Cabbage

The tasty and juicy kale can stay fresh until warm, but it needs to be stored properly to do so. There are many nuances, ranging from the choice of varieties and ending with the selection of a suitable container.

It is enough to successfully master the technology once and in the future you will not have to look for new ways to extend the shelf life of a healthy vegetable.

Read about how to properly store cabbage in winter in the article.

Storage preparation

Preparing for storage is not only about cleansing and drying cabbage. It begins in the spring, when choosing a variety.

The best winter varieties

For storage, you need to choose late-ripening cabbage varieties. Harvested in the second half of autumn, with the onset of the first frost. Such a long stay of the vegetable in the garden hardens it, helps to increase immunity, so it is not afraid of diseases.

Heads of cabbage of mature varieties are less juicy, but contain more fiber. Their leaves are sinewy, tough and dense. For long-term storage, you can choose the following seeds:

• Winter storm;
• Snow White;
• Present;
• Dombrovskaya;
• Glory;
• Stolichnaya;
• Harvest, etc.

The shelf life of late-ripening varieties can reach 12 months. List of cabbage varieties for storage for the winter - here.

Optimal conditions

Cabbage has certain requirements for storage conditions. Optimal parameters:

• Air temperature - from -1 to +2 degrees.
• Air humidity 85-95%.

Read more about the storage temperature of cabbage. here.

What is better to store: ways

There are several options for storing cabbage, namely:

1. In cling film... To do this, the head of cabbage is wrapped in 2-3 layers so that the polyethylene adheres tightly to its surface.
2. In paper... It acts as an isolate, preventing the plugs from touching each other. However, it will have to be changed from time to time, since wet paper is a breeding ground for bacteria and rot of vegetables.
3. In boxes... Preference is given to wooden or plastic containers, with holes between the boards and with an open top.
4. On wooden pallets... Heads of cabbage are stacked in a pyramid.
5. In sand... Lay the forks in the boxes in layers and then sprinkle them with sand.
6. In limbo... This method requires a rope and a beam to support the vegetables. They are wrapped around a stump, which is not cut off.
7. On shelves... The forks are laid out so that they do not come into contact with each other.

A well-proven method of storing cabbage in clay. It will take a long time to prepare, but the coated heads of cabbage will be stored for at least 7-8 months. They put them in boxes or on shelves.

When to put away for storage?

If a remove heads for storage too early, the vegetables will wither. Delaying the torque will cause the forks to crack.

Therefore, you need to follow a few rules:

1. They start harvesting when the air temperature in the daytime is + 3 ... + 8 degrees, and at night it drops to 0 ... -3 degrees.
2. The weather must be dry. Do not cut the forks in the rain.
3. After harvesting, the heads of cabbage are dried in a warm room with good ventilation, or outdoors under a canopy.

Process features

It is wrong to think that cabbage can only be stored in a cellar, although it is there that ideal conditions are created for it. In fact, vegetables overwinter on the balcony, in the refrigerator, in garages. Sometimes they are even buried in the ground.

At home

At home, cabbage can be stored in fridge, in the shelf for vegetables. However, more than 2-4 forks cannot be placed in the box.

You can freeze colored and Savoyard cabbage. White cabbage is placed in the freezer only after pretreatment: stewed or sauerkraut.

Fresh heads of cabbage do not tolerate sharp cooling; after thawing, their leaves become soft and lose their taste. If you leave cabbage in an apartment, it will start to deteriorate in 7-9 days.

Another place to store fresh forks is the balcony... It must be glazed. Otherwise, the vegetables will freeze. On the loggia, they are stored in boxes insulated with foam plastic, which are covered with blankets or old jackets on top.

An important condition for storing cabbage on the balcony is maintaining a stable temperature. If there are constant drops, then vegetables will quickly begin to deteriorate. Read more here.

In the cellar or basement

You can store cabbage in a cellar or basement until it gets warm. The room must be clean, it must be ventilated once a month. Heads of cabbage are placed in any available way: they are hung by stumps or folded into boxes.

Vegetables should be checked periodically in winter. If signs of rot were found, the spoiled specimens are removedso they don't infect healthy vegetables. Read more about storing cabbage in the cellar. here.

In the garage

If there is no cellar in the garage, you can store cabbage simply on shelves or on shelves.

An unheated room freezes over, therefore heads of cabbage should be placed as high as possible from the floor... They must be wrapped in film and covered with blankets.

If the garage is heated, then you can lay out the cabbage on shelves, 20-30 cm high from the floor. Another option is to hang vegetables by the roots. It is necessary to ensure that the air temperature in the room does not rise above +8 degrees. Otherwise, the heads of cabbage will not go into "sleep mode" and quickly deteriorate.

Plastic wrap protects vegetables from moisture loss, since it is difficult to achieve 95% humidity in the garage.

In a pit in winter

By protecting vegetables from moisture and pests, and providing good ventilation, they will keep well in the ground.

