How to store garlic at home

Garlic is an integral part of the basic grocery set that every home has. There is garlic in the kitchen of any hostess. This is not only a pleasant and aromatic spice that makes any dish more appetizing and tasty. Garlic is used as a medicine and prophylactic in the midst of colds. Not a single season of preservation can do without garlic - this vegetable gives marinades and pickles a special spice and delicate taste.

If you grow garlic in your garden, you are probably thinking about ways to store this vegetable crop. After all, with improper collection or storage of garlic begins to crumble, rot, grow, mold. One slightest mistake can lead to damage to the entire crop. That is why it is very important to know how to collect garlic and how to store it so that all winter there are fresh slices of delicious garlic on the table.

If you do not have your own farm, the question of storing garlic can also be quite acute. The fact is that practical housewives purchase garlic in the fall, during the harvest season. Vegetables at this time cost a penny, they can be stocked up for the whole winter. But how to save it, so as not to remain at a loss?

When to collect garlic for storage

The suitability of the crop for long-term storage directly depends on the time and the correctness of its collection. Garlic can be summer (spring) or winter (winter). Each of these varieties must be harvested at a specific time. Spring garlic is harvested in late August, when the leaves of the plant begin to turn yellow, and the tops begin to lean over the ground.

Winter garlic is harvested in July. Among the signs that indicate the ripening of the crop, yellowing of the outer leaves of the tops can be noted. In this case, the wrapper of inflorescences begins to crack. This suggests that it is time to collect garlic. Before harvesting, pay attention to the condition of the covering flakes. If they are thin, but quite durable, the vegetable is ready for harvest.

It is very important to collect garlic in due time. If you do not do it on time, it will begin to disintegrate, the upper shell will crack, new roots will appear on the bottom, and the bulb will lengthen. All this leads to a significant reduction in the shelf life of garlic. In this form, the vegetable will not tolerate winter, will quickly decay and deteriorate. Collect garlic in the following way.

How to harvest garlic

For collection you need to choose warm and sunny days. View the weather forecast and select a weekly period in which no precipitation is expected.

1. Garlic is harvested with a shovel. Dig the root crop carefully so as not to damage the bulbs. Some people prefer to dig up the ground with a pitchfork - as you wish.
2. Take the garlic by the tops and gently shake the vegetable. Use your hands to remove excess soil that has accumulated on the rhizomes. Be careful at the same time - damaged bulbs will not be suitable for long-term storage. You do not need to knock bulbs on a shovel or other hard objects with all their strength.
3. Now the garlic needs to be dried. On good sunny days, it is dried right in the garden. This can take more than one day. Keep garlic in the sun for about a week to dry well. If the weather does not please you with sunny days, you can dry the bulbs in a well-ventilated place - in the attic, under a canopy, under the roof of the terrace.
4. In wet weather, dry the garlic in the afternoon under the sun, and bring it home at night.
5. It is very important not to cut the green leaves of the plant during drying. The fact is that during drying, the leaves give the bulb additional nutritional strength.Observing summer residents may notice that after drying, the volume and weight of garlic is much greater than before.
6. After drying, garlic should be prepared for storage. The top coat is not removed from it, we need it in order to keep the vegetable longer. Roots need to be cut, but not completely. Leave 2-3 cm of the roots so that the garlic does not dry. The leaves of the plant also need to be trimmed slightly. Leave the neck 10-12 cm long so that the garlic stays fresh and tasty longer.

Everything. Garlic for long-term storage is ready. Now it needs to be removed so that throughout the winter a fresh and high-quality product is at hand.

How to store garlic at home

There are two ways to store garlic. The first is in conditions of relative cold, not more than 20 degrees of heat. So they store spring garlic. Winter does not tolerate heat and the maximum temperature at which it can be stored is 2-5 degrees. In general, winter garlic is rarely used for long-term storage. It does not tolerate temperature differences, dries quickly due to the fact that it has a very thin outer shell. It is convenient to plant such garlic in the fall - it grows quickly and is not afraid of the first frosts. And for long storage, take summer garlic. Here are some effective ways to store garlic at home.

