There is an opinion that white cabbage firmly holds second place in popularity, giving way to potatoes. But how can I say it? In other families, cabbage is the leader. Here, cabbage soup and borscht, dumplings and cabbage rolls, kulebyaki, casseroles and many other dishes are held in high esteem. But how to ensure that fresh vegetables can be eaten before the new harvest? How to store cabbage in an apartment?
The answer is not so simple if there is no cellar, garage, dacha or even an ordinary storage room, which were endowed with multi-storey buildings of the era of N.S. Khrushchev. Most city dwellers have only a balcony and a refrigerator. True, recently freezers have appeared in many apartments, in which many vegetables and fruits can be frozen for a long time. But this is a topic for a separate article. Now let's figure out how to keep cabbage fresh in your apartment.
Selection and preparation of heads of cabbage
Before you start storing cabbage at home, you need to prepare it. Medium-sized forks are best stored, tight, round, slightly flattened. If they went on sale in late autumn, therefore, they belong to late-ripening varieties intended for long-term storage. But there is a catch here too. Loose specimens (even from late hybrids) are not suitable for storage. Early and mid-ripening varieties are also not suitable. Their savings period is limited to a maximum of three months.
But not only the variety plays a role in the shelf life of fresh vegetables. Before harvesting, each fork must be carefully inspected. If cracks or damage from pests are found, they should be put aside and consumed as soon as possible. Be sure to cut off the remaining stems. The stronger the better. After all, during long-term storage, cabbage begins to grow - it forms small heads of cabbage or puts out flower stalks.
The cover leaves are also removed, leaving no more than a couple of leaves on the head of cabbage. It must be remembered that these green leaves protect the forks from damage. Therefore, there is no need to peel the cabbage until it is white. You should get smooth and beautiful heads of cabbage with several covering leaves.
Also, be sure to wash the forks in running cool water. Water should be supplied under pressure to wash away stuck insects and remaining soil or sand. A shower is best suited for this purpose. Then the heads of cabbage are wiped with a cloth, or a waffle towel, so that no moisture remains. This is the basis of how to preserve cabbage for the winter.
Storage at home temperature
The issue of storing cabbage at home interests many. After all, not every thrifty person has a cellar. What if there is no refrigerator? Room temperature is far from the best condition for preserving cabbage. In this case, the vegetable will quickly lose its appearance and deteriorate, so its shelf life is significantly reduced.
At home, you can save cabbage on a well-insulated balcony or in a pantry. The vegetable can be left unchanged, or it can be wrapped in paper or plastic to protect it from external influences.
When storing in this way, do not place the forks tightly together; there should be a small distance between them to ensure air circulation. At home temperature, the shelf life of cabbage is 4-6 months. The temperature should not be higher than +15 °C.
But in the cellar cabbage (late varieties) can last from 6 to 7 months. Early varieties can be stored for no more than 3 months.
Refrigerator comes first
For residents of modern urban neighborhoods, refrigerators are the most convenient and accessible place for long-term storage of cabbage. By placing forks in the vegetable compartment, you can be sure that they will not spoil within 3 months. True, over time the vegetable will become lethargic and lose its attractiveness. But if you periodically remove the wilted leaves, you can increase the shelf life.
True, the forks will decrease in size each time. However, if there is no way out, you can store the cabbage in the refrigerator for the winter. With this storage, the heads of cabbage will not lose all their beneficial properties. The set of minerals, vitamins, and nutrients will be preserved.
But you can increase the shelf life if you wrap each fork in protective cling film. Believe me, the entire arsenal of useful substances, beautiful appearance - absolutely everything will last at least 2 times longer. The most important thing is that the vegetable will not cease to be crispy, as if it had just been picked from the garden. This is easy to achieve if you do proper preparation before storing cabbage at home.
