How to Store Potatoes

Things You'll Need

• Brown Paper Bags
• Potatoes
• Plastic Bags
• Burlap
• Plastic bags

·  1 Avoid rinsing potatoes before storing.

·  2 Place potatoes in a brown paper, burlap or plastic bag with holes in it.

·  3 Store in a cool, dark, dry place. A root cellar, if you have one, is the best storage option.

·  4 Make sure the temperature in the area is about 45 to 50 degrees F. Don't store potatoes in the refrigerator, or they will become too sweet.

·  5 Avoid storing potatoes with onions because, when close together, they produce gases that spoil both.

·  6 Store potatoes no longer than two months if mature. If they are new, store no longer than one week.

·  7 Check on them occasionally and remove those that have become soft or shriveled, as well as those that have sprouted.


The difference between New Potatoes and Main Crop.
New potatoes have loose skins & are the first potatoes to be harvested each year.
Main Crop potatoes provide the main proportion of the potatoes we eat.
Main crop potatoes are left in the ground until they have ‘bulked up’ (grown to a good size).
Main crop potatoes are lifted & stored through the winter, to give a constant supply of potatoes until the following year’s earlies are ready. But the skins must ‘set‘ for the potatoes to store satisfactorily.
The difference between New and Main Crop potatoes is that the skins are “set” on main crop. Sharpes Express, Maris Bard, Rocket, etc. are traditionally grown as New potatoes, but any variety can be defined as New, depending on when it is harvested. King Edwards & Pink Fir Apple, usually grown as main crop, may be lifted before the skins are set, and eaten as new potatoes.