How to keep cucumbers and tomatoes fresh

Where is the best place to store

The higher the temperature, the faster the salting and fermentation processes take place, which means the product will quickly become salty and sour.
To prevent this from happening so quickly, lightly salted cucumbers should be stored in the refrigerator after pickling. Access to oxygen accelerates fermentation and putrefactive processes. In a sealed package, fermentation continues, although not as intensely, and putrefactive processes are suspended without access to oxygen. For this reason, sealed packaging (in a tight bag) will extend shelf life. Did you know? Nowadays the original way

— storage in cabbage heads. To do this, the ovary of the cucumber is placed between the leaves of the yet unformed cabbage. When ripe, a head of cabbage is cut and stored in the basement along with a fresh cucumber.

Ripe tomatoes

Ripe, untreated fruits are stored for about 6 days. After this time, the putrefactive process begins inside the tomatoes. The temperature for storing them should be as low as possible. It is better to put red fruits in a place where the temperature does not rise above 2 degrees Celsius. A ripe tomato speeds up the ripening process of the others next to it. Therefore, you should constantly inspect the boxes, removing ripe fruits.

To preserve ripe fruits longer, use the following methods:

Place whole tomatoes in sterilized jars with the stem facing up and sprinkle them with mustard powder. Then the jars should be rolled up and stored in a dark place.

Whole fruits are placed in a jar, and chopped tomatoes are poured on top, which are generously sprinkled with salt. In this way several layers are made. The top layer should be chopped tomatoes. This jar is stored in the refrigerator or other cold place.

Prepare a solution of salt, vinegar and water in proportions 1:1:8. Clean dry fruits are placed in jars and filled with the prepared mixture. You need to add a little vegetable oil on top (1 centimeter layer) and send the jar to a cool place.

In water

How to preserve cucumbers longer using popular recommendations? Many years ago, our grandmothers stored cucumbers in water, which prevented evaporation and helped maintain the desired temperature. To do this, the fruits were placed in a net, which was then lowered directly into a river with clean running water. In this way, the cucumbers were preserved for quite a long time, until winter.

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

Unripe tomatoes

Tomatoes, like cucumbers, are heat-loving vegetables. Unripe fruits can be placed on the windowsill, where they will become ripe under the influence of sunlight. To ensure they ripen evenly, periodically turn them green side up.

If you carry out special processing of still green fruits, then they can be preserved until winter.

Place them for a few minutes in a container of hot water, the temperature of which does not exceed 60 degrees. Then remove and dry thoroughly.
Place vegetables in wooden or plastic boxes with sawdust. The bottom of the boxes should be lined with paper soaked in alcohol. Place the tomatoes with the stem facing up. For the longest possible storage, the fruits are wrapped in napkins soaked in alcohol and sprinkled with straw or sawdust.
Boxes with vegetables are placed in a dark, dry place with good ventilation. The optimal air temperature should not exceed 15 degrees.

Keeping quality

Storing fresh cucumbers 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 drying of the fruit, loss of its shape and taste.

Cucumbers do not tolerate temperature changes - with high humidity and excess heat, they begin to rot. However, too low temperatures (below 0°C) are also not suitable for storing cucumbers - the vegetables become covered with mucus, become soft and unsuitable for consumption.

Not all cucumber varieties have good shelf life - remember this when purchasing new seeds. First of all, this applies to greenhouse varieties with early ripening - 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 thick skins that have grown in open ground.

Preparation

Cucumbers for storage must be carefully selected, discarding rotten and damaged fruits. Overripe vegetables are also not suitable - it is better to save them for pickling, preparing barrel cucumbers or obtaining seeds.

How to keep cucumbers fresh longer? Under no circumstances should you wash them after picking, since the fruits have their own protection from moisture evaporation: cucumbers from the garden have a naturally formed film, while those bought are specially covered with a waxy layer.

