What is the shelf life of beets, what does it depend on, how do you know when it has expired?

Fresh beets are best stored in basements, cellars and other cool and damp areas.

But you can preserve the root vegetable - fresh or boiled - in an apartment. The main thing is to maintain humidity and temperature conditions.

We’ll talk about the shelf life of beets (in their peels, peeled, fresh and boiled, and their seeds) in the article.

How long should it be stored, according to GOST?

According to GOST R 51811-2001, beets are stored in closed ventilated rooms at temperatures from 0 to +10 C° for three days inclusive. If the temperature exceeds +10 C° - no longer than two days inclusive. Air humidity should be 85-90%.

These requirements are relevant for root vegetables that are supplied for sale in stores.

Storage features depend on several factors:

• state of the root vegetable (fresh, boiled, grated, pureed, crushed into juice);
• storage places (cellar, basement, apartment);
• temperatures (room plus, minus in the freezer).

The shelf life of beets at home depends on the temperature, humidity and natural ventilation of the room.

The higher the temperature and lower the humidity, the shorter the root crop is stored.. In dry, cool rooms, where the air temperature is not higher than 10 C°, the vegetable can be stored for up to several months.

You can recognize that raw beets have begun to deteriorate by their appearance. If the root crop is soft and begins to rot, it means that the shelf life has come to an end.This vegetable cannot be stored any longer.

It is necessary to remove the rotten part and use the remaining part for its intended purpose.. If most of the root crop has rotted, it is better to throw it away.

Peculiarities

The shelf life of root vegetables varies depending on the form in which it is sent to storage.

In the peel

Unpeeled beets can be stored indoors, in the freezer, or on refrigerator shelves.

At room temperature

Beets do not really like warm rooms and it is difficult to maintain all the conditions necessary for storing them in an apartment. That's why You can’t keep such a vegetable at room temperature for long.

Root vegetables can also be kept in a cool room, under a bed or closet (if you have space) or in the pantry. The optimal temperature for storage is up to 12 C°. In such conditions, vegetables can be stored for 3-4 months.

In the freezer

Freezing is the best way to preserve the appearance of beets and their taste. There are a few tips to keep in mind before putting them in the freezer:

1. It is better to divide frozen specimens into portions. After all, this vegetable cannot be sent to the freezer again.
2. If you need to freeze whole root vegetables, it is better to put them in a freezer with fast freezing (-18 C°).
3. It is better to freeze young varieties; vegetables should be fresh.
4. Before freezing, the root vegetable must be thoroughly washed and the skin removed. Then puree with a blender or cut into cubes. Send the prepared product to be frozen at a temperature of -10 to -14 C°.

With proper preparation, the vegetable can stay in the freezer for 8-12 months.

In a refrigerator

In the refrigerator, beets remain fresh, tasty and healthy for 3-4 weeks at a temperature of 2-4 C°. Next, the vegetables will begin to wilt.

There are several ways to store root vegetables:

1. Pack in a paper bag - shelf life will be 1-2 weeks.
2. Clean each vegetable from dirt using a dry method and distribute into plastic bags. It is necessary to make holes in them for natural ventilation. This way the root vegetable will keep in the refrigerator for 2-3 weeks.
3. If the vegetables have been washed under water, they can be kept in the refrigerator for 5-7 days.

Purified

Peeled beets quickly gain moisture and wither. It can be stored in the refrigerator in several ways:

• package in vacuum bags - here it can be stored for up to 30 days;
• Next to other vegetables, washed and peeled beets can be stored for no more than 3 days.

Fresh juice

Immediately after squeezing, the juice is placed in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours. Here it settles, the benefits of the drink will be maximum, and the harmful components will disappear.

Boiled

Unpeeled boiled vegetables can be stored in the refrigerator at a temperature of 2 to 4 C° for up to 3 days.

If the air temperature is between 20 and 25 C°, Whole boiled vegetables can be stored for no longer than 12 hours, chopped vegetables can be stored for no longer than 12 hours.. Boiled beets can be stored in the freezer for up to 30 days at a temperature of -12 C°.

To prevent the boiled vegetable from absorbing foreign odors and losing its taste, it can be kept in the refrigerator wrapped in cling film.Or in a ceramic container, tightly covered with a lid. It is better to store baked root vegetables in foil.

How to store boiled beets in the refrigerator correctly and for how many days? this article, where, in what and how long boiled beets are stored - this.

Grated

Grated beets can be stored in the freezer. This is an excellent preparation for borscht - you don’t need to grate the vegetable again every time. It is enough to defrost it and use it to prepare the first dish.

The root vegetable needs to be grated or crushed in a food processor. Distribute the resulting mass into bags or containers, close and place in the freezer. Shelf life - 8 months.

Seeds

Seeds must be kept in such conditions that all seed qualities remain intact. To do this, you must follow the storage recommendations.:

• in a warm and humid room, seeds will lose their viability within a few months;
• air should not flow freely to the seed - otherwise the seed quality will deteriorate in a few weeks;
• Sudden temperature changes during storage should not be allowed;
• seeds are stored at a temperature of 12-15 C° and air humidity of about 50%.

How to increase shelf life?

To keep the root vegetable tasty and fresh longer, It is useful to follow the rules:

1. Before storage, each vegetable must be cleaned of contaminants. The fungus contained in the soil will speed up the decay process. Particles of soil must be cleaned off carefully so as not to damage the peel.
2. You should not store wet root vegetables; they need to be dried before storage.Moisture accelerates the rotting process.
3. Regardless of where vegetables are stored, they need to be reviewed at least once a week. Damaged copies that have begun to deteriorate must be removed. Otherwise, the putrefactive process will spread to the rest of the root crops.

Adviсe

Useful tips on organizing the storage of beets:

1. The tops of the root crop must be cut off with a sharp knife or scissors. You need to leave no more than 1 cm.
2. Small vegetables are best stored.
3. Beets can be stored together with potatoes. This “cooperation” is beneficial for both types of root vegetables. Beets protect potatoes from humid air, and they themselves absorb moisture from it.
4. If you don't have paper bags on hand, you can wrap each beet in newspaper.
5. Damaged parts of the root crop must be cut off. If this is not done, the vegetable will spoil completely.

Conclusion

The shelf life of beets depends on the storage location and the condition of the root crop. The vegetable can be stored fresh or boiled, in the form of puree or juice.

As a place for root crops you can use a cellar or basement, refrigerator, freezer, balcony and even the space under the bed or closet.