If you’ve ever lived in a small apartment or had to share space with roommates, it can be hard to organize the kitchen. You might be tempted to store all your veggies in one drawer or stick them all on the same shelf. But is it a good idea to store certain veggies together?
You should not store potatoes and onions together in the same bin. Ideally, you should avoid storing potatoes in the same cabinet or drawer as onions. This is because onions can cause potatoes to spoil faster than normal. If you must store them in the same area, keep them as far away from each other as possible.
Why can’t you store potatoes with onions? Can onions spoil your potatoes? Keep reading to learn more!
Why Should Potatoes and Onions Be Stored Separately?
Storing onions and potatoes together is not generally considered a good idea. Onions can cause your potatoes to spoil faster than they typically would if stored in a cool, dark place. Onions can also impact the taste of potatoes because of their strong odor.
Onions produce large amounts of ethylene gas, which impacts how fruits and vegetables ripen. It’s a semi-sweet, musky-smelling gas that smells pleasant in fresh fruits and vegetables. However, it can give off a spoiled, unpleasant, and sour scent when the vegetables or fruit are spoiled.
Ethylene induces a hormonal reaction in fruits and vegetables. It accelerates the aging process, which can cause vegetables like potatoes to spoil more quickly than they normally would.
This gas is so effective it’s actually used in produce shipments. The gas is sprayed on unripened produce shortly before it’s brought into the stores, allowing enough time to ripen without spoiling.
Although some experts argue that the accelerated process diminishes the nutritional content of the food. This is possible since the fruit no longer receives nutrients from its parent plant.
However, keep high Ethelyn producers away unless you want your fruit and veggies to ripen faster!
How Far Apart Should Potatoes and Onions Be Stored?
As a rule of thumb, you’ll want to store your potatoes someplace the Ethelyn gas won’t reach. However, this can vary based on the types of storage facilities and cabinets you use.
Plastic bins are a useful tool since they block most substances, and it’s best to keep your potatoes near the ground and onions up high.
Many people make the mistake of keeping their onions and potatoes in the same bin or closet. While this might seem convenient, it’s really not a wise decision since they can both impact one another negatively.
Storing your onions in your potato bin will cause your potatoes to age and spoil rapidly. However, this can be bad for another reason: spoiled potatoes will cause your onions to spoil.
The best way to store your onions and potatoes is in separate closets, drawers, or containers. Try to keep them as far away from each other as possible.
If all you can do is store them in a different bin, then that’s fine. However, if you have a different cabinet, this is even better.
What’s the Best Way to Store Potatoes?
Potatoes should be stored between 45-60 degrees Fahrenheit (6-10 degrees Celcius). Dry environments are better than humid and you should never store your potatoes in a closed container. Preferably you should keep your potatoes in an open bin, without a lid, in a cool, dry space.
Potatoes decay pretty quickly once exposed to moisture. If they sit in a puddle or a moist, hot space for several days they’ll start to rot.
Ideally, you should keep potatoes in the following types of containers:
- Plastic basket
- Plastic bin
- Wooden basket
- Woven basket
- Cardboard bin
We don’t recommend using paper or cardboard for long-term storage. These degrade quickly and can lead to moist spots developing under the potato and cause decay.
You should avoid keeping potatoes in the refrigerator.
This can create a grainy and rubbery texture for your potatoes. Additionally, it’s not necessary to keep potatoes in the fridge, since they can store fine at room temperature for weeks at a time.
Don’t store potatoes with the following fruits and vegetables:
- Apples
- Bananas
- Plantains
- Onions
- Garlic
All of these fruits and vegetables produce high levels of ethenyl gas. One of the best places to store potatoes is in a dry cellar, off the floor, and inside an open plastic bin. Finally, never keep potatoes in direct sunlight, since this will only accelerate the growth of eyes and seeding.
Can You Freeze Potatoes?
While you can store potatoes in the freezer, it’s not recommended. Freezing potatoes causes the molecular structure of the potato to change and creates a grainy and unpleasant texture. Dehydrating potatoes as mashed potato flakes or canning them is a better option for long-term storage.
What’s the Best Way to Store Onions?
You should store onions in a cool, dry place, out of direct sunlight. Moisture can cause mold to develop in the various onion layers and underneath the outer skin. Additionally, avoid placing onions in paper or cardboard containers and use plastic or woven baskets for storage.
You can store uncut, unpeeled onions at room temperature for up to a year in the right conditions. The best temperature to store onions at is between 40-60 degrees Fahrenheit (4-16 degrees Celsius).
Onions will not store well in a moist or humid environment. You can use a dehydrator to increase the shelf-life of your room storage vegetables. Or, keep your onions in a sealed container in the fridge.
A sealed container is the best choice for fridge storage. Although you can’t store onions long-term in the fridge, they will keep fresh for several weeks longer in the fridge than they would in a humid environment.
You should not use a sealed container for long-term storage or shelf storage. A sealed container will likely lead to moisture building up inside the container, which causes mold to develop.
Cut onions should be stored in a sealed plastic or glass container in the refrigerator. But you should not keep these for longer than one week since it can potentially develop high levels of bacteria.
Can You Freeze Onions?
You can freeze onions safely in the freezer for up to three years. You can store them in freezer-safe containers or plastic bags. Just make sure you seal them properly to avoid freezer burn or having the onions contaminate the other foods in the freezer.
What Can You Store With Onions?
The best plants to store with onions include garlic and ginger root. These bulbs and roots do not react to the presence of Ethelyn the same way as potatoes and other vegetables. Additionally, since all three of these plants have a powerful scent and odor they’re unlikely to pick up the scent of the others.
Onions store best with the following vegetables and herbs:
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Yucca root
- Tamarine
- Winter squash
- Summer squash
Most of these vegetables have one or two things in common. Either, they don’t react to Ethelyn gas or they have a thick skin that prevents them from spoiling.
Some may argue it’s best to just keep all of these separate since onions can decrease their shelf life slightly. However, the effects are so minimal that its unlikely to significantly impact their shelf life.
What Can You Store With Potatoes?
Potatoes do not store well with most fruits or vegetables. Fruits such as avocados, apples, and pears release high amounts of Ethelyn which can cause potatoes to rot. Root vegetables and some cabbage crops can be stored with potatoes for up to several weeks.
Ideally, you should avoid storing other fruits and vegetables with potatoes. Since they normally have a very long shelf life as long the environment is cool and dark, storing them with other vegetables is not necessary in most cases.
However, if you feel the need to store other vegetables with potatoes, choose the following:
- Yucca root
- Summer squash
- Winter squash
- Garlic
- Ginger
Thank you for reading. Hopefully, you’ve learned everything you need to know about storing onions and potatoes together.