At the end of the summer season, the question arises of how to properly preserve the cucumber harvest. Many methods are used for this purpose. For long-term storage Fresh, clean, dry fruits without obvious damage with good keeping quality and thick skin are suitable. Cucumbers can be stored in the refrigerator. To do this, they can be placed in the vegetable compartment. You can store cucumbers in the refrigerator if you put them in a plastic bag, but leave it open. It is advisable to wrap each fruit in paper. You can simply place the cucumbers in a bowl of water, tails down, and place them in the vegetable compartment. The water should be changed every day. Vegetables can also be stored at room temperature. To do this, wrap them in a damp cloth and moisten it as needed. Among unusual ways storage, one can note the use of a well, sand, or any body of water for this purpose.
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How to choose the right cucumbers for long-term storage?
In order to keep vegetables fresh longer at home, you need to choose them correctly. There are certain features of fruits that you should pay attention to before sending them for storage:
- 1. Freshness. Suitable for winter storage only: fresh fruits. It is necessary to ensure that the time from harvesting to planting vegetables is as short as possible. If cucumbers have been left at room temperature for several days, they become unsuitable for long-term storage. If vegetables are bought at the market, then you need to pay attention to the entire batch. If most of the fruits look limp, then it is better to refuse the purchase. Such cucumbers will not last long in fresh.
- 2. Cleanliness. Vegetables should not be dirty or wet. If you wash them before storing them, this will cause the product to rot.
- 3. No damage. If there are a lot of noticeable damage to the skin, then such fruits will quickly deteriorate.
- 4. Thick skin. Ground vegetables are better suited for long-term storage compared to greenhouse vegetables. Such varieties as Kharkovsky and Nezhensky are especially suitable for this purpose.
- 5. Good keeping quality. There are certain varieties that are most suitable for winter storage. These include the following types: Sadko, Nerosimy 40, Nezhinsky local, Nezhinsky 12, Competitor, Kustovoy, Parade.
Not suitable for long-term storage in winter:
- Watery varieties with thin skin.
- Overgrown vegetables. Such specimens are not suitable for harvesting for future use.
- Greenhouse cucumbers that ripen quickly. Their shelf life is 3–4 days.
Cold storage
- In the vegetable compartment. This storage method does not require any preparation. The shelf life of homemade cucumbers is about 3 days, store-bought cucumbers – up to 7 days. It is not recommended to wash vegetables before putting them in the refrigerator. This will cause them to quickly deteriorate.
- In a plastic bag. Vegetables should be placed in a plastic bag and covered with gauze on top. The top of the bag should remain open. Cucumbers will remain fresh for 10 days.
- On paper. Each fruit should be wrapped in a paper towel, placed in a plastic bag and placed in the refrigerator. This storage method will save appearance and taste of vegetables for 14 days.
- In water. Vegetables are placed in a container of water and lowered into it 2 cm with their tips down. Then the bowl or tray with cucumbers should be placed in the vegetable compartment. The water changes every day. As cucumbers lose moisture, they will compensate by absorbing water. Fruits with dark green, dense skin are best suited for this storage method. This method will help keep vegetables fresh for about one month.
- In egg white. Cucumbers must be thoroughly washed and dried. Then each fruit is coated with egg white, due to which a protective film is formed on the vegetables, which will prevent moisture evaporation. They should be stored in the vegetable compartment. The shelf life of cucumbers is 1–2 months. This is due to the fact that the vegetables are in sterile conditions.
In order to prevent the formation of mucus on vegetables and the process of rotting, cucumbers should be placed in the refrigerator away from the freezer.
By freezing
You can also prepare vegetables for the winter in the freezer:
- Clean cucumbers are cut into cubes.
- The tray is covered with cling film. Prepared vegetables are laid out on it.
- Next, the vegetables should be placed in the freezer for 4 hours.
- After this, the frozen cucumber pieces are packaged in plastic bags, in each of which no more than 500 g of cucumbers should be placed.
- The vegetables are placed back in the freezer.
How to store vegetables indoors?
