Bell peppers are a delicious addition to any dish when they are fresh and colorful. However, if they are not stored properly, peppers could spoil before being used. Bell peppers should be stored in the refrigerator, both whole and sliced, to prevent spoilage. Even freezing them can work if you want to keep them tasty for a long period. Just make careful to discard them when they start to smell musty or moldy.
Learn how to store bell peppers if you have a large harvest so you can utilize them later on.
How to Store Bell Peppers?
Depending on how you intend to use them and how long you want to keep them, there are a few different ways to preserve bell peppers:
- Countertop: If you intend to use your bell peppers quickly, you can leave them out at room temperature for a few days without any loss of freshness. To avoid mold and other degradation, it’s a good idea to put them in a produce bag and store them somewhere cold and dry.
- Refrigerator: If you want to utilize your bell peppers within a week or so, refrigeration may be the best option for storage. Make sure your peppers are dry first because too much moisture may cause early deterioration.
- Plastic Bag: Put the peppers in a plastic bag that has air holes in it, ideally a mesh bag. They should be placed alongside other vegetables in the crisper drawer, which allows for airflow. Put chopped bell peppers with a paper towel to absorb moisture in an airtight container.
- Freezer: Remove the stem and slice off the top of the bell peppers before placing them in the freezer. The peppers can be cut into strips that are half an inch wide or diced. The peppers should be laid out in a single layer on a baking sheet and flash-frozen for an hour in the freezer. They should then be taken out of the freezer and placed in a freezer bag. Put them back in the freezer after pressing out as much air as you can from the bag. Peppers can also be frozen whole. The peppers should be given new tops, wrapped in plastic wrap, and put in a freezer bag. Peppers that are frozen will keep for at least six months.
- Pickled: Pickled peppers are made using a recipe and a preservation method. There are two types of pickling: vinegar pickling, which utilizes acetic acid to retain the peppers’ flavor, and Lacto-fermentation, which uses salt and water to promote healthy bacterial change. Peppers can be pickled and stored in the refrigerator for a few weeks.
- Canned: Peppers that have been canned have the potential for the longest possible shelf life. Pickled peppers, sweet peppers, hot peppers like jalapenos, and peppers packed in vegetable oil can all be canned. Canning is the process of packing food into glass jars. Heat and pressure, most frequently from steam or boiling water, assist the lids sticking to the top of the jar and create a tight seal while also killing any potentially hazardous bacteria. In your pantry, peppers preserved in this way can persist for years.
- Dried: Smaller, hotter peppers can be dried whole, although bell peppers are often dried best after being sliced. In a dehydrator or an oven set to the lowest temperature, slice and dry the peppers. The dehydrator will provide you with the best results in the shortest period because it is made especially for the task. To maintain their color, you can blanch peppers before drying them. After one minute in boiling water, immediately submerge the pepper slices in cold water. Place the peppers on a cookie sheet in a single layer after drying them. Peppers can be dried and kept for a few weeks.
What are the Health Benefits of Bell Pepper?
Green peppers are a great vegetable for cooking since they are so adaptable and go well with just about every savory dish. In addition to their versatility, green peppers’ constituents can offer a variety of health advantages.
1. Increase Eye Health
Green peppers contain a lot of lutein, a chemical. Lutein is the yellow and orange pigment responsible for the distinctive colors of carrots, melons, and eggs. An antioxidant called lutein has been shown to benefit vision.
Particularly lutein serves to fortify the area of the eye that blue light commonly damages. Including enough lutein in your diet may prevent cataracts and macular degeneration.
2. Protection Against Anemia
A deficiency in circulatory iron is the root cause of anemia. Your body’s capacity to make healthy red blood cells, which carry oxygen throughout the body, may be decreased as a result. The most typical symptoms of anemia are weakness and exhaustion.
Green peppers contain a lot of iron, but they also have a lot of vitamin C, which makes it easier for your body to absorb the iron. Because of this combination, green peppers are a superfood for preventing and treating iron-deficiency anemia.
Reference: Antioxidant Activities of Different Colored Sweet Bell Peppers (Capsicum annum L.)
We looked studied the antioxidant components and their antioxidant activity in sweet bell peppers (Capsicum annum L.) of four different colors: green, yellow, orange, and red. According to the Folin-Ciocalteau method, the total phenolic content of green, yellow, orange, and red peppers was 2.4, 3.3, 3.4, and 4.2 mol catechin equivalent/g fresh weight, respectively. Comparing the two peppers, the red pepper had a substantially larger overall phenolic content. Red peppers had the highest concentrations of -carotene (5.4 g/g), capsanthin (8.0 g/g), quercetin (34.0 g/g), and luteolin (11.0 g/g) of the four different colored peppers.
How to Spot a Bad Bell Pepper?
A well-known vegetable with many nutrients and minerals, including antioxidant capabilities, bell peppers are a good source of vitamins A and C.
