We’ve written before about how boiling your spuds in water might not be your most delicious option.
And now, it turns out some of us are making a common storage mistake ― you really shouldn’t store potatoes next to onions, it seems.
On Martha Stewart’s site, vice president of culinary recipe box company Blue Apron says that onions should be kept far away from potatoes (and apples).
“Storing onions and potatoes together will hasten the ripening process on the potatoes, leading them to grow eyes and sometimes roots,“he revealed in an article about the topic.
Why shouldn’t you store onions next to potatoes?
Part of it has to do with moisture.
Spuds contain a lot of H20 ― they’re about 79% water, per the journal Advances In Nutrition.
And onions absorb all that moisture quickly, the LA Times says. This can make your onions “leaky and mushy,” revealed experts at KJ Refrigeration.
Others attribute the mismatch to onions’ ethylene levels, a fruit-ripening chemical that may make potatoes sprout or grow “eyes” sooner than expected.
Where should I store them, then?
Despite previous advice to never store potatoes in the fridge, the Food Standards Agency has since found that the crisper drawer is actually a pretty great place to keep your spuds.
In fact, data from the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) suggest that spuds kept in the fridge can last up to three times longer than those stored in the cupboard.
Meanwhile, onions become soggy in the fridge ― they shouldn’t ever be stored there, experts advise (oops).
So, the answer seems clear ― spuds in the fridge, onions in the pantry. And never the twain shall meet (’til cooking time, anyway).