I've read that storing Ginger in wine vinegar or vodka preserves it. Is there something non-alcoholic that will do the same thing?
asked Sep 27, 2014 at 16:39
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1Vinegar is non-alcoholic, and my suggestion would be a brine of some sort, essentially pickling it. Alternatively you could just dry it out.– Wjdavis5Commented Sep 27, 2014 at 16:44
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@Wjdavis5 this is the core of a very good answer, no need to keep it only a comment.– rumtscho ♦Commented Sep 27, 2014 at 16:52
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1Is there a reason you don't want to, or can't, just put the raw ginger in the freezer? I always keep a whole hand of ginger in the freezer along with a few slices in a baggie. When a recipe calls for ginger, I microplane the frozen hand of ginger (that goes so fast and easy), or just toss in the slices if that's what the recipe calls for. One Ziploc baggie in the freezer - it'll last a lot longer than it will take for me to use it.– Jolenealaska ♦Commented Sep 28, 2014 at 4:07
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3 Answers
Vinegar is non-alcoholic, and my suggestion would be a brine of some sort, essentially pickling it. Alternatively you could just dry it out.
I should also add - Ginger is a root, and can generally be kept fresh in a cool dark place (ie. a root cellar) for some time.
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"a brine of some sort" - not every brine can be guaranteed to leave to safe preservation, and brines are not swappable between recipes (e.g. what produces safe gherkins is not certain to produce safe ginger). But pure vinegar - of any kind, if the OP cannot have alcohol-derived products for cultural or religious reasons, it doesn't have to be wine vinegar - should be acidic enough to keep it safe.– rumtscho ♦Commented Sep 27, 2014 at 17:23
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@rumtscho - I guess I would have to disagree, a brine would consist of either primarily sugar, salt or vinegar, or a combo of the 3. All of which act as preservatives.– Wjdavis5Commented Sep 28, 2014 at 4:23
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no, a brine consists of primary water, with some salt and/or vinegar added. There is no guarantee that there will be enough of salt or acid to indeed kill everything. This is why in canning, it is very important to use tested recipes - "just add a bit of salt and it's preserved" doesn't work.– rumtscho ♦Commented Sep 28, 2014 at 8:45
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@rumtscho - Yes... I agree there is mostly water. I wouldnt consider it a brine however unless there was also a significant amount of one of the three aforementioned items. More accurately if you are using a "10% brine" you will be safe. Also, a 10% brine can usually be weakened for log term preserving after the initial brining is completed.– Wjdavis5Commented Sep 28, 2014 at 23:31
I appreciate these answers and comments, but I found some help at a different website. As it seems to answer the part of my question about cooked ginger, I'm posting it as an answer, but I've never done this before, so please correct me if I've posted it incorrectly or if it should have been a comment.
The Frugal Chef http://thefrugalchef.com/2012/11/candied-ginger/ has a recipe for cooking ginger in a simple syrup of equal parts water and sugar. Once it's been cooked, she says, "You can leave it in a closed container in the refrigerator for up to a year."
I'm disabled and can't cook very often, so this would be perfect for me. Have any of you tried this? Thank you.
answered Oct 28, 2014 at 17:20
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I've used candied ginger in recipies ... it's similar to candied citrus zest, in my opinion. It's fine as an ingredient, but you can't easily swap it in for something that might typically call for ginger.– JoeCommented Oct 28, 2014 at 17:43
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You can, of course, self-accept if this answers your question. Commented Sep 24, 2023 at 21:05
Sugar syrup would probably work as well if the sugar solution is fully saturated plus some extra sugar to compensate for any water pulled out of the ginger.
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No, it won't. If you cooked a proper jam, it would work. But just submerging the ginger in the syrup is not sufficient.– rumtscho ♦Commented Sep 28, 2014 at 8:43