How to keep cucumbers in the garden longer. Shelf life of cucumbers. How to extend shelf life

Fresh cucumbers are a great light snack and an excellent base for salads. They are pickled, salted, fermented. And of course, many people just love to crunch on a fresh cucumber. Today, this tasty, aromatic vegetable is available at any time of the year, and therefore not only during the summer season we think about how to properly store cucumbers. Is it worth buying them for future use? How quickly can they go bad? How to store fresh cucumbers at home without unnecessary hassle?

If you follow some rules, cucumbers can be kept fresh for a month or even longer. In this article we will tell you how to do this.

It's no secret that cucumbers taste best in the first hours after harvest. The fresher, the tastier. But if you have grown a lot of them or you plan to buy a large number of cucumbers for pickling, you need to ensure the preservation of the vegetables for as long as possible. If you follow some rules, cucumbers can remain fresh for a month or longer. First you need to select the right vegetables for storage.

Which cucumbers are suitable for long-term storage?

Not all cucumbers keep well even in the refrigerator. Greenhouse varieties with thin, delicate skins will barely survive for several days. It will not be possible to preserve the freshness of overgrown, watery, yellowed fruits and cucumbers of quickly ripening greenhouse varieties for a long time. However, if the salad cucumbers are placed in an airtight container, they can last in the refrigerator for up to a month.

Freshly picked, dry and clean cucumbers are suitable for long-term storage. Inspect the peel: it should be dense, without any damage. Please note that store-bought cucumbers will already last for some time, so choose your vegetables carefully. Buy fruits with thick skin, without damage or signs of rot, of medium size. Small cucumbers will dry out quickly, and large, overgrown fruits are not so tasty. If you come across limp cucumbers, it is better to use them on the day of purchase. When choosing fruits in a store, consider the entire batch: if there are a lot of limp cucumbers in it, then even if you choose the most beautiful and fresh ones among them, you will make a mistake - they will not withstand long-term storage.

Choose your vegetables carefully. Dry and clean cucumbers with thick skin without damage are suitable for long-term storage.

How to store cucumbers indoors

The ideal option for storing cucumbers would be a basement or cellar, cold and fairly dry, since in a warm and humid environment they will rot very quickly, and in too dry conditions they will lose their taste and quickly shrivel. The fruits are placed in ceramic or enamel containers and sprinkled with sand. You can also wrap the cucumbers in paper napkins. In such conditions they can remain fresh for a month or more.

Never wash vegetables before storing them. Cucumber peel has a natural protective layer. Store-bought cucumbers are often coated with wax to increase shelf life. They must be washed immediately before use or salting.

Cucumbers can be stored for several days in the room. To do this, they are placed in a cardboard box, box, paper bag or plastic container. The air temperature should be no more than +15 °C. In such conditions, vegetables can remain fresh for 3 days. At temperatures up to +7 °C, cucumbers will last up to 10 days. At this temperature, a damp cloth can be used as an alternative. Wrap the fruits in it and moisten as necessary (this can keep it for up to 14 days).

Cucumbers can be stored for several days at room temperature. They are placed in a cardboard box, crate, paper bag or plastic container

During winter storage of pickled cucumbers (in a barrel, bucket or jar), mold or fungus often appears on the surface of the brine. To avoid this, you need to sprinkle the surface with dry mustard (a thin layer). Thinly sliced horseradish and placed on top of cucumbers will also protect the fruit from mold.

How to store cucumbers in the refrigerator

Not every housewife has a cellar or basement at her disposal. A more common place for storing cucumbers is the refrigerator, namely the vegetable compartment (other names are “zero chamber” or “freshness zone”). Let's figure out how to store fresh cucumbers in the refrigerator:

In the refrigerator, cucumbers will remain fresh for 2 days without any problems. There is no need to specially process or prepare the fruits;
if longer storage is necessary, you can cover the cucumbers with damp gauze and place them in a plastic bag. In such conditions, the fruits will last up to 10 days. If you wrap each cucumber in a paper napkin and place them in a plastic bag, the freshness of the vegetables is ensured for 2 weeks;
To preserve cucumbers with thick, smooth, dark green skin, you can use water. Cold running water is poured into the tray and the cucumbers are placed vertically with the tails down. The fruits should not be completely immersed, but 1-2 cm. As they lose moisture, the vegetables will absorb water. However, there is a caveat - the water needs to be changed every day. You can store cucumbers in the refrigerator this way for up to 3 weeks.

A common method is to store cucumbers in the refrigerator. There they remain fresh from 2 to 20 days, depending on the variety and location in the refrigerator

Non-standard storage methods

Of course, there are other ways to store cucumbers. For example, clean dry fruits can be coated egg white. It forms a film and will prevent moisture evaporation. Cucumbers in a protein film are stored in the refrigerator, in the vegetable compartment or other cool place (underfloor, cabinet under the windowsill).

