How to properly store pumpkin in winter: revealing the secrets
Pumpkins should be prepared for winter storage immediately after harvesting. For these purposes, it is best to use late-ripening varieties. They are the ones that, if certain conditions are met, can survive until spring.
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Preliminary preparation and storage conditions
Fruits intended for winter storage should be picked on dry and warm days, and it is very important to monitor the safety of the stalk, both when collecting the fruits and during their transportation. The place under the stalk is quite vulnerable and if it is damaged, the vegetable will most likely rot.
Pumpkin fruits must be dried in the sun before storing. This will allow their peel to dry out, and minor damage will have time to cork during this time.
After the pumpkin has dried, you can place it in winter storage. The place to store the pumpkin must meet certain conditions. Only in this case can the safety of this vegetable be guaranteed until spring. So, pumpkin storage must meet the following conditions:
- The room where the vegetable will be stored must be dry and dark.
- Cool. The optimal temperature for storage is from + 5° to + 10°.
- With good ventilation.
If at least one of these conditions is not met shelf life pumpkin production is significantly reduced. For example, high humidity reduces this period by 2 or even 3 months.
Basic storage methods
The best place to store pumpkins is a basement or cellar. It is there that it is easiest to create suitable conditions.
Storage in a basement or cellar
To store pumpkins in the basement or underground, you can equip racks or make shelves. It is also possible to place it on pallets. The main thing is not to lay it directly on the ground or floor. Pumpkins should be laid with their stems facing up, and it is advisable that they do not touch each other. Attention! During the winter, the cellar should be inspected periodically. And remove all rotten pumpkins.
Storage in the apartment
Not everyone has the opportunity to use a basement for winter storage of pumpkins. For these purposes, city dwellers can use a dark and cool place in the apartment, for example, a closet. Pumpkins they are placed there in the same way as when stored in the basement.
If you don't have a storage room, you can use any dark place. The main thing is that it is located as far as possible from heat sources. For example, the place under the bed is very suitable for these purposes.
Storage on the balcony
If there is no opportunity to store pumpkins in the apartment, then you can use a glazed balcony or loggia for these purposes. A prerequisite for this method is to cover the fruits with a dark, opaque cloth. During severe cold weather, the pumpkin should be additionally covered, as it is easily damaged even by slight frosts.
Storing cut fruits
Pumpkin fruits can be very large, so it is simply impossible to consume them at one time. Cut pumpkins can be stored quite successfully in the refrigerator. To do this, they need to be cut into separate pieces, peeled and cut into cubes.
Pumpkin preparations are placed in a plastic bag and placed in the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator. In this form they can be stored for up to 10 days. If the pumpkin needs to be stored for a longer period, then the plastic bag is replaced with foil. In this form, pumpkin can be stored without losing its quality for up to 1 month.
Pumpkin preparations
Sometimes it happens that there is no possibility for any storage. In this case, you can preserve the pumpkin harvest using preparations. There are quite a few ways to preserve pumpkin that allow you to preserve almost all of it. beneficial features.
Video on how to store pumpkin until a new harvest appears:
Dried pumpkin
The advantage of this method of canning is that the taste of pumpkin in this case remains almost unchanged. This preparation can be used in the same way as regular dried fruits. To prepare pumpkin according to this recipe, you need to follow the following procedure:
- Select a ripe fruit and peel it from seeds and peel.
- Cut into slices about 0.5 cm thick.
- To preserve the color, the slices can be immersed in boiling, lightly salted water for 1-2 minutes and then cooled.
- Pumpkin slices are laid out on a baking sheet and placed in an oven heated to 60°C for 5-6 hours.
- After this time, the temperature in the oven is increased to 70° and the pumpkin is left there for another 2 hours.
For storage For pumpkins dried in this way, use cardboard boxes or glass jars.
Candied pumpkin
You can preserve pumpkin by making candied fruits from it, which can then be used to decorate confectionery or as a dessert. The recipe for making candied fruits is as follows:
- The pumpkin is washed, cleared of peel and seeds.
- Cut into small cubes.
- A syrup is prepared from 1.2 kg of sugar, 200 g of water and the juice of one lemon.
- Pumpkin cubes are poured with the resulting syrup and boiled for 5 minutes.
- After which the syrup with pumpkin is left for another 5-6 hours.
- After this time, the syrup is brought to a boil again.
- The syrup is left overnight to infuse.
After this, the pumpkin cubes are placed in a colander, where they are left until the syrup has completely drained. The cubes dried in this way are sprinkled with sugar. It is best to store candied fruits in glass jars.
Pumpkin puree
You can make a pretty tasty puree from pumpkin and apples. The cooking process consists of the following steps:
- Pumpkin and apples are washed, peeled and seeds removed.
- Passed through a meat grinder.
- Sprinkle with granulated sugar in the following proportion: for 1 kg of pumpkin and 500 g of apples, 4 tablespoons of sugar.
- The resulting mixture is cooked for 2 hours over very low heat.
Towards the end, citric acid is added to the puree in the amount of 1 teaspoon. The hot puree is placed in sterilized jars and rolled up. Pumpkin - a tasty and healthy vegetable. With the right approach, preserving it until spring is not at all difficult.
