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.
Don't soak cut potatoes longer than overnight.
If keeping potatoes in water for more than an hour, refrigerate. However, don't soak them any longer than overnight—after that, the potatoes start to lose their structure and flavor.
Just be sure to store peeled potatoes in water for no more than 24 hours. After that, the cool refrigerator air will convert the starches in the potatoes to sugar, causing the flavor and texture of the spuds to change. Instead, just start cooking potatoes for a mash, potato salad, or hash browns.
(If you decide to try soaking the raw potatoes anyway, they can be soaked in water in the refrigerator for several hours without any safety concerns. Potatoes can be soaked even overnight as long as they are in the refrigerator.)
If you're here, you'll probably be glad to know that yes, you can peel and cut potatoes the day before you plan to serve them — and that it's super easy! All you have to do is submerge the bare potato pieces in water and refrigerate (more on that later).
How long can peeled and cut potatoes sit in water before cooking, before they begin taking on too much water? A: We usually recommend no more than 24 hours. You can keep the potatoes from absorbing the water by making sure the water is not salted, and is chilled (you can even add ice to the water).
You can prepare the spuds up to 24 hours before you need to cook with them. Then, on the evening you're planning to serve them, you can make creamy potatoes at the drop of the hat. Start by scrubbing potatoes under cool running water to remove dirt; dice, slice, or chop as directed in recipe.
Soaking peeled, washed, and cut fries in cold water overnight removes excess potato starch, which prevents fries from sticking together and helps achieve maximum crispness.
Soak them in water
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.
The way to get the most potassium out of the potatoes is to slice them one-eighth-inch thick, soak in a large pot of water for a minimum of 2 hours, dump the water, and cook the potatoes in a large quantity of fresh water. For people interested in keeping the most nutrients in their potatoes, bake them.
To store cut potatoes for later use, they should be prepared first. Peel, cut, and submerge potatoes in water, then store in the refrigerator about 8 – 24 hours before cooking. For long-term storage, peel, cut, and parboil the potatoes, then place them in the deep freezer for a few months.
A helpful shortcut in some cases, potatoes can be peeled and/or cut ahead of time. 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.
Why use salt water for soaking potatoes? There's moisture naturally found in potatoes, and moisture is drawn to higher concentrations of salt. (This is a process called osmosis.) So, if you put the potatoes in a salt water bath, that will help draw out some of their moisture, resulting in crispier fries.
– When the potato is put into the distilled water, it will absorb the water. The water is trying to dilute the salt inside the potato. – When the potato is put into salty water, it will lose water. The water in the potato moves towards the salty water to try to dilute it.
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.
Soaking potatoes in water helps remove excess starch. Excess starch can inhibit the potatoes from cooking evenly as well as creating a gummy or sticky texture on the outside of your potatoes. Cold water is used because hot water would react with the starch activating it, making it harder to separate from the potatoes.
Allow the water to rest for about 30 minutes so the starch settles. Pour the water out of the bowl, leaving the starch at the bottom of the bowl. Combine the starch and potatoes just before cooking.
You should soak potatoes in salt water before cooking, especially if you are making French fries or baked potatoes, or when you are preparing potatoes ahead of time. Soaking potatoes helps to draw out water and remove excess starch, giving you firmer potatoes when cooked.
If you do – just soak them for 5 minutes and rinse. Doing so is a science thing – soaking cut potatoes removes excess potato starch. This means fluffy mashed potatoes (and not gluey!)
Add enough cold water to cover the tops of the potatoes. Add ½ to 1 teaspoon salt to the water. Turn the burner on high and bring water to boiling. Reduce the heat to medium-low or low.
Rinsing potatoes helps remove excess starch, so it is recommended to rinse the potatoes before cooking. To ensure even more starch is out of the way, it's recommended that they even be quickly rinsed after boiling. We recommend using hot water for rinsing after boiling and cold water prior to boiling.
Don't store potatoes in the fridge.
Raw potatoes have lots of starches, and the cold temperatures can turn the starches into sugars. This can make your potatoes turn sweeter and darker during cooking.
Place them in a large bowl and cover with cold water. Allow them to soak, 2 to 3 hours. (You can also stick them in the fridge and let them soak overnight.) When you're ready to make the fries, drain off the water and lay the potatoes on 2 baking sheets lined with paper towels.
If you'll be cooking the potatoes in the next few hours, you can leave them submerged in water at room temperature, Tiess says. If it will be longer than a few hours, place them in the refrigerator. Peeled, sliced, submerged, and refrigerated potatoes should be cooked within 24 hours.
Prepping the potatoes ahead of time
To save time on peeling and chopping on Thanksgiving Day (or any other day that includes mashed potatoes), you can peel the spuds and keep them submerged in a bowl of water in the fridge, whole or cut up, for hours — even overnight — before boiling.