How to store pumpkin correctly: different ways and secrets of creating optimal conditions for the safety of a vegetable
Pumpkin - a dietary product rich in vitamins and minerals. Regular inclusion of vegetables in the diet helps to maintain slimness, youth and health. Pumpkin contains rare vitamin T, which improves metabolism and contributes to weight loss.
An amazingly healthy and beautiful vegetable grows well in different climatic conditions, including in central Russia. However, in winter you will rarely see him in stores. Therefore, the issue of storing self-grown or purchased pumpkins in the fall is relevant every autumn season. In this article, we will tell you how to store pumpkin correctly in order to enjoy a delicious vegetable all winter.
The content of the article
Suitable pumpkin varieties for long-term storage
Mid-ripening and late-ripening varieties of pumpkin culture are leaders in terms of storage duration. Large pumpkins are well protected from diseases and pests with a hard, dense crust.
Popular mid-season varieties include: Arabat, Zhdanna, Vita, Golosemyannaya, Prikubanskaya.
Of the late-ripening ones stand out favorably: Vitamin, Pearl, Muscat, Winter sweet, Tes-in-law Delight. All of these varieties are distinguished by large fruits (round or elongated) and juicy sweet pulp. The average weight of pumpkins is from 5 to 20 kg.
Pumpkins of nutmeg varieties retain their taste for up to six months, but only when optimal storage conditions are created.
The right choice of fruits
For bookmarking for long-term storage, healthy pumpkins are selected without visible damage and dark spots on the skin. The fruit should be firm and fully ripe.
When removed from the garden for specimens intended for storage, a long stalk is left - about 7-10 cm.It is not worth laying pumpkins that do not have a stalk in the cellar. A cut tail under the root opens up access for microbes and various diseases.
Attention! The stalk should be dry and tough, with no signs of decay. Otherwise, the rot will spread to the pumpkin itself, and then to other vegetables.
If the harvest was carried out in damp weather, then before storing the pumpkins, they are well dried.
Compliance with the following recommendations will help you keep a healthy vegetable until spring:
- When removing from the garden and transporting to storage, avoid hitting pumpkins against each other. Through damage in the bark, bacteria and fungi penetrate into the fruits, provoking the decay process.
- Harvest in dry, sunny weather.
- Dry the vegetables well before sending them to the cellar.
- Do not carry the pumpkin by the stalk, it can break off under the weight of the fruit.
Places and methods of storage
When choosing a place and method for storing pumpkins, they are guided by the availability of a suitable storage, as well as the frequency of eating.
In the apartment
It is not easy to place heavy fruits in a typical city apartment. Large pumpkins require a lot of space, coolness and darkness. A suitable place is a storage room. In it, the pumpkins are laid out on the shelves, making sure that the vegetables do not come into contact with each other.
When stored at home, the shelf life of the fruit is significantly reduced due to insufficiently low temperature. The pumpkins are periodically inspected in order to notice damage to the fruit in time.
In the basement / cellar
The best place to store orange beauties is in a cellar or basement. However, before putting a pumpkin there, the room must be prepared. The storage is dried, ventilated, treated from mold and pests. The shelves are covered with paper or straw.
Optimal conditions for storing pumpkin in a basement or cellar:
- air humidity 70-80%;
- temperature from +3 to +15 ° С;
- the presence of darkness and ventilation.
When placing the pumpkin in storage, keep in mind that the temperature depends on the height from the floor. It's always colder near the ground. Therefore, it is best to arrange vegetables on shelves or racks.
On the balcony
If it is not possible to store a pumpkin in a cellar or basement, then shelves on a glazed loggia or balcony are suitable for this purpose. The fruits are protected from direct sunlight with a thick cloth or cardboard. With the onset of cold weather, the pumpkins are carefully wrapped. Without insulation, a valuable crop will not survive frost.
Important! If it's too cold on the balcony, bring the pumpkin into your apartment and place it in your pantry or on the floor in a cool room.
In a refrigerator
The refrigerator is one of the best places to store your pumpkin for a long time. Temperature and humidity are optimal... But there is little space in the refrigerator, so pumpkin is stored in it in small quantities and mostly cut.
The shelf life of a chopped vegetable is short - no more than two weeks. You can increase the shelf life if you peel the fruit from the rind and seeds, dry it and wrap it tightly in cling film. Store the sliced pumpkin on the top shelf where the coldest spot is.
For longer storage, the pumpkin pulp is frozen.
In the freezer
Freezing pumpkin not only preserves its flavor and vitamins, but also saves time during its further preparation.
The fruits intended for freezing are peeled and cut into pieces of a convenient size. Small pumpkins are cut in half or into four slices. Larger ones - into small pieces 3-5 cm thick.
The prepared pieces are laid out on a tray or baking sheet and sent to the freezer for several hours. After that, the slices are transferred to an airtight container or bag and sent back to the freezer.
Well suited for freezing pumpkin puree. The vegetable is ground into a gruel with a blender or grater, laid out in small containers and frozen.
Advice... It is convenient to freeze pumpkin puree in ice cube trays. As they freeze, the cubes are transferred to containers or bags.
Defrost the product gradually, transferring it from the freezer to the lower shelf of the refrigerator.
How long is frozen pumpkin stored? The vegetable is stored in the freezer for up to a year.
In what form is it better to store pumpkin for a long time
In what form is it better to store the pumpkin: whole or cut into pieces? Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages.
