How To Store Figs Properly

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38

Figs are a rather rare guest in our latitudes, which are a great natural alternative to sweets. As soon as it is called: fig, fig or fig tree. Behind all these names are fragrant and very sweet fruits with a very pleasant aftertaste, vaguely reminiscent of the taste of nuts. However, figs are equally good both fresh and dried. And so that it does not lose its excellent taste, it is important to learn how to store it correctly

How to choose?

Figs can be either dark or light. Regardless of color, all fruits must be sufficiently firm and aromatic. If the figs are soft or, even worse, covered with dirty specks, it is better to refuse to purchase it.

As for dried fruits, they are characterized by beige or light brown color and are distinguished by a very beautiful amber or dark shade. High-quality fruits must be matte. If their surfaces are covered with a white bloom, this indicates that the fruits contain a lot of glucose, so a certain part of it comes out, so there is nothing wrong with that. But there should be no specks on the surface of dried figs. Do not hesitate to try it to the touch - good figs should be slightly soft (too hard fruits are usually very dry). In addition, all fruits should be slightly flattened and approximately the same size.

High-quality dried figs must taste sweet. If the fruits turned out to be sour, it means that either stale raw materials were used in their production, or the conditions for their storage were violated.

By the way, dried figs are a great helper in case of digestive disorders: if you soak three or four fruits in a small cup overnight, and then eat them in the morning on an empty stomach and drink the water in which they were soaked, the result will not be long in coming: the remedy works much better than any drugstore laxative.

How to store?

It is very problematic to preserve ripe figs - these incredibly tender fruits are very easy to ferment, and they do not tolerate transportation either. Therefore, as a rule, fresh figs are most often consumed where it grows (and it grows closest to us in the Caucasus and Crimea), and this pampered guest is delivered to all other regions in dried form.

If you still managed to get fresh fruits, then it is best to store them in the refrigerator at a temperature of about one degree. In such conditions, fresh figs can be stored for two to three weeks, no more. And in figs stored at room temperature, extremely unpleasant fermentation processes begin within a day.

You can subject the figs to quick freezing - this will preserve its valuable organoleptic properties for a rather long time. Ideally, frozen fruits should be stored at temperatures below minus fifteen degrees.

And dried figs can be perfectly preserved for several months. And the lower the humidity and temperature, the better such figs will be stored. If you store it in too warm rooms with high humidity, it will quickly become damp, and subsequently pests can start in it.

As a rule, dried figs are stored in dry and cool rooms in containers with tight-fitting lids. Some hostesses first put the fruits in canvas bags, and then put them in glass jars. This storage method is also perfectly acceptable. The most important thing is that the dried figs do not get direct sunlight or moisture. It is recommended to rinse the dried fruits thoroughly under running water immediately before use. And to make the figs softer, you can soak them for half an hour in warm water - in this case, the nutrients contained in the fruits will be much better absorbed, and all chemicals and dirt will go into the water. If you just pour boiling water over the washed figs, some of the vitamins it contains will be destroyed.