Cucumbers can be stored without a refrigerator. You can preserve vegetables both in an apartment and in the basement:
- In a box, box. Using this method, you can keep vegetables fresh for 2–3 days. Suitable storage containers would be a plastic container, cardboard box, wooden box, or paper bag. The optimal temperature is within 10–15 degrees above zero, humidity is about 90–95%. If the temperature is reduced to 6 degrees, this will extend the shelf life of vegetables to 10 days.
- In a damp cloth. If the fruits are wrapped in a damp cloth and placed in a cool place with a temperature of 6–7 degrees, this will preserve their appearance, freshness and taste for up to 7 days. This method is also suitable if you need to transport vegetables on the road in the summer.
Regardless of the storage method, cucumbers must be inspected every 3 days and damaged fruits must be removed.
What methods are not suitable for storage?
It is strictly not recommended to store cucumbers in tightly closed plastic bags. This will lead to rapid accumulation moisture and the beginning of the process of rotting vegetables. Even if you place the cucumbers in the refrigerator, their shelf life will not exceed 3 days.
Cucumbers should not be stored together with foods that emit a lot of ethylene. Under the influence of ethylene, biochemical processes in cucumbers will accelerate. This will cause the cucumbers to quickly deteriorate.
Unusual methods
There are a number of unusual ways to keep cucumbers fresh longer:
- In a natural reservoir that does not freeze in winter. To do this, vegetables are placed in a string bag made of synthetic material. You need to hem the load from below. Next, the vegetables are immersed in a pond. You must remember to secure the load well.
- In a clay pot with sand. Cucumbers are placed in a container. At the same time, they should be well sprinkled with pre-washed and dried sand. The dishes are tightly closed and stored in a cellar or basement. The shelf life will increase significantly if it is possible to bury the container with cucumbers in the ground.
- In the well. Vegetables are placed in a clean bucket and covered with gauze on top. Then they are lowered into the well so that the bottom of the bucket lightly touches the water.
- In cabbage. This is one of the most extraordinary storage methods. To do this, cucumbers must be planted between the rows of late cabbage. Immediately after the ovary appears, the vegetables, along with the vine on which they grow, are placed between the cabbage leaves closer to the stalk. So they continue to grow along with the cabbage. The heads of such cabbage should be stored in the cellar. This method helps preserve cucumbers for up to 6 months.
- In a saucepan with vinegar. 3 mm of vinegar is poured into the bottom of the enamel container. A special stand with holes is placed in the container. Vegetables are placed on top in several rows. The container is tightly closed and placed in a dark, cool place. The shelf life is about one month.
- In jars without salting. The fruits are wiped dry without damage and placed in a clean, sterilized jar. The container is filled 2/3 with vegetables. A paraffin candle is placed on top and lit. The burning time of the candle is 10 minutes. This will promote the combustion of oxygen inside the jar. After which the jar is tightly covered with a lid and placed in a cold place. Shelf life is up to 4 months.
Cucumber is an excellent side dish and an indispensable component in salads, an excellent snack and simply a popular vegetable; it has long ceased to be a curiosity on our tables, even in winter time of the year. Buying fresh cucumbers today is not a problem even in severe frost....
Cucumber is an excellent side dish and an indispensable component in salads, an excellent snack and simply a popular vegetable; it has long ceased to be a curiosity on our tables, even in the winter season. Buying fresh cucumbers today is not a problem even in severe frost. True, out of season the price for them is steep, and the taste, as many say, of such cucumbers is far from the same as that of cucumbers from their own garden. This is probably why, towards the end of each summer season, we ask ourselves the question - how to keep cucumbers fresh for a long time? How can you maximize their shelf life? What varieties are suitable for this and what to look for when choosing fruits? And probably the most main question- where to store cucumbers? You will find answers to these, as well as many other questions, in this article.
Even the ancient Romans said: “There is no arguing about tastes.” That’s right: some people adore greens from the garden, others prefer greenhouse cucumbers, which can be bought at any time of the year, while others don’t see any particular difference between them. That’s why we won’t argue about tastes or try to convince anyone, but we’ll just talk about storing cucumbers.
How long can fresh cucumbers be stored?