By the way, Chinese and Chinese cabbage are only stored in the refrigerator. Karsnokochanka and Savoy also “live” quite well in it. The situation is different with cauliflower, kohlrabi, Brussels sprouts and Romanesco. It is not recommended to keep these types of cabbage in the refrigerator for a long time; they will become stale.
Storing cabbage for the winter: basic rules
From autumn until the next harvest, only late varieties remain fresh, since they have a higher density than early ripening ones and practically do not rot. When harvesting cabbage, choose dense heads without spots, but only those varieties that have high shelf life or the ability to remain fresh for six months or more.
Preparing the vegetable
Harvesting from the garden should only be done on a dry, warm day. Hand cut all the fruits, remove the soil from the stem but do not wash them, then sort. Remove damaged sheets, but do not tear off all the top sheets completely, leave them to protect the middle from damage.
Features of individual varieties
For each variety you need to prepare a separate container. For example, Brussels sprouts store well in sand or sawdust. It is better to hang cauliflower and others with elastic heads so that there is a constant flow of fresh air. And kohlrabi just need to be wrapped in film or paper and placed on shelves. Fragile varieties - romanesca and broccoli - must be handled with care and are best stored separately in drawers or boxes.
Storage space
To store the crop, you need to select a place that will be dry, cool and dark. Such conditions are optimally met in the following places:
- cellar;
- basement;
- cold pantry;
- underground;
- garage;
- balcony.
The cellar and underground are best suited; they are designed for long-term storage of vegetables.
How to prepare the room
Before you make comfortable shelves or a beam for hanging, you need to treat the room with limestone whitewash to remove fungus and mold. It is also necessary to establish a constant ventilation system and make pallets at a height of 10 cm from the floor to place boxes and boxes of vegetables on them.
Storage conditions
Recommended temperature is from 0°C to 5°C, with a relative humidity of 70%. As a rule, in an equipped dry cellar or basement with constant ventilation, these conditions are met. In an apartment, you can store cabbage for the winter on a glassed-in loggia or balcony next to other products.
Is it possible to store cabbage in sand?
If you comply with all the conditions recommended in the article, you can store cabbage in this way. However, for this you need to order pure river sand from a quarry, without impurities. A street one that was stored in the yard is not suitable for such a purpose. Also avoid pets from accessing the cabbage storage area in the sand.
On a note! Sand cannot be replaced with cat litter.
Balcony as storage for vegetables
The main disadvantage of storing vegetables in the refrigerator is that there is not enough space. Even the most spacious can accommodate no more than ten heads of cabbage. In addition, there are other products that are placed in vegetable chambers. A loggia or balcony can be a salvation if they are glazed and sufficiently insulated.
Storing cabbage on the balcony is a great option. You couldn't find a better place in the apartment. Typically, a lockable cabinet with shelving is installed for these purposes. The heads of cabbage are wrapped in paper or cling film and placed in one row so that there is a small space between the forks. Newspapers should not be used as they contain ink containing harmful substances. Another rule is that you cannot store cabbage on the balcony in winter if the air temperature on the balcony drops to sub-zero values.
You need to check vegetables monthly and remove forks that show signs of rotting. In the spring, such a check should be carried out weekly, or more often. Beijing, as well as Romanesco and broccoli cannot be stored on the balcony. This cabbage here will quickly become unusable due to temperature changes.
Saving other types of cabbage
Peking cabbage at home can only be stored in the refrigerator. It needs to be wrapped in cellophane and sent to the vegetable department. You can also store kohlrabi cabbage in the refrigerator. However, she is not able to lie like that all winter. This type of cabbage “goes stale” very quickly, so it has a minimal fresh shelf life.
Broccoli can only be stored in the refrigerator for a very short time, and its storage method is not the same as others. It is forbidden to wash broccoli before placing it in the refrigerator; it is better to do this immediately before use. In this case, follow these steps:
- Place each unit in a separate bag. Don't close it.
- Place a damp cloth in the bottom of the vegetable drawer in the refrigerator.