Wholly
If there is a suitable vegetable storage, then the pumpkins are stored whole. So the pulp retains its taste, useful vitamins and minerals longer.
Cut open
The large fruits of the orange beauty cannot always be used in one go. How do you save a cut pumpkin?
If you plan to cook pumpkin dishes again, for example, after a week, then the pieces of pulp can be placed in the refrigerator during this time. The slices wrapped in cling film will last a couple of weeks. To prevent the pieces from drying out, they are greased with vegetable oil.
Attention! Freezing the pumpkin pulp increases its shelf life up to one year.
According to the same principle, cut pumpkins are stored, rejected during harvesting or spoiled during winter storage.
Terms and conditions of storage
In a storage or pantry, pumpkins are preferable to store on shelves, racks or pallets. Each is covered with paper or hay. If there are no shelves, then the pumpkin is stored on the floor, previously lined with hay or straw.
Fruits are laid out with tails up.However, they should not touch each other or the walls of the cellar. It is on the walls that moisture first of all condenses during temperature changes.
For winter storage, specimens are selected without traces of damage and dents, with a dense crust and a stiff stalk. Therefore, when harvesting, it is important to carefully handle the fruits, not to throw them away or carry them by the tails.
If there are scratches or dents on the peel, pumpkin will not last long. However, you should not throw away such fruits either. Rejected specimens are cleaned, seeds removed, cut and sent to the refrigerator or freezer.
Important! Pumpkins without a stalk are eaten in the first place, as they are more prone to rotting.
The same straw will help to save the crop from cold weather. She is filled with the free space between the pumpkins and the distance from the fruit to the next rack.
All pumpkins sent to storage in the cellar are periodically inspected. The spoiled specimens are removed from the cellar and the hay that lay around is replaced.
If condensation accumulates on the surface of the fruit, it means that the humidity in the storage is higher than normal. To prevent vegetables from spoiling from excess moisture, the cellar is regularly ventilated.
If all the necessary requirements are fulfilled, the pumpkin is perfectly stored until spring, while retaining its taste and nutrients.
Storing pumpkin seeds
When cutting pumpkins, the inner pulp with seeds is often discarded. But in vain, because pumpkin seeds - a source of vitamins and minerals, which is well stored throughout the winter.
Drying pumpkin seeds does not require exceptional skill and experience. Any sort of pumpkin is suitable for harvesting. The fruits are cut, the seeds are taken out, cleaned from the pulp and washed with water. A useful delicacy is dried for several days, spreading it out on a flat surface.
Also, an oven or electric dryer is used for preparation. Drying temperature should not exceed 100 ° C. The product is ready if the shell of the seed has become fragile.
Important! Peeled pumpkin seeds are not suitable for long-term storage. Pumpkin seed oil oxidizes on contact with air, and the seeds become bitter.
Store dried seeds in a dry place, in a linen bag or glass container with a lid. The main thing is not to allow the product to become damp.
Storage as blanks
The pumpkin is stored not only fresh, but also in the form of blanks. Fully ripened fruits are selected for canning and drying. You can use those specimens that were discarded at harvest due to damaged rind or lack of a stalk.
Drying pumpkin for the winter
Dried or dried pumpkin good in that it completely preserves the taste of the original product. The advantage of this storage method is that the vegetable, when dried, significantly decreases in volume. This is important if there is no cellar and there is no place to store large fresh pumpkins in the apartment.
The vegetable is dried in an electric dryer or oven at a temperature of 50-60 ° C for 6-7 hours. When drying in the oven, keep the door ajar to prevent condensation from accumulating inside.
Immediately before drying, the pumpkin is peeled, seeds and washed. Prepared vegetables are cut into slices half a centimeter thick, blanch for 1-2 minutes in boiling, slightly salted water and let the slices dry.
The finished delicacy is stored in tightly closed containers, the layers are shifted with parchment paper. Delicious slices are eaten as dried fruit or added to soups and cereals. A properly dried pumpkin will last for about a year.
Conservation
Among the numerous jars of pickles and tomatoes, there will definitely be a place for blanks with pumpkin... The canned beauty will delight you in winter with its unique taste and amazing aroma. Pumpkin is pickled, salted, jams and preserves are cooked, juices, compotes and assorted varieties are made.
Pumpkin perfectly complements other products in the blanks. So, for example, pumpkin and dried apricot jam is delicious. To prepare delicacies, take 2.5 kg of pumpkin, 1 kg of dried apricots, 40 ml of lemon juice, 2.5 kg of sugar and 2 liters of water.
Cooking process:
- dried apricots are cut, filled with water and left for several hours;
- pumpkin pulp is cut and boiled for half an hour in the water in which dried apricots were soaked;
- add sugar, cook for another half hour;
- add dried apricots and cook until cooked.
The finished jam is laid out in jars, covered with lids and turned upside down until it cools completely.
Like other homemade products, canned pumpkin is stored in a cellar or cool pantry. Canned pumpkin can be stored for 6-9 months.
Conclusion
For those who care about their health and want to preserve youth and beauty, pumpkin is an irreplaceable helper. For a vegetable to remain healthy for a long time, it must be properly stored.
Which way to store your pumpkin? It depends on personal preference and how often you intend to cook with it. If often, store the vegetable at home in a cool place. If not, choose a cold cellar or freezer.