You can keep cucumbers fresh for 5-7 days without much difficulty. It is also possible to increase this period to 3 weeks or longer, sometimes even until spring, if you create special conditions for storage. But let's talk about everything in order.
It is necessary to begin selecting cucumbers for long-term storage at the stage of their collection or purchase. After all, stale or overgrown fruits are simply not suitable for storage.
For long-term storage, cucumbers must be :
Fresh:
- When collecting cucumbers in your own garden, try to ensure that as little time as possible passes from the time of collection to the time of storage. Fruits that remain at room temperature for several days will no longer be suitable for long-term storage;
- When buying cucumbers at the market, pay attention not only to individual specimens, but also to the entire batch. So, if most of the fruits are wilted, you shouldn’t take such greens; they won’t last long, even if the specimens you choose seem fresh.
Clean and dry:
- cucumbers must be dry and clean. Remember this when collecting them in the garden or buying them at the market;
- You cannot wash greens before storing them, because the fruits have their own protection from rotting.
Without damage:
- carefully examine the cucumbers: there should be no damage to their skin, otherwise the fruits will begin to deteriorate very quickly.
With thick skin:
- For long-term storage, ground cucumbers with thick skin are more suitable than greenhouse cucumbers;
- The fruits of special varieties are well stored: Kharkovsky, Nezhinsky and others.
Long-fruited parthenocarpic cucumber varieties have excellent shelf life, such as:
- Sadko
- Neroshimy 40
- Nezhinsky local
- Nezhinsky 12
- Competitor
- Bush
- Parade
Which cucumbers are not suitable for long-term storage:
- Watery fruits with thin skin are poorly stored;
- overgrown cucumbers. Overripe and yellowed cucumbers lose everything beneficial features and are no longer suitable for eating;
- It will not be possible to preserve greenhouse varieties of quick-ripening cucumbers for a long time. Such greens can only be stored for 3-4 days. The only exceptions are those greenhouse cucumbers that are packed in bags with carbon dioxide. To store them, they must be placed in the refrigerator, on the vegetable shelf.
How to store cucumbers in the refrigerator
In the vegetable compartment:
Cucumbers will easily be stored in the refrigerator (in a vegetable storage tray) for about 3 days, and there is no need to prepare them for such short-term storage.
In cellophane:
Place the cucumbers in a plastic bag and cover them with damp gauze on top, where the cucumbers are open. Fruits packaged in this way can stay fresh for about 10 days.
On paper:
By wrapping each cucumber in a paper towel (napkin) and placing them in a plastic bag, you can keep the greens fresh for up to 2 weeks.
In water:
You can keep cucumbers fresh for up to 3-4 weeks in water. To do this, you need to pour cold spring water into a bowl (or tray) and lower the fruits into it, tails down. In this case, the cucumbers should not be completely submerged in water, but only 1-2 cm deep. Cucumbers should also be stored in water in the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator. The secret of the method is this: as the fruits lose moisture, they will be able to compensate for its loss by absorbing water. To store this method, it is better to take cucumbers with thick, dark green, slightly tuberous skin. And in order to maximize the shelf life of cucumbers in water, it must be changed at least once a day.
In egg white:
Fresh cucumbers must be carefully washed, dried and coated with egg white without damaging the skin. A transparent film forms on the peel of cucumbers, which will prevent moisture evaporation. Store cucumbers in a protein film in the refrigerator, on the vegetable shelf.
Important. At low temperatures (below 0°C), cucumbers begin to quickly soften and mucus appears on them. Therefore, when storing cucumbers in the refrigerator, make sure that they do not end up near the freezer.
How to store cucumbers indoors
In a box or case:
In room conditions, you can easily keep cucumbers fresh for 2-3 days. To do this, they are simply carefully placed in cardboard box, plastic tray, wooden box or paper bag. The room temperature should be within +10-15°C, with a relative air humidity of about 90-95%. In a dark room with a temperature of about +6-8°C, cucumbers packed in a cardboard box can remain fresh for up to 10 days.
In damp cloth:
Wrap the cucumbers in a damp cloth and store in a cool room (temperature around +6-7 °C), moistening the cloth as necessary. This way you can keep the fruit fresh for about a week.
