How to store a pumpkin: terms and rules at home, how to choose a place

How to store dried pumpkin. The harm and benefits of dried pumpkin: how it affects the body, how to dry and eat it correctly

Pumpkin is often used in baby and diet food. The vegetable retains its beneficial properties, regardless of the method of preparation. One of the options for preparing a product for the winter is drying in the open air, in an oven and an electric dryer.

Let's talk about the benefits and harms of dried pumpkin, its effect on the female and children's body, methods of harvesting and eating.

Pumpkin is endowed with unique properties due to its rich chemical composition. The benefits of a dried vegetable are no less than fresh. It is an ideal replacement for store-bought candied fruits with dyes and confectionery with trans fats. Nutritionists love to include the product in their diet, and children love its sweet, but not sugary taste.

Autumn thick-skinned pumpkin varieties are best suited for drying. The pulp has a bright orange flavor and rich aroma.

Composition and properties

Dried pumpkin contains vitamins and minerals:

vitamins A, C, D, E, F, PP, K, T, group B;
pectins;
calcium;
cobalt;
carotene;
iron;
magnesium;
copper;
phosphorus;
cellulose;
sugar.

Ascorbic acid is essential for immunity. Thanks to her, the body quickly copes with viral diseases. Vitamin T is not found in many vegetables, but it is present in pumpkin. It promotes the absorption of heavy food, is useful for obese people. Vitamin T increases hemoglobin, accelerates platelet production, and increases blood clotting.

There are several times more carotene and pectin in pumpkin than in carrots. They take part in the synthesis of blood and bone proteins. Vitamin K accelerates wound healing and blood clotting.

heals the intestinal flora;
removes "bad" cholesterol and retains good cholesterol;
promotes weight loss;
accelerates the elimination of toxins and toxins.

The calorie content of dried pumpkin is 68 kcal. A raw vegetable has 21 kcal.

Nutrients:

proteins - 1.8 g;
fats - 0 g;
carbohydrates - 8.4 g.

The benefits and harms of dried pumpkin

Pumpkin is a storehouse of nutrients. With regular use, the body receives the necessary vitamins and minerals, the deficiency of which is acutely felt in winter.

Dried Pumpkin Benefits:

improves memory;
normalizes the digestive tract (with colitis, enteritis);
prevents hair loss;
rejuvenates the skin;
improves mood;
calms the nervous system;
strengthens blood vessels;
removes an excess of bile, mucus;
normalizes sleep;
strengthens the musculoskeletal system;
accelerates bone healing in fractures;
prevents the development of caries.

Nutritionists advise with caution to introduce dried vegetables into the diet of people with acid-base balance and diabetes mellitus. With low acidity of gastric juice, signs of gastritis are exacerbated

Influence on the body of women, men, children

Dried pumpkin provides additional energy, increases work capacity and physical activity. Nutritionists recommend including the product in the menu for athletes and people at the stage of active weight loss. The vegetable improves the condition for cancer, tuberculosis, eczema, depression, insomnia.

Dried fruits are good for women. The increased content of carotene ensures an even complexion and a beautiful tan. With regular use, the hair acquires splendor and shine, and the nails stop breaking. Antioxidants inhibit the aging process, vitamins A and E smooth out fine wrinkles. During pregnancy, dried pumpkin relieves toxicosis.

The benefits of the vegetable for men's health are in the regulation of sexual function, the normalization of the prostate gland.

Dried pumpkin is also good for children. It rarely causes allergic reactions. Fiber has a beneficial effect on the digestive system of babies, improves immunity, ensures harmonious development, normalizes sleep, and soothes.

Reference. used to remove worms.

Contraindications

Dried pumpkin is undesirable to eat when:

violations of acid-base balance;
diabetes mellitus;
ulcers of the stomach and duodenum;
tendency to flatulence.

How to dry

Usually, an oven or electric dryer is used to harvest dried pumpkin. In summer, thinly cut slices are taken out into the open air. This is the best way to cook dried pulp.

Before sending the vegetable for drying, it is recommended to dip the prepared slices into boiling water for a few minutes. This will keep the color saturated. To prevent spoilage of the product, the pieces are dipped in brine and spread on baking sheets.