1. Pigtails. From garlic you can weave a pigtail. If you are going to store garlic in this way, do not cut the tops too short - you will need them. Take a long rope and begin to weave garlic into it. Weave the braid, gradually adding more and more onions to it. At the end of weaving, you can make a small loop of rope, for which you can hang the resulting braid. By the way, garlic in this form will not only be preserved from rodents and insects, but will also decorate your home - the heads of garlic in the form of a pigtail look so stylized. You need to hang such weaving in a cool place - on the balcony, in the basement, in the closet, in the pantry.
2. Boxes and stockings. Garlic can be put in pots that you don’t use, as well as in old boxes. Keep garlic in a cool and dark place. If you are afraid that the garlic may become damp or rot, fill the old stocking with your heads and hang it on the ceiling in a cool room. Even the most malicious pests will not get to such garlic.
3. Baskets. It is very good to store onions and garlic in wicker baskets with large holes. In this state, the bulbs are well ventilated and the risk of decay is reduced.
4. Flour. This is a very good way to store garlic, with it you can save vegetables until the next harvest. The main condition is that the garlic is well dried. The heads are lowered into plastic or ceramic containers and sprinkled with flour. This is how grandmothers store garlic in the villages. Flour protects vegetables from rodents, insects, rot and mold. When you need garlic, you just need to get it, peel and rinse it. Ready and fresh foods on your table.
5. Linen bags. To prevent garlic from being eaten by uninvited guests, it must be stored in canvas bags previously soaked in salt. Prepare salt water and rinse a cloth bag in it. Hang it to dry without rinsing. In a dry bag, place the heads of garlic to keep them until spring.
6. Salt. If you often use garlic in culinary masterpieces and love when the product is at hand, you can store it in the kitchen drawer. But for this, sprinkle it with salt so that it does not deteriorate at a sufficiently high temperature. Salt does not allow garlic to dry, sprout or rot.

These are the simplest and most popular ways to store garlic in a city apartment. But there are many more ways that will help you keep garlic in a different form.

How else to store garlic

To store garlic, it is not necessary to keep it in its original form.Sometimes, in order to preserve it better, and also to make it convenient to use, it is pickled, salted and stored in oil.

1. You can save garlic in a jar. To do this, well-dried heads are divided into cloves and left to dry for a while. Sterilize the jar and lower all the cloves there. Be careful - you must not allow teeth with a wormhole or without a shirt to get inside. Such garlic cloves can spoil the entire can. Roll up the jar with a lid. You can store garlic in this form for a very long time - up to several years.
2. Garlic is stored in a jar of salt for a very long time. Pour a little salt into the bottom of the can, and then put one clove with cloves, then again sprinkle with salt and lay out the second layer. Thus, garlic is stored for a very long time, can survive more than one winter and will remain fresh.
3. You can put garlic in a vacuum bag and remove excess air. In this form, the vegetable will be stored in the refrigerator for several months.
4. Some housewives prefer to cook garlic almost completely. For this recipe, you can take damaged and slightly wormy heads, which are not suitable for long-term storage. Clean the cloves completely by cutting off any unsuitable areas. After that, chop the garlic as you prefer to eat it. Someone likes finely chopped garlic, and someone prefers to add chopped garlic, passed through a press, to food. The garlic prepared in the necessary way is placed in a glass jar and poured with vegetable oil. Garlic is perfectly stored in oil - even when chopped. When you are preparing the next dish, simply add the right amount of garlic and oil to the pan with a spoon. This method will not only help to keep the “illiquid” garlic, it is also very convenient. You do not have to peel and grind the vegetable every time - everything is ready for a long time and is at hand.
5. And if there is so much garlic that you can’t eat it even for the whole winter, it is pickled. Pickled garlic is a very tasty and spicy dish that will decorate any table. Surprise guests with this unusual canned product!

These are unusual ways to store garlic in various forms.

How to protect garlic from disease

During storage, garlic can dry out, germinate, bugs can settle in it, the vegetable can even become moldy. To prevent this from happening, there are many secrets to keeping this culture.

1. To prevent garlic from germinating, its roots are scorched by fire before storage.
2. So that the head of garlic does not dry, it is dipped in liquid paraffin. It forms a thin shell around the vegetable through which liquid does not evaporate. Garlic in this form remains fresh for many years.
3. To prevent mold and rot on the garlic, it must be thoroughly dried before storage. Typically, this problem occurs with damaged and frosty bulbs.

Whatever way you store the garlic, from time to time it needs to be viewed and sorted out. Spoiled and suspicious bulbs need to be confiscated from their common storehouse - they can infect healthy vegetables.

Garlic in Russian cuisine (along with salt and pepper) is considered the main spice. In ancient times, the widespread eating of garlic helped stop the plague epidemic in Europe. Garlic is a unique plant that has bactericidal, anti-inflammatory, antifungal and antiseptic properties. Eat garlic for taste, treatment and prevention - take care of your health!

Video: proper storage of garlic