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Here’s how to store potatoes properly to keep them from sprouting with one clever trick. You’ll be amazed at how well this easy tip works.
Have you ever heard this old wives’ tale about how to store potatoes properly? Before I tried it, I’d been hearing about it for years but kind of ignoring it, thinking it would never actually work for me. I thought maybe the air in my area was just too humid, or something like that, because my potatoes always seemed to end up going soft, wrinkly, a little mushy, and they would start to sprout almost instantly whenever I would bring a bag home.
I even posted about it one time long, long ago:
But still, I persisted and bought bag after bag, thinking I just needed to find a place to store them that was a little bit darker and a little bit cooler, and everything would be fine. People had been buying and storing potatoes successfully since forever, so why couldn’t I? Finally, I tried this crazy trick, and amazingly, it actually worked the very first time. So here’s what to do if you ever have this issue in your kitchen. It turns out it wasn’t my storage conditions or our air’s humidity that was the problem at all.
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How to Keep Potatoes From Sprouting
This method for maintaining potato freshness is so incredibly simple. Maybe a little too simple. I think that’s why I always avoided trying it, thinking something so quick and easy could never actually work. Once again, though, the wonders of science are hard at work for us, even if we’re putting in almost no effort.
So here’s what you do: Open your bag of potatoes. Toss in an apple. Store it in a cool, dark place away from sunlight as you usually would.
That’s it! That one little apple can prevent an entire ten-pound bag of potatoes from starting to sprout all by itself. In my experience, the variety of apple doesn’t make a difference, and neither does the type of potato. So you can add a golden delicious to a bag of russet potatoes, or a gala to a bag of yukon gold with the same reliable result.
Likewise, it doesn’t seem to make a difference whether you buy your potatoes in a plastic bag or a paper bag.
The first time I tried this, I placed an apple in with my potatoes, then checked back a little over a week later. I was amazed to find that the potatoes still looked like they were freshly-purchased, with not a single one starting to grow. At that point, I’d have a potato farm well underway and lots of potatoes looking like they were ready to be planted if I had been storing them as I usually did.
More produce secrets: How to Keep Celery Fresh Practically Forever
This is perfect for busy families who like to keep a large bag of potatoes on hand but might not get around to using them right away. Sometimes life gets busy and you end up making only really simple meals one week, so it’s nice to know that your potatoes will be waiting for you when you’re ready for them. It’s also great to know if you normally keep your potatoes refrigerated but don’t have enough room in the vegetable crisper of your fridge along with all the other perishable veggies.
Must-try potato recipe: How to Make Baked Potatoes in the Crock Pot
Why Does an Apple Prevent Potatoes From Sprouting?
Apples, and actually, all other fruits, release ethylene gas as they go through the ripening process. It’s the ethylene gas that is trapped as the fruit ripens that reacts with the potatoes, prevents spoilage, and keeps them from starting to sprout in the potato bag. This has been proven in lab experiments and in my own kitchen, too!
The reason for choosing an apple over another type of fruit is simply that apples have a long shelf life, similar to the storage life of potatoes, so you can store your bag of potatoes successfully for a few weeks without having to replace the piece of fruit.
If you were to place a banana, an orange, or an avocado in the bag, you’d either need to replace it frequently or you’d have a mushy mess on your hands if you accidentally forget about it for too long.
So an apple is the fruit for the job in this case.
Have you tried this one out before? Or do you have a different trick that you use to keep potatoes from sprouting?
Courtenay Hartford is the author of creeklinehouse.com, a blog based on her adventures renovating a 120-year-old farmhouse in rural Ontario, Canada. On her blog, Courtenay shares interior design tips based on her own farmhouse and her work as founder and stylist of the interior photography firm Art & Spaces. She also writes about her farmhouse garden, plant-based recipes, family travel, and homekeeping best practices. Courtenay is the author of the book The Cleaning Ninja and has been featured in numerous magazines including Country Sampler Farmhouse Style, Better Homes and Gardens, Parents Magazine, Real Simple, and Our Homes.