How to store bell peppers at home: proper storage of peppers

How to freeze at home

If the harvest of red pepper turned out to be good, it is not at all necessary to dry all the pods. You can freeze some part in the freezer, send it to the refrigerator for storage or pickle. Freezing will help preserve the aroma and freshness of the vegetable.

The peppers are laid out on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper, sent to the freezer for several hours. The frozen pods are removed from the freezer, transferred to a plastic container or vacuum bag, the packaging is tightly closed and sent back to the freezer. In this form, this vegetable will not lose its freshness for 1 year.

Freezing

Sliced

In this case, you can use fruits with dents, cracks or spoiled ones:

1. Wash peppers, dry, remove seeds and tails.
2. Cut into strips or cubes depending on how you use them.
3. Place the slices in plastic bags, squeeze out excess air so that the ice does not freeze, and place them in the freezer.

Plastic containers can also be used for freezing.

Such preparations are indispensable when preparing vegetable dishes, casseroles, salad, baking pizza. Fresh frozen bell peppers will allow you to diversify the menu and replenish the body with the necessary substances in the cold season.

1. Select whole, medium-sized specimens.
2. Remove the core without breaking the integrity of the fruit, shake out the seeds.
3. Cut small cellophane squares.
4. Wrap the sharp end of the peppers in cellophane and insert them into each other in any amount.
5. Place in the packaging and then in the freezer.

This method prevents peppers from sticking to each other and saves space in the freezer.

Bio-matured, rinse and dry the peppers. Do not throw away the hats, remove the cores. Cook them for up to 30 seconds. Let them cool down later.

Then, fold each one into a friend. Then, lay out the resulting structures in plastic bags. Fill where a void has formed with vegetable caps. These peppers can be used all the time and are as tasty and healthy as fresh ones.

Preparing sweet peppers

Before sending for storage, you need to choose the right pepper. This applies primarily to the degree of maturity. The way to store sweet peppers is very different from how to store hot peppers. This is due to the fact that the Bulgarian has more pulp, which is more prone to decay. Bell peppers have two stages of maturity, which determine how they are stored. Large green peppers are already ripe and are perfect for spending most of the winter in a cool room with the right degree of humidity. A vegetable that has acquired juicy bright shades is at the peak of its maturity and it is not worth hoping that it will last long enough. Such a product is more suitable for freezing.

Long-term fresh storage

First of all, you need to properly prepare the fruits, it is usually advised to rinse and wipe them with a napkin. This is not necessary due to the fact that unwashed vegetables are stored with the same success.

It is important that they are dry. Prepared fruits of bell pepper are folded into wooden boxes and stored in conditions of humidity 80-90% and temperature conditions from 0 to 2 degrees

The refrigerator is great for this, but it won't hold the amount of food you want. Therefore, peppers are stored in cellars or insulated balconies, where it can lie until deep winter.

Many people wrap each individual vegetable in heavy paper and put it in boxes.Someone prefers to store bell peppers in individual cellophane packaging with ventilation holes. This allows you to quickly remove the perishable product and not infect the nearby ones. There is also the practice of sprinkling the pepper with sand, in such conditions it can lie much longer. How to keep hot peppers fresh and can you use the above methods for it? In general terms, yes. Recommendations will help to preserve it, however, a slightly different approach to chili.

Freezing

As already mentioned, bell peppers, which are at their peak of maturity, should be frozen. It should be noted that after defrosting, the product does not lose its gustatory and physical properties, that is, it retains both its shape and taste.

To prepare a vegetable for storage in the freezer, you need to rinse it and dry it. Cut off a part of the pepper with a stalk and remove the insides with seeds. Do not discard the cut off part of the pepper. It is better to choose fruits of approximately the same size.

In parallel with cleaning, you need to prepare a pot of boiling water.

Each Bulgarian pepper must first be dipped in boiling water for half a minute, it is important not to overexpose, because the boiled product is of no interest

After the fruits have been scalded, they must be carefully inserted into each other, after heat treatment it will not be difficult, the peppers will become flexible and will not break. The peppers collected in each other are put in a bag, and the empty space in it is filled with cut pieces of peppers.

