Can anyone recommend a good way to preserve fresh horseradish root?

I found a maybe 6-inch chunk of organic(!) horseradish root at the co-op
last week and ground it up yesterday with some salt and apple cider
vinegar for today's rib roast. That yielded well over a cup of knock-
yer-socks-off delicious "prepared" horseradish. Trouble is, even today
it has lost a bit of the character it had yesterday, and I know it's all
downhill from there, maybe keeping a few weeks max in the coldest part
of the refrigerator.

I've tried freezing the prepared stuff in the past, without luck. Is
there a way to preserve a section of the root so that it can be chopped
or grated as needed? The whole root doesn't keep very long in the
refrigerator before spoiling, in my experience, nor does it seem to
freeze well.

Thanks for any tips & Happy New Year.

Bob

yetanotherBob wrote:
> Can anyone recommend a good way to preserve fresh horseradish root?
>
> I found a maybe 6-inch chunk of organic(!) horseradish root at the co-op
> last week and ground it up yesterday with some salt and apple cider
> vinegar for today's rib roast. That yielded well over a cup of knock-
> yer-socks-off delicious "prepared" horseradish. Trouble is, even today
> it has lost a bit of the character it had yesterday, and I know it's all
> downhill from there, maybe keeping a few weeks max in the coldest part
> of the refrigerator.
>
> I've tried freezing the prepared stuff in the past, without luck. Is
> there a way to preserve a section of the root so that it can be chopped
> or grated as needed? The whole root doesn't keep very long in the
> refrigerator before spoiling, in my experience, nor does it seem to
> freeze well.
>
> Thanks for any tips & Happy New Year.
>
> Bob


Have you considered planting it? (before it's grated, I mean)

Bob

In article >,
says...
>
> Have you considered planting it? (before it's grated, I mean)
>
> Bob
>
Thanks for the suggestion.

Actually, that never occurred to me, but the discussion in response to
my posting over in the r.f.c. newsgroup made it abundantly clear that
planting it should be possible. Some useful cautionary information was
also provided. I intend to give it a try.

Bob

I don't know why my reply never came through - maybe I never sent it -
getting scatter-brained lately )

Anyway, you can simply take it and put it in a bucket of damp sand ,
cover it, and place that in a cool space ( like a garage). It will
keep all winter like that. I grow horseradish and use a five gallon
bucket to store roots this way. Just dig it out of the bucket when
you want it , clean it up, peal and grate.

I have also frozen the entire root (have erad you can do this) but it
dries out too fast and looses flavor.

You could plant it and start your own plot. It will take two years to
get a usable crop but is worth it (and it never goes away after that).
Cut up into two inch rootlets and plant at least six about 4 inches
underground. In a couple years, you can just go to your plot when
you want some fresh (unless the ground is frozen - in which case you
should plan ahead and put some in buckets in late fall).

Hope this helps.

Eric


On Tue, 2 Jan 2007 11:41:14 -0500, yetanotherBob
> wrote:

>In article >,
>says...
>>
>> Have you considered planting it? (before it's grated, I mean)
>>
>> Bob
>>
>Thanks for the suggestion.
>
>Actually, that never occurred to me, but the discussion in response to
>my posting over in the r.f.c. newsgroup made it abundantly clear that
>planting it should be possible. Some useful cautionary information was
>also provided. I intend to give it a try.
>
>Bob

Thanks. This sounds like a good way to store whole, fresh roots. Most
of what I see in the stores are sections of roots, cut to some arbitrary
length. And often the stuff is starting to get moldy or exhibit other
signs of age/abuse. I'll keep your storage method in mind when I get my
hands on some intact, fresh roots.

Bob
==========================
In article >,
says...
> I don't know why my reply never came through - maybe I never sent it -
> getting scatter-brained lately )
>
> Anyway, you can simply take it and put it in a bucket of damp sand ,
> cover it, and place that in a cool space ( like a garage). It will
> keep all winter like that. I grow horseradish and use a five gallon
> bucket to store roots this way. Just dig it out of the bucket when
> you want it , clean it up, peal and grate.
>
> I have also frozen the entire root (have erad you can do this) but it
> dries out too fast and looses flavor.
>
> You could plant it and start your own plot. It will take two years to
> get a usable crop but is worth it (and it never goes away after that).
> Cut up into two inch rootlets and plant at least six about 4 inches
> underground. In a couple years, you can just go to your plot when
> you want some fresh (unless the ground is frozen - in which case you
> should plan ahead and put some in buckets in late fall).
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> Eric
>
>
> On Tue, 2 Jan 2007 11:41:14 -0500, yetanotherBob
> > wrote:
>
> >In article >,
> >says...
> >>
> >> Have you considered planting it? (before it's grated, I mean)
> >>
> >> Bob
> >>
> >Thanks for the suggestion.
> >
> >Actually, that never occurred to me, but the discussion in response to
> >my posting over in the r.f.c. newsgroup made it abundantly clear that
> >planting it should be possible. Some useful cautionary information was
> >also provided. I intend to give it a try.
> >
> >Bob
>
>

In article >, Eric wrote:
> I don't know why my reply never came through - maybe I never sent it -
> getting scatter-brained lately )
>
> Anyway, you can simply take it and put it in a bucket of damp sand ,
> cover it, and place that in a cool space ( like a garage). It will
> keep all winter like that. I grow horseradish and use a five gallon
> bucket to store roots this way. Just dig it out of the bucket when
> you want it , clean it up, peal and grate.