Some housewives use it to store cucumbers vinegar. To do this, pour a little vinegar (about 3 mm) into an enamel container, then install a stand on which the fruits will be laid out (they should not touch the vinegar). Vegetables are placed in several layers, the container is tightly closed and placed in a cool room. The shelf life of cucumbers using this method is about a month.

Many summer residents use ancient time-tested methods. For example, in order for cucumbers to remain tasty and juicy for as long as possible after harvesting, they grown in cabbage seedlings. As soon as the small fruits set, they are placed in cabbage leaves, where they subsequently grow. They continue to be stored there, in heads of cabbage, in a cool place. This way cucumbers can be stored all winter.

Another interesting and simple way to store cucumber harvest is in clay pots. The fruits are placed in a container, covered with calcined river sand and buried in the ground (lowered into the cellar).

And if there is a river flowing near your site, you can try the method that our ancestors often used. The harvested crop was placed in a wooden barrel, tightly closed, placed on the bottom of the river and fixed. Important condition: the water must be running and must not freeze under any circumstances! This way the harvest can be stored all winter.

Cucumbers tightly wrapped in cellophane or film, without access to oxygen, quickly “suffocate” and the process of rotting begins

Whatever storage option for cucumbers you choose, remember a few important rules:

Cucumbers should not be stored with ripe vegetables and fruits. Ripe fruits, for example, tomatoes or apples, emit ethylene, under the influence of which biochemical processes in cucumbers are accelerated. They begin to quickly turn yellow and soon become unfit for consumption.
Cucumbers, tightly wrapped in cellophane or film, without access to oxygen, quickly “suffocate” and the process of rotting begins.
At temperatures below 0 °C, cucumbers very quickly soften and become covered with mucus. When storing vegetables in the refrigerator, keep them as far away from the freezer as possible.
Regardless of how and where you store cucumbers, you need to check them, removing any that are damaged or have lost their freshness.

You can buy fresh cucumbers in supermarkets both in winter and summer. The difference between fresh cucumbers from the garden and greenhouse winter ones is significant both in taste and price. If the owners harvest a good harvest of cucumbers from their gardens, the information presented in this article on how to keep them fresh longer will be relevant and useful for them.

Everyone knows that the composition contains the most water. Therefore, it is quite difficult to preserve them, since moisture is quickly lost during storage. With the loss of water, vegetables lose their taste and their appearance deteriorates.

Fresh cucumbers require storage. In order for their quality to be preserved for a long time, it is necessary to maintain high air humidity and coolness.

What determines the shelf life? First of all, it depends on the quality of the vegetables themselves. It is advisable that they are stored immediately after collection. If several days have passed since they were collected, cucumbers cannot be used for storage. When buying cucumbers at the market, it is recommended to evaluate the condition of the entire batch. Loss of elasticity and yellowing of some fruits also indicate that they were collected earlier.

The next factor that you need to pay attention to when choosing cucumbers for storage is the condition of the fruit skin. It is desirable that it be dense and dry, without any damage. The presence of even minor damage leads to rapid spoilage of the fruit. Sometimes you can find watery fruits. They are also unsuitable for storage.

Important! You should remember the basic rule of preparing cucumbers for storage: soaking or washing cucumbers is strictly prohibited.

Important! Overripe fruits are also not suitable for storage. They are best used for preservation or immediate consumption.

When choosing cucumbers for storage, you need to take them into account. There are varieties that are intended for long-term storage, for example, Nezhinsky, Kharkovsky, Sadko, Konkurent, Parad and others.

Methods for storing cucumbers

To extend the shelf life of fresh cucumbers, you must use one of the methods listed below. Depending on the chosen method, their shelf life in a form suitable for human consumption may vary.

Regardless of the storage method, cucumbers must be periodically inspected and those that show signs of spoilage must be selected.

Way	Description
Storing cucumbers at room temperature	Under natural conditions, the vegetable can be stored for about three days. Cucumbers should not be washed before storing. Their surface has a protective coating that protects the vegetable from drying out and damage. If it is washed off, the fruits will quickly rot or shrivel. Also, with intense evaporation of moisture at room temperatures, their use will lead to rapid spoilage of vegetables.
Refrigerated storage	The storage of cucumbers is influenced by the air temperature and humidity in the room where they are located. If the temperature is between +10°C and +15°C and there is high humidity, cucumbers can stay fresh for several days. Any packaging can serve as a container: paper boxes and bags, all kinds of boxes. You can additionally wrap the cucumbers in damp gauze. The moisture content of the fabric is checked periodically. If the air temperature is lowered to 8 °C, the shelf life can be increased to ten days.
Using the refrigerator	Refrigeration can significantly increase the shelf life of cucumbers. Cucumbers are stored in a special compartment, which is intended for vegetables and fruits. It is important to avoid placing them in the area near the freezer. Freezing of cucumbers leads to softening of the fruit and very rapid spoilage.

