Petiole celery - when to clean and how to store?

Celery is one of the most healthy vegetables. Juice is squeezed from the petioles, which helps to lose weight, strengthen the nervous system and improve skin color. Useful amino acids, trace elements, carotene and other elements saturate the green vegetable. Beginners need to know when to collect the grown celery, and how to store it so that all its properties do not disappear after a while.

Harvesting

The gardener will grow large, sweet stalks of celery if all the rules are followed during planting. You need to find out what is the harvest time for this crop.

Celery is very sensitive to freezing temperatures. This is especially true for self-bleaching varieties, since they are not buried in the soil and are not mulched. They must be cut off before the onset of cold weather no later than September. If there is insulation, you can postpone the collection for 2 weeks.

Important! The recommendations on agricultural technology spelled out the timing of the harvest, in most cases they are 11-16 weeks. Otherwise, the vegetables will coarsen and lose their taste and aroma.

All celery is dug out of the soil, the roots are removed and in this state they are sent for storage. For varieties that need to be grown, do not trim the roots, sprinkle with moist sand and put in a cellar or greenhouse.

Storage and processing conditions

There are 5 ways to store celery roots:

1. Cold cellar - useful properties and appearance are fully preserved, but for a short period of time - no more than 2 months.
2. Refrigerator - suitable for trimmed roots, for up to 3 weeks.
3. Freezing - after such storage, shredding the salad or getting juice will not work, the shelf life is up to 1 year.
4. Drying - most of the beneficial properties are preserved, but the cuttings are suitable only as seasonings in the main dish, dried celery is stored for more than a year.
5. Salting - vegetables are poured with plenty of salt and stored in the refrigerator all winter.

Experienced housewives apply several methods at once, so that you can cook a vegetable at any time of the year.

Fridge

Celery purchased or taken from the cellar is stored in the refrigerator until it is cooked. It is necessary to maintain the elasticity of the stems, and prevent rot. Celery is washed, dried and packaged in one of the following ways:

• wrapping in foil;
• paper towel wrapping and packing in a plastic bag;
• use of cling film.

Before cooking, the dried parts are trimmed. Celery retains most of the beneficial elements.

Cellar

This is the most efficient way to store cuttings. Foliage is cut off at celery, the rhizome is left at 3 cm. All cuttings are vertically stacked in a prepared box and covered with sand to half the height of the container. Some specimens can be covered with wet sand or peat. If there is no basement, celery can be stored on a cold balcony, porch or loggia. The main condition is that the temperature should not be below 0 degrees.

Freezing

Very popular method. Despite similar storage conditions, there are significant differences: the presence or absence of heat treatment.

You can apply blanching. The process is similar to processing brussels sprouts. The action plan is as follows:

1. Wash the cuttings, cut hard fibers, cut into small or medium pieces.
2. Dip the chopped vegetable in boiling water for 2-3 minutes.
3. Pull the celery out of boiling water and lower it into ice water or ice for quick cooling.
4. Spread the pieces on a cloth or other cloth in 1 layer, wait for the evaporation of moisture and lay them on a baking sheet with parchment.
5. Put the pan in the freezer.
6. After freezing, put the celery in a tight package.

Blanching celery is optional, just put the chopped vegetables in a bag and put it in the freezer. However, the shelf life is reduced to 3 months.

Dryness

The method has been tested for years. Rinse celery stalks with running water, remove particles of soil, sand and other contaminants, wipe with a towel. Whole or cut vegetables are placed on parchment and covered with the same sheet of paper. Celery must be left to dry at room temperature (about 1 month). Dried cuttings are stored in a glass bowl. If necessary, they take it out and cook it. Vegetable can be chopped in a blender, scroll in a meat grinder, grind in a mortar or use as a seasoning.

To speed up the process, you can use an oven or an electronic dryer. Coarsely chopped pieces are placed on a baking sheet and dried at a temperature of 50-60 degrees. If an oven is used, it is necessary to open the door for good air circulation, otherwise the celery will be baked, not dried.

Pickling

This method has been used for a long time, but at the moment it is not very popular. Sliced ​​celery pieces are placed in a glass jar and poured with salt. Proportion: 1 gram of vegetables requires 200 grams of salt. After salting, celery is added to hot, meat dishes and sauces to add flavor.

Tips & Tricks

1. 2 weeks before processing, the stems should be bleached - the petioles are gathered together, wrapped with breathable material from the bottom. This will make celery softer and remove the bitter aftertaste.
2. It is important to consider the variety of vegetables: green is recommended to bleach, yellow requires gentle care and does not need this procedure, pink and red varieties can be processed later, they are more resistant to cold.
3. Cuttings can be used in the preparation of small dietary snacks. Celery is cooked and frozen without prior slicing. As a filler, cottage cheese, grated cheese, sweet peppers, herbs and minced chicken are suitable. If you show imagination, you get a tasty and healthy dish rich in trace elements.

Video: how to save petiole celery