For all summer residents and hosts, the golden season is coming in the fall - together with another crop they are harvested from the garden and harvested onions for the winter. The most common and effective way to keep this vegetable tasty and healthy is by drying. Of course, it can be pickled and frozen, but it is drying that allows you to keep the vegetable almost unchanged and at the same time requires not so much effort. And about how to dry onions for the winter, let's talk in this article.
Which onion is best stored?
Different varieties of onions are stored with varying degrees of success: some are generally not desirable to be stored for a long time, while some rest quietly all winter and even more. The general rule here is: sweet varieties have poor keeping quality. Sharp and semi-sharp are well stored - the first have high keeping quality, the second - high or medium, depending on the variety. The following varieties are not bad for storage:
- Golden.
- Violetta.
- Mayachkovsky local.
- Exhibit.
- Rostov onion.
- Carmen.
- Bessonovsky local.
- Brunswick.
- Danilovsky 301.
- Timiryazevsky.
- Strigunovsky local.
- Sturon.
- Spassky local superior.
- Radar.
- Zolotnichok.
- Alvina.
- Svirsky.
- Shetana MC.
- Carmen MS.
- Aleko.
- Stuttgart Riesen.
- Red Baron.
- Albion.
- Setton.
- Bamberger.
- Oporto.
- Odintsovo.
There are others, do not forget about hybrids. In addition, although the bulbs of these varieties are good in themselves, they also require suitable conditions and proper preparation. If your variety is not from the “downstream” ones, or you cannot determine it, apply several methods at once, some of them will certainly work.
How to prepare a vegetable for storage
Preparation begins even in the garden, since it is possible to dry onions after harvesting there, if weather permits. When the growth has already stopped and the feathers have died down, the vegetables are gently pulled out of the ground and laid directly on the beds.
After rain, it is inconvenient to pull them out of the wet earth, there is much more dirt. It’s harder to move yourself, and the pulled out vegetables are harder to dry. You can’t just pull it out of completely dry earth, you have to “dig out” with tools, and in this case there is a risk of damaging the bulbs or tearing off the feathers. It is easiest to remove the bulbs when the ground is a little wet - then the turnip is easily pulled out and it is easy to remove adhering clay, just shake it properly.
After the vegetables have dried, you can transfer the process to the room, since it is proper to dry the onion not in the bright sun, but in the shade. Great for this mesh, stretched horizontally. Another good option is to hang everything on taut ropes, or simply tie several bulbs into bundles and hang them in a shaded, well-ventilated place and protected from rain.
2 main ways to keep the crop until next spring
Since drying onions for the winter in this way is possible only where there is free space, it is not suitable for everyone. There are two main alternatives: chop, dry in the oven and use as spices or dry and store in bundles, bags, bundles and other hanging weaves.
The first method is perfect for cooking - dried and chopped pieces of onions can be thrown directly into the soup, and where necessary. The second method allows you to keep the bulbs fresh and able to germinate.
Preparation and storage of chopped onions
How to dry onions for the winter as a seasoning: bulbs and feathers are cut into small pieces, bulbs are first rings, then these rings - into even smaller parts. All together evenly placed on a baking sheet and sent to the oven for several hours, to dry with minimal heating.
After such processing, the resulting dried spices are perfectly stored in cloth bags, glass and metal jars, in cardboard and wooden boxes. They retain a wonderful aroma and appearance, decorate the cooked dish.
Drying whole bulbs
Unlike the first method, this one is simpler and does not require so much attention. Whole bulbs can be dried on a grid, on boards, on the floor, but a prerequisite is that the room is well ventilated, it was not too humid, cold or hot. The first option is preferable, since it is convenient to dry onions after harvesting on a grid, because the air has access to vegetables from all sides, you can leave it unattended. Onions, which are dried on the floor and especially on the film, must be regularly turned over so that they are "aired" uniformly from all sides.
