Often in the markets and in the vegetable departments carrots are sold neatly washed. Perhaps to give it a presentation? But sometimes a clean carrot starts to rot even faster.
The article will help to understand whether it is right or not to wash the roots before laying for winter storage.
We will talk about all the pros and cons of this procedure and describe how to store washed and unwashed carrots. For clarity, we recommend to read the video in the article.
Peculiarities of vegetable structure
The main feature of this vegetable culture is thin peel and sensitivity to external influences. Any mistake in storage technology, and the vegetable quickly disappears: rots, fades, is affected by pests.
Carrots will lie until spring, if you provide it with a suitable microclimate in storage areas.: temperature not higher than + 2 ° С, humidity not lower than 90%, no drafts, moderate ventilation, no painful bacteria.
What does washing affect?
Many gardeners doubt: wash or not to wash carrots before storing for the winter. Isn't this work too much? After all, you need to dry the washed root crops. And the main question: will the shelf life of the washed fruit be reduced?
Traditionally, in the domestic sale, there were unwashed vegetables, sometimes with clods of adhering dirt. Under a thick layer of clay or earth it is difficult to determine the true quality of the root. But washing is an extra hassle.
To answer the question to wash or not the harvest, we must proceed from:
- the volume of the crop - it is small or large;
- availability of running water or a sufficient amount of it;
- if there is a shelter for drying, well-ventilated place;
- time and effort to carefully organize this time-consuming process;
- knowledge of the secrets of storing washed carrots.
Storing washed vegetables affects:
- selection process spoiled: easy to detect, even small negative changes (rot, scratches) are immediately noticeable;
- storage time, as at the washing stage, sources of infection are removed, which may be located on the ground stuck to the vegetables;
- further use of root crops - it is easier and more pleasant to process them.
Is it possible to “bathe” a vegetable before storing: the pros and cons
Like any controversial issue - washing carrots has its adherents and opponents, who present various arguments for and against. Let us consider in detail the advantages or disadvantages of this method.
Benefits of storing washed carrots:
- On clean vegetables, it is easier to detect damaged areas, discard such carrots, and to put off good, uncorrupted root vegetables for the winter.
- Water washes away not only the soil, but also the pathogenic bacteria contained in it, reducing the risk of damage to vegetables.
- Washed carrots dry faster, sticky dirt can retain moisture for a long time.
- In the process of storage, sorting out and inspecting clean vegetables, it is easier to identify the flaw in order to sort out rotten specimens and not infect the rest.
- In winter, washed root vegetables are easier to use - less dirt when cooking.
Cons of washing before storage:
- With a big harvest, the process becomes difficult: it needs extra time.
- If the carrots have already dried after harvest, then washing will require repeated drying - a necessary condition for success in storing pure vegetables.
- It is not always in the presence of appropriate storage conditions: clean containers (barrels, baskets, boxes, bags), the ability not to come into contact with dirty vegetables.
Do I need to do this after the harvest before laying?
After harvesting this vegetable crop is not necessary to wash. Moreover, gardeners more often do not resort to this method of storage than use it.
In which case it is definitely not worth washing? If the ground is clay and wet, and vegetables are difficult to clean from coarse sticky clods of clay, without damaging the thin skin of the root. After all, scratches on carrots are extremely undesirable for long-term storage. In the case of sandy or loose soil, favorable weather, the presence of all related conditions - can be washed.
After harvesting, washed carrots are recommended to be dried in a ventilated place, protected from direct sunlight.
Is it necessary to do this before putting it in the cellar for the winter?
Despite the fact that carrots are very capricious vegetables, storage conditions for root crops in the cellar are most favorable. They are stored in the basement with success, both washed and not.. For this, the cellar must be equipped with the criteria of a good storage: with air humidity - 90%, without the threat of flooding with groundwater, temperature - no higher than + 2 ° С, good air exchange.
After pruning and drying, you can pack in a plastic bag a dozen fruits and put them on the shelves in the cellar. When a clean carrot starts to deteriorate, it will immediately become noticeable. The quality of the carrot in this case will be high, and she herself will look good and taste good.
But root crops, laying in the basement, you can not wash. Ways of storing such vegetables in the cellar are varied: in the sand, chalky solution, clay mash, sawdust, in moss, in bags, in bulk.
Attention: If you wash the roots before laying in the cellar, their protective properties increase, because dangerous microorganisms are washed away with water.
How to carry out the procedure?
Wait for a sunny warm day to harvest the crop relatively clean, and immediately, without delay, do the bathing. When sandy soils and dry weather (at least 5 days without rain), the process of washing vegetables will not be difficult.
What actions need to be performed:
- If the weather is rainy, then the vegetables are washed immediately after harvesting, not waiting for the dirt to dry on them.
- It is not necessary to launder to mirror cleanliness, but if the ground is heavy, clayey, wet (the dirt has stuck to the fruit tightly), they can be cleaned with a soft brush.
- If it is not possible to clean the carrot under running water, then you need to take warm water, without the addition of detergents, in any container (bucket, bath).
- Harvest the harvested crop, changing the water as it becomes polluted. But so that each carrot was washed twice: the second time in clean water.
- Sort vegetables - as needed, removing damaged ones.
- Enumerated root crops put out to dry - under a canopy on clean material (burlap, newspapers, paper). The place should be dry.
- After the vegetables have dried, you can prepare for winter storage.
Ways to save carrots
There are proven, guaranteed to guarantee the success of carrot storage. We will consider briefly, classifying by the sign: washed carrots or not.
Washed:
It is put in small plastic bags and sealed to create a vacuum there. Or they do not seal it, but in order not to collect condensate, they leave the bags open or make small holes in them. Store container in the refrigerator. Vegetables with this method of storage will retain nutritional value for a long time.- After washing and drying, the fruits are put in layers in boxes, sprinkled with coniferous sawdust or sand. Or in plastic bags, with slots against condensation. Tara demolished in the basement and set on the stand.
- You can use containers treated with copper sulphate or lime (a bucket, a barrel, a box made of plastic or wood, etc.). Root crops pour in capacity. Top lid or burlap.
- There is a method of preserving the fruit in a non-concentrated brine.
It is put in small plastic bags and sealed to create a vacuum there. Or they do not seal it, but in order not to collect condensate, they leave the bags open or make small holes in them. Store container in the refrigerator. Vegetables with this method of storage will retain nutritional value for a long time.Unwashed:
- Store in a basement in wooden or plastic boxes that are installed on the flooring. The filler can be wet sand, pine sawdust, sphagnum moss, in this case the carrot is laid in layers so that the individual fruits do not touch each other.
- Root vegetables are dipped in liquid clay or chalk and in such a “package” they are put in containers: baskets, boxes.
- In large plastic bags (20-30 kg) are placed vegetables, and do not tie, so that condensate does not accumulate inside the bag.
- Simple bulk method. For him are suitable not raw, not freezing cellars. It is poured on the floor in the cellar.
Next, an informative video about how to store washed carrots:
Another visual video about washing and storing carrots in plastic bags:
After reviewing all the pros and cons of the two methods, each makes for himself the choice - to keep the washed carrots or unwashed. A variety of opinions on this subject in gardeners. But it is possible to make one definite conclusion: for winter storage this unique root crop can be washed.
