How to store onions in winter? Is it possible to freeze onions and how to do it at home Is it possible to use frozen onions

So, you can freeze the "extra" onions.

Only peeled, thoroughly washed onions are suitable for freezing. When peeling an onion, I always put it in cold water to make it less teary.

Put the chopped onion in a bag with a slider fastener. We expel excess air from the bag, be sure to sign our workpiece. Such a note is absolutely necessary. The fact is that onions retain their special taste and aroma for a short time - about two months. It, of course, can be stored for up to six months, but the onion begins to change its structure and lose its specific smell. Therefore, a sticker indicating the date of freezing is an extremely necessary thing.

The remaining onion can be chopped in the usual way - in small cubes. You can use the freezer bag again, or you can put chopped onions into a food container.

Make sure that this container is suitable for freezing. To check if food can be frozen in this container, you need to look for an icon with a snowflake on it - this will mean that the food container can withstand low temperatures.

So, put the onion in a dry and clean container, sign the freeze and send it to the freezer.

Thus, in literally 10 minutes, we saved the peeled onions that were unnecessary at the moment and made ourselves preparations for future dishes. When you need to quickly cook or scrambled eggs with vegetables, it will be enough just to get the frozen onion in half rings. And in frozen form, send it to the pan. When frying, you need to make sure that all excess liquid evaporates.

- a real storehouse of vitamins and nutrients. Plus, it tastes great and serves as an invariable ingredient in a wide variety of dishes. If you follow simple rules, you can freeze this vegetable, making a useful preparation for the winter. After all, this method allows you to maximize the preservation of nutrients in the product. Moreover, it can be immediately used for culinary purposes without resorting to pre-processing, which will shorten the cooking time.

Vegetables intended for long-term storage must be fresh and of good quality. When choosing tubers for freezing, pay attention that there are no traces of mold, stains, softened spots and other defects on them. Selected bulbs must be peeled, rinsed and dried on a waffle towel. However, if you just send the vegetables to the freezer, the experiment will not be successful. The fact is that this culture is poorly friendly with low temperatures and, with a good minus, can become watery and lethargic... Therefore, we bring to your attention some of the most popular and proven by experienced housewives options for how to freeze onions for the winter.

Heat treatment as a way to prepare onions for wintering

For frying, cut the onion into cubes or half rings and simmer it lightly in a little vegetable oil. After that, fold in a colander, pack in a plastic bag. The vegetables can now be safely placed in the freezer. They will surely preserve flavor and density. The advantages of this method of harvesting include the fact that onions fried in vegetable oil do not completely freeze and harden. This can shorten the cooking time, as no preliminary defrosting is required.

In this case, the main thing is not to overdo it, because over-fried foods can also hardly tolerate sub-zero temperatures. By the way, if there is not enough space in your freezer, then you can put the blanched onion in a glass jar in dense layers, close the lid and store it in the refrigerator.

For boiling, cut the peeled onion into cubes. Pour 2 liters of water into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Add a tablespoon of table salt, place the vegetables in a bowl, and blanch for five minutes. Then you should take out the onion, rinse in plenty of cold water. Let the liquid drain, put the workpiece in plastic containers and send to the freezer.

Onions, cut into small cubes, can be put into a bag after heat treatment. At the same time, pay attention to the fact that about two free centimeters remain in the upper part of the bag, because freezing makes this vegetable expand slightly. Close the bag tightly, gently squeeze out the collected air. This is necessary in order to ensure the tightness necessary for high-quality freezing and long-term storage. Using your hands, spread the slices evenly over the surface of the bag, lay out the baking sheet and gently press down on the surface with your palms. With the help of this manipulation, you will not only get rid of excess air, but also save space in the freezer.

Can onions be frozen without heat treatment?

Freezing onions for the winter is possible without thermal exposure, but you will have to resort to minimal pickling. Cut the vegetable into half rings, place in a deep bowl and sprinkle with one to three ratio of table salt. After that, pack the resulting workpiece into the intended containers. Before cooking, the onion rings must be soaked in cold water for 30 minutes so that excess salt comes out.