In this form, the product does not take up much space in the freezer. And after defrosting, Bulgarian pepper cannot be distinguished from its fresh counterpart. This completes the recommendations on how to store bell peppers at home, you can discuss how to store chili peppers.

The peppers collected in each other are put into a bag, and the empty space in it is filled with cut pieces of peppers. In this form, the product does not take up much space in the freezer. And after defrosting, Bulgarian pepper cannot be distinguished from its fresh counterpart. This completes the recommendations on how to store bell peppers at home, you can discuss how to store chili peppers.

Preparation of semi-finished products

You can eat semi-finished products from vegetables all winter for any dish. Some housewives prefer to make preparations using various vegetables. Such semi-finished products are very convenient and useful to use. In winter, you can just get the ready-made mixture and prepare a fragrant healthy dish.

Vegetable mix

The mixture can be used in vegetable stews, soups, main courses, in the preparation of meat and fish. For cooking, you can choose any vegetables that taste like sweet peppers.

Suitable for a vegetable mixture:

• carrot;
• green beans;
• green pea;
• onion;
• corn;
• broccoli.

The mixture is very easy to prepare. All vegetables must be washed under running water, dried well on a towel, and cut. Stir the mixture and put it in plastic bags or special containers, remembering to release the air.

Stuffed pepper

Stuffed peppers are a great nutritious dish. You can enjoy the dish all winter if you prepare it in advance. You need to decide how to freeze peppers for stuffing for the winter, and you can choose the filling to your taste.

Stuffed pepper filling:

• vegetable filling with rice;
• minced meat with or without rice;
• minced meat with the addition of mushrooms;
• minced shrimp or squid.

Each filling is unique. Therefore, the taste of the dish depends on the imagination of the hostess. In order to prepare this dish, you need to prepare the fruits and minced meat.

Cooking stuffed peppers:

• Prepare minced meat with any filling. The main thing is that the minced meat is not too liquid.
• Each fruit must be carefully cut off the stalk and remove the seeds.
• Rinse the fruits and dry.
• Fill each vegetable with minced meat and put in the freezer separately.This is done in order to maintain the shape of the fruit.
• After about a day, ready-made semi-finished products can be decomposed into bags or containers.

In this form, the vegetable can be stored throughout the year.

Canned vegetables

Low-quality vegetables can also be used, for example, canning them. There are many recipes with which you can feast on such a wonderful vegetable as bell pepper all winter. Slightly spoiled or cracked fruits must be cut off and used for canned food such as lecho, pickled pepper slices, mashed potatoes, salads.

At home

How to keep hot peppers fresh for the winter?

Hot peppers can only be stored in a warm room. Unfortunately, leaving a vegetable in the cold threatens to spoil it.

It is quite another matter to freeze the peppers for the winter in the freezer. Read more about this on our website.

The temperature in the room should not exceed thirty degrees. At the same time, storage provides for a certain dryness. In a damp room, hot peppers will start to deteriorate.

It is also advisable to store it either in a poorly lit part of the room, or in a completely dark place. This has a beneficial effect on nutrients that can evaporate under direct sunlight or fluorescent lighting.

How to store paprika at home? Peppers, depending on the form of storage, can be left for a long time in special boxes.

As a rule, they are several boards hammered together.

Peppers can also be stored in jars. Often such a spicy vegetable is hung on a rope by the stalk.

Ground pepper can even be stored in regular bags.

How to store red hot peppers? Tips for storing hot peppers, salted and dried, in this video:

Fresh storage

Raw vegetables retain all vitamins, so the method of preparing fresh peppers for the winter is preferable. Fruits for such storage must have the following qualities:

• Dense, smooth and even skin, without damage or rot;
• The stalk is green, firm (fruits without stalks are not suitable);
• The tip is dry and hard, without rot.

Overripe and bursting fruits with wrinkled skin, scratches, dents, dark spots, signs of rot will not work to keep fresh.

