Table of Contents
How Long Do Potatoes Last- Know Everything About Their Shelf Life
Have you brought a lot of potatoes lately and thinking how long do potatoes last? We love potatoes, they absolutely fit in every dish we prepare whether it’s vegetarian or non-vegetarian.
Potatoes were originally grown by people who were native to the Andes mountains in South America. The popularity of potatoes rose so much that people all over the world started growing them. Their growth became rapid and thousands of varieties of potatoes were cultivated later on. s pretty good, this makes you think
You may have brought potatoes much time before and noticed that their shelf life is pretty good, this makes you think how long do potatoes last? or how can we make them last even more? there are plenty of questions that might float in your mind while you are reading this piece of information.
One important question is how to tell whether the potatoes in your house are safe to be eaten or not? To answer all the questions, we have gathered a piece of detailed information on this topic, keep reading and scrolling to know more.
Shelf Life Of Potatoes
The length of time in which potatoes do not spoil and stay fresh to be eaten depends upon many factors that should be kept in mind. These factors include whether you have cooked them or not or the way you store them.
Generally, when potatoes are not cooked they can last from a week to few months (2-3 months in general) potatoes generally last longer in cooler temperatures such as those temperatures which are afforded by any pantry or some kind of root cellar. Potatoes usually last for 4 days inside a refrigerator once they are cooked and 1 year inside the freezer, though the quality of potatoes alters with freezing them as they are in mashed form.
some details are provided below, including red, russet, sweet, and purple varieties and how long they last.
- Fresh potatoes when kept at a cool temperature like 10-degree celsius, they are going to last for 2 to 3 months.
- Fresh potatoes when kept at room temperature can last for not more than one or two weeks.
- When the potatoes are kept in raw form by cutting them and storing them using water you can expect them to last for 24 hours only.
- Mashed potatoes can last for 3 to 4 days given that they are cooked and kept inside a refrigerator.
- Boiled potatoes will also last for 3 to 4 days given that they are cooked and kept inside a refrigerator.
- Frozen potatoes when present in uncooked form can last for 10 months to 12 months.
- Instant potatoes when uncooked can last for years altogether.
How Long Do Potatoes Last
For knowing how long potatoes last their Shelf life must be kept in mind. But you have to still check potatoes for signs of spoilage here and then. Different types of potatoes show different signs, let’s see how long potatoes last based on their type.
whole fresh potatoes
Raw potatoes have tight skin without any kind of large bruises, black spots, or any other type of blemishes. They are also firm to touch.
If it has become mushy or soft, you need to throw it out. Although the smell of potatoes becoming nutty and earthy is quite common but it should never become moldy or musty in odor. If the smell changes to any of these, you should figure out that they are signs of spoilage.
Also, there are times when the blemishes or spots of spoilage are present on the interior side of potatoes and they are barely visible to anyone outside. In this case, the smell is important in figuring out how potatoes are. When a strong smell comes out of fresh-looking potatoes, even that can be taken as a sign of warning that potatoes are not fresh anymore.
With a bad smell, you should be able to figure out how long do potatoes last that have certain unpleasant smells as the potatoes might have rotted from the interior. It becomes necessary to dispose of foul-looking potatoes at that moment itself.
Sprouted Potatoes
Sprouts in potatoes are a sign of forthcoming spoilage. If you see sprouts growing, know that something is wrong or you have to use the potatoes before it’s too late. Sprouts are also known as eyes of potatoes. If you do not know how they appear, they are like small bumps or intentions on which the tubers stem to sprout a new plant.
Sprouts might appear a bit unappealing to you in the beginning but you can still consume recently sprouted potatoes given that you remove all the sports or intentions that were grown. If you are thinking about how to remove these eyes of potatoes, do not worry, you do not need any specialization to complete this. You can simply pull them off to remove them from potatoes, it is as simple as that.
You should never consume sported potatoes even if you are in a hurry because they contain chaconine, solanine, and some other toxicated ingredients like glycoalkaloids. These compounds when consumed can cause serious side effects. Some of these include digestive ad neurological symptoms for example vomiting, diarrhea, and headaches.
These toxins are not only present inside the sprouts located on top of potatoes, they are also there in the region which appears slightly green. You might have noticed some area on potatoes that appears to be green, many people tend to ingore it thinking the potatoes are raw and fresh but it is not as such. Therefore, it is the best practice that you cut any green part appearing on the potatoes’ skin or flesh to avoid consuming these toxins and getting sick.
If the potatoes have started generating sprouts, it is best that you start eating them as when the sprouts start growing they eventually such out essential nutrients and sugar from the potatoes causing the potato to shrink and shrivel. They also lose their crunch.
