Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Spread the potatoes out in a single layer, and place the baking sheet in the freezer for about an hour until frozen, and then package the pieces up into freezer bags. Remove air from the bag, seal, label, date, and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Simmer the diced potatoes in salted water until just tender. Spray a sheet pan with non-stick cooking oil and spread cooked potatoes in a single layer on the pan. Place the pan of diced potatoes in the freezer until frozen solidly. Transfer the frozen potato cubes to freezer bags or containers to use as needed.
Blanch cubes and thin slices of potatoes for 3 minutes and fries, wedges, and other larger pieces of potato for 5 minutes. As soon as your timer goes off, remove the potatoes from heat and transfer them to the bowl of ice water using a slotted spoon. The ice water will stop the cooking process.
You absolutely can freeze potatoes, and you should if you have an excess of spuds. But there's one important thing to remember: You should really only freeze cooked or partially cooked potatoes, as raw potatoes contain a lot of water. This water freezes and, when thawed, makes the potatoes mushy and grainy.
The best (and most popular) way to keep cut potatoes from turning brown is to completely submerge them in a bowl of water. Store the water-covered potatoes in a bowl in the refrigerator until you're ready to use them, up to one day in advance.
If you're planning to make roasted potatoes or a skillet hash, you can freeze diced or chopped potatoes as long as you blanch them in boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes, then transfer them to an ice bath as described above. Flash freezing is recommended as well.
Freezing potatoes in advance is an easy way to cut down on the holiday meal prep. When you're ready to serve them, simply fry, boil, or microwave them until fork tender — without any need to thaw them. You'll have mashed potatoes, french fries, or crispy roasted potatoes on the table in minutes.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil, then add the potatoes and parboil them for 3 minutes. Drain the potatoes into a strainer, then run cold water on them until they are cool to the touch. Pat the potatoes dry. Place the potatoes in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze the tray for 1 hour.
Blanching is a must for most vegetables to be frozen. It slows or stops the enzyme action which can cause loss of flavor, color and texture. The blanching time is very important and varies with the vegetable and size. Underblanching stimulates the activity of enzymes and is worse than no blanching.
Since diced frozen potatoes have been pre-partially cooked (blanched) this makes it convenient to drop into a pan to quickly finish cooking and caramelize. Frozen or thawed, frozen potatoes would make a less-than-ideal potato salad, as the cells will break down further if boiling, making a mushy texture.
Boiled potatoes can be frozen for around 3 months. It's best if you parboil your potatoes before freezing them as this will protect their texture, but they should be okay to freeze if they're fully boiled, too.
Raw potatoes that have been cut should be stored in a bowl of cold water and refrigerated. They'll be good for the next 24 hours. And finally, cooked potatoes will last three to four days in the fridge, as is the case with most leftovers.
However, If you do store raw potatoes in the freezer, they may last up to 10 to 12 months (more on storing potatoes later). To avoid a sweeter flavor and discoloration, blanch potatoes before refrigerating or freezing.
Freezing is the best method for storing peeled and cut potatoes for between three and six months. The best advantage to using this method is that you are saving on cooking time in the future. Before freezing, potatoes must be parboiled to freeze well and retain their quality for cooking.
Because they contain so much water, raw potatoes don't freeze well and can turn mushy, watery or even grainy. Cooking before freezing might seem like a hassle, but instead, think of it as a time saver.
Do potatoes turn black when frozen? Often potatoes don't turn black in the freezer but turn black when thawed after being frozen. This is typically caused by exposure to oxygen and can be prevented by keeping fresh sliced or peeled potatoes submerged in water, and by blanching them before freezing.
When frying French fries, do not let them thaw before using. I recommend that frozen French fries be kept completely frozen before using. This guarantees that the surface of the potato is sealed during the frying process, resulting in a crispy, high quality fry.
It is not recommended to freeze dry raw potatoes without blanching since they will oxidize. It is best to cook diced potatoes in hot water for 5-10 minutes before freeze drying.
Peeled, sliced, submerged, and refrigerated potatoes should be cooked within 24 hours. Another thing to consider is the size of your slice. The smaller the potato piece—i.e., a dice versus a wedge—the more quickly it will oxidize, which means small pieces should be stored for less time.
After you remove potatoes from the cooking water, ferri-chlorogenic acid slowly mixes with oxygen, creating a color that can range from gray to black to purple to bluish. The color change is gradual.
It's best to leave them whole, but you can go ahead and cube or dice them if you want — just don't slice them too thin. Fill a bowl with cool water, submerge the potatoes, then cover with plastic wrap. Store in the refrigerator overnight.
You can store peeled potatoes in water in the refrigerator for about 24 hours. Peeled potatoes left out by themselves at room temperature, on a refrigerator shelf or wrapped in foil or plastic wrap will still get dark overnight, so submerge them in a bowl of water, cover and refrigerate.