Important. Regardless of how and where you store cucumbers, periodically, approximately once every 3 days, they must be inspected, removing damaged and lost fruits.
How not to store cucumbers
Packed in cellophane without air access:
Cucumbers tightly wrapped in a plastic bag or film will last about 2-3 days even in the refrigerator. Unfortunately, it will not be possible to preserve them this way for longer. The fact is that without access to air, cucumbers will quickly “suffocate” and begin to rot.
Along with ripe fruits:
Any ripe fruits that emit ethylene - be they fruits (apples and others) or vegetables (tomatoes and others) - cannot be stored together with cucumbers. Under the influence of ethylene, the biochemical processes in cucumbers are accelerated and they quickly begin to turn yellow, which means they become unsuitable for consumption.
Unconventional ways to store cucumbers
There are many more unconventional ways that make it possible to keep cucumbers fresh for a long time. long term. True, for what period of time there is no exact data. However, if you have the opportunity and desire, then why not try to use one of them? It’s not for nothing that some of these methods were successfully used by our grandmothers and great-grandmothers, who managed to keep many perishable foods fresh for a long time without a refrigerator.
In a pond:
If there is a pond, river or any other natural body of water near you that does not freeze in winter, you can store cucumbers in it. To do this, put the greens in a fine-mesh string bag made of synthetic material, hang a load from below, lower it into a pond and secure it well.
In sand:
Place the cucumbers in a clay dish, layer by layer, sprinkling the greens with well-washed and pre-dried sand. Close the lid tightly and store in a cool room - a cellar or basement. If possible, bury the container in the ground in the cellar. According to the authors of the method, buried cucumbers are stored for an even longer period.
In the well:
Place the cucumbers in a clean, dry bucket, cover them with a simple cloth on top and lower the bucket into the well so that its bottom lightly touches the water.
In cabbage:
Perhaps one of the most original ways is storage in cabbage. To do this, cucumbers are planted between the rows of cabbage. late varieties. As soon as the ovary appears, small cucumbers, along with the vine on which they grow, are carefully placed between the cabbage leaves, as close to the stalk as possible. So they will grow along with the cabbage, only inside the head of cabbage. For storage, cabbage heads are lowered into a cellar or basement. They say that cucumbers in cabbage can last until spring. Have you tried storing cucumbers in cabbage?
With vinegar:
A literally 3 mm layer of vinegar is poured onto the bottom of a clean, dry enamel bowl. Then a stand with holes is placed inside the dish so that cucumbers can be placed on it without them touching the vinegar. The fruits are placed on a stand in several layers, the container is tightly closed and placed in a cool room. In this way, you can keep cucumber fruits fresh for up to 1 month. published
Cucumber is a seasonal product that does not retain its freshness for a long time. However, there are ways by which it has become possible to extend the “life” (shelf life) of everyone’s favorite vegetable as much as possible. We will tell you about tricks that will help keep cucumbers fresh longer, so that when cold weather sets in, you can delight yourself with the ringing crunch and pleasant aroma of summer.
Choosing cucumbers correctly to keep cucumbers fresh longer
The main guarantee of long-term storage of cucumbers depends on the quality of the product. Choose fresh fruits (try to minimize the time from the moment of harvesting to the minute of storing it), clean, undamaged, with dense, thick and elastic skin. Salad varieties of cucumbers, due to their thin crust, will not best choice for long periods of lying down. Give preference to such types as “Nezhinsky”, “Kustovoy”, “Muromsky”, “Competitor”, “Zasolochny”, “Kharkovsky”.
Basic secrets on how to keep cucumbers fresh longer
In supermarkets, vegetable warehouses and bases, there are certain standards for temperature and humidity indicators, which make it possible to keep cucumbers fresh for as long as possible. At home, it is possible to get as close as possible to such conditions, knowing some points:
- The surface of a fresh, ripe cucumber has a kind of natural protection - a coating that protects the fruit from putrefactive processes. If you want to keep the cucumbers fresh longer, do not wash them.