In the basement

This storage method is only suitable for fruits of technical maturity. It is necessary to store bell peppers in the following conditions:

• Air humidity - about 90%;
• Temperature regime - + 10–12 ˚C;
• Good ventilation;
• Lack of direct sunlight.

How to store peppers in the basement: Prepare a box or tray, paper, sawdust or dry sand. Cover the bottom of the container with paper, lay the fruits not very tightly in one layer and cover with sawdust or sand. This way you can make no more than 2-3 layers.

Another way to store it in the basement is in plastic bags. Healthy-looking and dense fruits should be wrapped in paper and placed in an open bag in several layers.

In order to preserve the harvest, it is necessary to regularly inspect the fruits and remove the spoiled ones.

• If the peppers have begun to fade, the room has low humidity.
• If rot appears, ventilation must be improved.
• If dark green spots appear on the skin, it means that the storage temperature is too low, you need to raise it to +12 ˚C.

On the balcony

You can save the fruits for 1.5-2 months on the balcony or loggia. The storage of sweet peppers can be organized as follows: the fruits must be put in boxes on paper and covered with sawdust. The main thing is to try to maintain the optimal temperature not lower than +8 ˚C and not higher than +12 ˚C.

Another important condition for storage on the balcony is the absence of direct sunlight and good ventilation. Fruit boxes should be covered with breathable burlap type material

In fridge

Peppers can be stored for 3-4 weeks in the lower vegetable compartment of the refrigerator.To do this, wipe the fruits with a damp towel (but do not wash), put in a plastic bag with pre-drilled holes, tie and place in the refrigerator.

The main enemy of pepper in the refrigerator is condensation, so that it does not form, the fruits can be wrapped in paper or cling film and placed in the vegetable compartment.

First of all, you need to use fruits for food, in which the skin has softened or wrinkled in places or the stalk has deteriorated.

On the bush

Quite an unusual, but very effective way of keeping peppers of biological maturity - right on the bush. To do this, the bushes of the plant must be pulled out along with the ripe fruits. Hang up with the root system on a veranda or balcony and spray with a solution of copper sulfate (1%).

Within a few weeks, the fruits will be able to receive nutrition from the stem and leaves, so they will be well stored. When the bush is dry, the crop must be removed and eaten or processed.

Bell peppers are a great ingredient in vegetable mixes.

Freezing

The way to preserve pepper and all its beneficial properties for the longest possible period is freezing. The product can lie in the freezer until a new crop is harvested.

Vegetables of any ripeness are suitable. You can use slightly wilted, but not spoiled. Peppers need to be peeled from seeds and stalks, washed and dried on a towel. Further, the fruits can be put one into one (if you want to keep them whole) or cut into cubes or strips. The workpiece must be placed in a bag, removed from the air and tied.

Frozen peppers can be used all winter for preparing first and second courses. If you defrost a portion slowly in the refrigerator compartment, then the pieces will retain their shape and consistency and will perfectly complement salads and cold snacks.

Drying

Peppers prepared in this way are suitable as an additive in soups, roasts, gravies, stews, goulash. Storing dry bell peppers:

1. For drying, fruits of biological maturity must be rinsed, cored, dried on a towel and cut into small cubes.
2. Blanch in salted water for 1-2 minutes.
3. Put on a sieve to glass the water.
4. Spread out evenly on a baking sheet and dry for 3-5 hours in the oven at 60-70 degrees.

To prepare 1 kg of dried seasoning, you will need about 12 kg of fresh vegetables. In this form, the product can be stored for more than a year.

How to store peppers at home

Long shelf life of bell peppers is possible only if the vegetables are not damaged. Therefore, before you save the capsicum for a long time, you need to carefully sort the ripe fruits from the immature ones. Storage modes for ripe and unripe bell peppers are significantly different. Ripe fruits should not be left at room temperature - in such conditions they will rot in one day. The most suitable place to store fresh bell peppers is, of course, in the refrigerator.

Ripe fruits without damage at a temperature of 0-2 ° C and a humidity of 80-90% will be stored for 2-3 months.

Storing pepper in the refrigerator, if it is not ripe (has reached technical maturity), is unacceptable.