Onions can be lightly dried in the oven before freezing for the winter. The process will eliminate excess liquid, ensuring long-term preservation of the workpiece. Put the pre-prepared, thoroughly dried and chopped vegetables on a baking sheet greased with sunflower oil, and put it in the oven for five minutes (at a temperature of one hundred and eighty degrees). The product is ready to be frozen.

It is recommended to freeze onions at minus eighteen degrees. Store the workpiece at 5–20 ° C below zero. The maximum period is about six months, however, it is recommended to use the product within two to three months.

Foil can be used. For this preparation, mix the chopped product with herbs and butter. Place the mass on food foil, wrap and crimp to release air. When this sausage freezes, cut it into slices and re-freeze them. They will then serve as the basis for the preparation of second courses, because such a "tablet" contains onions, oil, and herbs.

Also, by freezing, you can save green onions for the winter, which will be useful for decorating dishes and giving them a special summer taste. So, rinse the green feathers, dry them on a wooden board. This is necessary so that the greens do not become clumped during the freezing process. Chop finely after drying. Spread the chopped greens in handfuls in special bags or airtight containers. In order for the preparation to be better stored and tastier, knowledgeable housewives recommend adding a little dill to it. This will allow you to provide your household with fresh herbs without resorting to dried spices, which are of no use.

Defrosting properly and using onions

Such a blank can be used to prepare various culinary dishes - vegetable stews, various soups, minced meat, etc. Such an additive will give food a special taste and aroma, and also saturate it with vitamins and nutrients that are rich in onions. It is not recommended to add frozen vegetables in raw form, without heat treatment. It is impossible to re-freeze the product, since it becomes slippery, lethargic, acquires an unpleasant odor and loses most of its useful properties.

Defrosting can be done by the following methods:

1. In fridge. The process will take quite a long time (up to three hours), but it will preserve the solid consistency of the product and the characteristic aroma.
2. At room temperature. To do this, just leave the workpiece on the table. The speed of the process depends on the temperature of the freezing and storage of the product. It should be noted that in this case the vegetable softens and becomes watery. However, the taste is preserved, so the product can be used in cooking.
3. In the microwave. This option allows you to significantly save time, the process will take no more than five minutes. But if you overdo it, then defrosting can go into the cooking process. To prevent this from happening, set the power indicators of the microwave oven to the lowest mode.
4. In water. It is believed that if frozen onions are placed in a bowl of cold water for several hours before use, then their taste will be exactly the same as that of a fresh vegetable.
5. In some cases, the product is used without defrosting, for example, if you have prepared pre-fried onions.

Onions are not afraid of frost

Onions, carrots are planted and sown early, as soon as there is an opportunity to go into the garden and prepare a garden bed. Onions even like to be planted in cool weather, they endure frosts without loss. The gardeners have already warmed up the onion sets, some on the battery, some on the stove. A lot of different sets are now on sale - round, elongated, ordinary light and red. The most optimal size for sowing onion with a diameter of 1.5–2 cm, it will not go into the arrow and the bulb will grow large. We have well-known varieties suitable for storage - these are Bessonovsky, Strigunovsky, Stuttgarter Riesen, Ermak and some others, including Dutch ones, that grow well in Siberia.

Have you chosen a place for the bow? It should be placed after cucumbers, siderates, parsley, and after peas it is also good. It is important that the soil is well prepared in the fall. Bad predecessors are carrots, tomatoes, onions, garlic. Onions can be returned to the same place on light soils after three years, on heavy soils after five years.

The best soils for onions are loose, fertile. On acidic soils, liming is necessary - since autumn, a pound of fluffy lime per square meter is required for digging. Now you can use wood ash - 100 grams per square meter at the root depth. If the soil is poor, then you need to apply 4–5 kg of humus, but not manure, superphosphate and potassium chloride per square meter, 40–50 grams each, as well as a little ammonium nitrate, two times less than other mineral fertilizers.