- Do not store cucumbers next to apples, tomatoes, bananas, and melons. This proximity promotes faster rotting processes as a result of the release of ethylene vapor.
- The taste of cucumbers stored at a temperature of no more than +15 ° C is preserved for 3 days. When the temperature drops to +8 °C, the fruits can be preserved well for up to 10 days. You can preserve the vegetable for up to six months if you lower the storage temperature to – 18 °C. The main condition for such storage will be to ensure air circulation and avoid sunlight.
Under all known conditions, the most optimal data for the best and long-term storage of cucumbers will be a temperature of 5-6 degrees above zero, with a humidity of 95%. In such an environment, the vegetable will delight you with its taste for 2-3 weeks without additional preparation or special packaging.
Important! It is advisable not to store cucumbers at a temperature of 0 degrees, the vegetable begins to become covered with mucus and quickly deteriorate.
The best ways to keep cucumbers fresh longer
- The most “long-lasting” recipe for preserving capricious fruits is a method proven by many housewives: sealed jars filled with carbon dioxide under vacuum. Fill a clean glass container 3/4 full with dry, small, strong cucumbers, previously washed in cool water. Place a small candle in the middle of the jar. Light it up. The candle should burn for 5-8 minutes. Afterwards, carefully close the jar hermetically with a sterile lid. This must be done so that the candle continues to burn in the container for some time. This method makes it possible to preserve cucumbers good quality until early spring.
- If you have a wooden tub, it will help keep your cucumbers fresh without adding spicy pickles. Place horseradish leaves at the bottom of a clean, dry barrel. Place the cucumbers quite tightly on top of the prepared greens, tails down. Cover the top of the filled tub with horseradish leaves again. Next, the barrel should be placed in a pond with running cool water.
- Chicken protein will help preserve the taste of cucumbers for up to two months. Cover high-quality clean dry fruits with protein chicken egg. Let the processed greens dry. Egg white forms a kind of airtight film on the surface of the cucumber that prevents the penetration of bacteria. Such prepared fruits should be stored in a cool place, hanging or covered with wax paper.
- Table vinegar is a good helper in preventing fresh cucumbers from spoiling. Pour a little vinegar into the bottom of a clean container. Place the grill so that the vegetables do not touch the liquid when placing them. Place the fruits, then seal the container tightly. In a cool room, cucumbers will retain their taste for up to two months.
- Greens can be stored in the refrigerator for a long time or by freezing them (cut into slices, freeze and store in freezer), or at a temperature of +2° C in a tray (vegetables are placed vertically, tails down), with cool, clean water changed daily.
From time to time, inspect all cucumbers in storage. Remove any soft, yellowed, spotted or slimy fruits.
Fresh vegetables are a huge plus of the warm season. But over the summer and early autumn we get so used to their abundance and availability that with the onset of the first cold weather we ask ourselves: how long can fresh vegetables be stored? For example, how to save fresh cucumbers longer than usual and how much longer can their storage time be extended? The answer to this question was sought long before us, so, fortunately, certain methods for storing fresh vegetables have already been developed. You can store fresh cucumbers at home for a long time. And if you’re lucky, you’ll serve them on the New Year’s table. Not to mention the treats festive table autumn birthdays. In general, if you really really want to keep fresh cucumbers longer, take care of this as early as possible.
How long can fresh cucumbers be stored?Fresh cucumbers are stored in at least two stages. First, they are stored after collection and before sale, then after purchase before eating. The first stage takes place outside of our knowledge, but it is the one that is best organized: for fresh vegetables there are food warehouses with specially selected humidity and air temperature. Under such conditions, cucumbers and other vegetables practically do not change either in appearance or taste. But then we buy them and bring them home, where the most suitable places to store food are perhaps the refrigerator and/or pantry. In principle, both there and there you can store fresh cucumbers. But for this you need to take into account such features fresh cucumbers, directly affecting the requirements for their storage conditions:
- Fresh cucumber consists of 95-97% water, so it is its evaporation that occurs during long-term storage. To preserve cucumbers longer, you need to limit the evaporation of moisture - logical?