To preserve fresh cucumbers for as long as possible, try to put them in the basement or refrigerator immediately after picking. By leaving them in the sun or in a warm room, you significantly reduce the potential shelf life of the fruit. It is better to use cucumbers that you pick yourself for storage, because vegetables from the market, and even more so from stores, cannot be freshly picked.

In the basement

Where to store fresh cucumbers if they don’t fit in your refrigerator? The room should be sufficiently cool and dark. A basement usually has the necessary conditions for storing cucumbers. The fruits need to be placed in a wooden or cardboard box - in this form they retain their quality for a whole month. The only condition is regular inspection of vegetables and timely “rejection” of limp, dry or rotten ones.

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

Tomatoes, cucumbers, greens

At the bottom of the article is a short video, just on the topic of keeping these products in the refrigerator.

I wrap each cucumber or tomato in a towel (rags), mine is linen. Can be cotton, not synthetics.

I send everything that fits in a dry bag. If they don’t fit into the first towel, I repeat the same with the second.

I spread the greens evenly and twist them. Everything is back in the bag.

The fabric absorbs excess moisture and creates a certain humidity. And polyethylene does not allow moisture to evaporate.

Such storage will not be superfluous for bell peppers and zucchini .

What is needed for long-term conservation

To ensure that canned cucumbers do not spoil for a long time, you need to understand what is needed for their long-term storage.

Humidity and temperature indicators

It is recommended to decide in advance at what temperature canned cucumbers should be stored. Some people believe that pickles will last a long time at temperatures of 20-25 degrees, but this is far from true. In such conditions, canned vegetables quickly deteriorate, causing the jars to begin to explode.

To store canned vegetables, it is necessary to use cellars where the temperature is at the level of five degrees Celsius. In this case, air humidity should be 85-95 percent.

Room illumination

Some people believe that lighting has no effect on the shelf life of canned vegetables, but in fact this is not the case. Experienced housewives recommend making sure that the room with twists is not too light. It is recommended to protect canned vegetables from direct sunlight, as they negatively affect the shelf life and taste of the preparations. Therefore, the rooms where jars of cucumbers will be placed must have no windows.

How to properly store fresh cucumbers in your home refrigerator

Vegetables are sorted, cleaned of contaminants and the strongest are selected. It is better to eat cucumbers, even with minor damage, immediately. Prepare a container in which they will be stored and determine a place in the refrigerator.

Cucumbers should not be stored next to ethylene-emitting products: apples, pears, peppers, melons, bananas, tomatoes. Ethylene softens and promotes rapid spoilage of cucumbers.

Storage methods:

Important! When storing vegetables, water should not come into contact with them.

Source

Pumpkin

This vegetable, after cutting, does not want to lie down at all. A couple of days and that’s it, mold. First I cut it and stored it in bags, then in film. The result is the same.

But then I came up with the idea of storing it without anything. How? Place chopped pumpkin I immediately peel part of the pumpkin, put it on a plate and it stores perfectly. Only after a few days I turn it over. It dries, yes! But it doesn’t disappear!

How to preserve the harvest of fresh tomatoes and cucumbers until the New Year?

So, to test this method of preserving vegetables and fruits, I will do a small, simple, but, it seems to me, quite reliable experiment. As a control, I will take tomato fruits treated with just water. I’ll just fill them with water, and while the shooting is going on, I’ll keep them in this water. For the experiment, I will take a drug well known to everyone, “Fitosporin-M”. I made his solution according to the instructions and poured it in too. As a standard antiseptic for vegetables and fruits that are stored, I will take a 3% pharmaceutical solution of hydrogen peroxide and also rinse these vegetables so that they are properly washed with this solution. I will salt the solution, I will not keep it there for a long time. I dry all the vegetables with a napkin so that there is no excess moisture and to remove as much moisture as possible from the inside. I’ll add fruits, vegetables, and fruits again and cover them with a lid so that they can be stored there. I will store at room temperature, not in the refrigerator, to speed up the potential spoilage process. Here you can see bubbles from hydrogen peroxide appearing, but this is natural, because the disinfection process is underway. That's why they appeared. Well, now let's see what happens to these fruits.

