What the heck is it with the potatoes? Where to buy good ones?

[Anonymous]

Well, as the title says, for the last 11 years, I have been running into awful, rotten potatoes wherever I buy them. Sure, it is the humidity in MD, don't buy too much, ok. Buy red, buy yellow, buy Idaho. They have the black spots on them, in them, and are rotten as soon as you buy them. I've tried every supermarket, and it is the same story. I've lived worldwide and never had this issue until I moved back to MD in 2011.
I travel between MD and Ontario (for the last year) a lot and thought, ok, potatoes in Canada will be good. So, I bought a Canadian Yukon from "Yukon" (ok, not really, just being sarcastic), red, white, purple, all rotten. I come home and start cooking and throw away half of them.
So, that the heck is going on with potatoes? Where do I buy potatoes that are not black inside and out with rot?
Sorry about the rant; I love potatoes.

[Anonymous]

???

How are you storing the potatoes? Out of all of the food items I have issues with, potatoes are always fine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:???

How are you storing the potatoes? Out of all of the food items I have issues with, potatoes are always fine.

In a paper/cardboard box, very open, never near onions, in the cold basement, or in a dry pantry, separated each one from another so the rotten one doesn't get the good ones.
How do you store them?

[Anonymous]

I've bought bags that had potatoes with more green than I would like, but never outright rotting. I get them most often at HT, but really no problems no matter where I get them.

[Anonymous]

I have had the same problem, OP. They sprout very quickly in my home. Now I always get them straight from a local farm and use within a few days. If they are starting to turn or I can’t use them quickly, I prep and parboil them, then store in the refrigerator for easy roasting, scrambles, salads, etc.

[Anonymous]

How much do you buy and how long do you keep them before you eat them?

I haven't noticed this but I don't keep them around for long. Probably try not to keep them for more than 2 weeks.

[Anonymous]

I’ve never had any trouble with potatoes. I just store them on a shelf without any packaging, out of direct sunlight. I don’t keep them for more than a week, though.

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure where to buy good ones here. Most of them don't taste of anything. I keep mine in the dark in the basement to stop them from sprouting. Doesn't help the taste though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How much do you buy and how long do you keep them before you eat them?

I haven't noticed this but I don't keep them around for long. Probably try not to keep them for more than 2 weeks.

I have tried all sizes. For a long while, I would only buy the smallest bag, 5 lbs. But then kids came home from college and I needed more. Last time I bought a huge bag, 50 lbs, in Canada at business Costco, and that same day they were full of black all over them. I separated them all put them in a cold place, we have a large basement here too, and it is not humid, heck it was below 25C outside, and within a week I threw all but 5 away.
There was a period, in MD, when I bought only those potatoes that were not in bags, and those were good for the first few days, that is true.
I am from Europe and when I was young, we used to buy 50 kgs of potatoes, put them in the basement and none rotted. None had black spots. They might have shriveled up a bit but that is about all. Now I get it some of it inside is bruising, but I have run into rot outside and rot inside and then the dark spots in the middle. The problem with the dark spots outside is that they rot fast. I am storing them properly, the issue is I am buying them already rotting on the outside, which means grocers are storing them and transporting them improperly.

[Anonymous]

I just cut the sprouts off...is that ok?

[Anonymous]

I don't buy potatoes ahead of time. I only buy them the day I will use them because otherwise they will have turned green or brown or shriveled or otherwise turned. I don't get it. Potatoes just don't last very long.

[Anonymous]

Just don't buy bagged potatoes. Pick them yourself from loose potatoes. I've also had bad luck with rotten/moldy onions and avocados when I buy prebagged.

[Anonymous]

I trash them when they start looking green. Don’t want to subject my family to the potato poisoning. And they turn green fast. Like, within a week. But I’m not willing to risk cooking them if they look mildly green.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just don't buy bagged potatoes. Pick them yourself from loose potatoes. I've also had bad luck with rotten/moldy onions and avocados when I buy prebagged.

I see. Thanks, I was starting to feel like I am having the worst "potatoes" luck on dcum!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't buy potatoes ahead of time. I only buy them the day I will use them because otherwise they will have turned green or brown or shriveled or otherwise turned. I don't get it. Potatoes just don't last very long.

Potatoes used to last the whole winter, back in Europe when I was a kid. I come home past 5:30 pm, who wants to go buy potatoes on the day of cooking? But, sure, thanks for the tip, that is what I might have to do anyway.