Optimal storage conditions for pumpkin

How to store a pumpkin in an apartment? For the successful storage of a pumpkin crop, three prerequisites must be strictly observed:

maintaining a stable temperature regime;
exclusion of the possibility of direct sunlight;
avoiding fruit contact with each other.

The critical lower limit can be considered a temperature plus two degrees and below, the upper permissible temperature limit should not be higher than twenty-twenty-two degrees.

The range of temperatures favorable for storing pumpkin is quite wide. Exceeding both values leads to rapid damage to the fruit.

Not only temperature fluctuations, but also changes in air humidity affect the safety of fruits extremely negatively.

As a whole

What are the optimal storage conditions for pumpkin in the winter at home? In the conditions of a city apartment, there is a choice of two most successful methods of storing fruits as a whole.

The first option involves storing pumpkin at home in winter on a glazed balcony or loggia, subject to the following conditions:

the room temperature does not drop below plus two degrees;
pumpkins should be covered with an opaque breathable material, excluding the penetration of sunlight;
if pumpkins are stored without additional containers (boxes, baskets, boxes, etc.), it is necessary to ensure their isolation from the cement floor, linoleum, plastic;
it is advisable to put plywood, boards, thick cloth, in extreme cases, newspapers under the pumpkins;
with the onset of severe frosts, pumpkins should be insulated by covering the top with additional warm material (blanket, insulation, etc.).

Not everyone has a prepared loggia or balcony, however, an equally reliable way to keep pumpkins for a long time is storage directly in the apartment in places with the lowest air temperature, that is, on the floor, ensuring that the fruits are isolated from each other and there is no sunlight.

Both options for storing pumpkin for the winter at home have their advantages and disadvantages, as well as the risks associated with damage to the crop.

When storing on a loggia or balcony, it is important to monitor to prevent the occurrence and spread of rot and mold due to high humidity

In room conditions, on the contrary, it is necessary not to allow the fruits to dry out, to ventilate more often, with a strong dry air, it is advisable to use humidifiers.

Cut fruit

Often pumpkins are so large that it is impossible to consume them all at once.

In this case, it is important to follow some rules that will allow you to keep the pumpkin in the refrigerator without losing the quality of the product and its benefits.

How to keep the pumpkin cut? The rules are simple:

Wash and cut the pumpkin as needed for cooking.
Extract seeds with perisomed pulp from the whole (!) Pumpkin.
You do not need to peel the part of the product that you do not plan to use right away, so the pumpkin will better retain its juiciness.
Wrap the unpeeled part of the pumpkin in cling film or foil, or put it in an airtight container and put it in the refrigerator on any shelf.

In this form, the cut pumpkin can be stored for up to ten days.

Sometimes you need to immediately cut a pumpkin for several dishes, but they will be cooked one by one (for example, for juice, salad, cream soup, for stewing or baking). How to store cut pumpkin at home?

In this case, the entire pumpkin should be washed, peeled, freed from seeds, cut into pieces, sealed and refrigerated on the top shelf. How long can an already peeled pumpkin be stored?

So it will retain its original qualities for two to three days and can be successfully used for any dishes except juice.

Long-term storage varieties

For long-term storage at home, late-ripening varieties are most suitable. The thick and elastic peel allows you to maintain the integrity of the vegetable without losing trace elements, fiber and vitamins for a long time.

The following varieties are best preserved:

Kherson is a large fruit weighing 3–6 kg. Has a sweet taste.
Slavuta is a large-fruited variety that ripens towards the end of the season. Pumpkin up to 3.5 kg in size has a sweet taste, loose structure and rich orange flesh.
Zhdana. Reaches 6-8 kg. Sweet, with rich pulp.
Arbatskaya is a nutmeg variety with a dense, sweet pulp. The peel has a light gray coating. Stored until the next harvest.
Donskaya is a juicy pumpkin with a gray skin with shades of green. If the storage temperature does not exceed 15 ° C, it can lie up to 70 weeks.
Gilea is a large vegetable (at least 9 kg) of nutmeg variety with crispy and firm pulp of a bright shade. Lies in the refrigerator for 12 months.
Polyanin is an oblong fruit weighing up to 4 kg with firm and juicy pulp. At a temperature of 18 ° C, it can be stored for a year.
Ioannina is a mid-season fruit weighing 6.5 kg. The juicy pulp is able to retain its beneficial properties until the next harvest.