At what temperature is it better to store tomatoes and cucumbers?

You discovered that beautiful vegetables, bought fresh at the market only yesterday, have already turned out to be spoiled today, despite the fact that they were stored in the refrigerator. How to properly store vegetables? What requires refrigeration and how should vegetables be prepared for storage?

Despite much careful inspection, sniffing, touching and selecting the best products on the market, two days later you discover that the cucumbers have wilted, the tomatoes have dried out, and the peppers have gone rotten. Has it not happened to anyone?

The fate of vegetables can be predicted even before they are purchased, given their genetic predisposition, weather and growing method.

But you have the power to change this sad fate. After harvesting, vegetables and fruits continue to live and produce heat, while at the same time losing moisture and other protective properties. You can extend their life, preserve their nutritional properties and improve their taste - only through proper storage.

Even if your refrigerator does not have many temperature settings, you can use a simple secret - the further the product is from the refrigerator door, the colder the temperature setting. The shelves on the refrigerator door are the warmest place in it, and the back wall is the coldest.

Below are a few more simple rules that will help you enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables longer:

Tomatoes

Temperature : tomatoes do not like cold, the optimal storage temperature for them is 12 degrees Celsius

Storage duration: For barely ripe tomatoes, this period can be a week. Unripe tomatoes should not be refrigerated until they are ripe and completely red.

Preparation: Before placing tomatoes in the refrigerator, we recommend removing the leaves from them, as they dry out and become moldy. If left, they can spoil the adjacent part of the tomato and begin the process of rotting.

Storage: To increase storage time, store tomatoes in a bag with large holes and insert a paper towel into the bag to absorb excess moisture.

cucumbers

Temperature: Fresh cucumbers do not like heat, so they should be stored in the refrigerator. If cucumbers are left out of the refrigerator, they will begin to wilt very quickly. They will turn yellow and change texture and flavor. On the other hand, the cold will make the cucumbers soft and cover them with microscopic scars. These scars will start the process of decay.

Duration of storage: If all necessary measures are taken, cucumbers can remain relatively fresh for 10 – 14 days

Preparation: Before putting the cucumbers in the refrigerator, they should be cleared of yellow inflorescences. As a rule, the process of rotting begins with them

Storage: To keep cucumbers fresh for as long as possible, each cucumber should be wrapped in a paper towel to retain moisture and absorb excess. By storing cucumbers in closed, but not sealed, bags, you will delay scarring and softening of the vegetables. Cucumbers that have been stored in the refrigerator for a long period should be eaten immediately upon removal from the refrigerator. After a day or two of storage outside cool conditions, the quality of the cucumbers will rapidly deteriorate.

Peppers

Temperature: Peppers generally like the cold, but choosing the right temperature depends on the ripeness of the vegetable. The color of the pepper should be taken into account at the time of picking and packaging. All peppers are initially green and change color depending on the period of ripeness. The optimal temperature depends on the color of the vegetable. Yellow, red and orange peppers like temperatures of 7 degrees. Green - 10 degrees Celsius.

Storage duration: Firm peppers without damage to the surface can be stored for 7 to 10 days. If the red pepper has a green side, it can be stored for up to two weeks.

Preparation: If the pepper inflorescence is damaged, it should be removed as it is an open wound through which rotting bacteria can enter. This may cause damage to the rest of the peppers in the package.

Storage: The shelf life of peppers can be extended by placing them in a large-perforated bag with a paper towel to absorb any fumes from the peppers.

Green onions

Temperature : Green onions keep well at 0 degrees. In a home refrigerator, where the temperature never drops below 5 degrees, onion leaves will continue to grow. Because of this, the leaves may turn yellow and begin to deteriorate.