- Place opened bags of broccoli on a cloth.
This creates increased humidity in the storage area, allowing the broccoli to last longer. Remember that storing cabbage in the refrigerator, wrapped in plastic, is the most reliable way, and at home temperature it is the most carefree.
Kohlrabi can be stored in the refrigerator for about a month, Chinese cabbage and broccoli - for a maximum of 15 days. Frozen cabbage of any type can be stored for up to 10 months, and dried cabbage for up to 12 months.
To keep cabbage in polyethylene longer, check for condensation inside the film. If droplets of water appear between the cellophane and the head of cabbage, change the cling film. To do this, you need to unwrap the cabbage, throw away the plastic, dry the cabbage and wrap it in new film. Do this every time condensation appears.
Or maybe it’s still a storage room?
If the apartment has a small pantry, you can equip it with cabbage storage. Only the pantry should not be in the kitchen. It is better if it is in the corridor, closer to the front door. The ideal location for a storage room would be a stairwell.
To store the pantry, forks with a well-cut stalk are carefully covered with cling film, and always in several layers. When wrapping, you need to press the film into the head of cabbage to remove excess air. When inspecting the heads of cabbage, which must be done at least once every 10 days, remove the rotten leaves and re-wrap the leaves with film. This is the simplest method for storing cabbage in an apartment. But in modern residential high-rises such storage rooms are not provided.
Process Features
It is wrong to think that cabbage can only be stored in the cellar, although this is where ideal conditions have been created for it. In fact, vegetables overwinter on the balcony, in the refrigerator, in garages. Sometimes they are even buried in the ground.
At home
At home, cabbage can be stored in the refrigerator, in the vegetable rack. However, it will not be possible to place more than 2-4 forks in the box.
You can freeze cauliflower and savoy cabbage. White cabbage is placed in the freezer only after pre-processing: stewed or pickled.
Fresh heads of cabbage do not tolerate sudden cooling; after thawing, their leaves become soft and lose their taste. If you leave cabbage in your apartment, it will begin to spoil within 7-9 days.
Another place to store fresh forks is the balcony . It must be glazed. Otherwise, the vegetables will freeze. On the loggia they are stored in foam-insulated boxes, which are covered with blankets or old jackets on top.
An important condition for storing cabbage on the balcony is maintaining a stable temperature. If constant changes occur, the vegetables will quickly begin to deteriorate. Read more here.
In the cellar or basement
You can store cabbage in the cellar or basement until it warms up. The room must be clean and ventilated once a month. Place the heads of cabbage in any available way: hang them by stumps or put them in boxes.
It is recommended to insulate the forks by wrapping them in any available material, such as cling film or baking paper. They should not touch each other. In general, the smaller the area of contact between the cabbage and the surface, the better.
In winter, you need to periodically check your vegetables. If signs of rot are found, spoiled specimens are removed so that they do not infect healthy vegetables. Read more about storing cabbage in the cellar here.
In the garage
If the garage does not have a cellar, you can simply store cabbage on shelves or racks.
An unheated room freezes, so the heads of cabbage should be placed as high as possible from the floor . They must be wrapped in film and covered with blankets.
If the garage is heated, then you can lay out the cabbage on racks 20-30 cm high from the floor. Another option is to hang vegetables by their roots. It is necessary to ensure that the air temperature in the room does not rise above +8 degrees. Otherwise, the heads of cabbage will not go into “sleep mode” and will quickly deteriorate.
Plastic film helps protect vegetables from moisture loss , since it is difficult to achieve 95% air humidity in a garage.
In a pit in winter
If you protect vegetables from moisture and pests, and provide good ventilation, they will be stored well in the ground.
This method of storage requires time and physical effort, but cabbage from the pit remains fresh until the summer. To repel rodents, cover the trench with spruce branches, or spread poison around it.
Features of laying vegetables in a hole:
- In a suitable place, dig a trench 60 cm deep and 40 cm wide.
