What can be made from blueberries for the winter, how to freeze and store, recipes
In the summer, everyone actively begins to prepare for winter and stock up on berries, fruits and vegetables. Blanks are made in various forms. Berries, for example, are frozen fresh, compotes, preserves, jams and various sweets are boiled. It is especially useful to stock up on blueberries for the winter. This tasty and healthy berry contains a large amount of useful vitamins and minerals. But besides that, blueberries make delicious jellies and jams that replace sweets.
Selection and preparation of blueberries
Before you start boiling a dove or freezing it for the winter, you need to choose and prepare it correctly. Preference should be given to ripe and large berries, without signs of damage. They should be free from stains, insect marks or other damage that could quickly spoil blueberries. The fruit should be firm and firm to the touch, not soft. When pressed lightly, the berries do not wrinkle or burst, but remain intact.
It is also important to properly prepare the berries so that they retain their taste, aroma and beneficial properties during freezing. In the beginning, blueberries are selected and only good fruits are left. The damaged ones are immediately thrown away. The sooner the blueberries are sorted out, the less likely they are to grow moldy.
After this procedure, the berries are washed under cool water (in no case should the water be hot) and laid out on a flat surface in a thin layer. During this time, the blueberries will dry out and will not grow moldy. When the berries are dry, they are packaged in bags and sent to the freezer. Such berries are used to make teas or simply eaten fresh.
What can you cook with blueberries for the winter?
There are many blueberry recipes. It is used for cooking preserves, jams, jellies, marshmallows and other sweets. To preserve the maximum useful properties, the fruits are dried or frozen. In addition to sweets, homemade wine and liqueurs are made from blueberries. After cooking, it is important to properly store the resulting blueberry dishes in order to preserve their taste for as long as possible.
Dried blueberries
In order to preserve all the beneficial properties of blueberries, it must be dried. It is quite easy to do this even at home.
To cook dried berries, you need to have an oven at home and that's it. It's enough.
Blueberry drying process:
- Spread fresh berries in a thin layer on the surface of the baking sheet. The oven is preheated to 40 degrees. Place a baking sheet and let the berries dry.
- Gradually, the temperature for drying is increased to 60 degrees.
- During drying, the blueberries are stirred 2-3 times so that the fruits dry evenly.
It is recommended to store dried fruits in a glass jar away from sunlight so that they do not start to deteriorate. You can use such a blank for making vitamin teas.
Frozen blueberries
The easiest way to keep fruits fresh, even in winter, is to keep them in the freezer. To preserve the beneficial properties of the berries during storage in the refrigerator, the fruits are pre-prepared. It is advisable to freeze only ripe and strong berries, without signs of damage. Before freezing, they are sorted out, the spoiled ones are thrown away.
The easiest way is to freeze in plastic bags. Before freezing, the fruits are washed and then dried. In order for the berries to retain all the beneficial properties and not turn into porridge when frozen, they must be well dried. Blueberries should not be washed under running water, but in a deep container so as not to damage the thin skin.
Jam
While cooking the jam, it will not be possible to preserve all the vitamins, but it will be possible to enjoy delicious sweetness.
Making jam is quite simple:
- Sort the berries and rinse in water, put on the bottom of the pan in which the jam will be cooked.
- Put 250 ml of water on the fire and gradually add 850 g of sugar to it to make a thick syrup.
- When the syrup is ready, pour the berries over them and cook, stir the mixture regularly.
- The jam is cooked over low heat for at least 20 minutes.
- After that, it is poured over the jars, rolled up and placed upside down to cool.
When the jars have cooled to room temperature, they are removed to the cellar or refrigerator.
Blueberries in their own juice
To prepare blueberries in your own juice, you only need fruits and the same amount of sugar. The fruits are washed in water, allow excess liquid to drain. After that, sugar is poured over so that it covers the berries, and left for a day in a cool place.
This way of cooking will save more vitamins than during heat treatment of blueberries.
For a day, blueberries will give juice and soaked in sugar. You can use less sweetener to avoid making the blueberries too sugary. It is put to taste. The next day, blueberries are poured into jars and covered with lids.
Compote
An excellent preparation for the winter will be dove compote. The fruits, again, are washed in a large container of water. Sugar is put in the compote to taste, but it is better to pour more of it, otherwise the too cloying compote is diluted with plain water.
