If you harvested your own crop of cucumbers or bought for the future, you want to keep their freshness as long as possible. Consider the most efficient refrigeration methods and helpful recommendations.

How to choose cucumbers for storage

Not all varieties of cucumbers can be kept for a long time. Some vegetables are only fresh, and cannot be stored. Varieties "Nezhinsky", "Bush", "Sadko", "Kharkovsky" are well preserved at home.

Important! A slice of garlic clove or horseradish root can be placed in a bag along with cucumbers to protect against rot.

The right rules to choose the right vegetables that can be stored for longer are:

• do not choose small or too large grown in a greenhouse with spots and damage;
• it is better to take clean and dry fruits of medium size, fresh, dense, with a thick and elastic green peel that were grown in open ground.

What cucumbers are not suitable for long-term storage

Gherkins and overripe fruits with yellow stripes or spots are not suitable for long-term maintenance. Also, it will not be possible to preserve early-ripening varieties grown in greenhouses, thin-skinned with loose flesh. Do not keep sluggish fruits with damage and soft places, plucked a few days ago and which were kept at a temperature of +20 ° C and above.

Can cucumbers be stored in the refrigerator

You should choose this method of storage of cucumbers at home: in the refrigerator or in another cold room, in a bag or without. A refrigerator will help keep food fresh in the summer longer. For this, a special compartment for vegetables is provided. Freshly picked cucumbers without prior washing are placed in a special compartment away from the freezer. To extend the shelf life you can wrap each with a paper towel.

Another way is to put them in a container of water so that the water partially covers the fruit, but the stem is in the water. The container is kept in the vegetable compartment and water is changed every day. Cucumbers can be folded in the refrigerator in a bag and covered with a damp cloth; do not close the bag. You can also use a glass container instead of a bag. Washed vegetables can be dried well and covered with egg white, creating a film that does not allow moisture to evaporate, and placed in the vegetable compartment in the refrigerator.

Did you know? For the first time greenhouse cucumbers were grown in ancient Rome especially for the emperor Tiberius.

Do I need to wash cucumbers before storage in the refrigerator

Washed vegetables are not stored for long, because the natural protective layer from decay is washed off, and the peel may be damaged during washing. Small scratches and cracks are easy to miss, but they develop extremely quickly rotting processes, harmful microbes multiply, and after a few days dark spots appear, so greasy greens are stored in the refrigerator unwashed.

How many cucumbers are stored in the refrigerator

Cucumbers are well kept fresh for about 3 days in the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator. If you additionally wrap them with paper, then the period will increase by a couple of days. With additional use of the package, you can save from 10 to 14 days, and in the water - a whole month. It is important to periodically review products and remove those that begin to deteriorate.

It should be borne in mind that the temperature in the freezer is below zero, if you store heat-loving vegetables on a shelf near the freezer, they can quickly soften and deteriorate. You can’t keep greens in the refrigerator with ripe fruits such as bananas and apples. Bad neighbors will also be tomatoes and melons.

Did you know? Cucumber comes from the foot of the Himalayas, where it is still found in the wild there.

How to store cucumbers

It is not recommended to store vegetables as follows:

• keep in tightly closed plastic bags, the products do not breathe in them and soon deteriorate.
• if cucumbers lie near ripe vegetables and fruits, then from the ethylene emitted by ripe fruits, the shelf life is significantly reduced.
• it will not be possible to maintain freshness for a long time at sudden changes in temperature or in a too warm and dry room.

Useful Tips

Cucumbers perfectly retain their freshness and taste in a cool place at a temperature of about + 15 ° C, away from sunlight. Suitable for storing a dry and ventilated basement. A large number of vegetables can be perfectly preserved by pouring cold water and placing them in a dark, cool place. They will remain in water for up to three days, but it must be changed daily. So you can pour the cucumbers bought or collected so that they do not fade before canning, they will become more elastic, and after preservation they will be delicious and crispy.

Important! An old village way to store cucumbers in autumn and winter - in cold running water, in a river or stream. A wooden barrel full of greens was lowered to the bottom of the reservoir.

So, we conclude that you can keep cucumbers fresh if necessary. The key to success is the right choice of variety and careful selection of vegetables, compliance with storage rules and temperature conditions. But the tastiest fresh cucumber - right from the garden.