How can you keep radishes fresh for the winter?

How to store fresh radishes in the refrigerator

Radishes cannot be stored at room temperature. It turns into something soft, wrinkled, moisture is lost, and the color of the skin changes. Stuffing it in the refrigerator will help temporarily. Under suitable conditions, elasticity, taste, and original properties can be preserved for up to 5-7 days.

Storage instructions:

1. We cut off the ends and tails so that they do not attract moisture.
2. Place in a tight plastic bag.
3. Let's tie it up. We immediately make holes; 5-6 punctures with a toothpick are enough.
4. We send it to the vegetable compartment. We check daily. We take out missing copies and throw them away.

Do you freeze radishes for the winter?
Not really

You can freeze radishes in a bag or in containers with water. The root vegetable is cut into pieces and grated. The maximum shelf life is 3 months, it is important to maintain the temperature as low as possible.

How to preserve the autumn radish harvest

Late varieties of crispy beauty, if desired and necessary, can be stored in the refrigerator throughout the winter. Experienced gardeners use several methods for this:

1. In sand. If you have extra space on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator, you can easily store a few root vegetables until spring to prepare a holiday salad, for example, on March 8th. To do this, the radishes must be partially peeled from the tops, leaving the roots intact, placed in rows in a plastic box and covered tightly with moistened sand.
2. In water. Reviews about this storage method vary greatly. On the one hand, it ensures the elasticity and juiciness of the fruit for at least a month. On the other hand, vegetables preserved in this way rapidly lose their nutritional and taste qualities. To try this option in action, you need to clean the radishes from dirt, cut off the leaves and tails and place the prepared fruits in a jar of cold boiled water. The water should be changed once a week, and the container should be kept tightly closed in the refrigerator door or bottom drawer.
3. Dried. The method for root vegetables is quite unusual, and doubly so for such a juicy vegetable. Radishes are cut into slices, boiled in salted water and drained through a colander. The resulting pieces are dried in the oven until a dense crust is obtained and the mass is reduced by 4-5 times. Store the preparation in a linen bag in the section of the refrigerator that is most suitable for storing fresh vegetables.

They also ferment radishes. To do this, you will need spices and herbs usually used for fermenting cucumbers or tomatoes: horseradish, garlic, dill, hot pepper and black peppercorns. Prepared turnips are poured with brine prepared at the rate of 1 tablespoon of salt per 500 milliliters of water. The container with vegetables is left at room temperature for several days. The radishes are tasted periodically and, when the desired taste is achieved, placed in the refrigerator.

As you can see, there are quite a lot of ways to store representatives of the numerous radish family. But what you definitely shouldn’t do is freeze the harvest. Radishes are a product characterized by a high water content. When frozen, its cells enlarge and burst, thus destroying the structure of the fetus. Thawed radishes, unfortunately, will turn into dried out tails and a puddle of water. So there is no point in using the freezer to store any kind of this seasonal treat.

How to freeze fresh radishes for the winter

The main problem with freezing is the high water content of radishes. When the temperature drops, crystals form, they rupture the cells, and the structure changes. After defrosting, the radish stops crunching, becomes soft, watery, and loses its elasticity.

Freezing at low temperatures -30-40 degrees will help avoid problems. Only home freezers do not support such parameters. The temperature in modern models is -24 degrees. We'll tell you how to freeze radishes fresh for the winter in the refrigerator with minimal loss of properties.

How to prepare radishes for freezing

It is advisable to freeze homemade crops. This is done immediately after collection. It makes no sense to freeze limp, darkened vegetables or fruits that have been lying around for several days. They have already lost some of their taste and have lost their beneficial properties.

Preparation instructions:

1. Rinse under the tap.
2. Cut off the tops and roots.
3. Cut, grate.

You should not freeze radishes whole. The longer the cooling takes place, the worse the output product is. In addition, the slices can be immediately placed into a dish without allowing them to melt.

Storage containers

Freezing is easy - put it in the chamber, turn on the minimum temperature. It’s even better to freeze using the special fast “No Frost” mode. Only the product needs to be pre-packaged.

Suitable container:

• tight bags;
• plastic containers;
• Vacuum bags.

Not suitable:

• foil;
• parchment;
• cling film.

Do not freeze or store in an open container. The product must be protected from oxygen and foreign odors. When choosing plastic bags, we give preference to dense types. Thin bags are not suitable.

Freezing and storing radishes for the winter

How to freeze correctly:

• in packages. We fall asleep in small portions and squeeze out the air. Next, tie it up and put it in the freezer;
• in bulk. Place it on a board, freeze it, then pour it into a container or bag. Housewives use this method to prevent the pieces from sticking together;

• in water. The radishes are poured with ice water, covered, and put into the chamber. We recommend freezing in large pieces;
• cubes. This method is convenient for freezing grated radishes. Fill the ice trays with shavings and place them in the freezer. After freezing, put it in a bag and tie it.

It is convenient to freeze chopped root vegetables mixed with herbs. Usually mixed with dill and onion feathers. Parsley is not your best friend. Products interfere with each other's taste.

Features of radish storage

Juicy, crispy radishes can be stored for a long time if certain conditions are met - in the refrigerator, cellar and freezer. Radishes are stored dry, wet and by freezing. Before storing, the fruits are cleared of soil. Healthy, undamaged vegetables are placed for storage.

