To stop potatoes sprouting there are a few techniques you can try, the general advice is to store potatoes in a cool, dark, cupboard – which would mean not near a radiator or any other warm room. For me, the kitchen’s pretty cold most of the time anyway, so I don’t have to worry about whether it’s cold enough!
I’ve tried a few ways to stop potatoes sprouting over the years and the best way I’ve found has been my recently bought JML Green Bags – and these really seem to work. The green bags are reusable, so should last me forever if I’m careful with them!
Stop Potatoes Sprouting:
- Remove the potatoes from the shop’s plastic bag when you get home.
- Place the potatoes into the green bag – I roll down the sides and have the top open to give them a chance to “air” for a day or so. Potatoes DO need to be dry to be stored, so if they seem a bit wet, then just wipe them down with a paper towel before putting them into the green bag.
- Put the bag into a dark/cool cupboard, I put them into my kitchen base unit, but that’s not anywhere near the radiator and my heating is usually off in the kitchen.
- The following day, having left the top of the green bag open, I’ll roll the sides back up, give the bag a twist and tuck the twist/top over; some people will clip the top of the bag, but I don’t bother.
I used to struggle to get through potatoes before they started sprouting – but since I’ve used the JML Green bags this has stopped – and even more than a month after the date on the bag they’re still not sprouting!
TIP: Some people swear by adding an apple into a sack of potatoes; I’ve rarely got apples, so this isn’t an option, but you might like to try it yourself!
JML Keep Fresh Bags for Potatoes
There are other brands of similar bags available, but the ones I’ve got say “Keep Fresh Bags” on the front – and the bag’s got an assortment of 15 sizes, 5 small, 5 medium, 5 large.
The feel of them is like a fine gauze of a plastic material.
I’ve told some friends and they’re equally surprised by the great results they’ve also had from these green bags, even though they just found “green bags” and not specifically the JML brand. So, don’t be brand driven, just buy some and see!