Features of laying a vegetable in a pit:

1. In a suitable place, they dig a trench 60 cm deep and 40 cm wide.
2. The bottom of the pit is sprinkled with sand, and several poles are laid on top.
3. The forks are folded into a trench in 1-2 layers, stumps up.
4. A tube is installed every 3 m, which will provide ventilation of the pit.
5. Fill the hole with sand or dry straw. In doing so, care must be taken to ensure that material does not enter the tube.
6. On top of the trench, sprinkle with a layer of clay 10 cm thick, after which they cover up to 20 cm of soil. The clay will keep moisture out and the earth will protect the forks from frost.
7. Additionally, the trench is covered with roofing material or slate, making sure that the ventilation holes remain open.
8. When enough snow falls, it is thrown over the trench to improve its thermal insulation.

Rules for different types of vegetables

Depending on the species of vegetables, the storage conditions will differ. For example, Chinese cabbage stays fresh in the refrigerator for several months, pickled vegetables are best rolled up under a metal lid, and cauliflower is recommended to be frozen.

Beijing

Peking storage features cabbage:

1. Before putting vegetables in the refrigerator, they are wrapped in plastic. In this form, it remains fresh for up to 3-5 months.
2. The storage temperature should not exceed +4 degrees, so that vegetables do not sprout or spoil.
3. Chinese cabbage can be frozen. It is washed, dried, chopped, or divided into leaves and put into the freezer. In such conditions, it stays fresh for more than 6-8 months.

Leaves can be cut into strips and dried in a dryer or in the oven, and housewives also ferment Peking cabbage and store in jars (in the cellar or in the refrigerator). He will tell you about the storage of Chinese cabbage this article.

Savoy

Savoy is stored in the same way as white cabbage:

• in the cellar;
• in fridge;
• on the balcony.

Before storing it, it is cleaned of the ground, wrapped in plastic wrap and laid in such a way that the forks do not touch each other.

Pickled

Sauerkraut should be kept in a cool place. In warmth, it will quickly deteriorate and ferment.

Main storage methods:

1. In the cellar.
2. In the refrigerator: in the main compartment or in the freezer.
3. On the balcony.

Sauerkraut is not afraid of freezing, low temperatures do not affect its taste. Therefore, the product can be left to winter even on an unglazed balcony.

The main thing is to prevent temperature changes... Once thawed, the cabbage cannot be re-frozen. All about storing sauerkraut - here.

Color

You can store cauliflower in the freezer. This does not affect its benefits and taste. No special training is required.

The heads are divided into inflorescences, washed and packed in plastic bags, which are put into the freezer. At a temperature of about 0 degrees, cabbage is stored in a cellar or in a basement.

You can find all the most important things about storing cauliflower in this section.

Stewed

Stewed cabbage, prepared for future use, is perfectly stored in the freezer.To do this, it must be cooled and placed in a convenient container, for example, in plastic bags or plastic containers.

In the freezer, a stewed vegetable can stand up to six months. You can reheat the dish in the microwave or in a frying pan. The taste of the product does not change due to exposure to cold. Read more here.

Brussels

Brussels sprouts stored in one of the following ways:

1. Fresh in the cellar or basement. You can hang vegetables by the stems by removing the top leaves.
2. Another option is to dig up the heads of cabbage and plant them in a box with moistened soil. The air temperature should remain in the range of + 3 ... + 5 degrees.
3. Freezing allows you to preserve all the useful properties of small forks and extend their shelf life up to 10 months.
4. Pickling or salting, as a storage method, is suitable for housewives who love to make preparations.

Brussels sprouts are delicious in any form. It is eaten fresh, boiled and pickled. Read more about storing Brussels sprouts here.

How long can it keep fresh?

Shelf life of white cabbage under various storage conditions:

1. In the cellar, outdoors - up to 3 months.
2. In plastic wrap at 0 degrees - up to 6-8 months.
3. In a pit - up to 10 months.
4. In the refrigerator - up to 3 months.
5. At room temperature - up to 10 days.

How to choose the right neighbors?

There are vegetables that cabbage is "friendly" with, so they can be placed in close proximity. These include:

• potatoes;
• beet;
• carrot;
• radish;
• pumpkin.

The main rule is not to store cabbage next to apples... It is desirable that they are not in the room at all. Apples give off a gas that speeds up the ripening of other vegetables and fruits, causing them to spoil quickly.

Possible problems and ways to overcome them

If the cabbage begins to rot, remove the top spoiled leaves and dust the heads of cabbage with crushed chalk. As a rule, the spoilage process is slowed down, but such forks should be stored separately from the rest of the crop.

If the leaves wither, then the room has a low humidity level.... It can be increased by placing containers with water in the cellar.

Sometimes a large amount of concentrate forms under the film, which is an ideal breeding ground for bacteria. Most often this happens due to the fact that the heads of cabbage were wrapped warm, and then removed to a cold place.

Water is a consequence of temperature differences... Dealing with the problem is simple, just remove the old film and replace it with a new one.

Conclusion

Storing cabbage is a simple process if you know and follow certain conditions. To keep the forks fresh for as long as possible, you need to keep the air temperature around 0 degrees, and the humidity at 90%. The room should be clean, and the plugs themselves should not be pressed tightly against each other.