How to store potatoes in the apartment

In autumn, it is time to stock up for the winter. The largest place in the cellars and cellars is potatoes. And if the owners of sheds, garages and summer cottages have nothing to worry about, then most city residents have a problem - how to store potatoes in an apartment.

High temperature and too dry air do not allow for a long time to save a large number of tubers in good condition. But don’t throw it away!

We hasten to reassure, it’s quite possible to keep potatoes in the apartment. True, it will be necessary to make some efforts for the arrangement. Without labor, as they say ...

There are several ways:

• on the balcony (loggia)
• in the entrance (vestibule)
• under window
• in fridge

Each of these methods is good in its own way. We will describe everything in detail.

Potatoes on the balcony in winter

Of course you can’t just take the tubers, put them in bags and put them on the balcony. The first frosts with pleasure will spoil all your stocks. Have to protect potatoes from the cold. It is useless to throw a fur coat on a bag. Thick blankets will not save either. There are two options.

Option number 1. The balcony is large, there is a lot of space. We take two boxes. One huge, set in the corner of the loggia. We put a smaller box in it. The distance between the walls of the containers should be at least 12 cm. Here at this distance you need to cram sawdust, wood shavings or polystyrene plates. Do not forget about the bottom, we insulate the lid accordingly.

Inside, we attach a pair of 15-watt light bulbs painted with dark paint. By the way, the boxes should be without cracks and holes.

Now you can pour dry potatoes into a small container. Cover and that's it. An impromptu box for storing potatoes in the apartment is ready. Such a system completely preserves the temperature up to + 7 ° С when it reaches -30 ° С on the street.

Naturally, with the lights turned on. Why paint with dark paint? So that the potatoes do not turn green. The heat from the light bulbs will still go. Throwing on top a thick blanket or old winter clothes, you can not be afraid for the harvest, even at -40 ° C.

Tip. Make the structure stationary from quality wood and good insulation. Then you do not have to create it every year. In summer, you can use the design as a coffee table.

Option number 2. The balcony is small, there is not enough space. You can’t install any box, you have nowhere to turn around. Have to spend money. The industry offers for sale thermal containers. They are available in three volume variations, aesthetically beautiful and compact.

A big plus of such designs in equipping a thermostat. That is, you can simply plug it into a power outlet and set the desired temperature inside. The rest will be done by automation. The capacity of thermal containers can be selected depending on the free space on the balcony. Even the most voluminous when fully loaded takes up very little space.

Tip. So that in the summer the structure does not take up space on the balcony, it can be cleaned, washed, dried. Then fold and remove until next use.

Potato in the porch

No, of course you should not just leave the bags next to the front door. The very next morning you will not find them. But, on some floors there are separate vestibules with a fenced off nook. This is where you can put a box of potatoes. Naturally, by agreement with other users and neighbors. Not everyone will enjoy the smell of vegetables.

By the way, even in ordinary porches from Soviet times, large boxes remained screwed to the floor or wall. From still locked up by lovers of freebies.It's just that the porch is always cooler than the apartment. And the potatoes are perfectly stored there.

Tip. Periodically sort through the potatoes in a box and open it to air. So you will notice in time sick or starting to rot tubers.

The potato under the window is like

Naturally, not in a string bag on the street. It is in the apartment. Many people remember that in houses built in the times of Khrushchev there was a kind of refrigerator under the window in the kitchen. That is, a cabinet with a vent. Of course, it is not very large, but about a bag of potatoes can be placed.

In some houses built in the late 70s, this niche is much larger. You can already cram 2 bags into it. A refrigerator of about the same size is made in modern buildings.

Previously, it was impossible to regulate ventilation and cooling, and the weather itself set the temperature in the refrigerator. Some of the heat came from the apartment, and it turned out quite tolerably. But in severe frosts, the vegetables froze.

Modern window sills can be partially regulated in terms of ventilation and temperature. This is done using a special valve.

Tip. In winter, cover the ventilation hole, otherwise the potatoes will freeze and become sweet. Not critical, but not at all tasty.

Potatoes in a simple refrigerator

Absolutely all sources say very categorically: you can’t store potatoes in a domestic refrigerator! And they bring iron arguments. At a temperature of + 4-5 ° C, starch in tubers turns into sugar. They become sweetish.

What are you saying! True? So in the cellar or basement, the temperature suits the potato. No sugar is formed. And what’s in the refrigerator ... I wonder what such a statement is based on and why everyone, like parrots, repeats this utter nonsense? At least they thought a head before giving recommendations.

Read on. The high humidity inside will cause the potatoes to rot very quickly. Arrived. The average cellar has an air humidity of about 80%. About the same in the apparatus of the old production. Where is the catch?

Almost all new units are equipped with a “but frost” system. Consequently, the humidity inside is very low. There, people even manage to dry greens. A potato, even if it wants to rot, simply does not have time. Dries faster.

Your answer, comrade advisers?

To summarize. Potatoes can be stored in the household electric refrigerator until spring. The only drawback is not enough space. Well, in fact, you will not hammer his tubers to the eyeballs.

Although, if there is, where to put the second unit and the means to purchase it, then this may be the answer for you.

Some recommendations

1. For any method of storing potatoes in an apartment, do not use plastic or plastic bags. In such material any vegetables and fruits are bad. But burlap and ordinary nets have proven themselves very well.
2. On the open spaces of the network there are sources that claim that early potatoes are stored only until November. Say, then it withers and dries. Strange, but what about the planting material? In the spring where to get early potatoes? What nonsense. All varieties are well preserved at temperatures not exceeding + 3 ° C. The tubers remain elastic and dense until next summer. But an increase in temperature even by 1 degree sharply reduces the keeping quality of vegetables.
3. Sometimes apartments have unheated storage rooms. There is certainly no basement temperature, but still cooler than in the rooms. Potatoes in the pantry can be stored until January, but the humidity is too low there. So that the tubers do not fade longer, just put the water tanks in the pantry along with the crop. Or wet towels are hung, which moisturize as they dry.
4. Using any of the storage methods described, do not forget - total darkness is strictly required.Even periodic contact of the sun on the tubers causes their gradual greening. You can’t eat such vegetables anymore.
5. So that the potatoes do not germinate longer, it is sometimes sprayed with special preparations. But we recommend that you only process planting material in this way. Cooking potatoes should not be subjected to such processing. Really, there’s nothing to drag any rubbish into your mouth. And so around is full of chemistry.
6. Most often, they do not wash the potatoes before laying them for storage. That's just the rationale for this no one leads. Why not wash? What does it give? You can wash the potato, you can not rub it with all the dope. That’s the whole explanation. Do not damage the skin to keep it better. And wash as much as your darling desires.

How to store potatoes in the apartment? Now you know the most common and affordable methods. Use them to preserve crops in the cold winter months. It will not be possible to implement one of the proposed ones, so look for your alternative methods. Maybe your know-how will be adopted by many city dwellers and will say thanks later.

Video: potatoes for the winter - what affects the preservation