Buying: We recommend purchasing green onions that have dark green leaves without the brown part at the base. This part signals the beginning of the rotting process. Light shades of green should also be avoided as this means a very short shelf life.

Preparation: There is often some sand left at the base of the bow. We recommend that you wash the base - but not the leaves. After this, you should cut off the roots of the onion, dry it and put it in a bag. We recommend making small holes in the bag the size of the eye of a needle. If the bag is opened from the side of the stems, they will quickly begin to fade. To prevent this from happening, you can cut off a couple of centimeters of the onion stems and close the bag tightly with a rubber band at the very tips of the stems.

Storage: Green onions should be stored in bags with small holes; the quality of the onions will be preserved better if they are wrapped in a paper towel before putting them in the bag. The paper will absorb excess moisture, which may cause the onions to wilt. It is important to keep the onion stems straight. Bending the stems will cause damage and loss of moisture.

Broccoli

Temperature : Broccoli has a special nutritional value, which is why it is so important to preserve its properties. At a temperature of about 0 degrees, broccoli can be stored for a month; at home, this period is reduced to several days. Broccoli, like kohlrabi, is eaten before it blooms. When this vegetable begins to bloom, it is no longer suitable for food.

Packaging: In some stores you can find broccoli in special packages filled with air: such packages contain carbon dioxide created by the respiration of vegetables and a decrease in oxygen concentration.

Special packaging changes the concentration of gases and slows down the rotting process, preserving the nutritional properties of broccoli. If the broccoli was purchased without packaging, or the packaging was damaged, place it in a bag without holes. After removing the air from the bag, close the bag with rubber bands and make two pinholes using a toothpick.

How to store cucumbers: tips for extending shelf life at home

Dear readers, I welcome you to the website In My House! Cucumbers have long been an integral part of traditional Russian cuisine. Without them, it is difficult to imagine any table set by a hospitable hostess. There is a simple explanation for this popularity - this fruit is very healthy, has a delicate taste and feels great in our climate.

But if a couple of decades ago fresh vegetables were considered an exclusively summer delicacy, and they were prepared in salted form for the winter, now you can enjoy crispy cucumbers at almost any time of the year.

In this article, I will share with you the secrets of how to store cucumbers and protect their beneficial properties as much as possible.

Shelf life of fresh cucumbers

First of all, let's figure out what the usual shelf life is for these vegetables. From my own experience, I can say that you can keep fresh cucumbers at home for about a week without any problems and without using “grandmother’s secrets.”

But in order to extend their shelf life to a month, and sometimes more, certain skills and storage conditions will be required.

Difficulties in keeping cucumbers fresh for a long time are explained by the composition of these fruits.

We know that they contain many beneficial substances:

Read more in the article about the beneficial properties of cucumbers.

And the cucumber is almost 95% water, which, on the one hand, makes it ideal for dietary dishes and daily consumption, but on the other hand, makes long-term storage a difficult task.

What vegetables are suitable for storage?

The success of long-term freshness of cucumbers primarily depends on whether you have chosen the right fruits.

What should you pay attention to?

First of all, select fresh fruits that have just been picked from the garden. This is not difficult to control if you are going to store vegetables that you grew yourself in the garden. If you do not have a plot, it is best to purchase cucumbers from those sellers you trust, and, in any case, try to avoid using imported fruits. Even with full compliance with all rules of transportation and placement in supermarkets, they are subject to temperature changes and are not suitable for long-term storage.

When buying in a store or market, look carefully at all the cucumbers that are on the counter. If the seller offers you supposedly fresh produce, but the rest of the fruits look a little lethargic, most likely the entire batch was collected from the garden not yesterday and has already had time to sit.

Pay attention to the appearance of the cucumbers. The fruits must not have any contamination. It would seem, what’s wrong? After all, vegetables can be washed! This is where the problem lies - for long-term storage they must be completely dry. This way they retain their natural protection from spoilage longer.