Dry method

How to store radishes dry? Vegetables keep well in a bag in the refrigerator. To do this, remove the greens from the root crops, leaving 2-3 cm. The roots are left. The radishes are washed with running water, blotted with a towel and placed in a plastic bag. To ensure air access, it is not recommended to tie the bag. Small holes are made in several places so that the root vegetables do not suffocate. This method keeps radishes crisp and juicy for 10-14 days.

You can store vegetables in a plastic container or pan. To do this, remove the tops of root crops and place them in prepared containers in layers, sprinkling each layer with wet, clean sand or sawdust. The container with radishes is placed in the vegetable storage compartment in the refrigerator. This method allows you to store radishes for four months. The Dungan and Red Giant varieties can be stored until spring.

Let us now tell you how radishes with tops are stored. The radishes are tied into a bunch, cleared of soil without washing them, and then placed in a bag. To prevent root crops from wilting, the tops are periodically moistened. These radishes can be stored for 7-9 days on the vegetable shelf of the refrigerator.

Radishes are well stored in the cellar, where there is always high humidity and low air temperature. In the cellar, root vegetables do not spoil until the end of winter.

Vegetables are placed in layers in a wooden or plastic box. The collected radishes are not washed, only cleaned of soil, the tops are removed, leaving 2-3 cm of greenery. Slightly moistened sand or sawdust is poured into the bottom of the container, and radishes are laid on top. Then the radishes are completely covered with a layer of sand or sawdust. So the layers alternate until the top of the box.

Important! The top layer should be sand or sawdust.

During storage, make sure that the sand layer does not dry out; it must be periodically moistened.

Wet storage

Wet storage of the harvested crop is provided in several ways:

1. Pour some cold water into a bowl and place the radishes so that the roots are in the water. The bowl is placed in the refrigerator, the tops are periodically moistened. In a bowl, radishes will keep fresh for 7-9 days. With this storage method, you can remove the tops, leaving small tails. It is important that the roots remain in the water.
2. Pour some water into the bottom of the jar. The radishes are washed and the tops are cut off. Vegetables are placed in a jar and covered with a lid. In this case, the moisture will not evaporate and the fruits will remain elastic. This method allows you to store radishes for a week.
3. Washed vegetables with cut tops are placed in a jar and filled completely with water. The jar of vegetables is stored in the refrigerator. The water is changed every 3 days. This method allows you to store radishes for 30-40 days.
4. The radishes are washed and the tops are trimmed. Wet vegetables are placed in a plastic bag and tied. The bag of radishes is placed in the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator. Use a transparent bag to ensure that the vegetables do not spoil. Radishes are stored in a bag for 7-10 days.

How long can radishes be stored in the freezer?

Without loss of properties and quality, the product will only be stored for a week at a temperature not exceeding -30 degrees. At home, even at the lowest setting, the product will begin to change. The shelf life does not exceed 2-3 months. A prerequisite is sealed containers and constant temperature conditions. It is unacceptable to subject it to fluctuations, take it out into a warm place, or refreeze it again.

Cooking frozen radishes

How to properly store radishes

Before you can keep radishes fresh for a long time, they must be properly harvested. For example, if the tops and roots are cut off while harvesting, it will spoil within 5 hours. Experienced gardeners water the radish crop in the evening and harvest it in the morning, cutting off the tops 2 cm from the root crop. You can harvest at other times of the day, but 3 hours before harvesting you need to water the radish bed.

Correctly picked radishes can be stored at temperatures up to 2-4°C for up to 15 days. The shelf life of store-bought radishes, of course, will be much shorter than the shelf life of homemade radishes.

In addition, it is better not to leave large root vegetables for storage. Thus, if you collect and store radishes for the winter correctly, you can eat them for a very long time. Now let's take a closer look at how to store radishes in the refrigerator.

How to defrost radishes correctly

Watery radishes cannot be thawed without losing moisture. There will definitely be a puddle under the vegetable. The amount of losses directly depends on the ambient temperature. Do not leave in a warm place. A refrigerator is ideal. Place on a shelf and let sit for 5-6 hours. Slow thawing will help preserve the properties of the root vegetable.

For many dishes, defrosting the radishes is not necessary. Or they let it melt slightly, then immediately add it to salads or okroshka. In solid form it is more convenient to cut. A thawed vegetable will not produce neat pieces.

What to cook from frozen radishes

There are not many options for using frozen root vegetables. However, a fresh vegetable also does not require preparing hundreds of dishes. The easiest way is to add it to okroshka. At the same time, we do not allow the vegetable to thaw completely. Immediately add the grated mixture to the cold soup, stir, and let stand for a while. Let's look at a couple of interesting recipes.

Beetroot soup on kefir with radishes

The simplest cold soup recipe. The dish is a storehouse of useful substances, used for weight loss, cleansing the intestines, and replenishing vitamin deficiencies.

Ingredients:

• 1 boiled beets;
• 0.5 l of kefir;
• 50 g frozen radish;

• 1 cucumber;
• salt, dill;
• 1 egg.

Step-by-step cooking instructions:

1. Cut beets, cucumbers, radishes into small cubes or grate.
2. Mix with kefir.
3. Season with salt and dill.
4. For satiety, you can add a boiled egg, an optional ingredient.

For beetroot, you can freeze not only radishes, but also cucumbers and herbs. Beets are available at any time of the year. There is no point in taking up space in the cell.