Place the berries in a deep saucepan and cover with water. Then they are covered with sugar. Cook for 10-15 minutes, until the compote acquires a beautiful rich shade. When the compote is ready, it is poured over the banks and rolled up. And when the cans have cooled, they are lowered into the cellar and left there until winter.
Paste
To prepare the marshmallow you need to take:
- 1 kg of berries;
- 650 g granulated sugar;
- 1 glass of warm water
Pour the berries with water and put on fire for 20 minutes. When the blueberries soften, grind them with a blender or rub them through a sieve. Then put in a thin layer on a baking sheet and dry. The marshmallow is checked regularly. The finished marshmallow is flexible and does not break.
Blueberry juice with pulp
Blueberry fruits are picked and washed under water. Then you need to pass through a meat grinder or grind in a blender. Squeeze out the juice, pour it into a saucepan and cook for 10 minutes over low heat. At this time, you need to prepare the sugar syrup.
When the sugar syrup is ready, mix it with the juice and cook for 20 minutes. After the juice is boiled, it is poured over the jars and rolled up. And in winter, the whole family can enjoy delicious and healthy juice based on blueberries. For taste, other fruits or berries are used along with blueberries.
Liquor
A liqueur is made from blueberries at home. To prepare it you need:
- 300 g of fruit;
- 300 ml of vodka;
- granulated sugar;
- 1 glass of water.
Crush the berries, transfer to a jar and pour vodka. Leave in this form for 10 days in a dark room. The longer the liquor is infused, the richer the taste will be. When the liquor is ready, you need to boil the sugar syrup and mix everything together. Before pouring the liqueur into the sugar syrup, it is wrung out. The finished liquor must be stored in the refrigerator.
Wine
To prepare wine you will need:
- berries;
- water;
- a handful of raisins;
- 15 g citric acid.
Mash the berries into porridge. Add sugar and citric acid to the water. Pour berry puree with water and add raisins. Stir thoroughly to dissolve the puree in the water. Sugar does not need to be filled in all. Cover the container with wine with gauze and put it in a cool place. After a few days, the wine will begin to ferment. Then add more sugar and stir. It is important to vent the bottle. After 5 days, the gas outlet is removed. After 3 days, the wine is shaken. After 40 days, the wine will be ready. The shade becomes lighter. After that, the wine is poured into bottles.
Confiture
For boiling jam, lemon juice and gelatin are used together with fruits and sugar. Pour the fruits with water and cook for no more than 10 minutes. After cooking, the fruits are thrown into a colander and squeezed out the juice, in which the gelatin is then dissolved. The fruits themselves are crushed using a blender with added sugar. Then the juice with gelatin and the berry mass are combined together and lemon juice and lemon zest are added. After that, the confiture is poured into jars and put into the refrigerator.
Jelly
Delicious jelly is prepared from blueberries. To cook it, you need to pour water over the berries and put on fire. Cook until they are soft and most of the water has boiled away. After that, the fruits are rubbed through a sieve until smooth.
They put the fire on again, but now they pour sugar into the mass. Boil for 15-25 minutes to thicken the jelly. At this time, you need to dilute the gelatin. When the mass is cooked, diluted gelatin is poured into it and poured into a container. Put the jelly in the refrigerator. It will be ready in a few hours.
Blueberries, mashed with sugar, without cooking
Another way to preserve the vitamins of the dove is to rub it with sugar. First, the fruits are ground through a sieve so that a homogeneous mass is obtained. Then they are covered with sugar. After the fruits give juice, they are eaten as jam or added to teas.
Storage features
Fresh blueberries are kept in the refrigerator. But you need to eat it as soon as possible. If it will lie for a long time, then after 1-2 days it will begin to mold and disappear.
Frozen fruits are stored for no more than 2 years. After two years, even frozen, they will lose all taste and aroma.
Dried fruits are stored in glass jars. The shelf life is also no more than 2 years. After this time, the fruits begin to disappear and are not suitable for eating.
Jams, compotes and other foods that have been cooked keep an unlimited amount of time. But then again, eat blueberry jams you need it right away, because the longer they stand, the less tasty they will seem. The optimal storage time in the cellar is 3 years. The jam must be kept in a cellar or refrigerator.
