In the summer, summer residents have no time to particularly relax. Instead of sunbathing on the river bank in the heat or swimming in the lake, you have to harvest. Before the strawberries are finished, the cherries are filled with juice, the raspberries and red currants are ripening, and the women are making jams and putting away a berry compote for the winter, which the children drink with pleasure. The most useful preparations are obtained if the fruits of different fruit trees and shrubs are combined. Cherries are rich in copper and potassium, black currants are rich in pectin and ascorbic acid, and strawberries are rich in phosphorus and vitamin B9.
- Features of preparing berry compote
- Selection and preparation of raw materials
- How to properly prepare containers
- How to cook berry compote for the winter?
- Assorted berries with mint in a 3-liter jar
- Without sterilization
- Compote of fresh berries with citric acid
- Unusual berry compote recipes
- How and for how long can you store it?
Features of preparing berry compote
To make an aromatic and tasty drink, you need to choose the right ratio between water and sugar, and if you are making assorted drinks, you will need ripe berries that go well together.
Compote is prepared for storage by pasteurization, in which the fruits are placed in a glass container and filled to the top with boiling syrup. After 15–20 minutes, the liquid is sent to the pan, put on fire, and boiled for 2–3 seconds.
If necessary, it is filtered through several layers of gauze and poured into a jar of berries, which is sealed with a lid.
Compote is made in another way. The fruits are placed in a washed container along with sugar syrup. The container is placed in water at a temperature of 90 °C and sterilized on the stove, depending on the volume of the jar, from 10 to 20 minutes.
Selection and preparation of raw materials
Compote is made from ripe berries, which need to be sorted and rotten specimens removed. Currants are peeled from leaves and twigs, strawberries from stalks. If the drink will be stored for a year or two, the seeds are removed from the cherries, since over time they release hydrocyanic acid. It is better to wash the berries not in a bowl, but under running water.
How to properly prepare containers
It is convenient to seal the compote in glass jars ranging from liter to three liters. When using different options, you first need to select containers without chips or cracks, then wash them thoroughly with water and mustard or soda. If the drink is prepared by pasteurization, the containers are disinfected by placing:
- into the oven;
- into boiling water;
- into a steamer;
- microwave.
Three-liter jars are disinfected for half an hour, 1-liter containers are disinfected for 10 minutes, dried on a towel, turning the neck down. The lids are sterilized in a pan filled with water.
How to cook berry compote for the winter?
To make an aromatic drink from garden or forest blackberries, the fruits are sorted and washed under the tap. To prepare in a three-liter container you need to take:
- 0.5–0.6 kg of berries;
- a glass of sugar;
- water from a well or spring.
To obtain a concentrated compote, take a little more blackberries and pour them into sterilized containers. The jar is filled with boiling water and left for 30 minutes. Sugar is poured into the drained liquid, syrup is boiled, which is used to fill the container with berries, hermetically sealed, and kept under a blanket or blanket for a day.
Before preparing the compote, the cherries are soaked in water for half an hour, since caterpillars often inhabit them, washed and placed in a sterile 2-liter container, 150 g of sugar are added, and filled with boiling water.
Assorted berries with mint in a 3-liter jar
You can prepare a brightening and beautiful drink for the winter from black and red currants. The fruits of these shrubs ripen almost at the same time. To close a 3 liter container, take:
- 0.5 kg of berries;
- 280 g sugar;
- water;
- 3 sprigs of mint.
The currants need to be washed, cleared of leaves, placed in a jar along with aromatic herbs, and boiling water added. After 7 or 8 minutes, the liquid must be poured into a saucepan, combined with sugar and boiled. The syrup is filled into a jar, the container is sealed and sent to the cellar.
Without sterilization
Compotes are made for the winter from different fruits, and they differ in taste and aroma.In the heat, no one wants to turn on the stove for a long time; many women drink berry drinks without sterilization. Using a simple recipe, you can prepare a concentrated compote, and you will need:
- 1 kg of garden strawberries;
- 10 glasses of water;
- 300 g sugar.
Strawberries are washed under the tap and the stems are removed. The disinfected container is placed in some container. Syrup is boiled in a saucepan. When the sugar dissolves, add strawberries. After boiling, the strawberry drink is poured into a sterile three-liter container and screwed on with disinfected tin lids.
Compote of fresh berries with citric acid
To prevent the drink from garden strawberries or cherries from losing its rich color or spoiling when stored at home, citric acid is added to the prepared container along with sugar, clean and sorted berries. There is no need to cook the syrup separately, just fill the jar with boiling water. For 2 containers of 3 liters each:
- 1 kg of fruits;
- 400 g sugar;
- 3 tsp. citric acid
The drink can be made from currants and apricots. Using this technology, assorted dishes are prepared.
Unusual berry compote recipes
A healing remedy that improves vision, strengthens the immune system, contains a lot of vitamins, can be made from chokeberry.
To prepare the drink 1500 g of berries:
- Wash, clear of debris and dry.
- Boil for a couple of minutes in boiling water.
- Transfer to sterile containers.
Sugar (150 g) is combined with 2 liters of water and the syrup is boiled. Fill the container with rowan berries with hot liquid and screw on the disinfected lid.
Some women know how to make a very tasty sea buckthorn compote for the winter. To prepare it, use:
- 400 g berries;
- 2–3 apples;
- 150 g sugar.
The fruits are washed, the core is cut out, divided into parts and, together with sea buckthorn, placed in a disinfected container. Mix 2 liters of water with sugar and put on fire. Fill half the jar with syrup, and after a quarter of an hour, pour out the remaining liquid.
How and for how long can you store it?
Canned compote of cherries, blueberries, currants, and dark grape varieties acquires a purple color over time. To prevent this from happening, it is recommended to screw containers with drinks with lids treated with varnish. Banks should not leak.
You need to store compotes from berries and fruits in a room where the temperature is not higher than 15 ° C, otherwise the preservation will lose its flavor.
Drinks made from cherries and apricots with pits must be consumed within 12 months; other preparations do not spoil for up to 2 years.