- The bottom of the pit is sprinkled with sand, and several poles are placed on top.
- The forks are placed in a trench in 1-2 layers, with the stumps facing up.
- Every 3 m a tube is installed that will provide ventilation to the pit.
- Fill the hole with sand or dry straw. In this case, you need to make sure that the material does not get into the tube.
- The top of the trench is sprinkled with a layer of clay 10 cm thick, after which up to 20 cm of soil is added. The clay will prevent moisture from penetrating inside, and the soil will protect the forks from frost.
- Additionally, the trench is covered with roofing felt or slate, making sure that the ventilation holes remain open.
- When enough snow has fallen, it is thrown over the trench to improve its thermal insulation.
How long can cabbage be stored in an apartment?
A piece of white cabbage that is not prepared for long-term storage, that is, not wrapped in a paper bag or wrapped in cling film, can be stored at room temperature for no more than seven days. Storing cabbage on the balcony, subject to all the above recommendations, will give you the opportunity to eat fresh produce until June.
Remember
Cabbage in film can be preserved for five months. When frozen, it stays fresh for about 10 months. The shelf life of dried vegetables is one year. In a dry, ventilated pantry, cabbage wrapped in cling film can be stored for several months.
The main thing is to preserve cabbage in an apartment for the winter, you need to understand that this is possible at a constant temperature from minus 1 degree to plus 5 degrees Celsius. Humidity at low temperatures can reach 95 percent, at high temperatures - 80 percent. Of course, it is almost impossible to achieve such values (the refrigerator does not count), and therefore it is better not to store white cabbage for a long time.
Other types of cabbage may not remain in the refrigerator for long. For example, the shelf life of broccoli, cauliflower and peking broccoli is only a couple of weeks. Kohlrabi, however, takes a little longer - 30 days.
How long to store
Forks of white cabbage that were not previously wrapped in paper or film will spoil after a week in a warm room.
In dry, cool places with good ventilation, forks without damage, wrapped in film, can be stored for 3 to 6 months. And in the freezer - up to 10 months.
The shelf life of dried cabbage is 12 months.
Other types of this vegetable have shorter shelf life. If we are talking about broccoli, cauliflower or Peking broccoli, these vegetables can maintain their quality for no longer than 15 days. Kohlrabi can stay fresh a little longer - up to 1 month.
How long cabbage can be stored will depend on many reasons. In this case, the variety of vegetable crop, its initial state and storage conditions are of great importance. But those who know how to properly store cabbage in winter can safely grow it in their own plot and use it until the next harvest.
How to store cabbage in the refrigerator? How long can she stay in a cold place? You will find answers to these and other questions in the article. Cabbage is a food that everyone loves. It is familiar, relatively cheap, and extremely common. Cabbage is suitable for pickling, stewing, baking delicious casseroles, and making first courses. That’s why every modern housewife wants to know how to store cabbage correctly in the refrigerator. We will find out all the nuances of this process below.
Useful tips
- When preparing small heads of cabbage for storage, it is recommended to soak each fork in salt water for about a quarter of an hour. Then the head of cabbage is dried with a towel. This rids the product of insects and completely disinfects it.
- Regular inspection of vegetables is necessary. If you find that the leaves begin to lose their color and darken, you need to urgently remove the paper or film from the leaves. After carefully cutting off the rotten leaves, you should wrap the cabbage again.
- If you see that cabbage is losing its appearance, it is better to ferment it or prepare some kind of preserved food.
Now you know how to store cabbage in your apartment. Try these methods and share your own successes. If you have any questions, ask them in the comments.
How to store cabbage at home in winter? — 8 ways
Every housewife has secrets on how to most effectively and efficiently preserve juicy forks until spring. Below we will consider in detail a selection of such proven “secrets”.
