How To Choose And Store Ginger

Ginger is a well-known storehouse of vitamins and nutrients, known as a means of losing weight, maintaining health, as well as a bright spice used in cooking.

Ginger is a well-known storehouse of vitamins and nutrients, known as a means of losing weight, maintaining health, as well as a bright spice used in cooking. Ginger is rich not only in its piquant, aromatic taste, but also in vitamins such as C, B1, B2, A, calcium, magnesium and phosphorus. Have you ever wondered how to choose the “most”, healthy and vitamin-rich ginger? After all, your health, beauty and taste of the dish depend on the right choice. In this article, we will not only talk about how to choose the “right” ginger, but also how to store it at home.

 

Signs of fresh ginger

We tell you how to choose the right fresh ginger:

- Watery and juicy scrap. How to check? Break off a small sprout from the ginger root, if when breaking off the root will crunch (a sign of juiciness) and a strong aroma will come out - the ginger root is fresh. There is another option: you can pick off the peel with your fingernail, a bright aroma should come from fresh ginger root, and you will also see droplets of juice.

- Light, golden, shiny color. The fact is that matte ginger, which has a rather dark skin color, has a bitter taste and contains fewer useful trace elements.

-Don't buy ginger that smells damp and don't eat it if you see mold on it - that's the main sign that the ginger has expired.

-The fruit of fresh ginger will always be firm and with a smooth, thin skin. A soft and wrinkled root indicates that it is starting to wilt. If you see that the ginger root is covered with threads, the peel is dense and thick, damaged, or there are potato-like “eyes” on it, then know that such ginger has already lost all its beneficial properties, which means its expiration date has already expired.

-When buying ginger, choose the largest root, because due to the many branches, it contains more essential oils and beneficial trace elements.

 

How to store ginger at home?

The point is not how much you can store ginger, because outwardly it can look attractive for quite a long time, but how much time and under what conditions the miracle root will retain its beneficial substances.

The main advice: do not cut the skin of ginger or do it as carefully as possible to remove the extremely thin layer of the root, it is under the skin layer that the most valuable trace elements are stored.

Storing ginger in the refrigerator:

-In the refrigerator or any other cool place, fresh ginger root will keep for up to a week.

-Dried ginger root in the sun can be stored for up to a month.

-If you want to store ginger longer (up to 2 months), pour fresh peeled ginger root into boiling water or cooking sherry, place in an airtight container and keep in the refrigerator.

-Dry root can be stored for 4 to 6 months (the only thing is that it must be soaked in water for 6-8 hours before use) in the refrigerator or at room temperature.

-For regular storage, wrap the ginger in a paper towel, place in a paper bag and refrigerate. The key is to get as much air out of the bag as possible.   

- Store ginger root in cling film, the main thing is to keep the product in a dry environment (in the refrigerator compartment for storing vegetables) so that ginger does not get moldy.

 

Storing ginger in the freezer compartment of the refrigerator:

-In the freezer of the refrigerator, ginger can be stored for several months.

-To store in the freezer, you will need to carefully wrap the ginger root with cling film and close it in an airtight container or zip-top bag designed for food storage.

-Interesting: there is a lot of controversy regarding the storage of ginger in the freezer, and some experts assure that at low temperatures (below -4), ginger loses all its beneficial properties, all that remains is just a pleasant look and aroma.

 

Storing ginger in a vacuum:

-In a vacuum, ginger can be stored from several weeks to several months.

-To store ginger in jars with vacuum lids, use a home vacuum sealer. Put the ginger in a jar (preferably wrapped in cling film) and close the lid, then pump out the air with a pump and put the jar in the refrigerator.

-If you want ginger to retain nutrients longer than when stored in a jar, then we recommend using vacuum bags. Put the ginger in a vacuum bag, seal it tightly, remove the air with a home vacuum cleaner, and send it to the freezer of the refrigerator.

 

Pickled ginger can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a month (home - 3). You can prepare pickled ginger as follows: put the chopped ginger root in a jar and pour the boiled mixture of rice vinegar, salt and sugar so that the entire contents are covered with liquid. After completely cooling, send the ginger with liquid to the refrigerator for 6 hours and serve with dishes.

Ginger for making sauces: cut peeled ginger into thin plates / strips and put in a jar, then pour dry white wine and refrigerate. Steep ginger for three weeks and add various sauces to dishes.

Ginger for making sweets: boil peeled and chopped ginger for 10 minutes in sugar syrup (proportions of water and sugar 1: 1). Cool the ginger mass and refrigerate, then add to desserts and pastries.

 

With ginger powder, which you can buy at any grocery store, everything is easier. The shelf life will be indicated on the packaging, and we recommend storing it in a dry, dark place no more than 35 degrees Celsius. Note: fresh ginger is much spicier than dried ground ginger.

Choose and store ginger the right way!