Raw potatoes will turn black if you try to freeze them without partially cooking them first.
If you cook potatoes often, it can become time consuming to constantly have to break out the pot and boil and peel the potatoes for every dish you want to make. Also, sometimes it can be hard to use up all those bags of potatoes you bought on sale before they start trying to grow buds and turn green. One solution is to freeze your potatoes for later use. The Washington State Potato Commission recommends partially cooking and then freezing the potatoes in order for them to remain crispy and edible after thawing.
Instructions
1. Wash the potatoes thoroughly. Use a dish scrubber, if you have one, and scrub the surfaces of the potatoes vigorously.
2. Peel and cut the potatoes as you wish for future recipes. If you want to use the potatoes to make french fries later, slice them into thick wedges. If you want to use potato chunks in other recipes such as soups, cut the potatoes into even square pieces. Square chunks are best if you are not sure what you want to do with the potatoes; they can be the basis of a variety of recipes. You do not have to peel your potatoes. You can even leave them whole if you would like to use them for baked potatoes later.
3. Place the potatoes in a pot large enough to hold them and cover them with water. Bring the water to a boil over high heat and allow the potatoes to boil for no more than 15 minutes.
4. Remove the potatoes from the heat and place then in a pot of cold water. This shocks the potatoes, stopping the cooking process so that they are only partially cooked. Allow the potatoes to cool completely.
5. Pat dry the potatoes and place the cut-up pieces in heavy-duty freezer bags and seal tightly. If you have a vacuum sealer to seal out all the air, use that. Wrap whole potatoes tightly in plastic wrap and then place in the freezer bags. Place the freezer bags in the freezer. When you are ready to use them, thaw out the potatoes in the refrigerator and cook as you normally would.
Tags: freezer bags, partially cooking, potatoes later, your potatoes