Which cucumbers are not suitable for long-term storage?

Sometimes a quick glance at vegetables is enough to understand that they are not suitable for storage. To avoid unpleasant surprises, remember these simple rules.

Do not use varieties that are too watery and have thin skins for storage. Overgrown fruits are absolutely not suitable for these purposes.

Interesting fact: oddly enough, we use unripe cucumbers for food. It is in this form that they have a pleasant taste and a recognizable crunch. Ripe or overgrown vegetables have a yellowish color. They reach large sizes, but lose their taste, and their seeds become harder.

It is not recommended to store varieties grown in greenhouse conditions. They are usually suitable for consumption as soon as they are picked from the bush. Therefore, I advise you to use such vegetables to prepare fresh salads.

Sun-dried tomatoes

They can be stored in the freezer. They can also be preserved in jars, which should be pre-sterilized.

Frozen fruits retain all their nutritional properties.

Cucumbers and tomatoes are stored separately from other fruits and vegetables so that the ethylene gas released does not contribute to their premature rotting.

Follow these simple rules for storing vegetables and you can enjoy their freshness for a long time.

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Storing cucumbers in the refrigerator

The easiest way to extend the shelf life of fresh cucumbers is to put them in the refrigerator. However, there are also little secrets here.

Everyone knows that vegetables and fruits in the refrigerator should be in a special compartment. It is located farthest from the freezing element and the fruit is not exposed to extremely cold air, which can affect the taste and texture of the flesh. It is known that at sub-zero temperatures, cucumbers quickly freeze, begin to deteriorate and produce mucus.

In this compartment of the refrigerator, food can be stored for about 3-4 days without special treatment.

And now I will tell you about special types of refrigerator storage that are not known to everyone.

Vegetables can be placed in a plastic bag and covered with a thin damp cloth or gauze. It is important to leave the bag open to allow air to enter, otherwise the vegetables will simply become moldy.

With this type of packaging, cucumbers can be stored in the refrigerator and remain fresh for up to ten days.

Instead of a damp cloth, you can use thin paper or paper napkins. It will be enough to wrap each fruit and put it in the refrigerator compartment intended for vegetables to increase the shelf life of fresh fruits by up to two weeks.

If you do not plan to store a lot of cucumbers, and the size of the freezer allows, you can use regular cold water. You need to pour it into a small bowl, immerse the vegetables in it a couple of centimeters so that their tails are under water. The container with the fruits is placed in the greens compartment, and they can be stored there for about a month. Remember that the water will need to be changed every two days.

The essence of this type of storage is that cucumbers can constantly replenish lost moisture. If you decide to use this recommendation, try to select small vegetables with dark, pimply skin.

The most original way to extend shelf life is undoubtedly storage in egg white.

Cucumbers should be washed and dried thoroughly, and then coated with protein, which forms a special protective film on the surface of the vegetable skin and does not allow moisture to evaporate. Fruits processed by this method should also be kept in the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator.

General recommendations

Try to carefully sort through vegetables before placing them in the refrigerator or storage boxes. If among the fruits there is at least one spoiled, then the others will quickly begin to rot or mold.
When placing vegetables, try to make sure that there is space between them and that they do not touch each other.
Some unripe vegetables may last longer. For example, there are special recommendations for extending the freshness of still green tomatoes. However, not in all cases, unripe fruits will be able to ripen after you place them in the refrigerator. If vegetables are only edible when ripe, allow them to ripen at room temperature before placing them in the freezer.
To prevent the characteristic odors of onions or garlic from affecting other vegetables, I advise you to store them separately from each other.
It is known that certain vegetables and fruits produce a special substance - ethylene - that accelerates ripening. It is believed that bell peppers, tomatoes and potatoes emit ethylene more strongly than others, so it is not recommended to keep them together. These vegetables can also significantly affect the taste characteristics of other fruits when stored together: next to tomatoes, carrots and beets risk acquiring a bitter taste, and potatoes stored with peppers quickly sprout.
Remember that stems and leaves must be removed from root vegetables before storing. To protect the fruits from premature drying, it is enough to leave the stalk or tail a couple of centimeters long.