Since Horseradish is a rather large root, if I only want a little at
a time, can I just take a cutting of some amount and then re-bury the
main root back into the damp sand and it will still keep that way?

Thanks for the great info.. I'd love to try growing this at some point,
but need to find a source for one to get going on it.. I love horseradish
and of course Wasabi

-- Rick

In article >,
says...
> In article >, Eric wrote:
> > I don't know why my reply never came through - maybe I never sent it -
> > getting scatter-brained lately )
> >
> > Anyway, you can simply take it and put it in a bucket of damp sand ,
> > cover it, and place that in a cool space ( like a garage). It will
> > keep all winter like that. I grow horseradish and use a five gallon
> > bucket to store roots this way. Just dig it out of the bucket when
> > you want it , clean it up, peal and grate.
>
> Since Horseradish is a rather large root, if I only want a little at
> a time, can I just take a cutting of some amount and then re-bury the
> main root back into the damp sand and it will still keep that way?
>
> Thanks for the great info.. I'd love to try growing this at some point,
> but need to find a source for one to get going on it.. I love horseradish
> and of course Wasabi
>
> -- Rick

Here is a link that someone sent me over in rec.food.cooking:

http://horseradishplants.com/cgi-bin...ml?id=NiF8RuyU

This place sells "starter" root stock, although others have commented
that their price is high. The site also mentions the sand technique for
keeping the roots.

Bob

On 03 Jan 2007 18:39:18 GMT, "Rick F." > wrote:

>In article >, Eric wrote:
>> I don't know why my reply never came through - maybe I never sent it -
>> getting scatter-brained lately )
>>
>> Anyway, you can simply take it and put it in a bucket of damp sand ,
>> cover it, and place that in a cool space ( like a garage). It will
>> keep all winter like that. I grow horseradish and use a five gallon
>> bucket to store roots this way. Just dig it out of the bucket when
>> you want it , clean it up, peal and grate.
>
>Since Horseradish is a rather large root, if I only want a little at
>a time, can I just take a cutting of some amount and then re-bury the
>main root back into the damp sand and it will still keep that way?

Yes, the cut ends will get brown so you will have to trim them off
when you use it again.

>
>Thanks for the great info.. I'd love to try growing this at some point,
>but need to find a source for one to get going on it.. I love horseradish
>and of course Wasabi

I am not sure but I think you can simply plant store bought root. It
should do fine. Most garden catalogs carry horseradish. Need to
plant in fall but given how warm this winter has been, you should do
fine up to say mid-PA still getting it in.

Eric



>
>-- Rick

In article >, Eric wrote:
>>Since Horseradish is a rather large root, if I only want a little at
>>a time, can I just take a cutting of some amount and then re-bury the
>>main root back into the damp sand and it will still keep that way?
>
> Yes, the cut ends will get brown so you will have to trim them off
> when you use it again.

Great.. Thanks!

> I am not sure but I think you can simply plant store bought root. It
> should do fine. Most garden catalogs carry horseradish. Need to
> plant in fall but given how warm this winter has been, you should do
> fine up to say mid-PA still getting it in.

About the only place I can think of that might carry something remotely
similar to horseradish in root form is a local Japanese market that carries
Daikon roots which I gather are related but perhaps not the same. I think
if I want the real-McCoy, I'll have to order some from Burpee or another
vendor. I'm out in Southern California where the temps lately are in the
40's -- about as low as they normally get in the winter. Anyway, thanks
for the great info.. I'll give this a try at some point.

Rick F. wrote:

> About the only place I can think of that might carry something remotely
> similar to horseradish in root form is a local Japanese market that carries
> Daikon roots which I gather are related but perhaps not the same.

Daikon is a radish.

B/

yetanotherBob wrote:
> Can anyone recommend a good way to preserve fresh horseradish root?

> Bob

Hey Bob,

This from the old-timer self sufficient praire farmers

Peel and chop, add to food processer and whiz up adding a little
vinegar if necessary.

Transfer to blender and add some vinegar and blend till smooth.

Strain and reuse vinegar if more than one batch worth. Add more V. if
necessary.

Taste and adjust w/salt (pickling) and sugar/honey

Pack in jars and freeze.

Home made is strong more like wasabi than the tame stuff in grc.
stores.

Also can add 1/2 pickled beets processed same (but in its juice not
vinegar)

cheers from saskatchewan



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