Preparation of sevka before planting, in addition to warming up, includes several more simple operations. Sevok is carefully examined and sorted into fractions: the smallest - 1 cm in diameter, medium - 1.5-2 cm, large - more than 2.5 cm. Each fraction must be prepared for planting and planted separately so that the plants develop equally and evenly.

In Siberia, onions on a turnip grow better at early planting dates, because this plant is a long day. It ripens, as you know, at the end of July. If you are late with planting, then the formation of bulbs is shifted to August, when daylight hours noticeably decrease, the nights become colder. The bulbs do not fill well, do not have time to ripen and are poorly stored. And the thick, raw neck of the onion is affected by rot.

Planting begins with a small fraction of the seed, it takes more time to form a large bulb. As soon as the soil at a depth of 5 cm warms up to plus five, you can plant. Such a low temperature is favorable for root development. When the temperature rises to plus ten, increased growth of roots and leaves begins. The medium and large fractions can be planted three or four days later, but no longer linger. Warming of the soil and air inhibits the development of the root system and stimulates the growth of leaves. Growing up, they require more and more nutrition, but the roots have not grown. So the first days of May are the most favorable time.

Do not forget about such a procedure as soaking the seedlings 10-12 hours before planting. This has a positive effect on development and growth. Soak in a weak solution of potassium permanganate and just in water at room temperature.

Soaking is also important because when stored at home, thrips often attack the sevok. And soaking will speed up their death. Nematodes can also appear in the set.

You can see this pest, or rather, its harmful effects, only during harvesting, and even if you examine each bulb. In the affected, the bottom cracks, turns inside out, the smell is unpleasant. Damaged bulbs should not be scattered; usually they are immediately placed in buckets and burned or poured with boiling water.

An important point is how to avoid shooting. It depends on the storage method. Usually small 1 cm diameter sets cannot be shot. The big one is inclined to it. It should be planted in soil with a temperature above plus 12. If arrows appear, break them out as early as possible, as soon as you notice a swelling at the bottom, almost at the very bottom.

And one more serious remark. Usually gardeners cut off the dried feather residue at the very neck of the set before planting, as this stimulates faster regrowth of leaves, and not roots. And it is necessary that the root system first grows and strengthens.

It seems to be a pleasure to plant sevok. But it happens that there are no shoots for a long time, and then the bulb grows poorly. Or you come to the site, and the sevok is all out - he pushed himself out of the soil, as it were - the roots grow quickly. So the landing was shallow.

Make grooves in advance, spill them, the depth is 4–5 cm from the soil surface for sowing the middle fraction. Small enough depth of 3 cm, and large - two heights of the sevka. That is, up to 5-6 cm. The distance between rows is 25 cm, and in rows 8, 10, 15 cm - depending on the size of the seed. After spreading the seedlings, fill in the grooves, slightly compacting the soil. It is very useful to mulch the beds with peat or humus. It will protect from onion flies not only mulch with peat, but also a thin covering material, and also retain moisture. Friendly shoots of healthy plants will appear.

Apples and pears

Many summer residents store their crops on balconies before the onset of cold weather. But when exactly should potatoes, carrots, beets, onions, apples and pears be transferred to a warm place so that they do not deteriorate? Should I do it right after the first frost or can I wait a little longer?

If the balcony is not insulated, then as soon as the thermometer starts to show a negative temperature, apples and pears need to be transferred to the apartment, because they will deteriorate, - says Vitaly VASEKHA, senior researcher at the Institute of Fruit Growing. - You can put a jar of water on the balcony: as soon as you see that the water has begun to freeze, take away the fruits, otherwise they will freeze and become loose, lose their taste. On an insulated balcony, crops can be stored all winter. The optimum temperature for storing apples is +2 - +4 degrees, for pears +1 - +3.

In an apartment, it is best to store apples in the refrigerator, separately from vegetables, but since there is often no place for them there, put them in boxes or nets that allow air to pass through, and put them in the coolest place, away from batteries. Never store apples and pears in plastic bags, as you will noticeably shorten their shelf life. In an apartment at a temperature of +18 - +20 degrees, fruits can be stored for about a month. Part of the apples can be frozen by cutting them into pieces to cook compotes from them in winter.

