How best to keep blueberries fresh for the winter at home
In the summer, everyone begins to prepare for winter, stock up on gifts from the garden. It is customary to make various blanks. Let's figure out how best to save blueberries for the winter. Berries are widely preserved fresh or frozen, compotes, preserves, pastilles, and jams are made. It is especially useful to prepare blueberry stocks. The wild berry is famous for its sweet-dessert taste, it is full of healthy vitamins that increase immunity. Anyone looking to enjoy blueberries in winter should familiarize themselves with storage methods.
Best collection time for storage
You can only store fully ripe fruits. Collect berries 2-3 days before the start of harvesting, usually in late July or early August. Blueberries that are not fully ripe can also be harvested, but they will quickly lose most of the beneficial components, the taste will not be so rich.
Requirements for the selection of berries
Blueberries can be bought at the market, in a store, or grown on their own in the country. Before you start harvesting it, you need to choose the right fruits, prepare. To do this, follow these tips:
- the fruits must be intact, without damage - spots, traces of beetles;
- to the touch, blueberries are dense, strong, but not soft;
- on palpation, look so that the berries do not burst, do not shrivel.
It is also important to properly prepare blueberries so that when frozen, they retain their taste, aroma and useful properties.
- First, select, leave only good berries. Dispose of damaged specimens or put them on jam, jam, compote.
- Rinse under cool, but not hot water, spread on a flat surface.
Blueberries need to be sorted out as early as possible, then there is less chance that they will become moldy. When the fruits are dry, pack them in bags.
How to store fresh blueberries
Fresh fruits of the blueberry bush are an amazing treat that you want to consume all year round. The best storage option is a natural way, without any processing.
How to keep fresh blueberries for the winter long:
- Selected berries in small quantities can be stored in the refrigerator, but not time to eat. If they lie for a long time, after 1-2 days, they will be covered with mold and disappear.
- Frozen blueberries are stored for no more than 2 years. After two years, even berries stored in the freezer will lose their taste.
- Keep dried fruits in glass jars. The storage period is approximately 2 years. At the end of this time, blueberries will disappear.
The most popular storage method for blueberries is freezing.
How and how much are blueberries kept in the refrigerator?
Most modern refrigerator models are equipped with the functionality of setting the optimal temperature for storing blueberries at 5 degrees Celsius. Sort the berries in the standard way, remove the leaves and beetles, pour into a plastic container. It is not necessary to pour to the top, the container should be closed tightly. Place on the middle shelf against the wall, where they stay fresh for up to 1 week.
You can also pour the syrup over the blueberries, close the container tightly and put it in the freezer.
Ways to save strawberries for the winter
There are many ways to store blueberries. Among them, the following methods are distinguished:
- freezing;
- urinating in plain water;
- sugaring;
- making jam, preserves, marshmallows;
- drying in the oven.
Each of the techniques is discussed in detail below.
Freezing
The easiest way to preserve blueberries for a long time is by placing them in the freezer. Put the fruits in a polyethylene bag... First, wash the berries, dry them in a natural way. In order for blueberries to retain all the beneficial properties and not turn into gruel, it is important to place them in the freezer only completely dry. Do not wash it with tap water, it is better to use a deep container. This will help prevent damage to the thin skin.
Water soaking
An unusual method of storing blueberries is to soak them in water. Due to this technique, the berry remains fresh and healthy for about a year. It is necessary to prepare for soaking, because if the rules are violated, the fruits will deteriorate.
- Pour the peeled and washed berries into glass jars.
- Pour boiled water to the top, it should be cold.
- Boil the soaked berries over low heat for about 10 minutes, if we are talking about 0.5 liter jars. Boil liter containers for 20 minutes.
- Close cans tightly or roll up.
- Place upside down so that the lids are treated from germs.
Preserve soaked blueberries in a cool, dry place. A cellar or the upper compartments of the refrigerator compartment will do.
Candying
To cook blueberries in your own juice, you only need fruits and the same amount of sugar. Rinse them in water, wait for the liquid to drain. After, cover with granulated sugar so that it completely covers the forest berry, leave for 1 day in a cool room. This method of saving blueberries allows you to preserve a maximum of vitamins than with heat treatment. For a day, the berries will start juice, soaked in sugar. You can add less of it if you want to feast on not sugary blueberries. The next day, pour the fruits into jars, close the lids.
In the form of jam
Blueberries are widely harvested for the winter in the form of jam. It is impossible to preserve all vitamins with this method, but it will be possible to enjoy a delicious dessert.
The principle of making homemade jam:
- sort out the berries, rinse, put on the bottom of the pan with 250 milliliters of water;
- put to boil, gradually add 850 grams of sugar to make a thick syrup;
- boil the mixture for 20 minutes;
- after, pour the jam over the jars, roll up and put upside down.
When the prepared mixture has cooled to room temperature, place the jars in the cellar or refrigerator. This is a classic blueberry jam recipe, but there are many more ways to make a delicious treat. Below is a recipe for a jam that takes 5 minutes to cook.
You will need the following products:
- 180 grams of bee nectar;
- 2 tablespoons of rum.
Rinse the berries, put the dry fruits to boil. While stirring constantly, add honey and a bag of gelatin. Cook until boiling, about 5 minutes from the appearance of bubbles over low heat. At the last moment, add rum, turn off the heat.A mixture with a gelling component should not be boiled a priori for a long time, since the pectin then loses the properties of a thickener. You don't need to add gelatin, but then the jam will not be thick.
Method 2.
The five-minute jam is cooked in a different way:
- in equal proportions, take the berries, sprinkle them with granulated sugar and leave for a day;
- during this period, the crystals will dissolve, a sweetish syrup will appear.
Boil the mixture for 5 minutes. Due to its thick consistency, the jam can be used not only as an appetizer for tea, but also as a filling for baking.
To preserve the maximum useful substances, taste, the volume of raw materials should not be 6 glasses.
Then the berry will have time to cook in 5 minutes, without significant loss of vitamins. Fill the prepared cans with the ready-made mixture, roll up with tin lids.
By drying
Blueberries can be prepared for the winter by drying. They use a special dryer for this, but a simple oven is also suitable.
- Put the berries on a baking sheet in a thin layer, place in the oven.
- Turn on at a temperature of 40-50 degrees, leave the door ajar.
- Constantly check the condition of the fruit, stir if necessary.
- Dry for 1.5-2 hours, then another 1 hour at 60 degrees.
Store dried blueberries in an airtight container by placing them in a cellar or refrigerator. Can be eaten after 1 month.
Possible storage errors
Unknowingly, you can make a number of mistakes in storing blueberries. They lead to dire consequences.
- If stored in the refrigerator, the berry is capable of undergoing a number of pathologies, including gray rot, anthracnose. Sometimes the fruit is simply moldy.
- Dried blueberries can turn into over-dried berries that cannot be bitten. This happens when dried blueberries are not stored in the refrigerator, but in the kitchen.
- Jam can grow moldy if kept at room temperature in summer.
- Frozen berries, washed with plenty of water and not dried, turn into porridge.
If you follow all the above storage conditions for blueberries, it will last for a long time safe and sound.
