Finally realized I was storing my onions wrong for years

I kept buying onions and they'd go soft or sprout within a week. Turns out I was keeping them next to potatoes in the pantry and the gases make each other spoil faster. My neighbor mentioned it after I threw out 3 bags in one month. Now I keep onions in a cool dark drawer away from everything else and they last almost a month. Anyone else have a simple storage trick they learned way late?

3 comments

3 Comments

garcia.wren14d ago

Wait actually I think the potato thing is a myth. I looked it up once and it's more about moisture and airflow than gases. Potatoes give off some gas but the real problem is putting them in a sealed container. You want them loose in a basket or paper bag.

aaronroberts14d ago

Blame the plastic bags people buy them in at the grocery store! Those trap all the moisture and the potatoes sweat and rot fast. A paper bag or just a cool dark spot with airflow works way better for me. I kept losing bags of potatoes before I switched to a simple wire basket in my pantry. Now they last weeks without getting soft or sprouting. Getting the humidity right is way more important than worrying about some gas they might give off.

keith16414d ago

You know what, @aaronroberts, I used to roll my eyes at the whole potato storage thing. I figured as long as they were in the dark it was fine. But I lost SO many bags to rot and weird soft spots. Then I tossed a bag of red potatoes into a wire basket in the cool corner of my basement and they lasted almost a month. The plastic bag thing is OBVIOUSLY the culprit now that I think about it. I was basically steaming them alive in their own sweat. Never going back to grocery bags for spuds.