Potato

One of the most convenient options is to make an insulated box for storing potatoes on the balcony. If it is not there, then in the absence of a basement or cellar, you will have to look for a place in the apartment or on the corridor.

Potatoes should be removed from the balcony when the temperature drops to zero degrees, - advises Ivan Ivanovich KOLYADKO, Deputy Director General for Research, RUE "Scientific and Practical Center of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus for Potato and Fruit and Vegetable Growing". - You need to store potatoes at a temperature not higher than +10 degrees, preferably +4 - +5.

Do not put potatoes in airtight bags or bags - they will deteriorate, and do not put them in the light - they will start to turn green.

Onion and garlic

The hardest vegetables are onions and garlic. They can be stored on the balcony even when the rest of the harvest has already been transferred to the apartment.

The optimum temperature for storing onions and garlic is 0 - -1, but they can withstand frosts down to -6 degrees, - says Nikolai Petrovich KUPREENKO, deputy director for science at the Institute of Vegetable Growing.

When stored in an apartment, the onion can be braided and hung in a dry place (diseases will develop in a humid environment and the onion will begin to sprout). Part of the crop can be packed into boxes. But just do not use plastic boxes - onions breathe and release moisture, and plastic does not absorb moisture, so the crop will deteriorate.

Check the contents of the boxes periodically: remove the softened bulbs immediately from the box so that they do not become a source of infection for others. And do not store vegetables affected by pests and diseases - they quickly deteriorate.

Beets and carrots

They need to be removed from the balcony at zero temperature - they are afraid of frost. The suitable temperature for storing carrots is +2 degrees. If there are not many carrots, then you can put them in the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator: there are ideal conditions for them.

There are usually no problems with storing beets. Before storing it, the tops are cut off, dried, folded into boxes and periodically checked how it is stored. If you notice any rotten fruit, throw it away immediately.

Cabbage

Cabbage will withstand a slight frost of -1 - -2 degrees, but it is not worth keeping it on the balcony for a long time in late autumn. To keep it well, choose late maturing varieties - their heads of cabbage are denser. Cabbage is stored at a temperature of plus 2 - 3 degrees and high humidity.

How to store onions so that there are fewer losses? In this article, I decided to talk about how to store onions and how to prepare them for storage. There will also be some helpful hints here. You will surely find something new for yourself.

Storing onions is a feasible task. Well-ripened bulbs are in a state of complete physiological rest and are perfectly stored at home at a certain temperature and humidity. The key to long-term storage of onions is compliance with cultivation agrotechnics, including proper harvesting and preparation for storage.

How do I prepare onions for storage?

The preparation of onions for storage begins from the moment they are harvested.

Onions are harvested 90-120 days after planting (harvest time depends on the variety). As a rule, onions are harvested in August. By this time, the leaves begin to turn yellow and lie down, the bulbs are poured, and the necks become thin.

It is advisable to harvest onions in dry weather as follows: the bulbs are dug in so as not to injure the bottom, and they are carefully folded. It is not recommended to pull out the bulbs, throw them, knock on the ground. This will damage them and shorten their shelf life.

How to dry onions after harvesting?

Storing onions is much more effective after thorough drying. For this, the bulbs together with the leaves laid out in a thin layer in the fresh air. If weather conditions do not allow the onion to be dried in this way, then it is laid out on the floor or on shelves in the yard (under a cover), on a veranda or balcony.

There are other drying methods. You can tie the bulbs into small bunches and hang them outdoors under a canopy or indoors in a draft. If you live in a comfortable apartment and have a small harvest, then you can dry the onions in the oven. To do this, heat the oven to the minimum temperature, periodically turning it on and off. It is important that the onion does not dry out and that the covering scales do not crack.

After the onion has dried, it must be trimmed. For this, it is more convenient to use scissors. Cut dry leaves so that a neck 4-6 cm long and roots remain, without touching the bottom of the bulb.

