How to Store Chicory? Also Freezing?
How long you can store chicory depends a bit on the condition in which you buy the chicory. If the chicory has been in the store for a while, you can also store it a little shorter. So pay attention to whether they still look clear and fresh.
How to store chicory?
This can be done in the following ways:
- Chicory can be kept in the refrigerator for 1 week if you have bought fresh stalks of chicory.
- You can keep chicory in the freezer for about a year.
- In the fruit bowl or in a pantry you can keep chicory and a few days.
Chicory or Chicory, it depends on who is reading this. In Belgium, it is said with chicory and in the Netherlands, it is said with chicory. One and the same vegetable! I like chicory. What is the best way to store chicory? You can read that in the article.
Store chicory
Once you have bought fresh chicory, you can keep chicory in the fridge for a week. There are some conditions attached to this if you really want to keep them good for seven days.
First of all, you already check in the store to see if the leaves have no brown edges or if they smell bad and there should be nice yellow tips on the chicory. If they are a bit greenish, they have been in the light for a while. Chicory does not tolerate light very well. They grew up in the dark.
When you have done that, you pay close attention to how they are packed in the refrigerator at home. The closed plastic packaging really needs to be removed. This is the case with almost every vegetable. The plastic suffocates the vegetables and speeds up the rotting process.
If you have to keep it in plastic, make holes so that the chicory can breathe. It is best to put chicory in a paper bag and keep it open.
The position in the refrigerator also determines the shelf life of the chicory. The ideal temperatures in the vegetable drawer are 12 to 15 degrees. Make sure that they do not end up at the bottom of the vegetable drawer with all kinds of things on top of the praise.
Preserving Sliced Raw Chicory
Chicory, what you have cut, cannot be stored very well. It can be kept in the refrigerator drawer for a day or 2. Then you have to put it in a closed container. Chicory discolored, turns brown quickly and the taste and the vitamin diminish.
After you have pre-cut chicory, you can put some lemon juice over the chicory so that it does not discolor. Do rinse again if you are going to cook the chicory. If you are going to eat the chicory raw, it is best to cut it shortly before eating.
Store Boiled Chicory
When you have cooked chicory, and you have leftovers, make sure it goes into a sealed container and then into the vegetable drawer. You can keep this for a day or 2. Always check if it still looks fresh, smell if it smells good, and taste it if you are not familiar with it. Always inspect stored vegetables yourself!
Keep chicory in the freezer
Chicory cannot be completely frozen raw, after thawing it becomes snotty and processing does not look fresh anymore. It is better to blanch chicory first. When blanching, you take out the bitter heart and cut off a piece from the bottom. Then put the chicory in boiling water for 2 minutes. Now drain and scare with cold water. Drain well!
Also Read this: How to store onions
When it is really cold, you can put it in portions in the freezer. See how large you always put the portions on your plate and freeze that amount. Otherwise, you will have to defrost and process a whole clump of chicory and throw it away half because it is too much. You do not have to defrost chicory before use. Frozen and already in the dish you want to make and in the oven. Takes a while before everything is heated up.
Want to store chicory salad?
With a prepared salad with a dressing, the leaves will become limp after an hour or so, even if you put them covered in the refrigerator. The chicory will then become less crispy. In addition, the leaves of the chicory quickly turn brown. The chicory will lose some moisture and this will mix with the dressing. It’s going to look dirty. I would say, brag one more time!
Grilling, braising, baking, steaming, or stir-frying chicory and then storing it
It all comes down to the same thing. If you have applied these techniques without other ingredients, the chicory leaves can be stored in a closed container for another 2 days. They can be kept for 3 months in the freezer.
If you have processed the chicory leaves with other ingredients, it also depends on the ingredients how long these chicory leaves can be kept. In any case, no longer than 2 days, because that is how long the chicory can still be stored in the refrigerator.
They can be kept for another 3 months in the freezer, provided the other ingredients can also be kept for 3 months and can be stored in the freezer.
Preserving chicory?
When you canned chicory, this means that you can store chicory for another year. This requires a lot of technique and time, but it can also be a lot of fun to do.
In short, preserving means that you put boiled chicory in preserving jars or jars that you have boiled yourself (made sterile). After the chicory has been cooked and placed in the bottles, these are tightly closed and put again in boiling water. See recipes for preserving for the correct times and temperatures.
Then they are removed from the boiling water. Now they must be cooled and stored in a dark place. It is important that it is regularly checked whether the chicory does not go moldy in the pots. Especially smell and taste when the bottles open again. If it smells fresh and looks good, I would say: Enjoy your meal!
