How, where, in what and how long should boiled beets be stored?

Rich in vitamins and microelements, tasty and juicy beets are one of the main products in the human diet.

Most often, beets are used boiled for preparing salads and cold vegetable appetizers.

It is possible to preserve the nutritional value and taste of excess boiled beets, subject to a certain temperature regime, correctly selected containers and storage location.

We will tell you further how long and under what conditions boiled beets are stored.

How can it be stored?

The extent to which the product will remain nutritious and tasty for the next use largely depends on where exactly the boiled beets will be stored.

In room conditions

Immediately after cooking, the beet is removed from the water, slightly dried and, without removing the peel, placed in a dry bowl and covered tightly with a lid. Ceramic bowls and glass coated with enamel are ideal for storage.. You should not use plastic dishes (the coloring pigment, eating into the plastic, leaves indelible stains on the walls).

In a refrigerator

The best packaging for storing boiled beets in the refrigerator is a plastic bag.

Algorithm of actions:

1. Vegetables are boiled, cooled, peeled if necessary, cut into cubes or bars.
2. A plastic bag filled with boiled beetroot is hermetically sealed (tied in a knot, sealed with tape), and small holes are made in the walls for ventilation.
3. The prepared bags are placed on the shelves of the refrigerator.

It is convenient to store whole boiled beets in the refrigerator, wrapped in cling film. In this form, the root crop does not become chapped and retains its nutritional value for as long as possible.

Algorithm of actions:

1. Boil the vegetables and let cool at room temperature.
2. The unpeeled beet is placed in a container (if desired, the root vegetable can be peeled and cut into pieces).
3. The container is tightly closed with a lid and stored in the refrigerator.

It’s good if there are air valves in the lid of the container; when placing them in the refrigerator, they are left open. The bottom of the plastic container is covered with a paper kitchen towel (it absorbs beet juice, thereby preventing the product from rotting).

This video will show you how to store boiled beets in the refrigerator:

In the freezer

To ensure that boiled beets remain juicy and tasty after freezing, It is necessary to properly organize the process of placing the product in the freezer:

1. Peel the boiled root vegetable, dry with paper napkins, cut into cubes or strips.
2. Place the prepared vegetables in portions into thick plastic bags with a zip fastener and place them in the freezer drawer.

To prepare cold appetizers and salads, boiled beets are defrosted at a temperature of 2-4°C in the refrigerator. Boiled beet can be added frozen to hot dishes, soups, and stews.

This video will show you how to store boiled beets in the freezer:

Best before date

Maintaining temperature conditions is the main condition for proper storage of boiled beets. At room temperature +22°C, boiled, peeled and cut into pieces beets are not stored for long, no more than twelve hours. The shelf life of the whole root vegetable in the peel increases to twenty-four hours.

In the refrigerator (temperature range from +1°C to +5°C):

• boiled, peeled and cut into pieces or grated beets can be stored for twenty-four hours;
• peeled, quartered root vegetables will retain their nutritional value for forty-eight hours;
• a peeled but uncut vegetable retains its beneficial properties and taste for seventy-two hours;
• Boiled but not peeled beet can be stored for up to ninety-six hours (four days).

To extend the shelf life, do not peel all the boiled beets at once.

Boiled vegetables can be stored in the freezer (at a temperature of -18°C) for up to three months. Hermetically sealed trays or plastic bags are placed at the bottom of the freezer, closer to the back wall of the refrigerator. Boiled beets can be stored in a quick freezing chamber (temperature -20°C and below) for up to six months.

How to increase storage time?

Vacuum bags will help extend the shelf life of boiled beets up to ten days. In a vacuum, vegetables retain their bright color, taste, juiciness and aroma for up to ten days.

On the shelves of hardware stores you can see disposable and reusable bags.For home use, it is better to choose reusable bags with a valve to remove air (disposable bags can only be used if you have a special vacuum sealer).

1. Boiled beets are peeled and cut into strips or pieces.
2. Place the prepared vegetables in a sieve for five minutes to drain excess liquid.
3. The vegetables are placed quite tightly together, in one layer, in a vacuum bag.

The maximum shelf life for vegetables vacuum-packed in production. Store-bought boiled beets are suitable for consumption from six months to one year (the exact period is indicated by the manufacturer on the packaging).

Adviсe

After cooking, drain the water from the pan immediately. Prolonged contact with boiling water not only reduces the nutritional value of the vegetable, but also shortens the shelf life.

Before placing in the refrigerator or freezer, bowls with boiled beets must be sealed. The exact storage start date will help avoid delays.

You need to freeze boiled vegetables in portions, exactly as much as is needed to prepare one dish. This is because defrosted beets cannot be stored again in the freezer. Repeated freezing turns a healthy, nutritious vegetable into a tasteless mess.

Only high-quality, freshly boiled vegetables are selected for storage.. Otherwise, the presence of areas of spoilage significantly reduces the shelf life of the product.

When putting boiled beets in a bag, it is important not to forget to pierce the polyethylene (make holes for ventilation).Otherwise, the root vegetable will very quickly become covered with mucus and will have to be thrown away.

Vegetables that are boiled but not yet cooled should not be sent for storage. A sharp change in temperature stimulates the appearance of condensation, which reduces the storage time of the finished product. If you don't have a lid at hand, you can cover the bowl or container with cling film or tightly cover it with baking foil.

Conclusion

Compliance with storage periods and correct temperature conditions helps preserve the maximum beneficial properties and taste of boiled beets.