The surface of the bulbs is slightly cleaned of soil and upper cracked scales.

Then the onion is dried for two weeks, stirring it regularly.

For storage, the onions are carefully sorted, selecting strong, healthy bulbs with no damage or seedlings with dry closed necks. This is how the onion is prepared for storage.

By the way, the methods of storing leeks and onions are fundamentally different from each other. Although, what is there to be surprised? .. They are also outwardly completely different.

Onion keeping ability

It should be noted that not all varieties of onions are stored equally well. It is advisable to leave for storage late, as well as sharp varieties of onions, which are distinguished by high keeping quality.

Keeping capacity also directly depends on the degree of ripening of the bulbs, therefore, harvest the crop in a timely manner.

Yalta onion - one of the famous varieties of sweet onions, which is grown exclusively in the Crimea. A feature of this variety is its unsatisfactory keeping quality. The storage period for Yalta (or Crimean) onions is only 120 days, after which they begin to sprout. Therefore, it is unsuitable for long-term storage. However, subject to the cultivation technology, the timing of harvesting and proper storage, the Crimean onion can still be preserved.

Of course, Crimeans know how to store Yalta onions. It is not for nothing that they sell it in the form of beautiful bundles. Therefore, if you managed to purchase a bundle of sweet Crimean onions, then store it exactly in this form, hanging it from the bar in the kitchen or in the pantry.

How to store onions properly?

Dried and selected onions are put in a specially prepared container. So, for storing onions at home they use:

• wooden boxes;
• wicker baskets;
• fabric bags;
• special nets for storing vegetables;
• nylon stockings.

Boxes and boxes should be small, no more than 30 cm high and have holes for ventilation. Bags and nets should be take medium-sized ones, and the layer of the onions to be poured should also not exceed 30 cm. It is better to put the onions in several boxes or bags than to pour them into one large one. This is more likely to save the harvest.

Do not use polyethylene bags to store onions. This material does not allow moisture and air to pass through, so the onions quickly fog up and begin to rot.

How to store onions as long as possible and with minimal waste? The principle of "check" will help here. During the entire storage period, it is necessary from time to time (2-3 times during the entire storage period) to sort out the onions and discard the spoiled onions. This will keep the rest of the onions safe until spring.

If the onion is damp during storage, it should be dried and put into a new dry container.

Do you know how to store onions in an apartment in the most efficient and useful way? This is the storage of onions in a proven folk way, namely in the form of woven braids or the so-called bundles. For this, the onion is not cut off, the braids are woven from dry leaves using twine. In this form, onions are perfectly stored. In addition, onion braids are a decoration of the kitchen interior and a means of air disinfection in the apartment due to the phytoncidal properties of this plant.

Where to store onions?

For storing onions in the house, the best option is a basement or cellar, provided that the air temperature in it does not drop significantly below zero. For storing onions in an apartment, choose dark and cool places. For example, by the balcony.

At what temperature should onions be stored?

To store onions, you must create the following conditions:

The biggest challenge in creating conditions is maintaining a relatively constant level of air humidity. And this is very important, because when the humidity is low, the bulbs dry out. High humidity encourages the bulb to emerge from dormancy, leading to germination and the development of diseases (for example, cervical rot, which causes mold).

For storage of food onions, 3 main storage methods are used, differing in temperature conditions:

• cold (onions are stored at a temperature of 0 ... -3 ° C);
• warm (the storage temperature of the onion is + 18 ... + 22 ° С);
• combined (cold-warm). With this method, onions are stored as follows: in the fall at a temperature of + 18 ... + 22 ° С, in winter at 0 ... -3 ° С (the room is sharply cooled), and in the spring the temperature is again raised to + 18 ... + 22 ° С.

Little tricks for long-term storage of onions

Take note of tips to help you store onions:

So, to summarize ...

You already know how to store onions in winter with minimal losses, as well as how to properly harvest onions and prepare them for storage. And if someone asks you how to store onions, you will probably remember the helpful tips from this article. Yes, onions perfectly retain their properties for a long time, but nevertheless they also require your attention.