Video:
Ideally, the vegetable should be stored separately from other vegetables. Of course, this doesn’t always work out this way, since due to the rather limited space, it has to be laid out next to the vegetables. Good neighbors for cabbage are carrots, potatoes, and beets. But the heads of cabbage need to be laid out on top of these vegetables, and the heads, moreover, should not touch each other.
In polyethylene film
First, in order to avoid the plant from sprouting, the stalk of the head of cabbage being prepared is cut off at the level of the upper leaves. Then wrap this head of cabbage two or three times on all sides using a roll of cling film (preference is given to a wide roll). At the same time, be sure to ensure that there is no air left anywhere and that the film fits tightly on all sides.
Photo: https://specprominvest.ru/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/742aa5dda5b9aa995809f87e880d867b.jpg
Next, the cabbage is placed in the cellar: either simply with the stalk facing up, or by placing it in a plastic bag and hanging it on a clove. This method is good because there is no air access to the product under the film, and therefore it does not deteriorate.
Must be taken into account! There should be no condensation under the film, and the temperature in the basement should be approximately the same level.
In paper
Having picked all the dry and green leaves, the forks are tightly wrapped in 2 layers of newspaper. This cabbage head is stored with the stalk facing down. Lay out on potatoes or on shelves on top of jars with winter preparations. At the same time, the main thing is that the heads of cabbage do not touch each other.
In boxes
This is the easiest way. In boxes, forks are laid in no more than 1-2 layers. You need to use wooden boxes that have holes for ventilation. Of course, this method can hardly be called reliable. The heads of cabbage touching each other still begin to deteriorate, which is why they are turned over and checked from time to time. Temperature conditions must also be appropriate.
In clay
To preserve cabbage in winter, some gardeners prefer to coat it with clay. Undoubtedly, this method is quite labor-intensive, but what can you do to ensure that the vegetable is well preserved until spring. To do this, the clay is diluted with water to a pasty state and coated with each fork, and then left to dry completely.
Tying cabbage heads
We remove all excess leaves from the cabbage head and leave a root about 7-10 cm long. Next, we tie this root with a rope or bandage and hang the head.
Burying in the sand
When harvesting a vegetable, resorting to this method of saving, the stalk is left along with the roots, only after clearing it of any remaining soil. The heads selected for wintering are buried with a stalk in dry sand (the root should be completely hidden) and compacted well. With this method, a dry cellar is the key to good winter storage of cabbage.
On the grid
This method is quite common. The prepared heads are placed one at a time in nets (for example, you can use those in which potatoes, peppers, and cabbage are sold). Then it is suspended in the underground opposite the ventilation hole, since in this place the temperature will be slightly lower compared to the room itself.
Homemade cabbage storage
Of course, if you don’t have a cellar or basement, then saving a few cabbage heads will be quite difficult. But, if you have a balcony, this vegetable can be stored in the same boxes that are designed for storing potatoes.
Photo: https://fermilon.ru/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/6-6.jpg
A couple of forks can be placed in a household refrigerator, tightly wrapped in paper or film, and stored in the vegetable compartment. But you need to inspect the forks often, since the condensation that forms spoils the cabbage very quickly.
Another rather unusual way to store vegetables in winter is to bury them in a hole in your garden bed. To do this, you need to dig a hole up to 1 meter deep, and pour a layer of sand on its bottom. It is necessary not to cut it off, as usual, but to dig it up entirely with roots. Such heads of cabbage are placed in a hole with their roots up and sprinkled with earth on top. Then the entire pit is thoroughly covered with straw or manure for the winter.
As you can see, in such situations, in the absence of a cellar, it is still better to buy cabbage only in the required quantity and use it for food immediately.
Required storage conditions
You can store cabbage in almost any room - in an insulated loggia, garage, basement, cellar and specially equipped storage. However, it is necessary that suitable conditions be created there. White cabbage is particularly demanding on the temperature regime, which must be stable, without changes.
According to the standards, the following conditions are required:
- Temperature in the range 0…+2 °C.
- Air humidity is within 95%.