Pumpkin harvest

Failure to comply with standard rules for harvesting leads to early death

begin to harvest fruits ahead of time, without waiting for their full ripeness
store vegetables in storage immediately after cutting, where they begin to rot and mold in a week
spread the fruits on bare concrete (you need to lay dry hay or pour sawdust)
vegetables are not sorted by size before laying (large ones should be folded separately from small ones)

Pumpkin cannot be stacked next to

apples

and

pears

... Due to the ethylene released by the latter, melons and gourds quickly deteriorate.

watering is stopped about 10-12 days before the planned pumpkin harvest
the harvested fruits must be left to dry in the fresh air for at least a day
if mechanical damage is found on the surface of vegetables, it should be treated with a manganese solution or brilliant green (this way it is possible to prevent the development of pathogenic microflora inside the fruit)

Pumpkin is not a particularly whimsical vegetable, both when grown and when stored. If you follow the rules, you will be able to keep it in its original state until the next harvest, treating yourself and your loved ones with a tasty and healthy product all winter.

This is important because it is during this period that the body is especially lacking in vitamins. And since many dishes and desserts can be prepared from pumpkin, this will help to significantly diversify the daily diet.

Refrigerated storage methods

If you leave the cut pumpkin on the kitchen table, then after a day it will begin to wither, and after a week it will rot. It is possible to slow down the decay processes if the storage temperature is reduced to almost zero. For this, a refrigerator and a freezer are used at home.

Cold storage

In the refrigerator, the cut pumpkin will not start to rot soon, but it will quickly wither due to the loss of moisture. Therefore, housewives go to various tricks that can prolong the "life" of tender pulp.

For storage, a special box is used, most often located at the bottom of the refrigerator. There is an acceptable temperature here, and it is almost always stable. The pre-cut pumpkin is prepared:

Packed in plastic or vacuum bags.
Wrapped in paper napkins:
Wrap with cling film.

Also, instead of film, you can use food foil, the result will be excellent, but you need to change it once a week.

In this form, pumpkin can be stored in the refrigerator at a temperature of 3 ° C for no more than three weeks. In winter, you can remove it to a balcony or loggia, but it is necessary that the indicated temperature there be constant, and the sun's rays do not fall on the pumpkin. Periodically, you need to assess the condition of the pulp, cut off rotten places.

If the pumpkin needs to be stored for only 1-2 days, then you can put it in the refrigerator without packaging. However, it is imperative to protect it from chapping; for this, it is enough to lubricate the surface with vegetable oil.

Shelf life of cut pumpkin in the refrigerator, see the table.

Way	Duration of storage
In a box without packaging	2-3 days
In film, vacuum bag	2-3 weeks
In foil	Month

Pumpkin wrapped in foil does not absorb odors, which is important for long-term storage in a refrigerator loaded with other products

Frozen storage

Freezing allows you to preserve the product for up to a year, and after shock freezing, the pumpkin can be stored for several years or decades. However, you need to know some of the nuances and properly prepare the vegetable for such a long storage.

The pumpkin "does not like" periodic defrosting, as a result of which the taste deteriorates, therefore the peeled pulp is laid out in bags or containers in small portions. There are several ways to freeze cut pumpkin.

Without pretreatment

There is no consensus on the benefits of freezing fresh pumpkin. Someone likes this option, while others note a deterioration in taste and aroma. In a similar way, it is good to store sweet pumpkin varieties, in which the negative aspects will not be so pronounced.

Lay the pulp for storage, observing the following steps:

Cut the pumpkin into slices 2-3 cm thick.
Peel the peel, grabbing some pulp.
The seeds and loose part of the pulp are removed.
Cut into cubes of any size or grate.
Packaged in bags or plastic containers and sent to the freezer.

When frozen, raw pumpkin expands slightly, this must be taken into account when placing in the freezer. You can freeze each piece individually. spreading them out on the board and placing them in the camera.

After blanching

Blanching or short-term processing at high temperature allows you to preserve the taste of the pumpkin even when deep frozen. Once thawed, it will be no different from fresh. It is not difficult to prepare a pumpkin in this way:

The pumpkin is peeled, cut into pieces of the required size.
Placed in a colander, which is dipped in boiling water for 3 minutes.
Take out, let the water drain and cool.
Dry on paper towels or a towel of a suitable size.
They are laid out in portions and placed in the freezer for storage.