- Fresh cucumbers are good in summer, in salads and as an independent side dish. But in the cold season, the body asks for more satisfying food - salty or spicy. Therefore, canned and/or pickled cucumbers are in demand. Perhaps it is worth storing them this way, and not fresh?
How to properly store fresh cucumbers?
Proper storage of fresh cucumbers should begin at the time of purchase. Do not take the first cucumbers you come across, the price of which suits you. Look for a variety of cucumbers that can be stored longer than others. Look out for the following signs:
- Ground cucumbers grown in the garden natural environment, are stored better than greenhouse ones. The main condition is natural lighting and air temperature.
- The thinner the skin, the worse the cucumbers are stored. Therefore, the so-called “elite” varieties, sold in packages of several pieces, are not suitable for long-term storage.
- The best varieties of cucumbers for storage are Kharkov and Nezhinsky. Gherkins and their hybrids are the worst stored.
Best ways cucumber storage
There are several ways to preserve fresh cucumbers longer. Some of them are suitable only for a private home, others can be implemented in a city apartment. There are also universal methods, so we hope that you can choose the appropriate one among them: 
- Almost any fresh cucumbers can “live” in the refrigerator for three days. To extend this period, place cool water in a bowl. drinking water and place a “bouquet” of cucumbers in it, lowering them with their tails down. Store this composition in the refrigerator, in the fruit and vegetable compartment. Gradually, the cucumbers will absorb moisture and thereby compensate for its evaporation. You can help them with this even more by changing/renewing the water in their bowl daily. But not every variety will withstand such conditions. They are best perceived by long and dark green cucumbers with smooth skin, without pronounced pimples.
- Instead of a continuous supply of water, you can simply reduce its loss. To do this, fresh cucumbers just brought from the market must be thoroughly washed, removing all soil and other foreign particles. In this case, under no circumstances use a brush and/or abrasive sponges, so as not to damage the skin even minimally. Wipe clean cucumbers dry and place them on a dry cloth to dry completely. Then brush the skins of the cucumbers with fresh egg white, leaving no gaps. When the protein dries, a transparent but dense film forms on the surface of the cucumbers. On the one hand, it prevents the evaporation of moisture, on the other hand, it does not interfere with the access of oxygen to the fruits.
- A fairly old method of storing cucumbers requires the presence of a nearby river, pond or other body of water. Cucumbers should be placed in a net or other container that allows water to pass through well. Then attach a weight at the bottom that will prevent the stock of cucumbers from floating to the surface. This entire structure is lowered into the water and secured so that it does not get carried away by the current. The flow is highly desirable so that the water does not stagnate. But it shouldn’t freeze - in extreme low temperatures cucumbers spoil even faster.
- Imported varieties of cucumbers, which can be bought already packaged in small trays, can also be stored for quite a long time. But for this it is necessary to preserve the factory packaging. It contains a special gas inside that helps preserve vegetables during transportation without losing their presentation. After opening the package, the cucumbers will have to be used as food as soon as possible, and in a whole bag they will last in the refrigerator for a month, or even two.
- You can create a gas environment for storing fresh cucumbers yourself. To do this, pour table vinegar about the thickness of a finger into the bottom of an enamel or ceramic (most importantly not metal) pan. Then place a grate or mesh that will not touch the vinegar. An air fryer rack with legs works well. Place the cucumbers on the grill and cover the pan with a lid. Evaporation acetic acid will fill the container, but at the same time the cucumbers themselves will not come into contact with the vinegar.
- Inexperienced housewives, trying to keep cucumbers from withering and moisture evaporation, wrap them in impenetrable plastic bags or cellophane film. It is not surprising that the result is exactly the opposite. Fresh cucumbers need access to air, so in an airtight bag they suffocate and rot.
- You should also not store fresh cucumbers next to bananas, apples and other ripe fruits. These fruits emit ethylene, which accelerates ripening and other biochemical processes in the fruit.
- I can't stand fresh cucumbers at all. sharp changes temperature. With this in mind, do not place them in or near the freezer. If you store them on the balcony or in a shed, try to bring them into the house before frost, otherwise you will no longer be able to preserve frozen cucumbers.
