How to store zucchini at home, in an apartment, in a cellar?

By learning how to store zucchini at home, you can extend the period of consumption of these delicious and healthy vegetables. There are many recipes for pickled and salted courgettes, caviar and saute, which can be harvested for the winter, but the benefits of fresh vegetables are much greater. Fresh zucchini can be used for salad, to make zucchini pancakes, caviar, ragout and many other useful and tasty dishes that have preserved a tender taste and nutrients.

How to choose zucchini for storage?

It's easier to take away zucchini for storing them for the owners of their own infield. They can provide in advance that they will have such an event, and plant in spring or early summer a special kind of courgettes - zucchini. This species has many varieties with fruits of different color, shape and size, but they all resemble the same: mature zucchini have a very hard crust, and the ripeness of these vegetables does not affect the taste of the pulp.

advice Before collecting zucchini for long-term storage, you do not need to water the beds with these plants, so they will be better stored.

Collect zucchini before the onset of frost. If you plan to buy zucchini in the market or in the store, it is necessary that zucchini meet certain requirements.

• They should be ripe. You can check this by tapping on the vegetable marrow - a loud sound will be a characteristic sign of maturity.
• The zucchini peel should be so thick that it is impossible to leave a trail with a fingernail on it.
• The courgette must be at least an average size, and even better if it is large. Small specimens have a chance to lose during storage of most of their pulp, more simply, to dry. In addition, small fruits are rarely ripe.
• On the fruit there should be no cracks, scratches, signs of decay, dents, that is, an impeccable appearance is mandatory. The slightest defect sooner or later "will bring to nothing" all efforts to store this specimen.
• It is desirable that the fetus retains a long pedicel. The simplest way to ensure this is for those who harvest their own crops. The not cut part of the peduncle will protect the fruit from getting a bacterial infection.

Familiar for many truck farmers and very beloved for a tender taste, the white-bodied varieties are not at all suitable for keeping zucchini in the winter fresh. Firstly, their skin does not harden and is very sensitive to trauma, and secondly, in overripe white-fruited zucchini the flesh is suitable only for feeding farm animals.

Preparation of fruits for laying for the winter

Flawless in appearance fruits before storing for storage it is desirable to withstand some time under the sun. This will help the skin to harden, and the fruit - a little dry. Then zucchini wipe with a dry rag from the dust and soil debris. What is not recommended to do is to wash the fruits. Such zucchini will not be stored and will quickly deteriorate.

Storage in a cellar

It is most expedient to store zucchini at a temperature of 4-5 ° C.These conditions can be created if you store these vegetables in a cellar or in a cellar. Before the onset of a stable cold weather, such fruits can be left in a cold shed, placing them on a straw or on a rack in a row. During this time, you can prepare a cellar for storing vegetables.

Council

The walls of the cellar need to be whitewashed, the room well ventilated, treated with smoke from a sulfur checker for the prevention of diseases, fungal diseases, the spread of insects.

In the cellar, the conditions for storing the fruit should be as follows:

• zucchini spread out on shelves, shelves;
• under them lay cardboard, straw, dry sawdust;
• can put the fruits vertically;
• it is desirable that most of the time in the cellar was dark;
• fruits are often checked by discarding corrupted;
• zucchini periodically turn over to protect against spoilage.

For long-term storage it is necessary to place vegetables away from ventilation holes and mines, drafts, a stream of cold air. In no case can they be located on the earthen and sand floor, where the danger of dampness is great.

Keeping the house

For lack of a cellar, you can store zucchini in the apartment. It is advisable for this to place them in a cool dark place. You can put the fruits in cardboard or wooden boxes, boxes. Plastic boxes are not suitable for such storage - the fruit should "breathe".The best place for this method will be an unheated storage room, a closet in the hallway, a vegetable compartment in the kitchen. In extreme cases, you can store vegetables in the apartment, placing them under the bed.

Tip Paste cardboard or thick paper between rows of courgettes to protect them from spoiled "neighbors".

The preservation of darkness is necessary in order to inhibit the processes of spoilage and overripe. Such a "vegetable store" in the apartment requires close attention, so that you can notice the spoiled specimen in time, isolate the remaining ones from it.

Storage in the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator

For a short time, you can store zucchini in the refrigerator, and for this purpose, and fit white varieties. These vegetables can be created with optimal storage conditions by placing them individually in a plastic bag with holes. The temperature should not be more than +5 ° C, it is not recommended to wash vegetables before storage.

How to keep zucchini in frozen form?

These vegetables are great for frozen storage. They do not lose their properties, keeping a pleasant taste. To store zucchini in a freezer, you need to pre-cut them in advance as planned:

• for stew - cubes;
• for pancakes and adding to baking - grate on a large grater;
• for preparation of stuffed dishes - freeze with minced meat;
• for frying - mugs or plates.

Advice

Courgettes are conveniently stored in disposable plastic containers, designed for a separate serving for each dish, since the twice frozen product loses its nutritional value.

In order to freeze fruits, you need to wash them, peel them, remove the seeds. Before filling frozen vegetables in various dishes, these semi-finished products can not even be thawed. Up to what time can you keep zucchini in its fresh form?

In conditions of compliance with the storage rules, you can use fresh vegetable marrows until spring, and until June, such as a zucchini spaghetti. However, when the onset of the vegetation begins, the seeds in the vegetable marrows begin to germinate, which considerably spoils their taste and appearance. It is advisable to use fresh zucchini, stored at home or in the cellar, until February-March.

Knowing how to store zucchini, you can extend the period of consumption of these useful and very tasty vegetables for a fairly long time.