2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
Of course, eggplant blanks are unusually tasty, but sometimes you really want to keep them fresh! It's no secret that these extremely tender vegetables are stored much worse than potatoes, carrots or zucchini, because they are least suitable for long-term storage compared to other vegetables. However, with some diligence and basic storage requirements, eggplants can be preserved even for several months. And then, even on New Year's Eve, you can pamper seven dishes from fresh and incredibly healthy eggplants
Primary requirements
To keep the eggplants fresh for as long as possible, you need to pay maximum attention to the selection of fruits. Eggplants intended for long-term storage should be relatively young, with a shiny, firm and smooth skin. All fruits should be colored in rich dark purple tones, and there should be no traces of mold or any damage on their green sepals and petioles. Among the fruits of the same size, preference should be given to the heavier ones.
Eggplants placed for long-term storage should not be overripe either. To find out if the fruits are overripe, it is enough to press them with your finger with a little effort. If there are dents on the eggplants, it means that they are overripe and are not suitable for long-term storage.
The most suitable for long-term storage will be late-ripening eggplant varieties, the harvest of which is harvested just before frost. All fruits during harvesting must be cut off together with the stalks with a sharp knife. And you do not need to wash them before sending them for winter storage - it will be enough to wipe the eggplants with a dry cloth.
How to store fresh eggplant
It is recommended to store fresh eggplants in a dark place, maintaining temperatures up to two degrees above zero. However, even in this case, it is still possible to keep them elastic and fresh for no more than a month. In this case, the fruits immediately after harvesting must be placed in a dark room with a temperature of up to ten degrees and a humidity of up to 80% - this is necessary so that moisture does not evaporate from the eggplants.
If the air temperature in the room where the eggplants are stored exceeds six degrees, or if the room is too humid, gray rot may develop on the fruit. If the thermometer rises above twenty degrees, the taste of the eggplants will deteriorate greatly, and they will begin to change their color.
But it is generally impossible to store eggplants in the light - if sunlight falls on them, they will begin to produce solanine. Not only does it noticeably impair the taste of vegetables, it is also unsafe for human health.
Storage options
There are many different ways to store eggplants. You can simply fold them into sturdy polyethylene bags and store them in a cool place. If you put them in the refrigerator, then they will be stored much less.
If there are not many eggplants, they can be wrapped in paper and neatly folded into boxes in one layer. And if a rich harvest was collected, it is placed in deep boxes covered with wood ash and stored at a temperature of about seven degrees.
In an unheated dark room, the eggplants are first left to lie on straw mats for a couple of weeks, and after this time, having selected the strongest fruits, they are wrapped in paper and laid on a straw mat, the thickness of which should be at least twenty centimeters. Then the eggplants are covered with burlap folded in four layers. And if frosts hit, they must be additionally insulated with straw.
Sometimes summer residents leave the eggplants right in the beds for a while, folding them together with the plants in small piles in late autumn and covering them thoroughly with straw. Periodically stored eggplants need to be sorted out, rejecting spoiled fruits.
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