Many people find it difficult to cut the skin - it is quite dense, so you can cut yourself with a knife. To protect yourself, you need to make slices no more than 3 cm thick, and work with a special vegetable knife.

After grinding

If the freezer is small, the pumpkin can be ground into a paste in a blender. It is pre-boiled or baked in the oven. If the second option is chosen, then proceed as follows:

The pumpkin is cut into slices, while the skin is not removed.
Spread on a baking sheet with the pulp facing up.
Place in an oven preheated to 200 ° C.
Bake for an hour.
Take out, allow to cool and grind in a blender to a paste.

The resulting mass can be laid out in bags and frozen. In this form, previously cut pumpkin can be stored for a year without loss of taste and nutritional value.

Optimal storage conditions and locations

Optimal conditions for storing pumpkin for the winter: darkness, coolness, dryness. In rooms where the above is observed, most vegetables will be able to lie for a long time. At the same time, the thermometer should not fall below +5 and rise above +15 degrees throughout the winter.

It is logical to assume that heat or severe frost, sunlight and high humidity are the main enemies for the "long-lived" pumpkin

Wherever pumpkin is stored - in an apartment or in a private house - it is important to adhere to the following rules:

maintain the required temperature stably;
do not allow melons and gourds to come into contact with each other: piled up in a heap, they lack oxygen, begin to deteriorate and infect the rest of the crop. The fruits themselves should be stacked with tails up;
provide protection from ultraviolet rays;

Another condition for storing pumpkin in winter is the mandatory presence of a substrate. Its function can be taken over by dry shavings, sawdust, as well as sheaves of straw or just newspaper sheets, if storage takes place in an apartment. From time to time, the substrate needs to be updated, since it tends to dampen, and ventilate the room itself.

The question of where the pumpkin is stored in winter can be answered democratically: everywhere, if all the above conditions are met. This can be a refrigerator or a loggia in an apartment, as well as many places in a suburban home.

In the apartment

Housewives who want to get natural vitamins from the garden all year round will ask themselves the question of how to properly store pumpkin in urban living conditions?

Experts advise to equip containers for melons on a loggia or balcony. For this, a substrate is laid out on the shelves.

Of course, there is hardly a sheaf of straw in the apartment. Alternatively, you can use a dry, absorbent cloth or a piece of heavy cardboard. The space itself should be insulated and ventilated. It is best if the windows and any light sources are darkened. If this cannot be done, you need to cover the fruits themselves with a blanket.

The pantry is another worthy option that benefits from its isolation from natural light.
A refrigerator is a universal way of storing pumpkins in an apartment, if we are talking about short periods of time - two to three weeks. For this, the product is prepared: cut in any convenient way and wrapped in cellophane film or foil. The wrapper has two functions: it protects the pumpkin from extraneous odors and prevents the cut from weathering.
The freezer will increase the keeping time up to six months. In the freezer, products can be stored in any form - whole, in the form of pieces, grated or pureed. And also - in combination with other vegetables. The storage temperature of pumpkin fluctuates around 15-20 degrees with a minus sign.
Drying is ideal when it comes to small-sized housing or an apartment with a minimum of free space. For drying, the pumpkin is cut into centimeter slices, the seeds are removed, and the workpiece is washed in sweet boiling water. The dried pulp is placed in the oven over low heat or in an electric dryer for several hours. The main thing is not to let drying turn into a baking process. Dry melon is wrapped with parchment and placed in dryness and darkness.

If there is no place to store whole fruits, you can resort to conservation. Housewives make many dishes from pumpkin: juices, jams, salads, compotes, mashed potatoes, caviar and marinades.

In a private house

Private housing is the best option for storing pumpkins for the winter. There are many locations here that can serve as a natural storage: garage, attic, cellar, canopy or basement.

Do I need a cellar

Underground storage is the most successful. A well-equipped basement does not freeze even in the most severe frost, it is well ventilated and remains dry. The pumpkin is placed on pre-equipped shelves or racks with a straw backing. Read the principles of storing pumpkins in the cellar in our article.