People are currently perplexed as to when and how to determine when bell peppers are bad. So, we’ll share a small secret with you today. We’ll go over the key indicators of rotten bell peppers. We’ll also discuss if green, yellow, and red bell peppers differ from one another.
It has a Smooth Appearance
A green pepper that changes in color is still edible, but the flavor of a green pepper is lost. Ripe bell peppers have firm meat and skin that is wrinkle-free and taut. They also have a pleasant aroma that you can enjoy.
Fresh bell peppers, whether they are green, yellow, or red, have a shiny, smooth appearance. Because certain red bell peppers may have darker spots, color isn’t always a good signal, but these peppers are still safe to consume.
The presence of a yellow or red tint on some green bell peppers does not necessarily mean that they are rotten.
The skin of a fresh pepper should be glossy and smooth, reflecting some light to give it a luminous aspect.
Fresh bell peppers have a glossy, solid appearance. When they are young, they are green and yellow. By touching them with your hands, you may determine whether they are rotten or moldy. The moment they turn yellow, crimson, or rotten, you should discard them. You should discard the bell pepper if it exhibits any of these symptoms of being bad, rotting, or moldy.
Firm and Tight to the Touch
Sagging skin covers softer flesh in overripe bell peppers, which may also smell sickeningly sweet due to excess sugar. It’s possible that the flesh has been injured, and breaking it produces little to no crack. Leave these peppers at the store, please.
Fresh bell peppers have a tight, firm texture to them when you touch them. Yellow and red bell peppers are firmer than green bell peppers, but none of them should break under light pressure.
To test whether the pepper is hot, place it in your palm and gently press it. If the body has dents, it has likely already failed.
Delicious and Crunchy
As they mature, bell peppers, especially red bell peppers, get sweeter. Orange and yellow bell peppers become sweeter, though not as much as red peppers, while green bell peppers keep their harshness. When breaking a mature bell pepper, a firm, sharp, snapping sound should be made.
How to Keep Bell Peppers Fresh?
Put fresh bell peppers in the crisper drawer to chill. To increase their shelf life, put them in a freezer or plastic bag.
Bell peppers should be kept at 45°F (7.5°C) ([UOC]), which is a little warmer than the fridge’s temperature. For this reason, since it’s a little warmer than the rest of the fridge, I suggest using the crisper drawer.
The two most popular techniques for preserving bell peppers are canning and freezing. Each DIY method has advantages of its own, so you might want to mix the two to make sure you’re ready for any genuine problem.
While freezing is quicker and preserves a fresher flavor, using a boiling water canner enhances the likelihood that the food will be sanitary and free of contaminants.
Wash and cut the peppers into quarters. Before cooking, take out any seeds, blemishes, or cores. The peppers should be cut into strips before boiling the vinegar, sugar, and water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil after adding the peppers.
Each sterile canning jar should have a 12-inch headspace before being filled with 12 garlic cloves, 14 teaspoons of salt, pepper strips, and vinegar solution. Use a blunt stirrer to remove as much air as possible from the peppers before sealing the jars.
Which Three Bell Peppers are Often Used in Cooking?
The following are some of the available and rising-in-popularity varieties:
Red Bell Pepper
Red bell peppers, which are high in vitamin C, are not only delicious but may also lower the risk of various chronic or aging-related health issues. Red bell peppers sometimes referred to as sweet peppers, are the sweet peppers with the highest nutritional content. They also produce the largest amount of food with the fewest calories, carbohydrates, and fat. They are low-calorie vegetables that can be consumed raw or cooked throughout the year in salads, soups, casseroles, and other recipes.
Green Bell Pepper
The amount of vitamin C in sweet green peppers is very high. You must frequently obtain this vitamin from your diet because it is water-soluble and cannot be stored by the body. Numerous biological processes, including collagen synthesis, immune system operation, food metabolism, and others, depend on vitamin C. It also works as an antioxidant to prevent oxidative damage to your cells. Of all the bell peppers, the green one has the most bitter and unpleasant flavor. It’s important to keep in mind that green bell peppers are the smallest and sweetest while selecting one.
Yellow Bell Pepper
Yellow bell pepper-colored capsicums are among the many hues they come in. It is essentially a ripened green pepper, and the pH of the soil is what gives it its vivid color. The flavor of yellow peppers is both mild and sweet. They are easy to prepare and fairly juicy. These shiny vegetables are used in many dishes, including pizzas, to improve their appearance and nutritional value. Everyone ought to make an effort to have a balanced life.
Conclusion
Whether you want to make sauces and stews or simply enjoy eating them fresh, there are several ways to store bell peppers. Some methods include freezing, dehydrating, and canning. Room temperature storage is also an option. To store peppers, do not touch each other when placing them in the freezer. Make sure to label each one with the date it was frozen. Then, thaw them before cooking with them.
Before you begin canning bell peppers, it’s important to select a good variety of peppers. Choose ones that have smooth skin, without wrinkling or blemishes. They should also be clean and free of debris. After that, cut them into small pieces. Slices or rings work well.
