Never Store Baked Potatoes in Foil
Because I love large, elaborate steak dinners, I often end up with partially eaten, leftover baked potatoes. You may have experienced this too. It’s not a bad thing – you can use leftovers to make some really good breakfast potatoes, but a little care needs to be taken when storing.
If you have a habit of wrapping potatoes in foil when baking (I usually leave the potatoes bare for a crisper skin), be sure to remove the foil as soon as the legs come out of the oven. Foil reduces the amount of oxygen that potatoes see, and a lack of oxygen can lead to botulism that no one wants. According to FoodSafetyNews.com , cooked potatoes fall under the Time / Temperature Controlled Safety (TCS) food category, a category of food that needs to be stored with care:
Foods in this category are susceptible to bacterial growth for several reasons: they are moist, contain protein, and have a neutral or slightly acidic pH. This combination promotes the growth of microorganisms and the production of toxins.
As you probably know, it is important to keep these TCS products out of the hazardous temperature area:
Your potatoes are at a dangerous temperature when they are between 41 and 135 degrees Fahrenheit. Food experts refer to this temperature range as a hazardous area because, at temperatures like these, bacteria are easiest to multiply to unsafe levels in your food.
Outbreaks of baked potato botulism are rare, but they do happen , and this is a case where it’s better to play it safe than sorry. Fortunately, getting ready to fight baked potato botulism is very easy – you just have to follow a few simple food safety rules and remove the foil from the potatoes as soon as they come out of the oven, even if you plan to toss them in the dish. refrigerator immediately.
Problems arise when potatoes (and other TCS foods) are kept at room temperature four hours longer, but you must have plenty of time to eat baked potatoes (Food Safety News recommends eating them for two hours for greater safety, which is more a lot of time.) Potatoes can also be kept hot, but this can cause them to dry out or overcook.
However, removing the foil is something you must do immediately, even if your potatoes are going straight from the oven to the refrigerator, as they will have to go through a hazardous area while they cool down, and this, combined with the lack of oxygen caused by the foil, can create favorable conditions for botulism:
The good news is that botulinum bacteria need a low oxygen environment to grow and develop, which means that most foods are safe from botulinum bacteria. The bad news is that when you wrap potatoes in aluminum foil for baking, they end up in a low oxygen environment.
Luckily, all you have to do is give the potatoes some oxygen. So eat the potatoes while they are hot, without the foil, and put the leftovers in the refrigerator as soon as you are finished enjoying the legs.
Check Out These Important Food Safety Tips For Boiled Potatoes | Food safety news