How to store a pumpkin in an apartment

Unfortunately, not everyone has the opportunity to store fruits in a basement or cellar. People living in an apartment, and not in a private house, often face the problem of the safety of fruits and vegetables. However, with proper preparation, pumpkin can be stored until spring and in apartment conditions.

Fruit preparation

The necessary moment in storing pumpkin is the stage of preparing the product. Therefore, you should be serious about harvesting or buying fruit on the market.

When choosing a fruit for long-term storage, pay attention to the presence of a tail - without it, the pumpkin will quickly begin to rot

It is necessary that the tail is dry and without signs of incipient decay. Its length should be 5-7 mm

It is important to choose a ripe fruit, without damage, removed from the garden on time (before frost)

If you do not adhere to these rules, winter harvesting will quickly deteriorate and will be unusable.

To preserve the product for the winter, the pumpkin skin must be thoroughly dried. Therefore, the harvested crop should be placed for a week in a sufficiently illuminated and ventilated place.

Creating suitable storage conditions

When creating conditions for storing pumpkin, it is worth considering the following factors:

Lighting. For long-term storage, pumpkin fruits must be protected from direct sunlight and bright light.
Temperature. Favorable temperature conditions for storage are within the range of 8–10 ° C.
Humidity. To store the pumpkin, the air humidity must be within 70–80%.

How to dry and preserve pumpkin

Sometimes freezing is not available, in which case the product can be dried. This requires a little more effort, but the pumpkin will be stored longer - about a year.

The main thing is to choose the right place: dry, dark, ventilated, away from spices and other sources of strong odors. A lot of space is not needed, since the pieces, drying out, significantly lose in volume. You can store dried pumpkin in jars, canvas bags, cardboard boxes.

Video: how to dry a pumpkin

In the sun

The longest way, only suitable for hot sunny weather. The pulp, carefully peeled and cut into very small pieces or into strips, should be spread out on a horizontal surface and exposed to sunlight for two days, during which the pieces should be periodically turned over. It is better that they do not touch each other.

You should also cover the top with gauze to keep out flies. After two days in the sun, you need to dry it out in the shade for another four days. After that, pour the product into fabric bags.

Learn about the variety of varieties of butternut pumpkin, large-fruited, hard-barked pumpkin.

In the oven

The pumpkin is pre-peeled from the peel and entrails and cut into thin (about a centimeter) slices. They should be immersed in boiling water for a couple of seconds, removed and dried in a colander or sieve to glass the water. After that, the pieces are laid out on a baking sheet and dried in the oven at t ° 60 C.

In an electric dryer

It is good to process pumpkin shavings in an electric dryer. To do this, the peeled pulp is rubbed on a coarse grater or crushed in a combine. It is laid out on baking sheets and dried at t ° 55 C for about 24 hours. The resulting product is best stored in sealed jars.

Video: drying pumpkin in an electric dryer

Did you know? The largest pumpkin was brought in Guinness Book of Records 2016, she weighed 1190.5 kilograms.

How best to store pumpkin: reviews

You can dry it - an amazing delicacy, and even healthy. I dry sweet varieties, it turns out not only delicious, but also beautiful. Cut into strips and dry.In winter, my kids enjoy eating beautiful bright orange pumpkin straws.

Nadyaborya

Our relatives keep them on the ground floor in their own house (they have it in their basement, uninhabited) all winter. The only thing is that the pumpkin must be ripe (not overripe and not unripe), then it lies well with them. And as Mila says, the surface of the pumpkin and the pumpkin itself must be “healthy”. Our friends keep the pumpkin from their garden in the garage, it also lies until May without problems.

I tried to cut pumpkin into cubes and freeze. It didn’t work, because we periodically turned off the light and the pumpkin could not be saved, it started flowing, and so the mother-in-law keeps frozen, normally. Only, except for soups, before porridge, nothing else can be cooked. I love fresh pumpkin !!! I live

Elena Belashova

I also ice pumpkin, cut it into small pieces, and in the freezer. But they don't eat my pumpkin porridge, but casseroles - for a sweet soul. The freezer is also full, but I ice it on the New Year's Eve, when it starts to deteriorate in the cellar, maybe by that time the freezer will free up a little space.

romaska