2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 13:38
It is always pleasant to feast on juicy melon. And to do it out of season is doubly pleasant. However, preserving the melon can be quite problematic, because these delicate fruits spoil quite quickly. Therefore, they need special storage conditions. Of course, you can always make wonderful jam or preserves from melons, but sometimes you really want to taste a slice of fresh fruit! To make this wish come true, you need to familiarize yourself with the basic rules for storing melons
How to choose a melon
When purchasing a melon, you should carefully look at the state of the mesh on its skin - if the melon is of high quality and ripe, the mesh will not be very bright. You can also determine the ripeness of a melon by the softness of its nose - if it is slightly elastic, then the melon can be safely taken.
For long-term storage, it is necessary to select slightly unripe fruits, and their skin should be without any visible damage. At the same time, melons should not be too green, because they contain very little sugar, and after they ripen, their taste is unlikely to please. And if you send too ripe melons to be stored, they will quickly begin to rot.
For long-term storage, late-ripening varieties will be most suitable. If the melons are grown on their own plot, then before sending them for storage, the melons separated from the lashes must be laid out in one layer on the ground and thoroughly dried in the sun. Ideally, melons are left in this form for one and a half to two weeks, turning them over every 4 to 5 days. At this time, natural physiological processes will occur in the fruits, significantly increasing their keeping quality.
How to store
Melons are best preserved in basements and cellars. They are especially well kept hanging - for this, the melons are placed in linen bags or nets so that the fabric or mesh nodules do not cut their delicate skin. Also, all stored melons should in no case come into contact with each other - in this case, bedsores will not form on them. The optimal temperature for storing melons is considered to be 2 - 4 degrees, and the best relative humidity is in the range from 70 to 80 percent.
If possible, melons are placed in special boxes, after which they are covered with sand - this method will preserve juicy fruits for quite a long time (beets and carrots are stored in about the same way). Melons should be stacked vertically in boxes, filling them in half or three quarters. Fruits stored in this way should be systematically examined and discarded damaged and starting to deteriorate specimens. Only during inspection should they be turned very carefully.
It is not recommended to store melons near potatoes - the fruits will begin to stretch quickly. The proximity to apples will not benefit them either, because apples emit ethylene, which promotes the ripening of melons.
If the melon is planned to be stored for five to six days, then it is quite possible to do this at home - at home, melons are placed in one row in a dark place on a soft surface.
As for the refrigerator, it is undesirable to store melon in it. If there are no other options, then the not quite ripe fruits are wrapped in cloth or paper and carefully placed on the lower shelf. As a rule, melon can be stored in this form for up to six days.
Melon is also perfectly stored in dried form. Moreover, dried slices are incredibly tasty and very healthy.
Storing cut melon
To preserve the cut melon until the next day, it makes sense to use the refrigerator - there the fragrant fruit can last up to two days. Or you can cut a piece of melon into several strips up to four centimeters long each, then transfer all the strips to a tray or baking sheet and send them to the freezer. When the cubes are frozen, they are laid out in bags and placed in the freezer for further storage. In this form, the melon can lie for up to a year.
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