Important! Cucumbers and bananas should be stored separately. These fruits emit volatile substances that accelerate ripening, and this leads to rapid spoilage of cucumbers.

The easiest way is to place freshly picked cucumbers in the refrigerator without any additional processing. They need to be placed in the vegetable compartment. We can enjoy fresh cucumbers with this storage for about a week.

Important! After this period, yellowness appears on them, and then mucus.

What can you do to increase the shelf life of fresh cucumbers in the refrigerator? There are some interesting ways to help do this.

Storing cucumbers using unusual methods

In our grandmothers' time there were no refrigerators. They successfully stored vegetables in basements, closets, ponds, and wells. The methods are very effective.

Important! There is no exact data on the shelf life of such methods.

Using sand to store cucumbers. Boxes are used for storing cucumbers. The fruits are placed tightly there, and sand is poured between them. It must be clean and dry. You can use dried river sand. The container filled to the top is closed and stored in a cool place.
Storing cucumbers in a well. If there is a well in the yard, it can be successfully used for storing cucumbers. The cucumbers are laid out in a dry bucket, covered with a piece of cloth on top. A full bucket on a long cord is lowered to a level in the well where the water touches the bottom. Cooling with well water and always high humidity will keep cucumbers fresh for a long time.
Use of vacuum packaging. Vacuum packaging can be used to store any vegetables. Prepared cucumbers are placed in vacuum bags, from which air is pumped out using a pump. The bags are placed in a dark, cool place, preferably in the refrigerator. This method has a number of advantages: without air, bacteria and fungi do not penetrate into the bags. In addition, cucumbers retain their flavor and nutritional value.
Storing cucumbers in cabbage. The use of this method begins while planting cucumbers and cabbage. For this, late cabbage is used, which is planted in rows. Cucumbers are planted along a row of cabbage. When small cucumbers appear, they, together with the vine of the bush, are carefully placed around the stalk of the cabbage, between its leaves. The cucumbers will grow right inside the cabbage. After ripening, the cabbage is cut along with the cucumbers that are inside. Everything is placed together in a cool place. Growing and storing two vegetables together allows you to keep cucumbers in good condition until spring.
An effective storage method using a burning candle. First you need to clean the cucumbers from dirt. There is no need to wet them with water. Place the fruits in a glass container, filling it three-quarters of the way. A burning candle is placed on the cucumbers in the middle of the container. The burning time should be about 15 minutes. After this, everything is tightly closed with a lid. There is no need to put out the candle. The candle will burn inside until all the oxygen is burned out. After this, the flame will go out on its own. Carbon dioxide is formed in the container, which will prevent rot from forming. Those who have tried this method assure that cucumbers remain fresh until spring. It is advisable to open the lid before the holidays, because after opening the lid, the vegetables must be consumed within a day or two. This effective method allows you to preserve cucumbers for up to three months.

There are other ways to store cucumbers. Let's look at them.

How to preserve freshly harvested cucumbers before processing?

It happens that the cucumbers were harvested somewhere in the country, and there is no way to process them right away. It's summer, there's no refrigerator. The question arises: how to store cucumbers for several days in such conditions? The way out of this situation may be to use this method.

In the garden you need to dig a small hole in which the bottom and walls are lined with nettles.

Fresh cucumbers are packed in plastic bags and placed on nettles.

The top of the cucumbers is also covered with nettles, and a layer of plastic film is placed on top of everything.

The pit needs to be opened in two to three days. You will see wilted nettles and fresh cucumbers that look like they just came from the garden.

Preservation of cucumbers

Processing fresh vegetables for canning is a popular method of using harvested crops. There are a great many recipes for preserving cucumbers in jars and barrels. The most common are salted, pickled, lightly salted cucumbers, as well as cucumber salads.

Important! Of course, storing them this way will last much longer.

We present the simplest recipe for canned cucumbers.

All ingredients except cucumbers and salt are placed in a clean three-liter jar: horseradish leaf, dill umbrella, bay leaf, a piece of hot capsicum.

Cucumbers are placed in a jar. About 2 kg of cucumbers fit into a three-liter jar.

Add table salt - 100 g per jar. Everything is filled with cold water.

The jar is rolled up with a metal lid and left for at least 3 months.

Cucumbers according to this recipe are firm, crispy and aromatic. And the preparation itself takes very little time, which is why this recipe is called “lazy”.

Interesting! Such cucumbers can be used as an independent snack or for preparing various dishes, such as pickle, vinaigrette salads, Olivier salad and others.

