips. This color change will not occur in potatoes that have been baked or boiled; however, to some people, a potato stored in cold conditions will taste sweeter once it is baked or boiled." (emphasis is mine)

Here's the link, the quote is from page 2: https://www.extension.uidaho.edu/publishing/pdf/cis/cis1153.pdf

Annie

I buy the smaller bags lately too. I've stopped picking up potatoes at Costco even though their bakers are great quality.

Potatoes go into a woven basket with lid. Inside the basket the potatoes are in a heavy paper bag with the top rolled over for darkness. In my garage. We have a divided garage, his and hers. My side doesn't get much lower than 50F ever according to the temp gauge when I start my car. I sometimes think the heat from my office goes through the wall and partially heats that half the garage ;0)

" I sometimes think the heat from my office goes through the wall and partially heats that half the garage"

We park our cars in the garage too. I'm not sure where you live but in my mild climate area, a hot car put into a garage (with ventilation that's building code adequate but not robust) will warm the garage and keep it warm for many hours. Far more than heat escaping from nearby interior spaces because unless your house is old, code requires garage walls to be beefier and better insulated than interior walls.

I've never had that tastes sweet effect either for baked potatoes. I don't fry them except for latkes. those are the only things I buy by the bag for, too, and they don't go in the fridge--no room!--but get cooked right away.

My guess it that it takes longer to become appreciably sweet than they keep for me altogether. They will go icky in a month, two at the outmost.

That is, my guess is that we're all right, but from different points of experience, like the blind scientists and the elephant.

There is no car in my garage. I gave my husband's car away after he died. The big door in the winter is very seldom opened and it stays the right temp for my potatoes. When I raised sweet potatoes I kept them in that garage for a good year or even more with no problems. I have no problems with storing them and the russets now. If your potatoes start to sprout you could do like we did when I lived at home with my parents, you just simply de sprout them. With all the family meals and holidays we use up a lot of potatoes. I buy my potatoes when they are at a pretty good sale. Good luck with keeping your potatoes.

Sue

Since the grocery store stores potatoes at refrigerator temps does it matter what happens after you take them home?

I’ve never seen them in the refrigerated section, but I have no idea what happens in the back before they’re displayed.

All I know is I’m glad to see I’m not the only one with potato storage issues. I get away with a week, maybe. Fortunately I go grocery shopping most days and don’t use many potatoes anyway, so it’s not been a major issue in my life!

They are kept refrigerated in the back.

The potatoes usually purchased for use at our home, are russets, very small gold, red, white, and fingerling potatoes. The 3 lb. bag of russets purchased two days before Christmas began sprouting last week. If potatoes have sprouts, I always desprouted them (Mom taught me to do that many years ago). Some of them recently have had so many sprouts that my hands hurt after all the time despouting; that is one thing that prompted me to post the question. Because I didn't have time to put them in the garage this weekend, put them in the garage this morning. I have made a note to myself to update this thread in a few weeks to let y'all know how it is working.

Yukon Gold is my potato of choice. I stopped buying white ones long ago when they'd often be black after peeling, or after cooking. I remember asking here what makes them do that, and it was from being stored too cold. So I blame that on the store.

I don't have that problem with Yukons. I still buy my potatoes in 10-lb bags. I just bought a bag yesterday on sale for $3. By the time I get to the bottom, they're definitely starting to wrinkle and soften, but I figure even if I have to throw some out, it's still cheaper than buying them a few at a time.

I live in an apartment and one bedroom is decidedly cooler than the rest for some reason, so that's where I keep them. (as well as my excess onions)

Yukon Golds are my spuds of choice as well. I always have a few on hand, just for fried potatoes if nothing else. I buy them individually as needed (never by the bag - too many, weird sizes, unseen defects) and potatoes are cheap enough anyway so any savings are insignificant. I store mine in a paper bag under the kitchen sink. Even after several weeks, they are perfectly fine if sprouting a few eyes, which just get rubbed off.

I prefer russets for baking but also purchase those individually as needed and usually use them long before they start to decline. I sometimes buy bags of fingerlings or baby red and yellows and those I have stored in the frig until use. I have never noticed any change in taste or coloring from these.

I did read that publication I shared. My home is usually between 73F-80F, depending on the season - much too warm to store potatoes at room temp. for more than a short time, so I'll take the 'sweeter' potatoes, and since I don't fry them, I won't worry about darkening.

Put them where it is cool and dark. Do not freeze. Some basements are cool enough to extend the storage time.

And in some parts, there are no basements...

lol, plllog...definitely not here!

And, definitely not here.

Even if there are basements, that does not necessarily translate into a good storage area for potatoes. Many basements are finished and fully heated....like mine. My ADU is a basement but a spacious, fully finished and comfortably heated living area. There is nothing cool or dark about it at all!!

Agree. When we did live in another state win a house with a basement, the basement was completely finished and was another living area which we utilized daily.