How to keep cucumbers fresh for the winter?

Mistresses often wonder: how to store cucumbers? After all, these many favorite vegetables do not lie long, they quickly lose their useful qualities and taste. But if you know some tricks, they will remain fresh and crisp for a long time, as if only from a bed. In some cases, even a few months.

What should I look for?

It is best to choose strong cucumbers of medium size for the winter without any damage. Too small will soon dry up, but too large ones are not so tasty. To give preference to those that were grown on the open ground. But in hothouse varieties, the skin is very thin, so even in the refrigerator they will not last long. Often they are sold in packages filled with carbon dioxide. It is worth leaving in them the fruits, not opening, until the right moment.

To save vegetables for the winter, it is necessary to remember that they are affected by temperature changes in the refrigerator, high humidity and excessive dryness. In such conditions, they can begin to rot or, conversely, lose moisture, wrinkling at the same time. On a skin of cucumbers there is a natural protective layer, and if fruits from a shop, most likely, they are processed by wax or vaseline. Thanks to this film, evaporation and consumption of useful substances are reduced, so that cucumbers stay juicy longer. Therefore, they do not have to be washed before being sent to the storage.

How to store in a refrigerator or cellar?

It's easiest to keep cucumbers fresh for the winter in the fridge. They must be removed into a plastic bag with ventilation holes and placed in a vegetable compartment. To protect from rot, it is necessary to put a slice of horseradish or a pair of lumps of peeled garlic in a bundle. Even better, if you wrap each fruit with a paper towel. Or you can put it in a jar, cover it with a lid and put it on the bottom shelf. From time to time they should be checked. If a yellowed specimen is seen, it must be separated from the rest. In this form, the fruit can be left for up to two weeks. Either lower it into the container with water tails down. Water in this case should be changed daily.

Tip: You can not store cucumbers next to apples, bananas and other products that secrete ethanol. So the fruit will quickly deteriorate.

In a dry cellar cucumbers will save a month. To achieve this, they are laid out in ceramic or enameled containers and poured with sand. At the bottom you need to lay food film. You can also wrap each vegetable with a paper shawl and send it to the package. Such actions help prevent rapid loss of moisture.

Non-standard ways of

You can try to keep cucumbers for the winter and other, not so common methods. For example, in water. To do this, put the fruit vertically in the pot with sharp ends down. And pour a small amount of water, so that the vegetables are partially immersed in it. Water should be changed from time to time, this container should stand in a cool place, best of all - in the refrigerator.

The shelf life of cucumbers in the bank can be 4 months. It is necessary to act in this way.

• To sterilize a jar with a volume of 3 liters, fill with dry fruits, leaving a little space.
• On top of the cucumber put a small paraffin candle and set it on fire. Allow to burn 10-15 minutes. This is done to burn oxygen in the container.
• After this time, close the jar with a tight fitting lid. After a few seconds, the candle goes out.
• Store the container with cucumbers in the refrigerator.

How can the egg and vinegar come in handy?

For a long time, up to 2 months, to save vegetables fresh will help an unexpected product - a normal chicken egg. More precisely, egg white. Use it simply: you just need to properly spread them cucumbers. They must be whole, with uncircumcised tails. Before processing, they should be washed with boiled water. After the protein dries, the fruit should be put in a plastic or wooden box and carried to a cool place. Or hang it by the tail. The resulting film will reduce the loss of moisture, but allow the fruit to "breathe".

Storage of fresh cucumbers is possible with the help of another product that can be found in almost any home. This is vinegar. In a closed container, he will create a special environment. To achieve this effect, a small amount of liquid is poured into the pan. Then put the grate, which should not touch the vinegar. It is washed with clean fruits and covered with a lid. In a refrigerator or cellar, they will remain fresh for several months, and some varieties and throughout the winter.

How did the old

Some gardeners grow cucumbers in cabbage so that after harvesting they stay longer succulent. Plant seeds are planted among the cabbage seedlings. When the fruit is tied, they are still placed in leaves. In the process of growth, cucumbers will be placed in the head. In the future, they are kept in cabbage heads. They should be cleaned for the winter in a cool place.

You can also try the ancient way that our ancestors used to keep the cucumbers fresh. After the harvest is collected, the vegetables are laid in a wooden keg, covered with a lid. Then put it on the bottom of the pond. In this form they are suitable for use throughout the winter. Only we must take into account that the water should be cold, but not freeze. Another effective method is storage in a clay pot. Cucumbers put in a bowl, the same place poured dried river sand and buried in the ground.

Other variants of

Although fresh cucumbers are the most delicious and crunchy, they can still be replaced with ice cream. Provided a sufficiently large freezer is available, it is not difficult to keep them. You just need to cut the fruits into pieces, pack them in a plastic bag and put them in the cold. For convenience, it is worth laying them in layers on film in a small box. When they harden, the resulting compact briquet must be removed from the box and transferred to a bag. After defrosting they will become soft, but they will not lose useful qualities. It is also common to salt and pickle vegetables. They, of course, differ in taste from the untreated. But they surely will stand all winter if you stick to the prescription.

To store cucumbers in the refrigerator or basement for a long time will come if you choose the right way. Then even in the middle of a cold winter it will be possible to surprise your guests by offering them crunchy juicy fruits.