There are products that cannot be dispensed with for long. The body simply requires from time to time to eat them. One of them is ordinary beets. It is part of many well-known and beloved dishes. The most popular way in the people, which makes it possible at any time to have at hand the main product necessary for the preparation of, say, vinaigrette or red borsch, is to store beets in the cellar.
Perfect room
From time immemorial people have been accustomed to stock up for the future with the most necessary foodstuffs. No one is tempted to remain hungry. That is why it has long been customary to save some of the products and store them until the next harvest. This is more true for vegetables, which are known to be seasonal in nature. Experience has shown that storing them at room temperature is not possible. Therefore, for such purposes there should be a separate room that meets certain requirements. There are several indicators that determine the ability of a particular building or room to be an ideal store for beets:
- temperature (from 0 to +3 degrees);
- access to fresh air and the possibility of airing (a must);
- humidity (from 85 to 90%);
- the availability of direct sunlight (in our case this should not be).
If all these conditions are met, storage of beets in the cellar is possible for quite some time. Moreover, she has excellent “keeping quality”, and this is a rather rare ability for vegetables.
Storage method
Each product should be stored in a specific way. All circumstances that may affect this process must be considered. So, the storage of beets in the cellar begins with the preparation of the vegetable itself. Each root crop must first be cleaned, that is, to remove residual dirt and soil from its surface. This should be done dry without resorting to water. Otherwise, excess moisture will necessarily lead to wilting, germination, and then, possibly, to rotting of the product. When cleaning, do not resort to sharp objects that can damage the skin. You should also not rub one product on another. This can also violate the integrity of the outer shell. Then you need to cut the tops, leaving only small stalks 2 centimeters long. Now the product can only be dried in the wind without access to sunlight and you can proceed to storage. Keeping beets in the cellar is not easy. An ideal container for this is a wooden box. And to protect against possible excessive humidity, river sand, peat or wood sawdust is used. Root crops are laid in 3-4 layers and sprinkled with plenty of selected filler.
Mandatory conditions
Storage of vegetables in the cellar requires certain knowledge and preliminary preparation. This cannot be done spontaneously. Everything must be thought out in advance. Preparation of the cellar begins in the summer, when it is relatively free. First you need to take out all the removable shelves, and the room itself should be thoroughly cleaned and ventilated. Then you need to check if any racks or compartments need to be repaired, and fix everything if possible. After that, paint the existing metal structures and reassemble everything. Be sure to check the room for rodents and close up the minks found tightly. Of course, it is advisable to disinfect the room and refresh the upper part of the floor covering. Somewhere in a month you can already bring fresh sand, sawdust and other auxiliary materials. Ideally, it is better to divide any cellar into three compartments: for potatoes, vegetables and fruits, and arrange them in a certain way. Storage of vegetables in the cellar is usually done in different ways. If for carrots moist sand is poured into the boxes, then for beets it must be absolutely dry. In addition, vegetables negatively relate to heat, so it is better to place them on the lower floors, if the room is multi-tiered. And it is imperative that from time to time it is necessary to turn over and revise the products in order to ventilate them and detect them in time, and then remove the fruits with obvious signs of spoilage.
How to keep the product in winter
A good host should start taking care of products before harvesting. It is necessary to equip the premises in advance and think about how this or that vegetable will be contained in it. For example, storage of beets in winter can be organized in various ways:
1. On wide racks, stacking products with a slide.
2. In open plastic bags.
3. In crates or specially equipped containers, sprinkling food with sand or other absorbent material.
4. In the form of a small collar directly on the floor of the cellar or basement.
5. Pour the fruit in a small layer, like a bedspread, on top of a potato.
6. In banks in the form of conservation.
Each of these options has its advantages and disadvantages. In any case, only high-quality fruits will be well stored. That is why, before bookmarking, you need to carefully review them and leave only those that do not cause suspicion. Otherwise, even one of the smallest beets can spoil the entire crop.
What you need to know about storing vegetables
Do not forget that it is much more difficult to store products from the garden than, for example, cans with canned goods. If it is enough to withstand a certain temperature regime for packaged products, then the storage conditions for vegetables are much more difficult to observe. Two factors must be interconnected here: the option chosen for the bookmark, and the microclimate of the room. It must be remembered that biological processes continue to take place in fresh products (greens, vegetables, fruits). Fruits do not die, they breathe and partially develop. When creating optimal conditions during storage, all the vital processes of vegetables are partially slowed down. At this time, they fully retain their nutritional qualities and taste. After some time, the products naturally begin to age and lose their beneficial properties. And further storage changes even their appearance. Therefore, no vegetable can be stored indefinitely, but conditions can be created to maximize its positive characteristics, for example, until the next harvest.
How to store beets in winter
Harvesting vegetables is usually done for one reason: products of plant origin are seasonal in nature and are not able to grow in the winter in natural conditions. All this forces people to equip special rooms in which vegetables can retain their properties for some time. If we talk about beets, first you need to know several factors that significantly affect the storage process of this product:
1. Product grade. Not every beet is suitable for long-term storage. It is better to harvest late and mid-ripening varieties.
2. Growing conditions. During the growth period, it is necessary to observe the optimal watering regime. This factor is one of the main reasons that affect the keeping quality of a product. With insufficient watering, the beets in the cellar will dry quickly. And vice versa - with plenty, it can begin to quickly rot.
3. Storage of beets in the winter in the cellar should take place at a certain temperature and humidity.
In order to preserve the harvest for a long time, it is necessary to observe all of the conditions listed. This is the only way to guarantee the quality and safety of products for the body.