Housewife's note: eggs are known for their ability to absorb ethylene. Therefore, it is recommended to place several eggs between vegetables or fruits in the refrigerator to solve the problem of ripening too quickly.

Storing cucumbers at home

You can store fruits not only in the refrigerator. This is good news for those who plan to keep a large number of fruits fresh and are not going to buy a separate refrigerator for this purpose.

In the box

The most common way is to place the cucumbers in a box, box or any other container with walls that allow air to pass through.

It is necessary to carefully place fresh dry fruits inside so that they minimally touch each other. Vegetables should be stored at a temperature no higher than 15 degrees and at high humidity, for example, in the basement. Under such conditions, cucumbers can remain fresh for about ten days.

Before storing vegetables in a drawer, you can wrap them in a damp cloth or gauze. This will also help the fruit stay juicy longer.

In banks

The fruits can also be stored in a jar without using standard pickling or canning.

It is enough to pour boiling water over the fruits, dry them thoroughly and place them in a glass jar. Chopped horseradish root should be placed at the bottom of the container in advance.

Full jars should be well closed and stored in a cool room out of sunlight. You can keep cucumbers this way for up to two months.

Whatever method you choose to preserve freshness, I strongly advise you to regularly check your cucumbers and remove any that are starting to wilt or rot. Spoiled vegetables release special substances that negatively affect still healthy fruits.

Canned cucumbers

The most famous way to preserve cucumbers throughout the winter is, of course, canning. In this case, we are not talking about keeping the fruits fresh, but salted crispy cucumbers have many fans, and they themselves are often a separate and obligatory dish on the holiday table.

For canning, you need to select those varieties that are most suitable for this type of processing. If cucumbers are considered “salad”, it is better not to use them for pickling.

I recommend paying attention to the following varieties designed for canning.

A simple and quick recipe for preparing cucumbers:

Take a three-liter jar and put your favorite spices in it (horseradish leaves, bay leaf, dill, a few black peppercorns).

Place small fresh cucumbers in a container, cover them with 100 grams of salt and fill them with cold water.

Close the jar tightly with a lid and put it in the basement.

Fruits prepared in this way can remain fresh for several months and will be an excellent snack, and on our website you will find other interesting recipes for delicious cucumber dishes.

Fresh cucumbers

They love warmth, the optimal storage temperature is 15 degrees. Therefore, when you place them in a low-temperature refrigerator, mucus, white coating and black spots form on the surface of the fruit. This is what a “cold” in cucumbers looks like; putrefactive bacteria multiply on them. After a few days, such vegetables can be thrown into the trash.

If there is no other option, place the cucumbers in the refrigerator away from the freezer. So it is advisable to store them for no more than 3 days.

To keep cucumbers fresh for as long as possible, wrap them in paper napkins and place them in a bag. You can also place the wrapped vegetables in a jar and close the lid tightly. A few cloves of garlic or a piece of horseradish root can prevent the rotting process.

Cucumbers in a tightly closed bag will last only a couple of days even in the refrigerator. In cellophane without access to air, they will begin to suffocate and rot, so it will not be possible to preserve them in this way.

How to extend shelf life

To extend the freshness of cucumbers for a week, place them in a pan of water with the tails down and cover with a lid. The layer of water should not exceed a couple of centimeters; it must be replaced with a new one every day. Place the pan in a cool, dark place.

Another storage method is to use egg whites. They carefully coat the skin of the cucumbers, after which a film appears that retains moisture in the vegetables. After this, they can be put in the refrigerator.

