How to freeze Potatoes- Do you have boiled, raw, baked
How handy would it be if you could freeze potatoes. Especially if you have peeled too much or if you have boiled potatoes left over. Of course, the question is how the potatoes hold up in the freezer, whether boiled, baked, uncooked or fried. I will tell you all about that!
How to Freeze Potatoes?
You can freeze a boiled potato for at least 12 months. After that, the taste deteriorates. You can also freeze a baked potato, but you cannot freeze a raw potato. You can freeze blanched potatoes (boil briefly). You can also freeze potato salad.
If you want to freeze potatoes, in whatever capacity, the refrigerator should be at least -18 degrees. If your refrigerator is higher than -18 degrees (so from -17 to 0 degrees), bacteria can survive. These bacteria can make you sick when you eat the dish after thawing and cooking.
Besides freezing, you can store potatoes in several ways. You can read all about it in our blog about storing potatoes. As you can read, there are various potato treatments that you can freeze, of which the raw potato is a point of contention. I’m going to explain this one first.
Freeze Raw Potato
A raw potato contains a lot of moisture. When you freeze it raw, with or without skin, in its entirety, it comes out of the freezer as a wrinkled ball. When you thaw these they are almost impossible to peel. They are soft and wrinkly. A case of ‘don’t do it’.
It seems that if you peel, clean and cut the potato into small pieces, and then freeze it, you can cook this potato in the slow cooker. I have no experience with it, but that’s what I’ve been told.
I should mention that you can keep a potato for a long time without freezing it. In a dry, cool and dark place you can store potatoes, out of the plastic packaging, for a long time without them sprouting. Freezing is not immediately necessary to preserve them. Otherwise, you could store peeled raw potatoes in a pan of water in the fridge until the next day.
Freeze Boiled Potatoes
You can definitely freeze a boiled potato. If you have leftover boiled potatoes and you want to freeze them, let these potatoes cool down quickly. They should not be left on the counter for more than 2 hours to cool due to bacteria growth. When it’s nice and cold outside, I would put them outside with the lid on the pan! that is faster or put the potatoes in a container and put it in the sink with cold water.
After the cooling period, place the potatoes in a freezer container with a closing lid. Stick a sticker on it with the best-before date (1 year) and put it in the freezer.
Freeze Baked Potatoes
You can also freeze baked potatoes if you have leftovers, for example. These have a shelf life of 3 months and are delicious if they are well packed in a freezer container that seals well. When you want to thaw the baked potatoes, add them frozen to a frying pan with some oil and heat them up (low heat). Of course you can also thaw them overnight in the fridge for the next day, let them thaw in the oven or in the microwave and then bake them.
You can also bake potatoes before. Then you bake the peeled, cleaned and segmented potatoes for about 5 minutes and then freeze them (after they have cooled down). These pre-baked potatoes can be stored in the freezer for 3 months. When you want to bake them again, put these pre-fried potatoes in the frying pan and fry the potatoes over a low heat until they look nice and golden brown. Here too, you can first thaw the pre-baked potatoes in the above-mentioned ways in the oven, microwave or overnight in the refrigerator.
Freeze Potato Salad
You can also freeze potato salad. Use clean spoons to scoop out the potato salad and don’t leave the potato salad on the table all night. Then you better not freeze it anymore. The salad will keep for 3 months in the freezer if properly packed in a sealed freezer container. Tip: place a sticker on the container with the best-before date of 3 months on it.
Freeze Homemade Fries
A bonus question!
Freezing homemade fries is the best when you pre-bake the fries. So before going into the freezer, fry the fries for 5 minutes and let them cool. After the cooling period, the fries can be placed in the freezer in a container that closes well. The advantage is that the fries do not become very brown (due to sugars that are released from the fries when they are raw in the freezer) and that the fries do not become so floury. Another advantage is that the chips do not have to be baked for very long when they go back into the deep fryer. That really hurts.
This is not to say that the homemade fries can’t be put in the freezer raw and then fried. We think the potato looks tastier and more beautiful when you pre-bake. Try it differently!