Storage conditions for unripe bell peppers - temperature 8-10 ° C, humidity 90-95%.

The ideal place where it is better to store green peppers is a basement, a cellar, a pantry. There should be no sun rays, otherwise the fruits will start to deteriorate. Unripe peppers, when stored properly, can last up to 3 months.

If you want it to turn red, the storage temperature should be 10 ° C (or higher), the humidity should be from 90 to 95%. So the pepper will ripen in 20-30 days. If you want the pepper to ripen faster, you can leave it at home at room temperature and then use it as soon as possible.

We store a lot of things in the freezer. Bell pepper can also be stored there in winter, and for a long time - up to 6 months.

Benefits of Harvesting Dried Bell Peppers

The method of preserving vegetables and fruits for the winter using drying is especially popular due to the fact that the product preserves vitamins, micro- and macroelements.

Unfortunately, sweet peppers cannot be kept fresh for a long time, so this method of preparation is best suited.

Cut and dried pieces are placed in plastic or glass jars and added to food as needed. During cooking, the flakes swell when exposed to moisture.

Dried paprika can be ground into powder. It turns out an environmentally friendly product, no worse than store-bought seasonings.

How to store bell peppers?

Storing bell peppers begins with determining what you need this fruit for. It is also worth noting that bell peppers have several stages of maturity. They are distinguished by two varieties - technical ripeness and biological ripeness of bell pepper.

Biologically ripe bell pepper fruits are distinguished by their color, they are orange, yellow, purple, brown or red. This pepper is considered ripe, but cannot be stored for long periods. The maximum that can be allowed is a two week shelf life.

Therefore, the storage of bell pepper, which has reached biological ripeness, should be short-term. That is, ripe, biologically Bulgarian pepper must be used for cooking immediately. The technical ripeness of bell pepper is a slightly different concept. Peppers of this type are plucked from the beds a little unripe.

It is green or slightly yellowish in color. Such peppers can be transported over long distances, they can be used for sales and long-term storage under certain conditions. Given the likelihood of long-term storage, bell peppers are harvested precisely unripe; storing green bell peppers will keep this vegetable in good condition for a long time.

Unripe bell peppers can be stored for more than two months. How to store bell peppers at home?

It is best to carry out such storage in a cellar or refrigerator. Even so, bell peppers need to be maturing regularly. The best way to store the Bulgarian tibia is in wooden boxes.

Their bottom should be covered with paper or newspaper. It is best to lay out bell peppers prepared for long-term storage in layers, sprinkling each of these layers with sand. Or you can wrap each peppercorn in thick paper and also put it in a prepared wooden box.

Tips & Tricks

Domestic gardeners have long learned not only to preserve the harvested crop of vegetable crops for a long time, but are also able to share some tips and recommendations in this area:

• only dry fruits can be stored for storage, since even a slight presence of moisture on the surface contributes to a very rapid decay of the harvested crop;
• You can store the collected sweet peppers for a couple of months in boxes with a capacity of no more than 8-10 kg at a temperature of 0-2 ° C with a relative humidity of at least 90-95% in the room;
• sweet and hot peppers are very well preserved directly on the bushes, which should be removed from the ridges and hung on the veranda or insulated balcony, with the root system up;
• when freezing the fruits of hot pepper, it is possible to reduce the indicators of the pungency of the fruits by first removing the stalk and the seed chamber;
• you can dry the collected peppercorns in the oven, which will perfectly preserve the taste and will only enhance the aroma of the vegetable culture.

Bell pepper: harvesting and storing the crop

Harvesting of peppers is possible both in a state of technical and in a state of biological maturity. In the first case, after collecting sweet peppers, the fruits should be consumed immediately.In the second - leave to ripen.

Peppers usually begin to bear fruit abundantly in mid-August.

It is better to cut the fruits with a pruner together with the stalk, and not break off, since the stems of the pepper are very fragile and the whole shoot can be damaged.

Harvesting sweet peppers

Technical maturity. The fruits have reached their normal size, but not yet ripe. During this period, they are collected for sale, transportation and storage. During the period of technical maturity, sweet peppers are harvested.