Cooked Potatoes
How long do potatoes last once they are cooked? Well, it is quite thought to figure this one out as once they are cooked you cannot tell directly looking at them.
In some cases, we have noticed that the potatoes have a strong odor or some visible molds that usually indicate signs of spoilage. Yet, in some other cases, you could not figure out possible signs even if the food harbors bacterias inside of them. The signs will not be noticeable to it is quite difficult to find out.
Once potatoes are cooked, they are especially at a higher risk of attack by bacteria that can result in causing food poisoning. This is mainly because potatoes hold a lot of moisture and are slightly acidic in nature. They also contain some proteins that are at higher risk of bacterial attack.
All these factors indicate that potatoes are best to be eaten within 4 days if you have already cooked them. When you are removing them out of the refrigerator, it is best that you reheat the potatoes to 74 degrees celsius so that they get rid of any bacterias that have formed inside of them.
Once you have figured out how long do potatoes last, it is important to know if you should eat them or not and what are the risks associated with eating spoiled potatoes.
Health Risks
Cooked potatoes kept for too long possess a higher risk of bacterial attack and food poisoning. After few days of cooking, they will begin to harbor bacteria and pathogens that may result in illnesses. These pathogen and batteries include salmonella, botulism, listeria, staphylococcal food poisoning, etc.
If you are having some foodborne illnesses, you might experience any of the symptoms listed below:
- Stomach cramps
- fever
- nausea
- diarrhea
- vomiting
- muscle aches
When the cases become too severe, they can also result in dehydration or hospitalization. Once they are not looked upon in time and ingore without hospitalization, they might also cause the death of an individual. You can easily figure out the severity of food poisoning and eating food that has become a hub for bacterial growth.
Thus, you should never keep cooked potatoes for too long and throw them out even you witness a small mold on them. Disposing of them immediately can save you from the aftereffects. These molds over the potatoes may appear as fuzz or dark spots that are red, black, brown, bluish-gray, or purple in color.
Once you know how long do potatoes last and what are few diseases they may cause if consumed after being spoiled or rotten, you should know certain ways that you can use to store them so as to avoid getting spoiled of potatoes. Let’s see few techniques or ways to store them before it’s too late.
How To Store Potatoes To Avoid Their Spoilage
Those people that pay close attention to the storage methods of various greens and potatoes have found many ways that help them keeping potatoes for a longer time and increases their shelf duration. If you also want to practice these ways, keep reading.
Paying attention closely to the conditions of storage is most likely to help you keep your potatoes for longer. Usually, moisture and warmer temperature lead to sprouting, and once they are exposed to light, the rate at which toxins of glycoalkaloid are released also increases. This clearly suggests that you should never keep the potatoes on the counter or in any place that is open.
You should rather keep the potatoes in dark and dry places such as a cellar, pantry, or cupboard. A closed cabinet will also do the work as it will keep the potatoes away from sunlight exposure.
In addition to the above solution, you can also keep the uncooked potatoes in any container such as a bowl, box, or perforated bag. This will allow the air inside the bowl or box to circulate. You should never keep the fresh potatoes inside of a freezer or refrigerator. Doing this will cause the potatoes to soften and turn brown in color. The sugar content inside them will increase along with the increase in acrylamides.
Although, when the temperature is somewhat cool, it is are ideal for keeping potatoes and storing them you should still avoid using extremely cool places. Acrylamides are compounds that are sometimes formed inside food containing starches like potatoes after they are cooked at higher temperatures.
Do you know that french fries or potato chips are considered to be carcinogenic by many specialists?
Try to keep the potatoes away from other food products as it will help in minimizing their exposure to harmful gases like ethylene which is most likely responsible for increasing the spoilage and sprouting in potatoes.
For storing them, you can learn the thumb rule technique also. According to the thumb rule, the potatoes once cooked should be refrigerated at 40 degrees Fahrenheit while the frozen potatoes should be kept at 0 degrees Fahrenheit.
Conclusive Note
Potatoes are starchy vegetables and they are popularly known for their large shelf life. Yet, knowing how long do potatoes last and how to store them is a great thing. Their shelf life also depends upon how you are keeping them.
As per the information collected, it is clear that keeping them inside of cool, dark, and dry places the potatoes are most likely to last for several months while keeping them in hot places or extremely dry places in presence of sunlight is not a good idea.
Once they are cooked properly, you should either eat them or freeze them within few days for preventing any foodborne diseases that may upset your stomach and overall health.
Make sure you are throwing away the potatoes having an odd smell and greenish appearance to avoid getting any toxins inside of your body.
This was everything you needed to know on how long do potatoes last and how to store them to increase their shelf life.
Enjoy eating them!
