How to store fresh cucumbers

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The question of how to keep fresh cucumbers longer is relevant not only for gardeners, but also for those who buys vegetables in stores. Knowing the basic rules and some secrets, you can significantly extend the shelf life of these fruits. Let’s look at how to store cucumbers in the refrigerator.

Content
  1. Lightness <
  2. Preparation
  3. In the refrigerator
  4. In the basement
  5. In the water
  6. Others ways
  7. Recommendations

Хранение свежих огурцов

Storage of fresh cucumbers

Keepiness

Keeping cucumbers fresh requires some knowledge and preparation.It should be remembered that this vegetable contains a large percentage of liquid (about 95%), the evaporation of which leads to the drying of the fruit, loss of their shape and taste.

Cucumbers are not they tolerate temperature extremes – with increased humidity and excess heat, they begin to rot. However, too low temperatures (below 0 ° C) are also not suitable for storing cucumbers – vegetables are covered with mucus, become soft and unfit for consumption.

Far not all cucumber varieties have good keeping quality – remember this when acquiring new seeds. First of all, this applies to greenhouse varieties with an early ripening period – they cannot be stored for a long time. Thin-skinned vegetables also cannot boast of high keeping quality.

The best option for storage is cucumbers with dense skin that have grown in the open ground.

Preparation

Storage cucumbers must be carefully selected, discarding rotted and damaged fruits.Overripe vegetables will not work either – it’s better to preserve them for pickling, cooking cucumbers or seeds.

How to keep cucumbers fresh longer? In no case do you wash them after harvesting, since the fruits have their own protection against moisture evaporation: cucumbers from the garden have a naturally formed film, and bought ones are specially coated with a wax layer.

To preserve fresh cucumbers for as long as possible, try to put them in the basement or refrigerator immediately after collection. Leaving them in the sun or in a warm room, you significantly reduce the potential keeping of fruits. It’s better to use cucumbers that you pick yourself for storage, because vegetables from the market, and even more so from stores, can’t just be picked.

In the refrigerator

How to store fresh cucumbers in the fridge? The main thing is to keep them away from the freezer and separate from other fruits (apples, pears, bananas, etc. can secrete a substance that accelerates the ripening process) .. It is best to use the lower compartment, designed for vegetables.

Most ordinary storage of cucumbers in the refrigerator, without any tricks, allows the fruit to remain fresh for 3 to 5 days. How can cucumbers be kept in the refrigerator longer? Put them in a bag (without closing), and cover them with moist gauze on top. Or, as an option – wrap each vegetable with paper towels, and then fold the cucumbers in a bag.

In the basement

Огурчики любят прохладные места

Cucumbers love cool places

Where to store fresh cucumbers, if they did not fit in your refrigerator? The room should be cool and dark enough. The necessary conditions for storing cucumbers are usually provided with a basement. Fruits must be placed in a wooden or cardboard box – in this form they retain their qualities for a month. The only condition is regular inspection of vegetables and timely “rejection” of sluggish, dry or rotten.

Some summer residents recommend using a damp cloth for storing cucumbers: the fruits wrapped in it are placed in the cellar, regularly inspecting and moistening the “wrapper” as necessary . If you have an earthenware barrel, you can use it as a container. Putting the cucumbers inside, sprinkle them with thoroughly washed, dried and sifted river sand. Even better is to dig a recess in the basement, place a barrel in it and dig it in a little.

In water

How to keep cucumbers for longer using folk recommendations? Many years ago, our grandmothers kept cucumbers in water, which prevented evaporation and helped maintain the right temperature. To do this, the fruits were placed in a net, which was then lowered directly into the river with clean running water. Thus, the cucumbers persisted for a long time, until the winter.

How to store fresh cucumbers in water correctly, if there is no river nearby and we are talking about an ordinary apartment? At home, you can use an enameled or glass container filled with water for a couple of centimeters. We put the cucumbers vertically in it, with tails in the water, and then put it in the basement or in the refrigerator (water needs to be changed daily). The fruits will remain tasty and crunchy for several weeks.

Other methods

  1. Keeping ordinary cucumbers as long as possible helps ordinary chicken protein. The fruits must be thoroughly washed (preferably with boiled water) and dried dry. We separate the raw protein from the yolk and carefully lubricate the skin of the cucumbers with it. We hang the fruit by the tail and wait until the protein dries and a film forms, and then we put it in the refrigerator. Cucumbers in such a film remain fresh for a long time and do not lose their qualities.
  2. Cucumbers can be placed in a bucket, covered with gauze and lowered into a well. It is important that the bucket does not sink completely, but only touches the bottom of the water.
  3. Keeping the fresh cucumbers as long as possible will help the horseradish root. It is cleaned and cut into pieces, and then put on the bottom of a sterilized jar. Carefully washed and dried cucumbers are laid on top. The lid is scalded with boiling water and a jar is twisted. They place such cans in the basement.
  4. Using a paraffin candle, you can create an airless space in a can with cucumbers, which will allow them to be stored for much longer.Before you roll up the jar, put a lighted candle in it – in about ten minutes a vacuum will form in the closed container.
  5. After pouring a thin layer of vinegar on the bottom of the enamel pan, place a strainer or net over it. Place cucumbers on top (they should not touch vinegar) and cover with a lid. Place a container in the cellar.
  6. A very interesting way to keep the cucumbers fresh is to place them inside the cabbage heads. For this, cucumber seedlings are planted between rows of late-ripening cabbage. When small fruits appear, they are placed between the leaves of cabbage (without tearing off the ovary), and left to grow like that. When the cabbage head takes shape – the cucumber will be inside it. Cabbage is stored in the basement and with it fresh cucumbers.

storage of cucumbers after harvesting
Keeping vegetables. How to keep vegetables fresh
Experiment fresh cucumbers in the bank
How to keep cucumbers fresh before winter.

Recommendations

  1. Where can I not store cucumbers? They should not be placed in a tightly closed bag without holes. Since the package will not be able to penetrate the air, the fruits will be doomed to rot. (An exception is the vacuum packaging in which store cucumbers are sold – for better safety, try not to open it as long as possible.)
  2. You can take out the cucumbers from time to time from the refrigerator and sprinkle with water. The most important thing is that the fruits dry completely before returning to the shelf, otherwise they will begin to rot.
  3. When buying cucumbers in the market or in the store, pay attention to the condition of the entire batch: it makes no sense to choose individual “beautiful” specimens from a pile of sluggish , since their keeping quality will be equally low.
  4. Do not buy fruits that are in very chilled display cases (if possible, specify how many degrees are in the refrigerator). Remember that the shelf life of supercooled cucumbers is minimal, and the taste is very doubtful.
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Anna Evans

Author ✓ Farmer

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