Vinegar will help keep cucumbers fresh and crispy for up to 1 month. Vinegar is poured into a clean enamel container so that it covers the bottom by 3 millimeters. Inside there is a stand with holes on which the cucumbers are laid out. They should not touch the vinegar. Vegetables are placed in layers, on top of each other, and then the container is covered and put in a cool place.

Unusual storage methods

If you have your own plot of land, you can use the methods of storing vegetables that were used by our great-grandfathers.

In a well or pond

So, cucumbers can be kept in a well. It is enough to place fresh vegetables in a clean and dry bucket and lower it so that the lower part of the container is immersed in cold water. Fruits kept in a cool, humid environment can remain fresh for up to a couple of weeks.

If you do not have a well, but have a small pond, you can keep cucumbers in it - cold water will not allow them to spoil for a long time.

In sand

Sand is another, although not the most obvious, way to store vegetables.

Cucumbers should be placed in clay bowls in layers, sprinkled with clean river sand. Vegetables prepared in this way should also be kept in a cool and dark room.

How to keep cucumbers fresh for a long time

Cucumbers have long ceased to be a curiosity on our tables, even in the winter season. Buying fresh cucumbers today is not a problem even in severe frost. True, out of season the price for them is steep, and the taste, as many say, is far from the same as that of the greens from their garden. This is probably why, towards the end of each summer season, we ask ourselves the question - how to keep them fresh for a long time? How can you maximize shelf life? What varieties are suitable for this? And, probably, the most important question is where to store cucumbers?

You can preserve the freshness of fruits for a long time in various ways.

Even the ancient Romans said: “There is no arguing about tastes.” That’s right: some people adore greens from the garden, others prefer greenhouse cucumbers, which can be bought at any time of the year, while others don’t see any difference between them at all. Therefore, we will not argue about tastes, nor will we convince anyone, but we will simply talk about storing cucumbers.

How long can fresh cucumbers be stored?

Keeping cucumbers fresh for 5-7 days is not difficult. It is also possible to increase this period to 3 weeks or longer (sometimes even until spring) if you create special storage conditions. But let's talk about everything in order.

Select fruits for long-term storage especially carefully

It is necessary to begin selecting cucumbers for long-term storage at the stage of picking or purchasing them: stale or overgrown fruits are not suitable for storage.

How to choose cucumbers

It is important! The fruits should be:

Which cucumbers are not good

In a refrigerator

I will tell you about several simple but effective ways.

This way cucumbers can be stored for several days.

In the vegetable compartment: Stored in the refrigerator (in the vegetable tray) for about 3 days, and there is no need to prepare them for such short-term storage.

In cellophane: Place the cucumbers in a plastic bag and cover them with damp gauze. The top of the package is left open. Fruits packaged in this way can stay fresh for about 10 days.

In paper: By wrapping each cucumber in a paper towel (napkin) and placing them in a plastic bag, you can keep the greens fresh for up to 2 weeks.

In water: keep cucumbers fresh for up to 3-4 weeks in water. To do this, pour cold water into a bowl (or tray), partially (1-2 cm) immerse the fruits in it, tails down, and place the container in the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator. The water needs to be changed once a day.

The secret of the method is this: as the fruits lose moisture, they will be able to compensate for its loss by absorbing water. To store this method, it is better to take cucumbers with thick, dark green, tuberous skin.

In egg white: Wash the cucumbers carefully and allow to dry. Then coat them with egg white. A film forms on the peel, which will prevent moisture evaporation. Store cucumbers in a protein film in the refrigerator, on the vegetable shelf.

Important. At low temperatures (below 0°C), cucumbers begin to quickly soften and mucus appears on them. Therefore, when storing cucumbers in the refrigerator, make sure that they do not end up near the freezer.

In room

There are also many ways to store indoors!

How to store cucumbers indoors

In a box or box: This method will keep the fruit fresh 2-3 days. Cucumbers are carefully placed in a cardboard box, plastic tray, wooden box or paper bag. The room temperature should be within +10. +15°C, air humidity about 90-95%.

