Thursday, May 19, 2011
{ Life } Dear Potato Bin, What am I Doing Wrong?
My husband has a serious love of mashed potatoes, which means I am serving them at least once or twice a week. When we first got together I knew nothing about making mashed potatoes. Growing up both myself and my two siblings had dairy allergies. So my mom didn't make mashed potatoes that often, as they really aren't that great without milk. When I moved out, I started using the instant powdered potatoes, because that's what my mother-in-law makes, and that's what my husband asked for. Yuck. I can't stand 'em. One day I decided to make real mashed potatoes from scratch. I imagined that it was a long and difficult procedure... otherwise why would instant mash exist? Turns out that peeling potatoes is the only annoying or time consuming part of the deal. Boil potatoes, drain, add milk, mash. Takes like 20 minutes and is really no more difficult then measuring and making the instant ones. Oh, and these I actually like the taste of. Needless to say I am now totally hooked on making "real" mashed potatoes.
For Christmas this past year I asked for, and received, a potato bin. A local fellow was selling them at the nearby farmers market, but I was loathe to spent $70 on myself. I grabbed his business card and handed it to my husband with a broad hint that a potato bin really would make a lovely Christmas gift. He passed the info on to his mom, and guess what I found under the tree? Awesome. Fantastic. Exactly what I wanted. I found the perfect spot for it in my kitchen and headed out and bought myself a nice giant sack full of potatoes. Since then I have been wondering what the heck I am doing wrong because my potatoes always look like this...
I am not talking about after months, or even weeks and weeks of storage. I put the potatoes in the bin; they look fresh and wonderful. Two or three weeks later I have "seedy" potatoes that are growing eyes and wrinkles. I remember reading Little House on the Prairie, and they had potatoes in the cellar all winter long. My house is relatively cool and humidity free. Why the heck can't I keep potatoes in my lovely potato bin for 18 days?
If someone can tell me what I am doing wrong I would be ever so grateful. In the meantime I am developing a love for those new McCain Purely Potatoes. They cut out the annoying step of having to peel and chop potatoes and shave a couple of minutes off my dinner prep time. Otherwise they are just like cooking "real" potatoes for mash. Only instead of dirtying a pan boiling them, you have the option of steaming them in the microwave right in the bag they come in. The best part is they sit in my freezer until I am ready to use them. They never go rotten or grow potato eyes. Really, the only question now is what to do with this beautiful wooden potato bin?
Disclosure: As a BzzAgent I received a coupon to try McCain Purely Potatoes for free. As always the opinions on this blog are my own.
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10 comments:
I thought that was a good question because I often have this issue as well. So I hopped on google and this is what I found
http://www.emovingstorage.com/storage/potato-storagehow-store-potatoes-correctly/
So you may want to move your bin to the basement, if you have one.
Good luck!
my potatoes go like that as well,,we have mashed potatoes All the time..yumm..but I NEVER put milk in with them,,just butter! lol..hmmm..
@Tamara
Awesome! Thanks for the link. I took a look at the article and I think part of the problem might be that I'm storing onions in the same bin (in the drawer on the bottom). I'm going to try segregating them and see if that helps.
@ksceviour
Maybe my mom just didn't like mashed potatoes? I should ask her sometime.
Hm, I know potatoes are supposed to be kept in dry dark places, but I keep them in the fridge in the veggie bin and they last there for months and look like new.
I love love mashed potatoes with lots of milk and butter. But my son hates them, so I rarely make them anymore... There's a great butter substitute though - Earth Balance - it's sold in yellowish tubs. I bought it by accident once and didn't even know it wasn't real butter until I read the label.
Oh and instant potatoes are so gross, sorry :)
We love potatoes in our household and have this problem too! It doesn't seem to make a difference if we keep them in the kitchen or basement. Although maybe with the warmer weather coming I'll move them back to the basement. :o) We love to add Ranch salad dressing into our mashed potatoes along with the milk to add more flavour!
No need to apologize. I detest instant potatoes. As far as I’m concerned you might as well eat cardboard.
I’ll have to keep an eye out for Earth’s Balance, as I have to keep my dairy consumption in check.
Thanks Jen!
@Tirza
I am contemplating moving the bin to the basement... Just not sure quite where to put it. Also, even with a humidifier almost constantly on our basement can get sort of damp. I really thought they'd do better on the more climate controlled ground floor. Guess I was wrong.
Do you store onions in the bottom of the bin? I just read the other day that something in the onions makes the potatoes rippen much faster.
I was surprised because they market the bins to store both things together. I have stopped using my bin to store my potatoes. I just keep them in the bag on the floor of my kitchen. they last a lot longer now.
After reading the article that Tamara linked to which warns “Don’t store potatoes with onions as both release gases that when combined expedite the rotting process for both.”, this is EXACTLY what I’m thinking the problem might be. I am now going to try segregating the two and see if they last longer. I agree, it is surprising, since they market the potato bin with the onion drawer on the bottom. I find it depressing that they last longer in the burlap sack. I guess that’s next on my “to-try” list.
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