How to keep fresh cucumbers in the refrigerator longer - terms and methods

Cucumber is a healthy and juicy vegetable, but unfortunately quite perishable if you do not follow the rules of its storage at home. Turning yellow and wrinkling, it loses its taste as well as beneficial properties. At the end of the season, I want to enjoy the garden culture as long as possible, which is often used to prepare various salads.

Choosing the right method of storage in the refrigerator, you can keep the ground cucumbers fresh for longer and enjoy vegetables for at least a month. At the same time, the variety and external characteristics of the fruits selected for storage are of great importance.

How long can fresh cucumbers be stored in the refrigerator?

Cucumbers contain in their composition a large amount of water, at least 95%. After the fruit is picked, the process of moisture release begins. For this reason, compliance with temperature and humidity is important. Vegetables are stored, on average, for a week. If you put them in the refrigerator, they can stay fresh a little longer. But observing certain conditions and applying various storage methods, it is possible to extend freshness up to a month, and in some cases throughout the winter.

After which they begin to wrinkle and turn yellow. This means that there is a loss of moisture and beneficial properties. The process of formation of mucus on them also begins and a white mold appears.

Up to two weeks, you can save vegetables by providing them with increased humidity. For example, you can wrap in a wet cloth, put in the refrigerator and periodically moisten.

How long the cucumbers will remain fresh depends largely on the choice of fruit. So, the selected variety, size, external characteristics, such as integrity and the presence of the stem, can affect the storage duration. The shelf life of more elastic fruits with small seeds is much longer.

Selection of fruits for long-term storage

The duration of the content of vegetables in the refrigerator depends on which variety is selected. In this case, the external and internal characteristics of the fetus are important.

What varieties to choose?

Based on the experience of gardeners, you can determine the varieties that are perfect for long-term maintenance at home:

• Nezhinsky;
• Bush;
• Parade;
• Competitor;
• Intolerable 40;
• Kharkov;
• Sadko.

Other characteristics

When choosing vegetables, you should pay attention to their external characteristics:

1. Cucumber should have a dense skin, without visible damage.
2. The color is dark green, and the peel is covered with many sharp, pimples.
3. It is worth paying attention to the color of the pimples - they should be dark, not white.
4. The pulp should be dense, and the seeds should be small.
5. The presence of the stalk protects the vegetable from rapid loss of moisture.
6. It is better to give preference to medium-sized cucumbers, in the range of 10-13 centimeters.

For keeping in the refrigerator, you need to choose fresh, only pickled cucumbers from the garden. If the fruits have already lay for several days at home and not in the refrigerator, they become unusable. Vegetables should be clean and free from moisture. To do this, they are cleaned with a dry cloth, without washing, so as not to damage the protective film, which prevents putrefactive processes and allows you to retain moisture longer.

Shelf life depends on the method of cultivation. Greenhouse vegetables will not retain their freshness for a long time. It is best to take those that are grown in open field.

How to keep fresh cucumbers in an ordinary refrigerator longer so that they do not fade

In order for the cucumbers not to fade in the refrigerator and stored for as long as possible, they must be kept in special conditions. There are several ways to prolong freshness at home.

In a jar with a candle

This method is simple and does not take up much space:

1. It is necessary to take a clean glass jar with a capacity of 2-3 liters.
2. Put a paraffin candle in the middle.
3. Pour cucumbers into a jar.
4. After that, the candle lights up and burns for 10 minutes.
5. After that, the candle is extinguished, and the jar is tightly corked with a lid.

The jar should be stored in the refrigerator.

Vacuum

Packaging that can create vacuum conditions is used not only to store various meat products, but also many vegetables. And cucumbers are no exception. Vacuum-packed vegetables should be provided with coolness and lack of light.

In order for them to remain fresh for 3 months, you need to clean the vegetables from the ground, wipe them dry and place in a special container for vacuum packaging. It can be a plastic container with a special device for pumping air or another device.

In paper

Thick paper will help save the fruits. You can use paper towels or napkins. In this case, the paper should be absolutely clean (without ink). Cucumbers are individually wrapped in paper and placed in a bag. Then they can be stored in the department for vegetables.

In the water "bouquet"

You can keep vegetables fresh with cold water for up to a month. To do this, take any convenient container, pour cold water and immerse the vegetables there with tails down 2 cm. After that, they are placed in the vegetable section of the refrigerator. Outwardly, the fruits in the container resemble a “bouquet” standing in a vase. Water should be replaced every day.

In egg white

The original method of storage in egg protein is not known to everyone. Unlike other methods, vegetables should be washed thoroughly in the first stage of preparation. Having dried the fruits, each is smeared with beaten egg white. The surface should be completely covered with a thin egg film.

Processed vegetables are stored in the lower section of the refrigerator.

Custom storage methods

Fruits can be stored using non-standard methods that are not known to everyone. But they also effectively retain the freshness and taste of cucumbers.

In sand

Thanks to the sand, you can save a larger volume of the crop without using a refrigerator. The fruits are placed in containers and gradually covered with clean sand so that between them was a layer of sand without gaps. A container with sand is put in a cold place, for example, in the basement.

In cabbage

Cucumber can be stored longer by wrapping it in a cabbage leaf on the garden bed. So, plants are planted next to early varieties of cabbage. At the moment when a small fruit has formed, it should be placed between the leaves of cabbage, located next to the stem.

When the cucumbers have grown to the desired size, a head of cabbage is cut and placed in the basement. In this case, cabbage becomes a container for storing vegetables. This method will keep the fruits fresh for several months. It is best to wrap cabbage in paper so that it is stored longer.

With vinegar

For this method, you need a container with an enamel coating. A layer of table vinegar is poured at the bottom by 2-3 mm. A pallet with slots is placed on top, on which several layers of cucumbers are placed. In this case, the fruits should not be in contact with vinegar. The container is closed with a tight lid. This method will extend the freshness of the fruit for up to a month.

In a clay pot

The crop is well stored in clay containers. A thin layer of sand is poured into the bottom of the container, and then a layer of cucumbers is laid out and sand is again poured from above. Such a pot can be stored both in the refrigerator and in the basement.

In a barrel

A wooden barrel is an excellent repository for vegetables. The wood from which it is made should be dense (it is better to take oak). The fruits are tightly packed in the barrel and hermetically sealed. Then such a container is lowered to the bottom of the river and firmly fixed in order to protect it from the current.

Storage at room temperature

At room temperature, the fruit's freshness period is much shorter, on average 3 days. It is best to store them in a cardboard container at a temperature not exceeding +15 ℃ and humidity not lower than 90%. At a temperature of +10 ℃ cucumbers are stored from a week to 10 days.

Common questions

Observing simple rules, you can extend the shelf life of cucumbers and delight yourself and your family with fresh vegetables. When choosing fruits for long-term storage, it is important to consider the varietal characteristics of cucumbers, their method of cultivation, as well as external characteristics.