The Sewing Place

Potato storage bag?

sewingj

Potato storage bag?
« on: July 02, 2020, 14:53:46 PM »
Not exactly "House Beautiful" but never mind
We don`t eat a great many potatoes and I`m fed up with them going green or sprouting before we`ve had time to use them.  I don`t have room for them in the fridge and I don`t know if they should go in there anyway.  At the moment they are loose in a plastic drawer thing in the utility room and that`s no good.  So I`m wondering about making a simple bag to put them in first.  I assumed dark fabric would be best to stop the greening but most "potato bags" for sale look like cream calico

Any thoughts?  It won`t be on show so it doesn`t matter what it looks like

ps I know the ideal solution is to not buy so many potatoes but we are relying on supermarket deliveries at the moment and the options are limited

Lilian

Re: Potato storage bag?
« Reply #1 on: July 02, 2020, 15:00:21 PM »
@sewingj  I don't know how many potatoes you usually buy but I put mine in the salad drawer of the fridge and they last for weeks even months sometimes  :)
Willing but not always able :)

Acorn

Re: Potato storage bag?
« Reply #2 on: July 02, 2020, 15:07:26 PM »
It is very important that the bag is light-proof, but it also needs to allow air through, so my first thought of blackout curtain lining would fail on that count. 

The bags you can buy must expect you to keep the bag of potatoes in a dark cupboard, because the ones I've seen will let far too much light through to stop greening.

I keep potatoes in the salad drawer of the fridge, too, but they are a pain in there!
I might look as though I'm talking to you, but inside my head I'm sewing.

Greybird

Re: Potato storage bag?
« Reply #3 on: July 02, 2020, 15:10:57 PM »
I agree that if anything it should be a dark fabric. I keep mine in an old-fashioned type shopping basket on top of the tumble dryer in the garage. It has a largish piece of curtain lining folded and tucked into the top.

Renegade Sewist

Re: Potato storage bag?
« Reply #4 on: July 02, 2020, 18:29:07 PM »
My grocer covers the potatoes every night with burlap sacks or sheets of cardboard. You need to block the light while allowing circulation. Says the woman who just threw out a bag of potatoes because they didn't have enough air circulation.

Refrigerating them can turn the starch into sugar which can change the flavor.
Hey Bill! Read the manual!  Hehehe.

Flobear

Re: Potato storage bag?
« Reply #5 on: July 02, 2020, 18:37:13 PM »
I keep mine in a hessian shopping bag in a cupboard. We do sometimes get sprouters but only at the time of year when potatoes would prefer to be planted!
Proud new owner of Elvistoo !!

sewingj

Re: Potato storage bag?
« Reply #6 on: July 02, 2020, 18:54:03 PM »
I`ve remembered that I have got some thick black cotton which I used to drape across the window as extra blackout when the grandchildren visited   I think I`ll see what I can do with some of that

Surest1tch

Re: Potato storage bag?
« Reply #7 on: July 07, 2020, 20:21:46 PM »
I've found heavy weight hessian's been the best, it doesn't stop them sprouting all together but it does seem to take a bit longer than it does in heavy paper bags or boxes.

maliw

Re: Potato storage bag?
« Reply #8 on: July 08, 2020, 15:38:32 PM »
I made hessian sacks for potatoes and onions when we used to grow them. I keep the potatoes in a sack in a cupboard in the utility room but under the kitchen sink is as good.
At leisure on the leisure penninsula

Sewingforfun

Re: Potato storage bag?
« Reply #9 on: July 12, 2020, 17:05:10 PM »
We have a commercial one in a double layer of dark brown cotton that lives in a drawer. It works pretty well I think, although you do occasionally have to cut off a shoot or two. When we have too many for the cotton bag, we tend to just put them in next to it, and they seem to do ok, too. I think it's the dark that matters most. if you grow potatoes, it's the bits that stick up out of the ground that go green, hence the need to keep earthing them up.
Dancing too much and trying to remember sewing is for fun! Used to be CarolC.

Esme866

Re: Potato storage bag?
« Reply #10 on: July 13, 2020, 05:27:35 AM »
Growing up, my Dad grew most of our potatoes. We'd normally dig them up at the end of summer and not run out until spring.

They do like dark, they do like air, and they definitely need cool - but not actually cold.

Had one apartment with an air vent under the kitchen sink - perfect for summertime storage - usually got reminded (by the odor) to move elsewhere for winter.

A covered wooden crate on an interior wall  on the concrete basement garage floor was what worked best growing up. The floor stayed cool year round.

Also, if you're about to lose some, make a big batch of mashed potatoes and freeze them. They microwave beautifully and the convenience when prepping dinner is almost even better.

Silverlake

Re: Potato storage bag?
« Reply #11 on: September 07, 2021, 01:18:48 AM »
I was told that potato bags (and containers) should be washed before refilling, so that spores(?) don't cause the new load to ripen prematurely, similar to that which occurs with fruit.
I did try a purpose-made Potato Bag. It supposedly had a 'special treatment' to keep contents 'fresher for longer'. They sold one just for onions too. They failed to keep them fresh at all. Perhaps because my kitchen cupboards are too warm? I now use one of the salad drawers in the fridge for all potatoes & vegetables.

Gernella

Re: Potato storage bag?
« Reply #12 on: September 07, 2021, 10:32:49 AM »
Well years ago when DH was working, he used to bring 4stone bags home.  They were just kept in the pantry in their thick paper bag and never seemed to go green.  They also keep better I think if unwashed.  Now we don't use many so keeping is not really an issue.
Stash extension 2024- 6.1 meters
Left at the end of 2023 - 66 meters now (includes fabric found hidden out of sight)  Lining fabric not included

LizHartley

Re: Potato storage bag?
« Reply #13 on: September 07, 2021, 20:20:19 PM »
I use old cotton pillow case - cut in half then sewn and hemmed -- easy to do and seems to work fine - one half for potatoes the other half for carrots

Ouryve

Re: Potato storage bag?
« Reply #14 on: September 08, 2021, 23:21:07 PM »
Whatever you decide, new potatoes and salad potatoes keep for weeks in the fridge. I usually have half a bag in mine, along with a slowly mouldering lemon because I never know when I might miss having a lemon to hand, despite living in clear sight of a Coop.
Janome M50QDC - "Jane" - Small, cute and hard working. Pfaff Quilt Ambition 630 - "Pfanny" - Pfickle. Bernina L450 - "Bernie" - Very hungry. Bernina 830 Record - "Becky"