Put potatoes to bed properly with these storage and handling tips

I recall when I was the regular late-shift clerk hustling with all the produce department closing duties. Among these responsibilities were rotating and stocking, pulling extra-sensitive items into the cooler for overnight protection, cleaning one thing or a dozen — all with the produce manager’s directions still ringing in my teenage ears, “Make sure you get these things done before you go home tonight.”

Most of the time, I got all those things done with enough time left over to wolf down my lunch at the little gray produce desk before clocking out for the night, catching up on homework and sometimes reading the produce books lying about. (I know. A produce nerd from the get-go, right?)

One of my “make-sure” closing chores was covering the potato displays with a dry, canvas-like cloth. I read how this helps prevent the potato skins from greening.

Natural or fluorescent lighting will do this to spuds; greening imparts a bitter flavor from the glycoalkaloid formation. While not necessarily harmful (the affected skin can be peeled and the potato consumed as normal) any greening and associated sprouting is considered shrink and a sales turnoff. (More potato facts can be found here.)

Or, as one biology student once remarked during a presentation years later, “Potatoes are asexual, living organisms in their raw state, this (greening and sprouting) means they just want to live and grow, man!”

Talking about spuds, here in midwinter (This is Potato Lover’s Month after all!) I’ve learned just how vital and profitable this category is to retail and foodservice. Besides being the world’s leading vegetable, the humble potato packs a nutrient-dense punch, is heart-healthy, loaded with vitamins and low in calories, with “good” carbs and zero fat. Potatoes are also the least expensive produce item, pound for pound.

And with thousands of recipes online, potatoes are also just plain delicious.

With all these attributes, it’s important to let customers know how to properly handle and store potatoes, so that all the extra spuds they purchase during Potato Lover’s Month won’t go to waste.

Related: More insight from Armand Lobato

Years later, I ended up working in a marketing role with the nation’s leading potato-producing state. It’s been a privilege to gain insights, much of which were created by now-retired mentor and good friend Don Odiorne, aka Dr. Potato, with specific potato storage information here, with print posters from the Idaho Potato Commission here.

Among these storage tips:

• Store potatoes in a cool, dark and clean area, such as in a pantry or cupboard.
• Providing air circulation, such as in a slotted or basket-type container, helps potatoes breathe.
• Don’t pile too deep or handle potatoes roughly; this can cause bruising or breaking.
• Rotate, rotate, rotate your supply. It works in retail, and it works at home too.
• If potatoes are kept too cold for too long, the starches convert to sugar, which negatively affects the cooking chemistry, flavor and performance. Ideally, potatoes can be stored for several weeks at 45-50 F and stored no colder than 42 F (5.55 C).
• Despite their rugged appearance, potatoes are rather sensitive fellows. The four factors to keep in mind are: temperature, handling, humidity and light.

With that light factor in mind, retailer produce managers should remember that when dispatching their “before you go home tonight” directions they should mention having the closing clerk cover the potato displays, protecting the sensitive tubers from the light.

In fact, this was often the last chore this pimply-faced closing clerk used to do back in the day, with my homework tucked inside my backpack, slung over my shoulder as I walked through the produce aisle on my way out.

I’d drop the pack and carefully pull the canvas over the neatly stacked potatoes, like I was tucking them into bed, slightly altering a phrase from John Irving’s “Cider House Rules” novel, while thinking: “Good night, you princes of Idaho … you kings of au Gratin. Sleep tight."

Armand Lobato works for the Idaho Potato Commission. His 40 years of experience in the produce business span a range of foodservice and retail positions.