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I've heard from various people that freezing raw potatoes is a no-no, so the trick would be to cook them first, then freeze them.

I don't have any experience with freezing potatoes except for a southern dish called "Party Potatoes" which freeze awesomely well. They are bad for you, but so delish and there's a recipe here.

However, this website seems to have lots of recipes for freezing potato patties, frozen hashbrowns, french fries, etc.

Biggest problem you're gonna run into with frozen potatoes is all the water in them. They're going to form big ice crystals and shred the cell walls in the potatoes, so when you reheat them they're going to have a very crumbly or mealy texture to them. This may or may not be bad depending on what you're going to cook them in. Otherwise though, just stick 'em in a freezer bag and throw them in, though it wouldn't hurt to "squeeze" them out as it were (stick them in a paper towel for example to wick away excess moisture)

Frozen potatoes that you buy in the store are flash frozen so they don't get this problem. If you're planning on making them into hash browns or the like in the future, personally I suggest cooking them somewhat beforehand to remove moisture as much as possible.

A quick internet search tells me, from various sites, that the best way to freeze shredded potatoes is to blanch them, stick them in an ice bath, then pat them dry and freeze.

See: http://www.tasteofhome.com/Cooking-Tips/Potatoes/Freezing-Potatoes-for-Hash-Browns

Your original plan of freezing hashbrowns might actually be one of your best options, as the best hashbrowns are also the driest. This might be worth investing in a potato ricer to seriously press out the water. You could also cook them partially before you freeze them.

What about frozen cooked mashed potatoes? Might be a handy thing to have around. I feel like freezing them in small chunks, maybe muffin-tin-sized, would be important to being able to defrost them easily.

As an alternative to freezing, potatoes can also be thinly sliced and dried or dehydrated.

I often freeze mash and it seems to work well. I've never done it in very large quantities though.

This is great information to have.

hrhprincessfiona - I tried freezing mashed potatoes once and they thawed horribly thin and runny and had to be thrown out. What did I do wrong?

Do you have a basement? Can you take a stab at root cellaring them? I've been trying it with carrots with pretty decent results.

http://www.urbanhippy.ca/node/33

There is good info on the web - root cellaring is pretty easy. To do over, i'd use sawdust in mine instead of the sand I used.

Failing that, I would not freeze them at all. I'd make meals out of them and freeze the meals. e.g. we made a wonderful potato curry with potatoes from our CSA, and this would freeze very well. You can also pressure-can some meals made with potato - e.g. stews and the likes.

I'd consider trying my hand at making vodka. Or just potato bread. Potato bread won't keep like vodka, but its a lot more legal.

What about making potato gnocchi and freezing that?

@ohiokavr,

I defrost it for about an hour, room temperature, give it a stir and warm slowly in a pot. As it is always 'left over' there is never a lot. I make mash with garlic then add butter and parsley. Hope this helps.

There is a wonderful recipe for frozen mashed potatoes on 30daygourmet's site.

I really don't get this - I come from the land of potatoes, and it's not like they grow all year. We'd usually get about 100 pounds in October and just stick them in the basement somewhere. Potatoes should keep forever, although they do start getting a little woody come March or so. Now that I have my own place, I stick my taters in the cupboard. Just remember, try to keep them in a cool, dark place, and you'll have them for months.

And yeah, I've never found potatoes freeze well in any form, except for shredded ones. They get all mealy and mushy in the freezer.

I'm with little_melly and Bushidoka, the root cellar/basement deal is the way to go, that is if you have some place like that to stash them.

Potatoes (and other sturdy root vegetables) are meant to keep well over a period of time. Otherwise how did people get through those winters of yore before refrigeration and nothing growing outside?

Thanks for all the suggestions, I am going to try freezing gnocchi, hash browns, and stew.
I can't store the potatoes because I do not have a basement (I am an apartment dweller), and my kitchen is much too warm and damp, even in the winter. I have no control over our heat, so the kitchen is generally 72-75 degrees in the winter. Last winter I had spoilage problems with potatoes and onions (we kept them separated from each other).
If I figure out any great ways to make and freeze has browns, I'll pass it on.
Thanks,
Lexy