Do you like the taste of homemade preserves? Crisp pickled cucumbers, thick raspberry juice, sweet strawberry compote – the flavors of summer locked in jars sweeten long winter evenings. See how to store them.
Home preserves are best kept in glass jars. Glass bottles are also perfect for storing juice. However, remember to sterilize them before putting food into them. High temperatures kill bacteria and microorganisms that can cause food spoilage. So it’s worth taking a moment and scalding the jars, bottles and caps. You can do it simply in hot water (put the jars and lids in a pot, pour water over them and bring them to a boil), in the dishwasher (set the wash at at least 75 degrees Celsius, which is important – do not add detergents) or in the oven (put the jars in an oven preheated to 100 degrees Celsius and keep them there for at least 15 minutes).
The most popular solution is to keep ready-made jars of preserves in the basement. If you have a basement, it’s a good idea to adapt one room for storing spare food. This is a great place to keep not only preserves, but also, for example, apples, carrots and canned goods. To be able to store preserves comfortably in the basement, it is a good idea to arrange it properly – a bookcase with several shelves is certainly useful. Remember that preserves stay fresh longer if kept in a cool and dark place. So if your basement has a window, consider covering it with a blind or curtain, or opt for closed shelves.
Quite a few houses and apartments do not have an attached basement. If you are in such a situation, do you have to give up preparing preserves for the winter? Fortunately, no! All you need is to set aside a suitable place in your house or apartment. If you have an unused room in your house, then you can successfully arrange a pantry in it. The rules for its arrangement are the same as for the basement (covering the window or closed shelves), but you absolutely must remember to turn off the heating in this room to keep the temperature low enough.
Many people also choose to store preserves in the garage. This is only a seemingly surprising solution. The garage usually maintains a lower temperature than in the house itself. Therefore, you only need to find some space to put a cabinet for jars of preserves.
Quite a few people also store preserves in the kitchen cabinet. This is a convenient solution, because we always have them at hand, but the high temperature can cause the preserves to stay fresh for a shorter time. If you have no other option and need to keep preserves in the kitchen, it is essential to find a place for them away from all heat sources (heater, oven, dishwasher, etc.).
If you have a house with a garden and are able to spend at least a few thousand zlotys on arranging a place to store preserves, then we recommend your attention to outdoor pantries. The offer of such products is very wide, and you can find pantries in various sizes. However, we must admit that the prices of large outdoor pantries are quite high.
main photo: unsplash.com/jarmoluk