- Balanced gas composition of air: 80% oxygen and 20% carbon dioxide.
The gas composition is regulated by the ventilation system. If you create good supply and exhaust ventilation and regulate it, you can store cabbage until the end of winter, and the amount of vitamins in it will remain virtually unchanged.
Raising and lowering the temperature in the storage facility is unacceptable. Even slightly frozen cabbage loses its taste and becomes unsuitable for food. Higher temperatures provoke the development of fungi and bacteria, and the heads of cabbage begin to rot. Therefore, it is advisable to have a thermometer in the storage that can be used to monitor the microclimate. Control is necessary throughout the entire shelf life of cabbage.
Remember that at room temperature the heads of cabbage last no more than a week, whereas with the value indicated above you can achieve a shelf life of 8 months, that is, almost until a new harvest of early varieties. In this case, the forks will look like they were just cut from the stem - juicy, elastic, crispy.
Storage methods in the apartment
There are no conditions suitable for cabbage in the apartment; if you leave the vegetable in the kitchen, even under the sink, you can be upset after a week. Large volumes of harvest cannot be preserved in such a microclimate, but 2-3 forks can be saved, at least for several months. Various devices are used for this.
In a refrigerator
This is the most reliable way to store cabbage in an apartment. In special boxes, the optimum temperature and humidity for the cabbage is maintained. True, there are fluctuations in these parameters, and therefore the forks will not last as long as we would like - a month or two. You can increase this period if you wrap each head of cabbage in cling film, so the cabbage will be stored for 3-4 months. Periodically it needs to be inspected and the fading leaves should be picked off. Cauliflower and Brussels sprouts cannot be stored this way; they spoil from the cold and become stale.
The second option is freezing. Freeze pre-chopped blanched or fresh cabbage. In this form, the vegetable can be stored for up to a year, but the taste is seriously deteriorated. In addition, cabbage changes color, ceases to be crispy, is more suitable for preparing first and second courses, and is not suitable for salads.
If you choose to freeze, divide the cabbage into portions. She does not like systematic freezing/thawing, so portion freezing is preferable.
Storage in a thermal box
Cabbage will not lie on a balcony or loggia - it will either rot or freeze. However, here you can put a thermal box, made by yourself or bought in a store. The second option is preferable - the device is equipped with a thermostat and can maintain the set temperature inside, even when it is -30 °C outside.
The principle of storing cabbage in a thermal box is the same as in a cellar. The cabbage is pre-wrapped in paper or cling film and placed with the stalks facing up. Depending on the size of the thermal box, you can hide up to 10-15 heads of cabbage and store them until spring. The only condition is that once a month you need to carry out an audit, removing spoiled copies.
Do not wrap cabbage in newspapers - the lead contained in the paint can be absorbed by the leaves and accumulate in them. It is better to use paper napkins, towels, and cling film.
In the storerooms
In apartments of old construction, until approximately the second half of the 60s of the last century, storage rooms were provided. They were located near the front door or under the window sill and were a niche closed with doors. You can also store white cabbage here, but it is first wrapped in cling film, from under which the air is expelled.
Remember that pantries are not a substitute for a refrigerator or basement. Vegetables are stored worse here; after 2-3 weeks they may be unsuitable for food.
Dried
If there is a lot of cabbage, then it is better to dry it for storage in the apartment. At the same time, all nutrients are preserved, and the product can be used to prepare a variety of dishes.
You can dry cabbage in the following way:
- Grind, place on a baking sheet, placing parchment paper underneath.
- Preheat the oven to 50-100 °C.
- Place the baking sheet inside and leave the door slightly open.
Readiness can be determined by the color and condition of the cabbage - it turns pale yellow and does not release juice when squeezed. At the same time, it should not break.
You can store dried white cabbage in glass jars or fabric bags for 1-2 years. The main thing is that the product does not become moldy. This may be due to insufficient drying or due to high humidity in the room.
