How to properly store cherries at home in an apartment and the shelf life of berries
Thanks to the work of breeders, cherries have been bred, which take root not only in the south, but also in middle latitudes. They grow trees in gardens, in suburban areas. In a productive year, so many berries ripen that summer residents do not know what to do with them, it is difficult to process all the fruits at once. Many people have the question of how to store cherries so that they can later be eaten fresh, used to prepare dessert dishes. It is a pity if the appetizing yellow, burgundy, red berries simply rot.
Harvesting rules for long-term storage
So that the cherry does not deteriorate longer, does not drain with juice, when buying, you need to look so that the fruits are not crumpled, there are no damages, the cuttings do not dry out. A dark skin tone indicates that ripe fruits are being sold, and they will be stored, but not for long.
Those who harvest cherries on their site for the first time may not know that they need to be picked in the morning, and not at any time of the day. The fruit pulp will be strong, which makes the tasty and healthy berry better stored. Fresh cherries need to be laid out on a thick cloth and carefully sorted out, you do not need to put them back in a bucket. In a cold room, the crop will not lose its attractive appearance throughout the week, but it will not be stored longer.
Berries plucked from a tree should not be left in the garden, they will rot in the fresh air in a couple of days.
Freezing cherries in the refrigerator
In the summer, keeping the fruits fresh is problematic, since it is hot outside, warm both in a private house and in an apartment. It's cool only in the cellar, but the cherry will rot in it. It is better to send the berries to the bottom of the refrigerator or store in a special section for fruits, where the temperature does not exceed 1 ° C, at 0 or 2 degrees of frost, the fruits change their color.
Berries do not need to be washed before placing on the shelf. Before storing wet cherries, dry them on a towel or other dense material.
Fruits are placed in a container, jar, plastic bowl, well closed. The berries will lie without spoiling for up to 10 days. During this time, vitamins are preserved, the concentration of ascorbic acid does not decrease.
In winter, children enjoy eating yoghurts, which are even more aromatic and tasty with cherries. To keep fruit fresh for a long time:
- Thoroughly wash each berry, gently removing the stalk.
- Wipe dry with a napkin or paper towel.
- Poured into small bags through which no air passes.
- Put the cherries in the freezer.
Placing the fruits in a special container, you can not be afraid that they will be saturated with the smell of meat or vegetables during storage. To use cherries in winter for decorating mousses, pastries, cakes, as a filling for pies, put the fruits in the microwave, where they can be defrosted in 2 minutes.
How to prepare berries
Having collected a large amount of cherries to send for storage, they choose dense, not overripe and clean fruits. It is better to pick a crop from a tree with tails, which are then carefully removed. The berries are carefully reviewed, crumpled and damaged berries are deposited separately, leaves and specks are removed. Before freezing, cherries are not washed to keep them better.
Wet fruits are carefully sprinkled on a towel or blanket, where they should dry for two hours. Fruits for compotes can be used with seeds; for pies and jams, cherries are more convenient to harvest without them.
Storage duration
Strong berries of late varieties are used for conservation, which will last for a year or two, and are used to prepare other products. The seedless crop is rolled up in jars and sterilized so that they do not spoil longer. A fragrant compote is obtained from whole cherries; such a product should be stored for no more than a year.
The bones contain hydrocyanic acid, which begins to be released if the conservation is stored for a long time, which, when consumed, negatively affects the state of the human digestive organs.
Compote acquires a rich taste, looks very beautiful when combined with cherries and cherries, vitamins are preserved in it. To prepare jam and jams for the winter, the bones are removed, so such products do not deteriorate for a long time, do not accumulate hazardous substances. These delicacies can be stored in jars with lids for several years.
Drying cherries
Many summer residents, having collected a rich harvest, cannot fit all the fruits in the freezer, and instead of cooking jams and making compotes, they prefer to dry cherries. In this form, the crop is stored for more than a year. To do this, they choose the most juicy fruits, pull out the bones from them, cut off the tails.
The preparation process takes a lot of time, but both vitamins and minerals are preserved in the berries. A fragrant compote from dried cherries helps to strengthen the walls of blood vessels, eliminate uric acid from the body, normalize metabolism, and eliminate edema.
Electric dryer
To keep dried fruits for a long time, you can dry them in the oven of a gas stove and in special household appliances. After sorting, the garden crop is washed under a tap, the seeds are removed and put in one layer in an electric dryer:
- To prevent the cherries from cracking, not letting in the juice, the temperature is selected at 60 degrees.
- After a few hours, another 20 ° C is added.
- If you start the procedure in the morning, the berries will be ready until evening.
Dried fruits are stored in a linen bag, paper bag, glass jar. They are valued for the fact that they contain pectins that cleanse the body of toxins.
Oven
Dried cherries are tender, do not stick to the iron sheet, on which they are laid out. In order not to pull out the bones with a pin, it is worth purchasing a special device, the preparatory process will be at least halved. It is convenient to store dried fruits.
Sweet cherries dry well in the oven with the door ajar. The washed and peeled berries are placed in a thin layer on a metal sheet. First, the fruits are dried at 50 ° C, then add another 25. They will be stored perfectly.
Cherries are sweet and delicious when dried in the oven using a simple recipe.
Mixing water and sugar in the same ratio, prepare syrup in a saucepan:
- Pour berries into the hot liquid.
- After boiling the cherries for a couple of minutes, they are removed from heat.
- The next day, the fruits are boiled, after cooling, they are removed from the container.
The baking sheet is covered with parchment, fruits are placed in it and sent to the oven, where they are dried at 50 ° C, if the temperature is higher, the vitamins disintegrate.
How much dried fruit is stored
Unripe berries will stay in the refrigerator for no more than 10 days, and then begin to rot. At home, cherries are best kept dried. First, it is left in a container for several days to allow the fruit to dry out a little more. Then the fruits, which are dried in the sun, in an electric dryer or oven, are poured into a bag, which is tightly tied.
Dried fruits are stored in a glass jar with a lid. The shelf life in such packaging is 15 months. If you put the cherries in a bag, you need to check if insects are bred in them, then the harvest is stored for up to a year.
Canning
Jam and compotes are prepared using different recipes. If you pull the seeds out of the berries, such products, rolled up hermetically, do not spoil for a long time, and the taste does not deteriorate. In a basement or cellar, conservation can be stored for 2, or even 3 years. When the compote is left at room temperature, it should be consumed within 12 months.
If you close the crop with seeds, after a while it begins to taste bitter, and the smell of almonds appears due to the release of hydrocyanic acid. It is not worth storing such compote for more than a year. Sugar-free jam quickly turns sour, you don't need to save on a sweet product, otherwise you won't be able to save the dessert.
Gardening tips
Having harvested a stone fruit crop, you need to try to process it faster. Fragrant and tasty fruits begin to rot after a couple of days and are not stored fresh for a long time. Gardeners advise choosing berries with dense skin for freezing, they are dried, not washed. Cherries are placed in special bags, they are not stored in polyethylene, it attracts the smell, impairs the taste.
