How To Make Potato Flakes With 5 Years Shelf Life (without refrigeration)
Dehydrated potato flakes are a highly portable, convenient source of nutrition. They are fairly easy to cook, don’t weigh much and keep for a long time without refrigeration. Also, you know what’s in them when you make them from scratch and they taste better.
Preparing the Potatoes
Peel the potato and cut it up into medium-size pieces.
You can wait until after you boil the potatoes to peel them, if you prefer. The skin will come off of some of the pieces while they boil. Let the potato pieces cool off a little, slide a butter knife or fork under the edge of the peel and pull it off. It should come off easily.
Put the potato pieces into a pot and add enough water to generously cover them. It takes about 4 cups of water to cover 1 large baking potato in a medium-size pot.
Add a pinch of salt, if you like. It isn’t really necessary but many people prefer the flavor. I use 1 to 2 grinds of sea salt.
Bring the water to a full, rolling boil. Turn the heat down to about medium so the water stays at a steady boil and boil the potatoes for 15 to 20 minutes. They are done when a fork slides through them easily.
Take the peeled, cooked potato pieces out of the pan with a spoon and put them into a large bowl. Do not throw out the potato water. Mash the potatoes with a fork or hand potato masher.
Add 1/2 cup of the potato water and blend it into the potatoes. A mixer works best for this part. Blend them until they are completely smooth. Add another 1/4 cup of potato water and blend them some more. They should be the consistency of runny pudding. Add more water, if necessary, until they are the right consistency.
While adding water to the potatoes doesn’t make much sense, it does need to be done. The potatoes must be thin and a little runny or they will not dehydrate and break down properly.
Related: Preserving Potatoes Year Round; A Solid Choice for Preppers
Dehydrating in the Oven
Line a baking pan or pizza pan with parchment paper. Cut the parchment paper down to size so it fits neatly on the bottom of the pan. Parchment paper that extends beyond the edges of the pan will scorch.
Spread the mashed potatoes out evenly in a thin layer (no thicker than 1/4 inch) on the parchment paper. Place another piece of parchment paper on top and lightly smooth it over the potatoes.
Dehydrate the potatoes for 6 to 8 hours in a 170-degree Fahrenheit or 75-degree Celsius oven. Leave the oven door open slightly to allow the moisture to escape.
Dehydrating in a Dehydrator
If you are using a dehydrator, use the fruit leather tray or the pans/sheets designed for use with your dehydrator.
Set your dehydrator at 130 to 145 degrees Fahrenheit or 55 to 65 degrees Celsius and leave the potatoes in for 6 to 36 hours, depending on how quickly your dehydrator works. Check them after a few hours and turn over the chunks that are getting dry.
Related: How to Keep Grains Edible and Fresh for Over 40 Years With Nitrogen
Making Potato Flakes
The potatoes will be dry, crunchy and white-gold to golden-brown when they are done.
Put the dehydrated potato pieces into a food processor or blender to crunch them up into flakes. Grind them up as much as you can. The finer the grind the smoother the mashed potatoes.
Using Homemade Potato Flakes
Reconstitute the potato flakes with about twice as much water as flakes. For example, 2/3 cup water and 1/3 cup flakes makes 1 serving. The amount of water required will vary so you may want to experiment. Add a little salt, 1 to 2 teaspoons of butter and about 1/4 cup of milk to the potatoes to improve flavor and texture. Put the salt in the pan with the water, bring it to a boil, remove from heat, mix in the flakes, milk and butter. You can also use coconut oil or olive oil instead of butter.
Shelf Life
If you keep the potatoes flakes in a regular container they will last between 6 months to a year. The best way to store them would be in Mylar bags, add oxygen absorbers, keep them in a cool, place and the flakes could last for 5 maybe 8 years.
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Thank you for the the wonderful information. This will help keep you independent of others and possibly out of danger in case of an emergency, man-made or natural disaster. Keep it coming. Being smart will help you not be a victim during a vulnerable time.
Thank you for your article. Very well written with good information. I am going to have to try to make some, I use potatoe flakes for cooking different items. If I can figure it out and make my own, i wont have to worry about buying them from the store.
The article recommends long term storage in mylar bags. But, the lead photo shows canning jars. Can the processed flakes be stored long term using “Mason” jars and modified canning processes??
I have used mason jars. Just be sure you add the oxygen absorbers and use the lids the same as regular. You don’t have to do any additional processing.
Thanks Jackie …
I dry can many items to keep them for years, flour, pasta, oats, rice. I am thinking that if you did not flake up the potatoes before you put them in the canning jars, just break the dehydrated potatoes into pieces…. you could dry can in the oven for 1 hour at 200 degrees the same as rice or oats, without over cooking. Then break them down into flakes when you open to use. Dry canning uses regular rings and lids and creates a tight seal.
Thank You so very much for your informative comment. I knew you could dry can but had never done it. Now I shall many many times. Just to keep from throwing stuff out that has gone stale.Thank you again.
Mason jars work great, but you have to put them in a cardboard box or any dark place after you fill them with whatever food you are saving, remember light is one of those things that destroy the nutrition of the food.
What is meant by “add oxygen absorbers”? What are they, ?
Thank you! I recently bought a 10 lb bag of potatoes for $2.00. Can’t use them all quick enough, so this recipe comes in handy right now!
Do you have to remove the skins? Aren’t many of the important nutrients there?
Why not dehydrate the peels and store them separately? Break them into small pieces and add them to soups, stews and casseroles, or back into the potatoes when re-hydrated, for extra nutrition.
That’s a good idea.
Where can I get parchment paper?
In any grocery store, or walmart.
Got mine at Albertsons
How long do you think they’d last if you put them in Mason jars and sucked the air out with a Food Saver vacuum-sealing attachment?
The dry canning method appeals to me more than bags except for a short term buggout bag. I’m too old to run anywhere roughing it. Home storage is better for my life.
Un obvious storage solutions along with a home garden and indoor salad garden are more along my lines of thought. Cactus and brush along fence lines so you understand where I’m coming from.
Wondering why you just don’t use a food dehydrater think that would be easier will have to try this sounds like a good thing to do if you have a lot of potatoes
The article does give directions on how to use a dehydrator. I am thinking it describes the oven method in such detail since most people do not have dehydrators.
Would it be feasible to purchase store bought potato flakes and storing them in vacuum sealed bags or hot canning them in mason jars?
Can Sweet Potatoes be processed the same way (without skins)? What would their estimated shelf life be?
Not sure about sweet potatoes but more than likely they can be done. Will have to experiment to get them just right. I have seen sweet potato flakes same as the Idaho potatoes they seem to work the same, but I found some purple sweet potatoes the other day at a Natural Grocery store.
Sweet potato flakes sound interesting. I’d like to hear about what works and what doesn’t work.
I’m dehydrating sweet potato slices today as an experiment.