Contents of the article:
The rich harvest of melons for the dacha is a good reason for joy and pride, as well as a circumstance forcing you to think about how to save watermelons for the winter. If the neighbors of watermelons are in bed - pumpkins are easily stored even at home, then the green and striped giants are more demanding.
With the right approach and attention to the fruits, you can save the watermelon until the New Year. But in order for a fresh summer treat to appear on a festive table in the middle of winter, it is necessary to prepare in advance.
However, in order for the watermelon to be juicy and sweet in winter, the fruits are laid in basements, where it is important to provide temperature and humidity conditions, to allocate enough watermelons for space and to give some amount of attention to the giant berries.
Temperature and humidity for storing watermelon
The optimal conditions for saving watermelons for the winter can be created in the basement. Here, at a temperature of 1–4 ° C and a humidity of from 75 to 85%, watermelons lose neither juiciness nor taste.
- If the temperature background is higher, the consistency of the watermelon changes, the fermentation process can start inside it, and the quality of the berry will be irretrievably lost. At temperatures below zero, watermelons freeze slightly.
- Similarly, with a decrease in moisture, watermelons lose their juiciness, but if the air in the basement is too raw, the fruits rot.
The rooms, where watermelons and other vegetables and fruits are stored, must be ventilated.
Choosing watermelons for long-term storage
How long is fresh watermelon stored?
Usually, while maintaining proper temperature and humidity, melons do not lose their properties for up to three months.
If early-maturing varieties and hybrids are more often chosen for use in summer, it is better to plant varieties of late ripening periods for winter. After all, the later the watermelon will be laid in the basement, the longer is the shelf life.
An example of such late-ripening watermelons is Lezhki, Peasant or Excellent Black. How much watermelon is stored in these varieties? The leader in terms of the ability to be stored after removal from the scourge is considered to be Chillieg watermelon, which does not lose quality for up to 5 months. It is important to choose the strongest, even and healthy fruits of medium size and regular shape.
Watermelon peel is the only protection of juicy pulp, therefore, wishing to preserve the watermelon until the New Year, its integrity and quality should be treated with the utmost attention. If there are scratches, bumps, dents, or other defects on the surface layer, such watermelons are rejected. They should be eaten without delay or sent for recycling.
It is better to remove watermelons from the garden in gloves, and carefully remove the berries removed from the whip on a soft, clean surface, leaving little free space between the individual fruits.
Only healthy watermelons will last until the New Year and will delight family members with such a familiar, summer taste.
How to keep fresh watermelon for the winter fresh?
Under basement conditions, watermelons are stored on shelves and in vegetable boxes using a variety of fillers to prevent the development of putrefactive bacteria and fungi, as well as absorb excess moisture. The most affordable material for filling the box is dry sand, on the layer of which watermelons are carefully laid out. Then pour sand, filling the space between the fruits.
The same technique is used if watermelons are intended to be kept for the winter in a layer of wood ash. The main thing in this case is to check in advance that there are no large fractions in the filler, for example, unburned chips or sharp pieces of coal that can damage the bark of the watermelon.
Dry marsh moss sphagnum fights better than other materials with moisture and harmful flora.
It possesses natural bactericidal force and good absorbency, is soft and safe for fruits and it is not difficult to save watermelon for the winter in such an environment. Watermelons are placed on a layer of moss and they condense the distance between the berries.
makes a good effect with a slushy solution of clay or alabaster, wax or paraffin. Protective substances are applied to the bark of the watermelon so as to obtain a layer up to a centimeter thick. Airborne, light and moisture coatings help protect the watermelon from external influences and from the loss of its own moisture.
If you can, you can save watermelons until the New Year, as they do in Central Asia with late melons. The berries, wrapped with a natural cloth or thin non-woven cloth, are hung in nets in a cool, dry room.
In such conditions, until the New Year, the watermelons will remain, however, it will be useful to insure and from time to time to check the quality of the fruit, in time to notice the beginning of the spoilage and to remove the poor quality berry.
Storage of watermelons at home
And how much is a watermelon stored in a normal apartment? Thick, ripe fruits wrapped in lightproof material or wrapping paper can be stored in the apartment. Away from the heaters and with regular turning the watermelon can lie for about a month, and then it is still better to eat the sweet fruit.
If the cottager is lucky to grow large sweet watermelons, sooner or later he will have to face the problem of storing these tasty fruits. Well, if a whole watermelon in the basement lives to the middle of winter, but sometimes even with all the rules, the fruits have to be discarded and sent to the table.
In this case, the question often arises, how much can a stored watermelon be stored in the refrigerator? Unfortunately, pathogens are developing so quickly on the sweet pulp that a watermelon in a refrigerator remains safe for no more than a day. What to do with more high-quality fruits? How to save a watermelon for the winter, and what can be prepared for the future from the pulp of this healthy fruit?
Can I freeze a watermelon for the winter?
Although as a result of exposure to low temperatures, the juicy flesh of the watermelon loses its consistency and becomes liquid after thawing, it is possible to freeze the watermelon for the winter. It is possible to minimize the harm caused by frost by the pulp of watermelon, if pieces of arbitrary shape cleared of seeds and crusts are put on a flat tray and placed in a freezer. Due to the all-round effect of cold, watermelon is frozen as quickly as possible, retains its shape, aroma and taste, as well as juiciness. Pieces of frozen watermelon along with strawberries, cherries, currants, raspberries will be an excellent addition to the food in the winter.
Frozen pieces are placed in resealable bags or containers. In this form, you can save the watermelon and before the New Year, and until the next harvest, and use it to make desserts, cocktails, fruit creams and juices. It is even easier to freeze watermelon juice with pulp. If you use portions, this juice can turn into a refreshing and healthy ice cream, ice cubes for cocktails or cosmetic procedures.
There are other ways to save watermelons for the winter without much time and effort and to impress family members and guests with original delicacies:
- The watermelon is thoroughly washed and cut into triangular slices together with the bark.
- Ice cream stick is inserted into the slices through an incision on the dense skin.
- Flesh is dipped in icing sugar on both sides.
- Watermelon slices are laid out on a baking sheet so that the pieces do not touch each other.
- The tray is put in the freezer, where it is left until the product is completely frozen.
- Finished ice cream, shifting pieces of parchment, placed in containers and stored at a temperature not higher than –18 ° C.
This delicacy is served frozen. If for cooking culinary dishes you need to thaw out slices of watermelon, do it better in the refrigerator, at a temperature close to 0 ° C.
