Help me save my frozen taters

[jennigrey]

Well, I forgot a box of taters and garlic in the barn for a month or so and they've froze nearly through. Probably forty pounds of garlic and taters from this fall. When they thaw they'll start rotting. What can I do to save them?

I think I will mince, pack into small portions, and freeze some of the garlic. Thinly slice and dry another portion of the garlic. The rest I will freeze as whole cloves. Any other ideas for saving the garlic would be appreciated.

The taters, though....

The only ideas I had were canning and freezing diced potatoes. Any other ideas?

[coup]

mine,froze(slightly) one year,,it raised the sugar content but otherwise were okay.

[grasser]

From Purdue University brochure on potatoes:
After curing, store the tubers in complete darkness at 40- 45oF and 90% relative humidity. Potatoes can be stored from 2-9 months, depending on the cultivar and storage conditions. Late cultivars generally can be stored for the longest period. Prolonged exposure to temperatures below 40oF causes the starch of the potato to convert to sugar, resulting in a peculiar sweet flavor. This conver- sion can sometimes be reversed by placing the tubers at 70oF for a week before using. Prolonged temperatures above 45oF result in sprouting.

[Puddin]

I made wine out of my taters that had frozen...
There's many recipes on the internet (and in this forum). I used lemons for flavoring.
Gloria

[geo in mi]

I think you're out of luck for food purposes with the potatoes. Potatoes have a closed cell structure, and freezing(for that long and that deep) bursts the cells and destroys them..They will turn to mush when they thaw, whether gradually or in a cooking pot. Dicing them and refreezing just prolongs the inevitable.......

French fries and Larry's stuffed potatoes, and Tater Tots are pre-cooked or blanched before freezing, that's why they keep........

geo

[CherieOH]

I had some potatoes in a bin under the sink and during a particularly cold snap, they nearly froze. Every one of them was black when I cut into them. Had to throw them away. If your potatoes are still usable, cook mashed potatoes and freeze for future meals. They microwave nicely as long as you do a lot of stirring. Can't help with the garlic. Good luck.

[sunflower-n-ks]

Not sure how long "prolonged'' means in this case. I forgot a 5lb sack of potatoes in the car and they froze solid. I threw them in the freezer because I did not have time to deal with them. Since, I have taken out one or two at a time, wrapped them in plastic wrap, nuked them (baked potato) and they have been fine. I did cook them in stages. A short amount of time to help get them thawed and then the rest to cook them.

they have been in the freezer about two months now. Maybe I better use them faster.

[ronbre]

it turns them really sweet, maybe you could cook them and process them and then freeze them and use them in breads or other baked goods?..maybe potato donuts

[Nimrod]

Make vodka.

[jennigrey]

Very interesting ideas. I should add that the potatoes that I have diced and put into the freezer are destined for soup only, which is a terrible shame for these particular potatoes. Amazing gourmet potatoes.... Colorado Rose, Caribe, Butte, French Fingerling and - saddest of all - Ruby Crescent. Wonderful roasting potatoes reduced to fourth-rate stew potatoes.

[jennigrey]

Done peeling, shelling, chopping and otherwise processing the garlic. The deydrator is full and BOY HOWDY DOES THE HOUSE SMELL OF GARLIC.

[Anonymooose]

One has to think that there might be some curative or preventative powers in a house smelling like that... Mabey it will prevent the flu or colds or unwanted visitors.

There's always a positive side.

[jennigrey]

My eyes are a bit watery and I keep having to blow my nose. Probably has intiated a clean rinse of my entire sinus tract.