Potatoes in fridge

[KnittyNorah]

The acrylamide risk is only for roasting or frying at high temperatures - and to be fair it's an issue with any fried carbohydrate food including coated products. Unless you eat these products day-in day-out 24/7 I don't think there is much to worry about.

Additional sugars aid browning, so no bad thing depending what you're making!

If your spud usage rate is such that you need to keep them in the fridge then either you're buying to many or not eating them that regularly...if it's the latter then I wouldn't worry.
But out of the pack and allowed to breath in a cool dark place saves fridge space for beer....

Yes, the 'acrylamides at high temperature' is a bit of click-bait really - beloved of tabloids. Of course if you like to eat food that is virtually burnt all the time and/or if your entire diet consists of carbohydrates over-cooked at high temperatures you probably have more to worry about right now than acrylamides possible being carcinogenic some time in your future ...

But keeping spuds in the fridge does change their flavour, poor things - and I think for the worse. Maybe if someone likes sweet potatoes? Or is using them in a dessert or bread-type recipe? I think some people have massive fridges, though, and very little other storage space that would be suitable for fresh veggies.

 

[MichaelW2]

1 - It affects the flavour and texture, due to changes in the sugar content at refrigerated temperatures.
2 - The changes in the sugars may increase the production of acrylamide - which is possibly associated with an increased cancer risk - during cooking.

...In mice.

 

[PK99]

Someone needs to tell the Potato industry!

https://www.onions-potatoes.com/storage/potatoes.php

 

[Fab Foodie]

So could frozen chip potatoes be a problem?

...with acrylamide yes, just the same.

 

[Fab Foodie]

Someone needs to tell the Potato industry!

https://www.onions-potatoes.com/storage/potatoes.php

Well quite....

 

[MontyVeda]

Take them out and store in a dark cupboard. the risk is one of those that of you eat 8 stone of spuds a day you may suffer, but iy doesnt do the flavour any good, plus its taking up vital beer storage space

Beer, in the fridge, at this time of year? Put it in the yard!

 

[bitsandbobs]

So do I remove the potatoes from my fridge and put them in a well ventilated cupboard or should I bin them? However, from the link: “Research stress that there is not yet any clear evidence of acrylamide causing cancer in people.”

There is an infamous case in New Zealand where a researcher was rendered blind and paraplegic, seemingly from acrylamide poisoning. There were suggestions that huge quantities had been added to his tea (the alleged poisoner was tried twice, but ultimately acquitted).

 

[lazybloke]

We just store allotment spuds bagged in the shed. Will be eating them months later, even when they get a bit squidgy and the eyes are more like trees!
Not fussed about green spuds either, I just peel a bit more away.

Never caused me any ha

 

[Petrichorwheels]

The acrylamide risk is only for roasting or frying at high temperatures - and to be fair it's an issue with any fried carbohydrate food including coated products. Unless you eat these products day-in day-out 24/7 I don't think there is much to worry about.

Additional sugars aid browning, so no bad thing depending what you're making!

If your spud usage rate is such that you need to keep them in the fridge then either you're buying to many or not eating them that regularly...if it's the latter then I wouldn't worry.
But out of the pack and allowed to breath in a cool dark place saves fridge space for beer....

Thanks for the perspective foody. Usually I boil so am probably pretty safe.

 

[MontyVeda]

I used to buy spuds by the sack off my granddad... they lasted months but i guess still having the muck on helped.

I wish i could still buy mucky carrots too... they just don't last once they've been washed

 

[Fab Foodie]

I used to buy spuds by the sack off my granddad... they lasted months but i guess still having the muck on helped.

I wish i could still buy mucky carrots too... they just don't last once they've been washed

I dunno what's up with Carrots these days, barely last the journey home from the shop!

 

[T4tomo]

I used to buy spuds by the sack off my granddad... they lasted months but i guess still having the muck on helped.

I wish i could still buy mucky carrots too... they just don't last once they've been washed

we used to dig up our carrots from the garden at this-ish time of year and bury then in a big tub of sand in a shed, and then use them through the winter.

spuds were left unwashed in a heap in another shed/ barn under a pile of hessian sacks (to keep the light out), and again lasted the winter through.

 

[KnittyNorah]

...In mice.

Cooking mice? Ugh, don't fancy that!

 

[tyred]

we used to dig up our carrots from the garden at this-ish time of year and bury then in a big tub of sand in a shed, and then use them through the winter.

spuds were left unwashed in a heap in another shed/ barn under a pile of hessian sacks (to keep the light out), and again lasted the winter through.

Spuds were traditionally kept in a pit in the field. They were dug, piled and then thatched with rushes and left for a few weeks to dry before shovelling clay over it all to seal it for winter and protect from frost. They came out in the springtime much the same as they were when freshly dug if it was done properly.

In later years, people used straw and covered it with plastic sheets as it was easier.

I remember "helping" as a boy in the early '80s. If it was too wet to dig potatoes you went and cut rushes and bundled them up. It's not easy as you'll be doing it in waterlogged ground in the pouring rain.

Basically nobody stores them like that any more as it's too labour intensive and potato growing is mostly large-scale intensive operations now rather than most farmers growing a few acres on the side.

 

[bitsandbobs]

Thanks for the perspective foody. Usually I boil so am probably pretty safe.

Do you drink coffee?