If the temperature is lowered to +6. +8°C, cucumbers can remain fresh for up to 10 days.

In a damp cloth: Wrap the cucumbers in a damp cloth, store in a cool (+6. +7°C) room, moistening the cloth as necessary. This way you can keep the fruit fresh for about a week.

It is important! Regardless of how and where you store cucumbers, periodically, approximately once every 3 days, they must be inspected, removing damaged and lost fruits.

How not to store cucumbers

The freshness of cucumbers cannot be preserved in this way.
Packed in cellophane without air access: Cucumbers tightly wrapped in a cellophane bag or film will last about 2-3 days even in the refrigerator: without air access, the fruits will “suffocate” and begin to rot. Together with ripe fruits: Any ripe fruits that emit ethylene - be they fruits (apples and others) or vegetables (tomatoes and others) - cannot be stored together with cucumbers. Under the influence of ethylene, biochemical processes in cucumbers are accelerated and they begin to ripen quickly.

How to properly store cucumbers and tomatoes?

Vegetable season!
Our tomatoes and cucumbers have just begun to ripen. Preservation and freezing are not always convenient, useful and practical: rolled cucumbers (and so on) are not recommended for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract; frozen cucumbers turn into slippery, unpleasant-smelling slush (the same thing happens with tomatoes, but they don’t look like nasty slime).

There are plenty of methods to keep cucumbers fresh for a sufficient period of time. There are simple ones and more complex ones.

Without refrigeration, cucumbers will last for 2-3 days. In the refrigerator - longer, subject to certain conditions, you can store for about 3 weeks, at a temperature of 6-8 degrees:

put the cucumbers in a plastic bag, which should be open, take the cucumbers out every day, spray them with water, and after drying, put them back in the refrigerator;
Wrap each cucumber in a paper napkin, place in a bag, do not tie.

This way, cucumbers can be given the opportunity to remain elastic and juicy for about 14-20 days, but this is still not a very convenient task, especially since they cannot be stored next to tomatoes, apples, pears and bananas, since these fruits and vegetables emit methane, promoting ripening.

Storage without refrigeration.

If there are a lot of cucumbers and you only need to store them for a few days, then they are put in boxes, covered with a damp cloth, and plastic film is placed on top so that the moisture does not evaporate.
The cucumbers are placed in a container with the tail down, filled with water so that the ends of the vegetables are slightly covered and the container is placed in a cool place (in the refrigerator is also possible). Change the water daily. The shelf life using this method is about 20 days.
Well-washed cucumbers are dried, brushed with egg white and hung to dry so as not to disturb the protein shell. After drying, also send to a cool place.
Pour vinegar into the container so that it covers the bottom. Place the cucumbers on a wire rack (so that they do not touch the vinegar) and close the container. Store in a dark, cool place. Shelf life is a month.
Place cucumbers in a jar (sterile), put a lit candle in it, cover with a lid, and after 10 minutes roll up the jar. The candle will go out on its own when the oxygen runs out, creating a vacuum. Stored for 3-4 months in a cool place or in the refrigerator.
Place intact cucumbers in a box with clean sand and dig it into the ground in a cool place (cellar, for example).
Place the cucumbers in a vegetable net and lower them into the well (if there is one at the dacha). The water should only touch the bottom of the mesh, so there is a need to monitor the water level in the well during the rainy or dry season.
If the cucumber bed is located next to the cabbage bed, you can use the ancestral method: put a young cucumber in the just beginning cabbage head, right in its center, without disconnecting it from the vine (tear off the vine when the head begins to thicken), let it grow there along with head of cabbage The cucumber will last as long as forks of cabbage. A confusing method, but a cool one.

The most important thing is that for storage using all these methods, you need to take not all varieties of cucumbers in a row, only those with thick skins; greenhouse varieties are not suitable for storage at all.

About tomatoes. The most ideal way is to pick them green and put them in a dark, dry, cool place to ripen.