Another convenient way is to tie in bundles or in braids and so hang. However, this method is only suitable for already sufficiently dried plants: if the feathers or the bulbs themselves are raw, they can begin to rot. It is impossible to suppose the presence of even one raw plant in a bunch - it will begin to rot itself and "help" the rotting of its neighbors.
Storage in the form of braids, in bags and sprinkled
From well-dried plants on which feathers are preserved, very beautiful and decorative ornaments can be connected. How to dry onions for the winter? In the form of an ordinary braid in three strands, braids in four or six strands, a braid, you can adapt kapron tights and stockings for this.
Different varieties look good together: onions of golden color with purple and white, white with dark red, for decoration, you can add a branch of viburnum or plastic fruits and vegetables. You just need to remember a few basic rules:
- Onion feathers themselves are quite fragile, so at the very beginning of the braid you need to add some twine, bandage or a strip of fabric to enhance weaving. For the same reason, do not weave braids too large and heavy.
- It is not necessary to weave the bulbs close to each other - it is advisable to leave a little space between them for ventilation.
- Weaving should be kept suspended - and ventilation is better, and pests will not get.
However, “braids” is not the only option, since it is possible to dry the onions properly and store them in bags of nylon socks, stockings and tights, as well as in mesh bags. But before getting into these devices, the bulbs should dry well, and they need to trim the feathers - they are useless here.
Onion storage conditions: temperature, humidity, ventilation
Fully dried onions of acute and subacute varieties calmly lie all winter if stored under the right conditions. With low humidity, the bulbs dry out, with high humidity they begin to sprout, diseases such as cervical rot can develop. For semi-acute varieties, t ° from 0 to -1 ° C and humidity of 75-90% are suitable, for acute varieties from -1 to -3 ° C with the same humidity. The second option is the temperature from +18 to + 22 ° . There is also a third: in autumn and spring, bulbs are organized from +18 to + 22 ° C, and during winter frosts - from 0 to -3 ° C.
Leek: A Special Approach
In addition to onions, there are other interesting types of onions, one of which is leek.
How to prepare onions for the winter of this species is a separate matter. Three main methods are practiced (not including preservation): dry in the form of seasoning, keep fresh (in the sand or the vegetable section of the refrigerator) or freeze.
The first method is almost no different from the drying of onions. In the same way, the leaves are crushed into small squares or half rings, dried in an electric dryer or in the oven.
With proper preparation, the leek is stored in the vegetable section of the refrigerator for 4-5 months - all this time it is completely edible both by itself and in salads. Freezing is also a good way: for this, prepared leek, preparations from it in the form of leaves and stems need to be cut. Then they should be laid out in a thin layer in plastic bags and sent to the freezer.
Recipes for the winter: onions and ways to improve it
Preservation is a very tasty and easy way to make onions even better, to give it an unusual taste, appearance and properties. The easiest way to preserve is pickling onions. Here you need bay leaves, peppercorns, as well as the onion itself, water and salt. In this simple recipe, the onions must be cut into rings, put in a bowl, add pepper and bay leaf and pour hot brine, which is done at the rate of 200 gr. salt per 1 liter of ordinary, and the best - pure well water.
All this is left for two days in a cold place, after which the onion is transferred to jars (with the addition of pepper and bay leaf) and poured with hot marinade (marinade - dilute ¾ cup of vinegar in 1 liter of water). Rolled cans, as usual, are turned upside down, wrapped up, and then hidden in a locker and waiting for their time.
In addition to this very simple recipe, there are many others: confiture is made from onions, it is pickled especially for salads, canned as a snack for sandwiches, even cooked as a side dish. All these simple and not very recipes for the winter make onions different, give it a new taste, smell, appearance. But that does not make it better or worse than classic bulbs. In fact, everything: drying in the form of seasoning, and weaving in "braids", and pickling - these are different ways of cooking a delicious and beloved vegetable called onion.