How to store leeks
Store leeks in the refrigerator for 1-3 months. Not everyone knows how to store leeks, for how long and in what conditions. Although many have already loved its delicate taste and aroma. It is not surprising that some summer residents decided to grow leeks on their own, especially since in terms of yield, it is much superior to the onions familiar to everyone. By the way, the content of vitamins in it is much higher.
In this blog, we will discuss the following steps one by one:
- Storage preparation of leeks
- Storage methods of leeks
- How to Store leeks in the cellar
- How to store leeks on the balcony
- How to store leeks in a refrigerator
- How to store leeks by freezing
- How to store leeks by drying
- How to store green onions
Interesting: the amount of vitamin C in leeks during storage does not decrease, but rather increases, which makes it a particularly welcome guest in the kitchen during the winter season.
This vegetable does not like high temperatures, therefore it is not recommended to store it at room temperature for more than two days. But under the right conditions, the harvest is perfectly preserved for a long time.
Storage preparation of leeks
In the summer, when it is so pleasant to sit in a summerhouse for a vitamin meal, a young onion can be sent to salad or other dishes directly from the garden, but in order to ensure long-term storage of leeks in winter, you need to approach such a task as harvesting with great responsibility.
Each gardener has a clear idea of what varieties of vegetables or fruits ripen in his beds. Leeks are also varied, and there are, respectively, early or late varieties; the date of harvest depends on it. Nevertheless, it should be borne in mind that it is better to have time to remove even the late-ripening bulbs before the first frost, although this culture is considered resistant to low temperatures.
Good to know: if you cover the leek garden with opaque material two weeks before the planned harvest date, its juicy bulbs will acquire a wonderful pearl white hue.
Storage methods of leeks
How to store leeks for the winter in order to preserve their beneficial properties, and in what conditions are juicy bulbs stored in the best way and practically without losses?
The good news: the onion is not too demanding, and absolutely everyone can stock it up in quite a lot.
How to Store leeks in the cellar
We save the onions in the cellar. If there is a well-equipped cellar that is not subject to the raids of gluttonous rodents and is treated with special agents against mold and rot, then most of all vegetable stocks will most likely be stored there, and rightly so:
- The onion should be stored for storage immediately after it has been removed from the garden and processed in the manner indicated above.
- To make the leek feel comfortable and stay fresh for six months, you need to take a wooden box, 30 centimeters high, and fill it with 5 cm of sand.
- In the sand at the same distance from each other, we “plant” the prepared bulbs together with the leaves. We fill the “bed” with sand by about 15 cm. That’s it.
- It is highly desirable that the moisture level in the cellar corresponds to about 85%, so the vegetables will not dry out.
Important: the storage of any vegetables involves their regular inspection, as in this case: specimens that have begun to deteriorate must be removed from storage so as not to risk the safety of the rest.
How to store leeks on the balcony
If the balcony is not insulated in any way, then severe frosts will still spoil the supplies, but you can store leeks on the glazed loggia if you wrap the box with a warm blanket.
Note: the optimal temperature for keeping fresh leeks fluctuates at the zero mark of the thermometer (+/- 1 ˚C), but practice shows that on a protected balcony it is able to survive frost down to -7 ˚C
How to store leeks in a refrigerator
How to store onions correctly if there is no cellar or balcony? Simple: keep the onions in the refrigerator!
Cleanly washed fleshy onions can be folded into several (6–8) pieces in plastic bags with holes and sent to that compartment of the refrigerating chamber where the temperature is from 0 to +5 ˚C.
By the way: in order to properly store leeks in the refrigerator, you should still cut off its green leaves by about half.
How to store leeks by freezing
Another option for home storage is freezing. To do this, rinse, dry and cut the onion into slices or pretty strips, arrange in portioned bags and send to the freezer. In frozen form, the stocks will not lose their properties until the next harvest.
Caution: Defrosting and subsequent re-freezing will irreparably spoil the taste and texture of the food.
How to store leeks by drying
Leeks can be oven-dried at 50 ˚C after peeling and slicing them. It is better to store such a blank in a glass jar with a lid, and use it as a seasoning.
How to store green onions
A very popular vegetable! In the filling for pies, in okroshka and vegetable salad, and just a bite with hot borscht or boiled potatoes with salt and butter – it is good everywhere! But, if leeks are well stored for the winter, then the green onion feathers we are used to are not so durable.
Green onions are not so durable, but we are used to seeing them on the table all year round.
How to store green onions when you are lucky enough to have a rich harvest? Alas, this onion is too delicate to keep fresh for a long time. The maximum shelf life of fresh green onions in the refrigerator is up to two weeks, and even then, under certain conditions:
- the onion should be selective, and its green feathers should be strong, even, without damage;
- before sending the product to the refrigerator, it must be sorted out, cleaned from dirt and cut off the roots;
- green onions should not be washed, on the contrary, they must be dried in a ventilated place, but not in the sun;
- dried greens can be divided into several bundles, and each of them can be wrapped in a roll of parchment paper, leaving air access to both tops and roots;
- some use this method: peeled green onions are wrapped in a damp cloth and left to dry completely, after which they are wrapped in cling film.
The difficulty in storing this vegetable lies in its negative reaction to both dryness (feathers wither and dry), and humidity, at which it begins to rot. You have to look for a balance and constantly check the condition of the greenery, sort through and throw away rotten twigs.
Keeping green onions fresh for the winter in their original form is impossible, but sometimes they are frozen in sliced form, and sometimes they are dried and chopped, but this is a completely different story!
Green onions are prized precisely in their fresh state, therefore, having dealt with stocks, everyone can sprout several onions on the windowsill in order to feast on juicy green feathers in winter, without buying them at a store at a high price. And properly preserved leeks will provide us with vitamins and real onion juiciness.
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