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Radishes are perceived by us, first of all, as an early vegetable, but we want to extend the time of its use as long as possible. How to choose radishes so that you can store them for the winter, when these vitamins are especially needed? This question is probably of interest to many summer residents who manage to grow this vegetable due to its short growing season several times per season. Radishes are pickled, canned and frozen, but to preserve the maximum amount of useful components, it is best to store them fresh.
Radish harvest time
The harvest of early varieties can be stored for no more than a few days, root crops quickly wither, lose moisture, and with it their taste and useful properties. Saving it for the winter is out of the question. It is quite another thing – varieties of late ripening. Their turnips are harder, often larger, they can be stored much longer, and it is from them that those that should be left for the winter are selected.
The most common late-ripening varieties are “Red Giant” with its large cylindrical roots of red color and a slightly spicy taste, “Ice Icicle”, justifying its name in appearance, “Volcano”, whose 200-gram roots ripen for almost two months, Chinese “Daikon Prize-winner” with white root crops up to 700 g in weight, “Dugansky”, “Virovsky white”.
In the middle lane, autumn radishes are sown from the beginning of August, and late varieties ripen by the middle or even by the end of September. It is this autumn harvest that can be stored for several months, it is left for the winter. Warmer regions grow radishes until October, they are not afraid of small frosts, but root crops should not be allowed to freeze, they are not suitable for long-term storage.
Preparing radishes for storage
It is best to harvest in the morning, while the sun has not warmed it yet, while it has kept the night cool. Radish harvested during the day is stored much less, it begins to wither immediately after being removed from the ground. The evening before, radishes are usually watered, then in the morning it will be at the peak of its juiciness. Turnips are carefully removed from the ground, excluding any mechanical damage. If the extracted plants are left to lie whole, then the leaves will actively evaporate the liquid, which is why after cleaning from the ground (it is carefully shaken off using only a soft cloth), the roots and leaves are cut off from the turnips, leaving only 2–3 cm petioles. For those root crops that are left for the winter, the roots do not need to be cut.
Only whole and unharmed turnips can be stored for a long time, without the slightest sign of rot, frostbite, with intact skin. They are shaken off from the remnants of the soil, freed from the leaves and dried a little in the air or in a ventilated room.
Video “How to keep radishes fresh”
This video will show you how to preserve the harvest of radishes brought from the cottage so that they stay fresh for a week or two.
Where and how to store
The place and conditions of storage depend on the expected time frame. For several days, fresh radishes can be kept on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator, it will remain fresh and will not lose its qualities, neither taste nor useful. Usually, for storage in the refrigerator, it is washed, after cutting off the leaves and roots, then dried with a towel, put in a plastic bag. Root crops will evaporate moisture, if it collects inside the bag, they will rot. To prevent this from happening, use a bag with holes for air circulation. There is another way: the bag is tightly closed, and paper napkins are placed inside. Napkins absorb excess moisture, and they are periodically changed. The harvest of early varieties is stored this way for a week, later – two, or even three weeks.
You can store peeled radishes on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator for several weeks using a jar of boiled water. This will prevent drying and will not make the roots sluggish, but the water (it will have to be changed) will take a lot of useful substances, and the taste will fade somewhat, become less distinct. For better preservation, salt or vinegar is added to the water, but this also affects the taste.
We are used to freezing many vegetables, but this method is hardly suitable for radishes. This is explained by the fact that the moisture inside the turnips freezes rather slowly in our household freezers, it crystallizes and breaks the fibers. After defrosting, such a radish will no longer be crispy and tasty, it will lose not only its appetizing texture, but also its unique taste. With industrial quick freezing, this does not happen, because air cooled to -40 degrees is used. This method cannot be used to store country products.
Many summer residents do conservation. This method is very popular in other countries. In Mexico, China, Japan, radishes are pickled and preserved with the addition of various spices. Root crops are cut into circles, slices, or simply cut on one side to make a half-blown bud, placed in a marinade. The simplest marinade consists of water, salt, sugar and vinegar. The chopped radish is poured with the prepared liquid, the jars are sterilized.
The Japanese turn their giant “Daikon” into dry kiriboshi with a sweet-spicy taste, that is, they cut the vegetable into thin long strips and dry it in the oven. They taught the world how to make radish chips. Chips and kiriboshi keep for many months in glass jars or double paper bags.
The most familiar way for us to store a country crop for a long time is to keep it in the cellar. You can do the same with radishes of late varieties; they can lie all winter while maintaining the appropriate conditions.
The air temperature in the room should be kept within the range of 0 to +3 degrees, and humidity – 90-95%. Of course, the basement or cellar must be clean, disinfected, there should be no fungus and rodents.
Root crops can be poured in rows into a wooden box, filling each row with sand. The sand should be slightly damp, which means that if you take a handful of sand in your hand, squeeze it, and then open your palm, the sand will retain its shape. Chalk or slaked lime is sometimes poured over the sand in conclusion. Some advise adding chalk, wood ash or slaked lime to the sand – an alkaline environment will help preserve the crop. Up to 20 kg of radishes are placed in each box, so they will be perfectly preserved until the middle of winter, or even longer.
Instead of sand, radish is perfectly stored in sawdust. Phytoncides, which are present in the essential oils of the tree, do not allow rot to dissolve, and if you maintain the overall humidity of the room, then the root crops will not lose moisture.
On the cellar racks, you can scatter radishes by covering them with sand or sawdust from above – this is the same method, only without boxes. In extreme cases, the entire crop can be folded into large plastic bags, tightly closed. Of course, bags will not help to keep vegetables all winter, but in a couple of months the turnips will not become completely flabby.
There is another method that is rarely used, but it is very effective. You just need to make a clay talker, bring it to the consistency of sour cream, then dip all the root crops into it and put it in a box with slots or on a grid. Excess clay will drain, and the rest will dry, covering each root crop with a dense skin.
For the crop stored in the cellar, you need to carefully monitor, check and remove those turnips that have begun to rot or wither. To maintain humidity, you should keep water there in an open vessel or simply pour it often on the floor. The harvest of late varieties of radish can be saved until the middle of winter.
Video “Super-recipe radish salad for the winter”
Do you want to enjoy your favorite root vegetable in winter? Then use the recipe for a delicious canned salad from this video.
