Storing celery

storage conditions for celery

All types of fresh celery can only be stored in cool conditions – in a refrigerator or cellar. The least stored leaf celery – a maximum of a couple of weeks. A little longer – petiolate, it can lie up to 2 months. The longest is root celery, it can stay fresh for several months.

Storage temperature of celery

Leaf and petiole varieties are best stored in the refrigerator at a temperature of 4 – 6 ° C. Roots need cooler conditions – 0 – 4 ° С.

All varieties of celery can be stored in the freezer at -18 ° C, but then it cannot be used for fresh salads – only for cooking hot dishes.

Dried celery can be stored at room temperature.

Celery storage methods

There are a lot of ways to store celery, so you can choose the most convenient option for yourself.

Storing leaf celery

Leafy celery greens can be stored in the refrigerator for several days by simply placing them on a shelf. But you can extend the time to a week and even up to two, if you use a little trick.

In a container. Wash the greens in cold water, dry well on a paper towel, put in a spacious plastic container, close the lid tightly.

In the package. Wash the greens, let the water drain and put them in a plastic bag. Inflate the bag and tie it up.

In paper. Wash the greens, pat them dry with a paper towel, and wrap them completely in heavy paper such as kraft paper. Spray the paper with water.

Packed with onions. Sort through the greens, but do not wash. Fold in a bag, add 2 unpeeled onions cut into quarters. Once every 5 days, transfer the greens to another bag and add new bulbs there.

Onions in this case will protect the celery greens from rotting – the bulbs secrete phytoncides that kill pathogenic microflora.

In a jar of water. Pour 1/3 of cold water into a jar, put celery in it. Cover the jar of herbs with a plastic bag or damp gauze. Change the water to fresh every day.

Dried. Cut the celery greens with scissors as small as possible, sprinkle on paper and put in a dark place. Dry at room temperature. When the greens are completely dry, put them in glass or tin jars and close tightly – this way the aroma will be better preserved.

Storing petiole celery

In a refrigerator. Petiole celery bought or brought from the garden can be stored in the refrigerator for a couple of weeks. Wash and dry before doing this. And so that the petioles do not lose their juiciness and elasticity, wrap them:

•       in foil;
•       in food film;
•       in a paper towel, after which the petioles should be placed in a plastic bag.

In the cellar. In this case, the petioles can be stored much longer – up to 2 months.

To send petiole celery to the cellar, it must not be cut, but dug up. Before laying in the cellar, cut off all the leaves and roots, but leave a small piece of rhizome 2-3 cm long.

Rosettes of celery arrange vertically in a box, tightly to each other and half fill with sand. After that, lower into the cellar.

Dried. Petiole celery, like leaf celery, can be dried. Rinse the stems thoroughly under running water and dry well with a paper towel. Cut into pieces 2-3 cm long and lay out on thick paper. Top with another sheet of paper. Since petiole celery is very juicy, it will dry for about a month at room temperature. When the petioles are completely dry, put them in a glass or tin jar with a tight lid.

Dried stalked celery is used as a condiment. Before adding to the dish, the petioles must be crushed in a mortar, blender or scroll through a meat grinder. You can do this right away before putting it in a jar, but such greens will lose some of the flavor.

In salt form. Cut the stems into pieces, put them in glass jars, generously sprinkle with salt (about 1 g of salt per 200 kg of petioles) and close with a nylon lid.

This seasoning can be added to soups, meat dishes and hot sauces.

Storing celery root

Root celery has the longest storage life in the cellar, provided it has been harvested in dry weather (1).

In the boxes. Pour dry river sand into the box, put the root crops in it so that they are strictly vertical and do not touch each other. And then completely cover the roots with sand and sprinkle it with water – during storage, the sand should be wet (2).

In the clay. Dilute the clay with water until the density of sour cream and coat each root crop with it. Leave in a warm place to dry the clay. And then put it in the cellar – the root crops can simply be laid out on the shelves.

Popular questions and answers

She told us about storing celery agronomist-breeder Svetlana Mihailova.

Sources of

1. Fisenko A.N., Serpukhovitina K.A., Stolyarov A.I. Garden. Handbook // Rostov-on-Don, Rostov University Press, 1994 – 416 p.
2. Shuin K.A., Zakraevskaya N.K., Ippolitova N.Ya. Garden from spring to autumn // Minsk, Uradzhay, 1990 – 256 p.