As far as kitchen staples go, onion and garlic are one of the most indispensables. Despite our best efforts, getting through these vegetables stash before they go mushy or start sprouting can be tough.
Both garlic and onion need ventilation especially when you import garlic from china. The ideal space for them is on the counter, not behind the closed door of a pantry. There is a great need to choose an open space as well as a place where you open a screened window. It is suggested that, not to put onion and garlic in an area where there is direct sunlight too. Have you ever wondered why my garlic is purple? It makes no difference which color it is. Both purple and white garlic have the same flavor though.
After buying or harvesting your garlic from garlics.com, place them in the container. While deciding what to put onions in, you have to look for containers with holes. However, if the containers have lids, make sure the lids also holes.
There are several options when it comes to storage of these vegetables. It would be best if you use mesh bags, which are essentially just mesh bags in bin form. In order to avoid wasting any more garlic/ onions mastering proper storage techniques is paramount.
Keep it Cool, Dark and Dry
You have already known to store the vegetables in a cool, dark, and dry place. Moisture is considered one of the significant reason’s these vegetables go bad. Hanging the onions in onion mesh bags help them breathe. It would be best if you place one onion in the bag. After that, tie off the space with a twist tie, insert another onion and repeat the process.
This process keeps the onions from touching each other as well as allows the moisture to evaporate. Moreover, you can also use pantyhose if you don’t have a mesh bag.
In order to store the vegetables, a wire basket or lower cabinet is also a good choice. Although there is need to rotate the garlic/ onions in order to ensure they stay dry if you want to store them for long time.
If you use these vegetables a lot or tend in order to stock up on them at the farmers market, you may desire to freezing them. Chop them as fine as you like, and just spread on a cookie sheet. Freeze them for one hour and transfer to any air tight jar or zipper bag. In this way, all the pieces will freeze and they can be poured out of the bag as needed.
Whatever You Do, Don’t Do These Three Things
You may not know; you should never store onion and garlic in the refrigerator for an extended time. the reason is, the cold temperature of refrigerator will make them slightly soft. Garlic absorbs the moisture and turn mushy. Onions or garlics should also never be stored with potatoes. Otherwise, it will accelerate the spoilage. Furthermore, it is recommended, don’t use plastic bags as they hamper air circulation and make sprout. Freezing is another option but the smell may transfer to other foods.