6 ways to keep fresh cabbage for the winter

You can store cabbage until spring in different ways: it is placed in boxes or on shelves, covered with sand, suspended. The storage role in most cases is played by a basement or cellar. But in the apartment you can prepare a place to place the harvest. The main thing is to create optimal conditions under which the heads of cabbage will not deteriorate.

Storage conditions

How to store cabbage correctly is described in detail in GOST 28373-94. Subject to all points, it will lie from 4 to 7 months, that is, until the onset of spring.

1. Training. For storage, you can lay whole cabbage with a root or with a trimmed stalk with 2-3 covering sheets. Cutting the root and covering leaves saves space. Vegetables are harvested in dry weather, fully ripe. Only dense forks, not cracked, not rotting, not affected by pests and diseases, are selected for storage. Then the crop is dried.
2. Temperature. It should not go beyond -1 to +2 ° С.
3. Humidity. The optimal level is 90–95%
4. Ventilation. It is necessary for cabbage. Firstly, without air circulation in a humid environment, fungus (mold) actively develops. Secondly, when stored in the room, carbon dioxide accumulates, which harms the harvested vegetables. For air circulation, heads of cabbage are stacked individually or in a loose pile with slices up.
5. Light should not fall on vegetables. With an excess of light, germination is activated.

For long-term storage, only late cabbage varieties are suitable.

How to store cabbage at home?

To preserve the harvest until spring, it is necessary to create optimal conditions for storing cabbage. For better safety at home, they also use different tricks:

• Cling film. Wrapping cabbage with a film allows you to extend its shelf life by 15–20%. The heads are allowed to dry, then each film is wound tightly in 3 layers. For convenience, it is better to use a roll 35–45 cm wide.
• Feed chalk. They rubbed cabbage to absorb excess moisture. If a head of water “sweats” from temperature changes, the chalk absorbs water and prevents the crop from decaying.
• Pyramid of vegetables. To improve ventilation and reduce the risk of damage, the forks are staggered in the form of a pyramid.
• Hanging storage method. Used if the forks were assembled with the root. The cabbage suspended under the ceiling is well ventilated and does not deteriorate for a long time. The root is tied with a rope, and the end is fixed on a nail. It is important that the vegetables do not touch each other.
• Storage in the sand. This method is characterized by minimal crop losses. Its essence is to leave a stalk 8 cm long and how to plant cabbage in the sand, and then sprinkle on top.
• Paper. To increase the shelf life, vegetables are also wrapped with paper (parchment or office white). It protects them from freezing and absorbs excess moisture.

If the cabbage begins to deteriorate, it can be fermented. In a cool place in a barrel, she will quietly stand for 8 months. To do this, the surviving cabbage leaves must be chopped, mixed with carrots, add salt (150 g per 3 kg) and knead. Then sauerkraut should ferment in the heat under oppression for 7-14 days. After that, it can be eaten or stored in the cellar.

Storage space

Store vegetables in the winter, preferably in the basement or cellar. In semi-underground rooms, optimum humidity and temperature. In addition, they can accommodate a lot of vegetables.

If there is no own basement, there are not many options left. Cabbage is stored in the apartment on the balcony or in the pantry.

In the cellar

Here you can store cabbage in all available ways: on a rope, in the sand, a pyramid wrapped in film or paper. But most often it is placed in boxes with holes. The only minus is that the cabbages in the box touch each other, and if one goes bad, the others will begin to rot. It is better to build racks in the cellar, on which each vegetable will lie separately.

Cabbage can not be stored together with vegetables and fruits that produce ethylene. If possible, provide a separate area for cabbage stocks.

On the balcony

Vegetables can only be stored on a glazed and insulated balcony. Otherwise, in the winter they will freeze and deteriorate. For balcony storage it is recommended to wrap cabbage with paper. Then it is laid out in boxes or on racks. The average shelf life is 4 months.

In the pantry

Cabbage can be stored in the pantry provided that it is unheated. Harvest placed in the coolest corner. It is worth wrapping heads in several layers of cling film. This will keep moisture inside the cabbage. It will remain fresh and juicy for 2-3 months.

In fridge

Home refrigerators are not used for long-term storage of cabbage. They have too little space and no ventilation. If the head is fresh and wrapped in film, then it will lie in the refrigerator for 10–20 days, and without a film, its shelf life is limited to 2-3 days. But at the same time, cabbage can be frozen.

• White-haired when frozen, loses its appearance and ceases to crunch, but fully retains the benefit. It is chopped, and then packaged in batches in bags. Billets are used for cooking dishes: borsch, stew and others.
• Color when frozen, cabbage remains fragrant, tasty and healthy. So that it does not darken, before cooling it is disassembled into inflorescences and placed in boiling water for 3 minutes.

Shelf life of frozen cabbage is 9 months.

Which cabbage is best stored?

The keeping quality of vegetables depends on the variety. For long-term storage, only late ripe cabbage is suitable.

• Varieties with a shelf life of up to 7 months: Snow White, Zimovka, Kharkov Winter, Dashkovskaya, Turkis.
• With a shelf life of up to 6 months: Gift, Amager, Gako, Dauerweis.
• With keeping up to 4 months: Nadezhda, Belorusskaya, Winter mushroom, Stone head.

Storage of different types of cabbage

For long-term storage, white and red cabbage are most often laid. They are less whimsical compared to other species.

• Colored is stored in boxes under polyethylene for about 2 weeks. So she lay in the winter, she is being grown in the cellar.
• Beijing quickly withers, so it is lowered into storage in a cling film for storage. In this form, it can lie up to 3 months.
• Kohlrabi best retains freshness at a temperature of 0 ° C and a humidity of 90%. It is placed in a cellar in wooden boxes and sprinkled with wet sand. The maximum shelf life of kohlrabi is 4–5 months.

Preserving cabbage until spring is not an easy task. It contains a lot of moisture and therefore deteriorates quickly enough. It is important to observe all storage conditions, properly remove it and prepare it. Having placed the cabbage heads in storage, check their safety every 10 days. Clean up spoiled immediately. The result is undoubtedly worth the effort. A tasty and healthy vegetable will delight the family in winter and spring until the new harvest.