Let's sum it up

Keeping cucumbers fresh for a long time is not too difficult - fortunately, a lot of different methods have now been invented, from which you can definitely choose “your own”. But if possible, it is better, of course, to immediately use the cucumbers in some way - pickle them, pickle them, or simply eat them.

Video - How to preserve cucumbers

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 important question is 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 storage conditions. 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 all their beneficial properties 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 a 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 it 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 methods that make it possible to keep cucumbers fresh for a long time. 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 to store it in cabbage. To do this, cucumbers are planted between rows of late varieties of cabbage. 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 healthy and juicy vegetable, but unfortunately, it is quite perishable if you do not follow the rules for storing it at home. By turning yellow and shrinking, it loses its taste and beneficial properties. At the end of the season, you want to enjoy garden crops for as long as possible, which are often used to prepare various salads.

By choosing the right storage method in the refrigerator, you can keep ground cucumbers fresh longer and enjoy the vegetables for at least a month. In this case, the variety chosen for storage and the external characteristics of the fruit are of great importance.

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

On a note!

The fruits remain fresh in the refrigerator for up to 5-6 days without any processing or special conditions.

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

The main storage condition is access to air.

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

Selection of fruits for long-term storage

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

Which varieties to choose?

Based on the experience of gardeners, it is possible to identify varieties that are excellent for long-term maintenance at home:

Nezhinsky;
Bush;
Parade;
Competitor;
Unwashed 40;
Kharkovsky;
Sadko.

Also, any varieties of gherkins are suitable for long-term storage.

Other characteristics

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

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

Attention!

Large fruits with large and overripe seeds are completely unsuitable.

To keep them in the refrigerator, you need to choose fresh cucumbers, only picked from the garden. If the fruits have already been stored for several days at home and not in the refrigerator, they become unusable. Vegetables must be clean and free of moisture on the surface. 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 them to retain moisture longer.

The shelf life also depends on the growing method. Greenhouse vegetables will not retain their freshness for a long time. It is best to take those grown in open ground.

How to preserve fresh cucumbers in a regular refrigerator longer so as not to wither

In order for cucumbers not to wither in the refrigerator and to be stored 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:

You need to take a clean glass jar with a capacity of 2-3 liters.
Place a paraffin candle in the middle.
Place cucumbers in the jar.
After this, the candle is lit and burns for 10 minutes.
After this, the candle is extinguished and the jar is tightly sealed with a lid.

Due to the fact that a burning candle promotes chemical processes in which oxygen is absorbed, fruits are stored longer.

The jar should be stored in the refrigerator.

Vacuum

Packaging capable of creating vacuum conditions is used not only for storing various meat products, but also many vegetables. And cucumbers are no exception. Vacuum-packed vegetables should be kept cool and away from light.

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

In paper

Thick paper will help preserve the fruits. You can use paper towels or napkins. In this case, the paper must be absolutely clean (no ink). Cucumbers are individually wrapped in paper and placed in a bag. After which they can be stored in the vegetable compartment.

This method will extend the freshness period to 2 weeks due to the fact that the paper absorbs moisture that forms on the surface of the vegetables, as a result of which putrefactive processes slow down.

“Bouquet” in the water

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

In egg white

Not everyone knows the original method of storing egg whites. Unlike other methods, at the first stage of preparation you should thoroughly wash the vegetables. After drying the fruits, each is brushed with beaten egg white. The surface should be completely covered with a thin egg film.

Interesting!

Due to the protein, a protective film is created that prevents the process of moisture evaporation.

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

Non-standard storage methods

Fruits can be stored using non-standard methods that are not known to everyone. But they are also effective at preserving the freshness and flavor of cucumbers.

In sand

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

The shelf life in this way can reach several months.

In cabbage

The cucumber can be preserved longer by wrapping it in a cabbage leaf while still in the garden. So, plants are planted next to early varieties of cabbage. At the moment when a small fruit has formed, you should place it between the cabbage leaves, placing it next to the stem.

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

With vinegar

For this method you will need an enamel-lined container. A 2-3 mm layer of table vinegar is poured onto the bottom. A tray with slots is placed on top, on which several layers of cucumbers are placed. In this case, the fruits should not come into 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 harvest is stored well 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 poured on top again. This pot can be stored both in the refrigerator and in the basement.

In a barrel

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

If you choose the right barrel made of wood that is not prone to rotting, cucumbers will remain fresh for several months.

Storage at room temperature

At room temperature, the freshness of fruits is much shorter, on average 3 days. It is best to store them in cardboard containers at a temperature no higher than +15 ℃ and air humidity no lower than 90%. At a temperature of +10 ℃, cucumbers are stored from a week to 10 days.