old potatoes...

[ndl]

i'm not proud to post this, but curious...

i've had some potatoes sitting on my counter for a long, long time (since getting them from the CSA in november). they're looking somewhat shriveled and are not quite firm. some are growing those little barnacle-thingies... but i made some soup and threw in a couple of them. (i hate to waste and as a result, i'm hoarding, i know). anyway, they were fine.

or were they?

[Kevin Andrew Murphy]

If you know you're going to use them, you can also simply rehydrate them. Just put them in a pot of cool water for a day and they'll firm up pretty nicely. Same with shriveled carrots or for that mater any root or tuber that's starting to dry out.

You can also peel then rehydrate the potatoes if you're going to make boiled potatoes. Just peel them and leave them in the pot in the morning then boil them at night. They'll be a lot firmer.

[ndl]

Well, my potatoes weren't green at all, which makes me feel better...

[krissywats]

Do potatoes come any other way? I'm always leaving them until they are wilty and then I use them anyway. According to that bit on wikipedia it, it's very rare to be hurt by any toxins from the potato AND it says they accumulate just under the skin...since I always give a good thick peeling to those wilty taters, I think I'm good - haven't gotten sick so far!

[Candy]

Those would make some really good frites. Al of the sugar is really concentrating in them and they should fry up really brown and crispy.

[RShea78]

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Candy Wrote: "Al of the sugar is really concentrating in them and they should fry up really brown and crispy."

May I suggest that, you pitch those entertaining tabloids loaded with the gossip on potatoes?

You see the temperatures needed for the potato to sweeten up to you is closer to 40 degrees or a dash lower, just doesn't happen on the counter. (Unless you are many thousands of miles from the equator and the heat goes out.)

Anyway from the same source I had from above it explaned that sugar issue in the Storage header. (see below)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato#S...

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[MMRuth]

I used some similar looking potatoes (against my will - my mother insisted as they had been grown by my brother-in-law) in a celery root potato mash at Christmas - tasted good and no ill effects.

[Sam Fujisaka]

Potato grower-consumers in the Andes, the area of origin of potatoes--stored potatoes in cool, dark places in their homes for long periods with no problem. Sunlight on potatoes and onions, however, induces a greening that is not particularly good for you.

[EPIcureanTO]

LOL- I never thought of it as weird till now- we still use our root cellar at "the Farm" for storing potatoes (home grown, of course).

Works 100%.

[pitu]

my grandmas both had a thing called a root cellar where they stored potatoes and cabbages all winter. granted, that would be cool and dark unlike your kitchen counter but . . .

[RShea78]

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pitu- Interesting thing for those days, that the root cellar was almost as important as the ice box. (Yes, I mean a wooden box that contained a block of ice.) Thank goodness for the invention called a refrigerator!

My granny in 1974 insisted that whatever new place they would build, or move to, better have a root cellar. Or as far as she was concerned, the world would come to an end.

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[RShea78]

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Not to scare you, but you should read up on toxic compounds that can be found in old potatoes. See the wiki link, below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato#T...

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[LARaven]

yeah I use those shriveled up guys or soup too....mainly if I need it and its the ONLY potatoes I have. Same with very wilted celery....it goes in my soup or stew.