Thanks to the work of breeders, cherries have been developed that take root not only in the south, but also in mid-latitudes. Trees are grown in gardens and suburban areas. In a good 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 a question about how to store cherries so that later they can be eaten fresh or used for preparing dessert dishes. It would be a pity if the delicious yellow, burgundy, and red berries simply rotted.
Harvesting rules for long-term storage
To ensure that the cherries do not spoil longer and do not leak juice, when purchasing you need to make sure that the fruits are not wrinkled, there are no damages, and the cuttings do not dry out. The dark shade of the skin indicates that the fruit is ripe and will be stored, but not for long.
Anyone who harvests cherries on their plot 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 pulp of the fruit will be strong, which is why the tasty and healthy berry is better stored. Fresh cherries need to be laid out on a thick cloth and carefully sorted; there is no need to put them back in the bucket. In a cold room, the harvest will not lose its attractive appearance throughout the week, but will not be stored longer.
Berries picked from a tree should not be left in the garden; in the fresh air they will rot in a couple of days.
Freezing cherries in the refrigerator
In summer, keeping fruits fresh is problematic, since it is hot outside and warm both in a private house and in an apartment. It’s only cool in the cellar, but the cherries will rot in it. It is better to send the berries to the bottom of the refrigerator or store them in a special fruit compartment, where the temperature does not exceed 1 ° C; at 0 or 2 degrees below zero, the fruits change color.
There is no need to wash the berries before placing them on the shelf. Before storing, wet cherries should be dried on a towel or other dense material.
The fruits are placed in a container, jar, or plastic bowl and sealed well. The berries will last for up to 10 days without spoiling. During this time, vitamins are preserved and 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 fruits fresh for a long time:
- Wash each berry thoroughly, carefully removing the stem.
- Wipe dry with a napkin or paper towel.
- Pour into small bags through which air does not pass.
- Place the cherries in the freezer.
By placing the fruits in a special container, you don’t have to worry that they will become saturated with the smell of meat or vegetables during storage. To use cherries in the winter to decorate mousses, pastries, cakes, or as a filling for pies, the fruits are placed in the microwave, where they can be defrosted in 2 minutes.
How to prepare berries
Having collected a large number of cherries to send for storage, choose dense, not overripe and clean fruits. It is better to pick the crop from the tree with the tails, which are then carefully removed. The berries are carefully examined, wrinkled and damaged ones are put aside separately, leaves and specks are removed. Before freezing, cherries are not washed so that they can be stored better.
Wet fruits are carefully poured onto a towel or blanket, where they should dry for two hours. The fruits for compotes can be used with seeds; for pies and jams, it is more convenient to prepare cherries without them.
Storage duration
Strong berries of late varieties are used for canning, which will last a year or two, and are used to prepare other products. The seedless harvest is rolled into jars and sterilized so that they do not spoil longer. Whole cherries make a fragrant compote; such a product should be stored for no more than a year.
The seeds contain hydrocyanic acid, which begins to be released if the preserved food is stored for a long time, which, when consumed, negatively affects the condition of the human digestive organs.
The compote acquires a rich taste, looks very beautiful when combined with sweet cherries, and vitamins are preserved in it. To prepare preserves and jams for the winter, the seeds are removed, so such products do not spoil for a long time and do not accumulate hazardous substances. These delicacies can be stored in sealed jars for several years.
Drying cherries
Many summer residents, having reaped 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, select the juiciest fruits, remove the seeds from them, and cut off the tails.
The preparation process takes a lot of time, but the berries retain both vitamins and minerals. An aromatic compote made from dried cherries helps strengthen the walls of blood vessels, remove 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 the tap, the seeds are removed and placed in one layer in an electric dryer:
- To prevent the cherries from cracking and releasing juice, select the temperature 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 by evening.
Dried fruits are stored in a linen bag, paper bag, or glass jar. They are valued for containing pectins, which cleanse the body of toxins.
Oven
Dried cherries turn out tender and do not stick to the iron sheet on which they are laid out.In order not to pull out the seeds with a pin, it is worth purchasing a special device; the preparatory process will be reduced by at least half. It is convenient to store dried fruits.
Cherries dry well in the oven with the door ajar. Washed and peeled berries are placed in a thin layer on a metal sheet. First, the fruits are dried at 50 ° C, then another 25 is added. They will be stored perfectly.
Cherries turn out sweet and tasty if you dry them in the oven using a simple recipe.
Mix water and sugar in equal proportions and prepare the syrup in a saucepan:
- Berries are poured into the hot liquid.
- After boiling the cherries for a couple of minutes, remove from the heat.
- The next day, the fruits are boiled and, after cooling, removed from the container.
The baking sheet is covered with parchment, the fruit is placed in it and sent to the oven, where it is dried at 50 ° C; if the temperature is higher, the vitamins will disintegrate.
How long can dried fruits be stored?
Unripe berries will last in the refrigerator for no more than 10 days, and then begin to rot. At home, it is better to store cherries in dried form. First, it is left in the container for several days to allow the fruit to dry a little more. Then the fruits, which are dried in the sun, in an electric dryer or oven, are poured into a bag that is tightly tied.
Dried fruits are stored in a glass jar with a lid. The shelf life in such packaging reaches 15 months. If you put cherries in a bag, you need to check if there are any insects in them, then the harvest will be stored for up to a year.
Canning
Jam and compotes are prepared using different recipes. If you remove the seeds from the berries, such products, sealed hermetically, do not spoil for a long time, and the taste does not deteriorate. Preservation can be stored in a basement or cellar for 2 or even 3 years.When the compote is left at room temperature, it should be consumed within 12 months.
If you cover a harvest with seeds, after a while it begins to taste bitter, and an almond smell appears due to the release of hydrocyanic acid. You should not store such compote for more than a year. Jam without sugar quickly turns sour; there is no need to skimp on the sweet product, otherwise the dessert will not be preserved.
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 thick skin for freezing; they are dried rather than washed. Cherries are placed in special bags, they are not stored in polyethylene, it attracts the smell and worsens the taste.
