Prep Ahead By Keeping Your Peeled Potatoes In Water

Imagine heading into the kitchen and finding that your vegetables are already peeled and chopped, ready to be cooked as you wish. While having someone prepare your mise en place is a luxury not everyone can afford, you can certainly do your future self a favor by prepping beforehand. Whether it's for an Alfredo au gratin or French onion mashed potatoes, having peeled and chopped potatoes ready to go helps you save valuable time and counter space on the day of a big meal. Fortunately, there's a way to keep peeled potatoes looking and tasting fresh for up to 24 hours.

Submerging chopped spuds in water slows down oxidation by limiting their exposure to air. Unlike refrigerated tomatoes, which rapidly lose flavor, storing potatoes in water in the fridge keeps them fresh. Then, when the time comes, your prepped spuds are ready to go. Though different potatoes vary in shelf life, this method works for all varieties. However, you must limit storing potatoes like this to a day — any longer and they may soak up excess water, which affects their texture. 

As is always the case with storing food, check for spoilage before using them the following day and discard any potato pieces tinged with bitter green or oxidized brown spots. While a small amount doesn't make them unsafe to eat, it can affect flavor, so it's better not to take the risk. 

Prep the potatoes as the recipe requires, then place them in an airtight glass or plastic container (metal can speed up oxidation). Fill this container with enough water until all the potato pieces are submerged, as any bits left exposed to air will oxidize and turn brown. Since the cold slows down the oxidation process, if you're storing potatoes for just a few hours, you do not need to refrigerate them. Instead, put a few ice cubes in the water to lower the temperature, or place the container with the potato bath in the fridge for overnight storage. For even more assurance, acidity from a small amount of lemon juice or vinegar, about a tablespoon per gallon of water, helps further delay any potential oxidation.

Finely chopped or grated potatoes have a higher surface area and lose more of their natural starch to water when submerged. Therefore, storing the diced or grated spuds in water is not the best idea for a dish that requires starchy potatoes, like soups or hash browns. It's best to prep potatoes for such dishes on the same day and use them quickly.

When storing potatoes for frying or roasting, keep them in mildly salted water. This will help them retain freshness and also flavor the potatoes from the inside. When you're ready to start cooking, pat them dry to eliminate as much excess moisture as possible and proceed as you would as if they were freshly chopped.