This crop can be dark green and even white, or slightly yellowish, although there are exceptions.

At technical maturity, the fruits are cut every 5-10 days. The pepper is picked selectively before the first cold weather sets in. With their onset, it is removed completely.

Fruits harvested in a state of technical maturity, with proper storage, can lie for up to 2 months and ripen. If they are removed from the storage area and placed in a well-lit place, then very soon the pepper will acquire a color characteristic of the biological maturity of the fruit.

Biological maturity. This is the real ripeness of the fruit, it is also called physiological. At biological maturity, the fruits become bright - red, yellow, orange, brown, etc.

If the sweet pepper harvest for any reason was harvested during biological maturity, then the fruits should be used immediately, since they will not be stored for a long time.

There are varieties that are harvested only when the crop reaches full biological maturity. These include hot peppers. It is harvested as it ripens.

Harvesting is done every 4-5 days. Fruits not harvested on time lead to the termination of branching, which negatively affects the amount of the crop.

How to store peppers after harvest: ripening fruits

Ripening of fruits. For storage of bell peppers, fruits of technical maturity are selected. Before laying them for ripening, they must be sorted out and sorted in order to get rid of the damaged ones. Thin-walled peppers are best kept in refrigerators. The stalk is cut off from the fruit, leaving a small tip.

How to store peppers at home to enjoy the fruits as long as possible? Various containers are used for storage - from boxes to plastic bags. Polyethylene does not allow air to pass through, and carbon dioxide is formed inside the bag. Under these conditions of storage of bell peppers, the products remain in the best condition. In addition, each fruit can be wrapped in paper or other material, and special plastic packaging is used for transportation and further sale.

Peppers are often stored in basements or cold rooms. The temperature regime is important. The optimum is 8-10 ° C.

Temperature and storage conditions for bell peppers for seeds

Fruit for seeds. To get good seeds, you only need to grow one variety of pepper. To do this, in the summer, several of the healthiest plants are selected in advance and the best fruit is taken from each.

The fruit is picked when fully ripe and left indoors at room temperature. Thin-walled varieties can withstand 5-6 days, thick-walled ones - no more than three. Then the seeds are separated from the pulp and dried at a temperature of 50 ° C, after which they are folded into paper bags and stored in a dry room. The storage temperature of the pepper in this case is 20 ° C.

Selected seeds must be large, healthy in appearance and color

It is important that even if the storage conditions are observed, germination is lost after 1-2 years.

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How to store at home: terms and conditions

If the product is prepared correctly, then there are no difficulties during storage. The harvested crop is stored for a long time under cool conditions - up to 100-120 days. At room temperature, the shelf life of unripe fruits is 2 months. If the pepper is already red, then it will not lie in the apartment for a long time - the maximum shelf life is 2 weeks. Frozen and canned vegetables are stored for a long time - from 1 year or more.

Container

For harvesting fresh peppers, clean, dry containers made of durable material should be used. Can be used:

• plastic food containers;
• wooden boxes;
• carton boxes;
• glass jars;
• plastic bags;
• cling film;
• foil.

It is not recommended to store vegetables for a long time in a metal container made of aluminum.

Influence of humidity, temperature and lighting

The following factors influence the shelf life:

1. Temperature. The optimum temperature at which the vegetable will be stored for as long as possible is from plus 5 to 18 degrees Celsius. At a lower temperature, the fruits will freeze and change in taste. At high temperatures, the shelf life is reduced with each additional degree.
2. Humidity. Too much moisture will provoke the formation of rot on the fruit, while a lack of moisture will cause the vegetables to dry out. The humidity should be between 20 and 50% in the storage room.
3. Lighting. Sunlight helps speed up the color of the fruit. If unripe green peppers are placed on the windowsill, they will reach maturity in 2-3 weeks. If the main task is to keep the pepper fresh as long as possible, exposure to sunlight is not permissible.

For storage, a cool place with low light and medium humidity is often chosen - a basement, refrigerator, cellar, balcony, loggia, pantry.