How to store apples in the refrigerator

Not everyone has the opportunity to store large stocks of fruit in the cellar or basement. In this regard, it is necessary to know how to keep the freshness of fruits in the refrigerator for a long time.

We have prepared recommendations for the proper storage of apples. Use them, and then you will always have access to fresh healthy fruits.

Shelf life of apples

If stored at room temperature, apples stay fresh for up to 2 days. By storing fruit in the refrigerator, the shelf life can be extended to several weeks.

The variety of apples also matters. Golden and Red Delicious spoil quickly, while Granny Smith has the longest shelf life. The Antonovka, Renet Simirenko, Chosen One, and Olympic varieties are also stored for a long time. Winter varieties retain their nutritional qualities and taste until the next spring, so they are optimal for long-term storage.

If the apple is sliced, then it is no longer possible to consume it after storage in the refrigerator for 12 hours. And when storing sliced ​​fruits at room temperature, fruits become inedible after 2-3 hours.

General recommendations

It is impossible to store fresh apples and fruits with traces of decay together. One rotten apple can quickly spoil all other fruits, because when it rots, it actively releases ethylene.

To store fruits in modern refrigerators there are separate compartments. If there are none, place apples in an open plastic container and place it deep into the device — there is the lowest temperature.

Soak a towel in water and cover the fruit with it. This must be done in order to provide the apples with the necessary amount of moisture — without this, they will not be able to stay fresh for a long time. But in this case, you do not need to keep the fruit in an airtight container.

Suitable humidity for storing apples is 90-95%. If the indicator is lower, then the fruits will begin to dry quickly, and if it is higher, they will rot. To track humidity, inexpensive hygrometers are now available — for example, the Beurer HM16. It can be used to quickly check the current humidity reading in the refrigerator.

Monitor the temperature inside the refrigerator. The optimum temperature for fruit storage is from -1.1 to +1.7 °C. If the temperature is lower, then the apples will become too soft and tasteless, and if it is higher, then the fruit will rot much faster.

Long Term Storage Tips for Apples

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To keep apples fresh for a long time, each of them must be wrapped in paper. Newspaper sheets can be used — but only for black and white printing. Colored paint contains harmful metals that are absorbed into fruits and further affect health. You do not need to wrap the apples too tightly, otherwise the sheets will quickly tear. Try to ensure the access of oxygen to the fruits and at the same time isolate them from each other as much as possible.

Place the fruit in a cardboard box or crate so that the apples have access to air. You can loosely close the container with a lid.

Check fruits as often as possible. As soon as signs of decay begin to appear on any fruits, immediately get rid of them.

Where else can you store apples

Any cool room is suitable for storing such fruits — a cellar, basement, pantry or attic. However, the temperature in the room should not be below zero, otherwise the fruit will freeze and, when thawed, will turn into an inedible gruel. In this regard, be careful to store the fruits on the loggia or balcony if they are not heated.

Ventilate the room more often — otherwise, ethylene will begin to stagnate in the air, which will lead to accelerated rotting of the fruit, even if the other rules are fully observed.

Apples should not be stored near potatoes, as potatoes release gas, which speeds up fruit decay. But you can store them in the same room — the main thing is that they do not touch.

How to pick homemade apples from a tree

If you grow apples on your own, then preparation for their further storage begins at the picking stage.

Follow these guidelines:

1. Pick apples in the period of removable ripeness, with 5-6 ripe fruits falling daily;
2. Suitable weather for collection is dry sunny. Apples picked in rainy weather rot faster;
3. It is impossible to tear off the stalk and remove the wax coating;
4. Do not throw the collected apples into the container, but carefully stack them;
5. When collecting, start from the lower branches and gradually move up.

Next, place the fruits in a cool room for 2-3 weeks. After this time, select fruits with visible traces of a defect. For long-term storage, only apples with stalks, on the surface of which there are no mechanical damages, are suitable. Different varieties of apples are not stored together. It is also desirable to place large apples to large ones, small ones to small ones, etc.

Attention! It is impossible to wipe or wash fruits — this will reduce their shelf life.

Non-standard ways to store apples

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Some summer residents treat the fruits with a bactericidal ultraviolet lamp. Processing time — up to 30 minutes, distance — 1.5 m. It is assumed that after such processing, apples remain fresh all winter.

You can also apply paraffin, wax to the skin of the fruit. Try grating apples with petroleum jelly, glycerin. Some dip the fruits in a solution of calcium chloride, salicylic acid, or use propolis for this purpose.

Apples can also be frozen for the winter. Procedure:

1. Wash fruit thoroughly in water;
2. Cut the apples into 2 parts, and then into 2 more parts;
3. Remove the seeds along with the seed pods and rinse the cloves again under running water;
4. Cut the slices into a container (so that they do not darken, sprinkle them with lemon juice);
5. Place apples in freezer bags;
6. Tie the containers as tightly as possible and place them in the freezer.

In the future, frozen apples can be used to make jam, compotes, pies, pies. In this form, they retain all their useful properties. However, it is no longer possible to re-freeze fruits.