How to store carrots

This popular vegetable is used not only in soups, stews, in the preparation of main dishes and salads, but even in baking.

Carrot juice or carrot puree is one of the first to give babies in the form of complementary foods. Carrots must be included in the diet, not only children, but also adults.

After all, it contains almost all useful trace elements: magnesium, potassium, calcium, phosphorus, iron, sodium.
Carrots are rich in vitamins B1, B2, PP, C. But most of all carotene in it is vitamin A, which is simply necessary to maintain vision.
Carrots are recommended for people of all ages, especially if they suffer from anemia, bronchitis, cardiovascular diseases.

Especially since this vegetable is available at any time of the year and is well kept both in vegetable storehouses and at home. The main thing is to choose the right grade for this.

What kind of carrot is best stored?

There are many varieties of carrots. She is early ripe, mid-season and late-ripening. Therefore, its ripening period ranges from 70 to 125 days.

Root crops differ from each other not only in variety, color of pulp, but also in size. The smallest carrot is only 3 cm in length, and the big one reaches 45 cm.

Of course, the Parisian carrot remains the most delicious and popular. Orange-red plump carrots up to 5 cm long have juicy sweet pulp. But such carrots are stored poorly, so it should be eaten as quickly as possible.

Grades that are more resistant to storage include Grenada, Moscow Winter, Incomparable, Nantes. Carrots of these varieties have a root length of 8 to 20 cm.

The middle-ripe Nantes variety has proven itself well - orange-colored carrots, blunt, with dense, juicy flesh and a small heart. This variety is stored without loss of taste for up to six months. But the Moscow winter one, which has an elongated-conical shape, an orange-red flesh and a small heart, is not only very tasty, but also well-preserved.

Of the varieties with long roots are best kept Valeria. This carrot is an orange-red color with rougher pulp and is also high-yielding.

When to remove carrots for storage

Carrots are tender root vegetables, therefore they are very careful when digging. After all, mechanical damage causes it to deteriorate during storage.
Frozen root vegetables are also not stored, so they are removed before the onset of frost. The optimal temperature for harvesting carrots is below + 10 °, but the thermometer mark should not fall below 0 °.
For harvesting, dry weather is chosen so that the roots will have as little land as possible.
Dug carrots shake off the ground, not clearing completely, so as not to damage the skin.
Immediately prune the tops, leaving a stump of 2 cm. Uncircled foliage promotes rapid decay of the roots and they are poorly stored.
On the ground, carrots are not left, but immediately sent to the vegetable storage or cellar (basement).
Carrots intended for storage cannot be washed, as then it deteriorates quickly.

How to store carrots in the basement or cellar

In the room where these roots are stored, the air temperature should be between 0 ° and 1 ° of heat.

Carrots have a thin skin, so the humidity should be high - up to 95%. If there is no such humidity in the room, it is artificially created, periodically pouring water on the floor.

These root vegetables are stored in several ways.

Storage in boxes

The carrots are picked, removing all damaged root vegetables.
Fold in dense boxes of 15-20 kg.
Top roots sprinkled with wet sand, soil or peat. The desired moisture content of the sand can easily be determined by squeezing it in your hand. The sand must retain its shape, but not exude water.
Filled boxes are placed on top of each other. Their total height should be no more than two meters.
To avoid contamination with diseases, sprinkle carrots with dry chalk or ash.

On racks or floor

For this method of storage suitable racks without gaps.

The carrot is placed on the shelves or on the floor with its tails out and sprinkled with sand, creating a layer of about 3 cm.
In order to avoid rot or other diseases in root crops, sand is mixed with chalk powder or dry slaked lime (1 kg of lime is taken for 50 kg of sand). Can not be used for this purpose, quicklime, as it will cause a burn of root crops.
Instead of sand, sawdust with a moisture content of 18-20% can be taken. Thanks to this method of storage - both in piles and in containers - carrots do not fade and are not infected with diseases that cause rotting, because the composition of sawdust includes essential oils that are a good disinfectant.

With clay

To do this, in a metal container, make a clay mash, which is similar in consistency to liquid sour cream. This mixture is poured root, laid in a container or on racks with slots. The excess mixture percolates through them, and the rest envelops the carrots with a kind of shell, which dries out and serves as a protection against spoilage, fading and disease.

In bags

Carrots are packed in bags of dense polyethylene (150-200 microns), which can hold up to 50 kg of root vegetables.

After that, the bags in the open form are placed vertically on the shelves or on the floor. They can not be closed, otherwise the condensate that will collect inside will cause damage to the carrot. The film (60-10 microns) can be used when storing carrots in boxes. To do this, it lined the container and put there the roots. Boxes, without closing, put on each other and stored in this form.

How to store carrots in the apartment

If the presence of carrots does not arise with the presence of a cellar or a cellar, then it is difficult to keep this root vegetable in an apartment without losing its qualities.

To do this, it is necessary that at least a small area in the apartment meets the requirements that apply to the storage of carrots.

Best of all for this purpose is suitable glazed balcony. And the temperature there should not fall below 0 °. And also on the balcony should not be warm, otherwise the carrot will begin to germinate or rot.

Carrots on the balcony are stored in the same way as in the basement - in boxes of sand, sawdust or in plastic bags.

With a decrease or increase in air temperature, the carrot is transferred to an optimal storage place or it is well wrapped (with slight frosts).

In the refrigerator

The best place to store carrots in the fridge is a box for vegetables.

Carrots should be dry and clean. As practice shows, it is not necessary to wash it. And in some cases, it was washed carrots that spoiled the fastest. The main condition is that it is strong, without damage, and of a sort that is well kept.

Method 1. The roots are folded in a plastic bag. In order for condensate not to accumulate on carrots, it must be cooled, that is, the same temperature as the air in the refrigerator.

Method 2. Carrots can be stored in a plastic container with a lid. To do this, wash the carrot and dry well from moisture, but not allowing it to start to wilt. Several paper napkins are placed on the bottom of the container and carrots are placed on them. Close the lid. Method 3. Many mistresses carrot freeze. Carrots are washed, dried from moisture and cut into convenient pieces for cooking. Then they are put in a plastic bag and frozen.

Mistress of the note

If the carrot in the fridge had a little time to fade, you can try to reanimate it. To do this, from its base cut off the layer, exposing the inner part, and put the cut down into a cup filled with cold water. Leave for 2-3 hours. During this time, carrots should get the former look. But with a very wilted carrot, this number will not work.
If the carrot has become soft, then it is washed, the base and the top are cut and placed in cold water for several hours. Very often, it restores its former shape. But if she faded finally, then nothing would save her.
If you need to keep a small amount of carrots in the refrigerator for a while, then proceed as follows: put the cleaned and washed carrots in a saucepan, pour in cold water, close the lid. If you change the water every day, the carrot will not lose its fresh appearance within 3 days.
A clean and cleaned carrot can be stored in the refrigerator for 1-2 days, if it is covered with a wet towel.

But no matter how the carrots are stored, they need to be periodically checked in order to notice and pick spoiled vegetables from healthy root vegetables.