40 Lbs Fresh Potatoes

I have managed to come up with about 40 lbs of fresh Idaho potatoes. There's only the 2 of us that eat at home regularly, sometimes 3. If we buy more than 5 lbs of potatoes at a time, they sprout or go bad on us. I've been Googling freezing potatoes and preserving potatoes and have recipes for frozen hash browns, french fries, regular as well as twice baked potatoes, dehydrated potatoes, potato chips, but I was wondering if anyone had a really favorite idea for freezing potatoes.

TIA.


Kajun

 

Pressure can them??

 

Dunerunner has the right recipe, It is the only way you can freeze potatoes. You have to leach out the starch and partially cook them to freeze them.

 

I know nothing of it, though could you dehydrate them for reconstitution later?

 

Thanks, folks. I have been practicing my Google-fu and have quite a few ideas. I didn't know you could pressure can 'taters! I think this is gonna be on the agenda for tomorrow. And lots of sites about freezing taters.....but they have to be par boiled/blanced first. Also saw something about slicing thin, boiling till tender, dehydrating, crushing and using as instant 'taters.

Thanks. Looks like I'm gonna be busy tomorrow.

Kajun

 

When we lived in North Dakota all along the roads near the potato and sugar beet processing plants folks were picking up "road kill" spuds and beets that fell off the trucks.

 

I cube mine, blanch then dehydrate them. Then I vacuum seal them in one-half gallon canning jars. Kept in a dark pantry they will last years. I use them in soups, as hashbrowns and in casseroles. I am sure you can freeze them since you can buy them frozen, but I have never tried it. Don't want to waste the freezer space.

 

Any body dehydrate them? Will they come back afterward?

 

dehydrate... if you slice em is almost like eating unflavored potato chips. You can do it but..... ewww....

and just like freezing, if ya dehydrate potatoes you need to leech starch out by boiling before you dehydrate or they turn black, boil for 3-4 minutes, then rinse in cold ice water bath. This deactivates the enzymes & gives you more whitish color dried potato.

 

Seconding what Dont said. You can pressure can them, in fact that's what I'm doing right now. The Mr didn't realize I'd just bought a 10# bag for him, and he brought home 2 more (they were on sale). I'm canning dog food today and am using the about-to-go-soft potatoes instead of pumpkin.

Here's directions for pressure canning them.
Canning Potatoes, Step by step instructions using a pressure canner.

 

We just tried dehydrating some a couple of different ways. One internet instruction said to boil for 20 minutes. The smaller potatoes were almost cooked in that amount of time. We ate about 4 lbs of mashed potatoes for the following week

The larger potatoes we sliced and dehydrated. We reconstituted a few and with a little cooking, looks like they'd be edible, usable for things like mashed or skillet fried.

Then we got a tip from someone that said to soak them in lemon juice, then dehydrate. Well one of us got the idea that Fruit Fresh would do the same thing - NOPE! They turned black. Chalk that one up to experience.

Looks like if we're going to dehydrate, Ganado has the right formula with 3-4 minute boil, then cold water. Otherwise can. Fortunately they're less than $3 a 10 lb sack at the local groc store. We'll experiment again later this week. I think we also have a pressure canner so that's an option to explore. Don't know if it'd be more labor to do it that way.

Oh, and thanks for the canning link, DW.

 

You tried something new, and you didn't die. That's always a good thing.

 

If they turn black and are dehydrated then they probably are still edible but don't look very appetizing...

 

Round 1 of 'tater preservation is done. I baked up a total of 18 of the nice "baking-sized" 'taters and let them cool overnight. 8 of them went straight into freezer after being vacuum sealed. The other 10 got split in half, the insides taken out and broken into small pieces, combined with some freshly shredded cheddar cheese, sprinkled with salt and pepper, put back into the potato skin, vacuum sealed and put into the freezer.

Catching my breath now before going on to round 2. Probably going to peel, do a small dice, boil till tender, smush and then stick in the dehydrator. When they are dry, I'll take them for a spin in the food processor and finally, stick them in a pint jar and use the good old food saver and jar sealer on them. And I'll use the fruit stuff treatment as I'm peeling.

Kajun

 

hmmm I am interested to see how this comes out. I thought baked, they turned black. Thanks for sharing your experiment.

 

Ganado, one of the many videos I've researched on this showed potatoes that hadn't been full cooked turn black a couple of hours into dehydrating. I think it has to do with deactivating some enzymes in the potato when it comes up to full cooked temps.

So far my dehydrating 'taters are looking nice and white

These came directly from a farmer up in Idaho....he works for the same company I do. Our manager down here went to considerable effort and a bit of expense to get these down here. I figure 80% of our employees down here are going to let 75% of the 'taters spoil. Bummer.

Tomorrow it's looking like I'll try freezing some potatoes o'brien with onions and bell peppers. So far, so good, but a bunch of work. Oh yes, I'm also smoking a pork butt and an arm beef roast. Busy day!

Kajun

UPDATE
The pork butt and arm roast are finally done....after 12 1/1 hours. 'Taters are dehydrating just fine. Son loved the pork. All in all, a pretty darn successful day. Happy Veteran's Day all you vets! Thanks for your service.

 

Simple way to make an above ground root cellar is use an old freezer that does not work Store it in a cool out of the sun area. Air Dry the spud for several days then place in freezer for storage. You can partially bury the freezer to help keep it cool. If you are in an area that get cold put a thermostat switch on the inside and hook it to the light fixture inside Have it come on at 36 or so it will give enough heat to keep things from freezing. I learned this from an mentor of mine who has been doing it for years and stores several hundred pounds each year. Carrot can store in the same freezer but not onions.