How To Preserve Produce Without Refrigeration
(Page 3 of 9)
July/August 1971
By Frank Garrett
A root cellar needs to breath and a ventilator is necessary. It should be 4 to 6 inches square, extend three to four feet above the dirt that covers the cellar and must have a rain cap. ' Plug the vent with rags or paper in extremely cold weather. A vestibule entrance with two doors insulates the front. A root cellar is easiest to build and handiest to use when dug into a fairly steep bank as near to the kitchen door as possible. Good drainage is important. Either wooden flumes or tiles should be buried in the earth floor. Peeled log or wooden walls can be used (put a sheet of plastic film between the walls and the earth) but concrete or cement block will last a lot longer. Three or more feet of dirt on roof.
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Select vegetables which are firm and sound. Remove excess clinging dirt, butdo not wash the produce! Place the vegetables carefully in boxes or bins. If you toss the produce around and bruise it, you may well find it rotted the first time you go down into your cellar for a nice bunch of turnips.
Storage bins or boxes should be constructed so that air can circulate around the vegetables. This can be easily accomplished by leaving spaces between the wooden slats when the containers are constructed. Wire baskets may also be used as storage containers.
If you have neither wooden boxes nor wire baskets, you'll find that root vegetables store quite satisfactorily stacked on large, flat boards . . . as long as they're kept dry and cool. Bulbous root vegetables, such as onions, will keep much longer if tied by their tops into a bunch and hung up in the cellar.
Winter squash, cabbage, broccoli, celery, Brussel sprouts, cauliflower, apples, melons and quince are other vegetables and fruits that will keep in a root cellar but they are considerably more delicate than root vegetables and should be handled accordingly. Of this group, only cabbage and winter squash can be safely stacked in bins. The other vegetables may not be stacked. Of the fruits, only apples may be stacked . . . and, of the apples, only select hard apples free of blemish should be stored. Just one apple with a soft spot on it can cause total disaster in your apple barrel.
Green beans, lima beans, peas, okra, cucumbers, eggplant, peppers, summer squash, green tomatoes and most fruit will remain good for up to one month in a root cellar. Spread them on shelves or benches and you'll find their quality actually improves as they slowly come to full ripeness in the cellar . . . but use this produce quickly as it will deteriorate rapidly.
If you've never tried root cellar storage before, Figure 1 should help get you off to a good start.
DRYING
Many fruits and vegetables which cannot be stored may be readily preserved by drying. When the method can be used, drying is one of the most effective means of food preservation because dried foods can be held indefinitely as long as they are kept dry.
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