In the summer, everyone actively begins to prepare for winter and stock up on berries, fruits and vegetables. The blanks are made in various types. Berries, for example, are frozen fresh, compotes, preserves, jams and various sweets are made. 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 microelements. But besides this, blueberries make delicious jellies and jams that replace sweets.
Selection and preparation of blueberries
Before you start cooking pigeon or freezing it for the winter, you need to select and prepare it correctly. Preference should be given to ripe and large berries, without signs of damage. They should not have stains, traces of insects or other damage that contribute to the rapid deterioration of blueberries. The fruits should be firm and elastic to the touch, not soft. When lightly pressed, the berries do not wrinkle or burst, but remain intact.
It is also important to properly prepare the berries so that during freezing they retain their taste, aroma and beneficial properties. First, blueberries are selected and only good fruits are left. Damaged ones are immediately thrown away. The sooner the blueberries are picked, the lower the likelihood that they will begin to mold.
After this procedure, the berries are washed under cool water (the water should never be hot) and laid out on a flat surface in a thin layer. During this time, the blueberries will dry out and will not mold. When the berries are dry, they are packaged in bags and sent to the freezer. These berries are used to make teas or simply eaten fresh.
What can you make from blueberries for the winter?
There are many blueberry recipes. It is used for making preserves, jams, jellies, marshmallows and other sweets. To preserve maximum beneficial properties, the fruits are dried or frozen. In addition to sweets, homemade wine and liqueurs are made from blueberries. After heat treatment, 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, they need to be dried. This is quite easy to do even at home.
To prepare dried berries, you need to have an oven at home and that’s it.It's enough.
Blueberry drying process:
- Fresh berries are spread in a thin layer on the surface of a baking sheet. The oven is preheated to 40 degrees. Place a baking sheet and leave the berries to dry.
- Gradually increase the temperature for drying 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 begin to deteriorate. This preparation can be used to prepare vitamin teas.
Frozen blueberries
The easiest way to keep fruits fresh even in winter is to store them in the freezer. To preserve the beneficial properties of 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 and the spoiled ones are thrown away.
The easiest way to freeze is in plastic bags. Before freezing, the fruits are washed and then dried. In order for the berries to retain all their beneficial properties and not turn into porridge when frozen, they need to be dried well. Blueberries should not be washed under running water, but in a deep container, so as not to damage the thin skin.
Jam
While cooking jam, it will not be possible to preserve all the vitamins, but you will be able to enjoy the delicious sweetness.
Making jam is quite simple:
- Sort the berries and rinse them in water, place them on the bottom of the pan in which the jam will be cooked.
- Place 250 ml of water on the fire and gradually add 850 g of sugar to it to prepare a thick syrup.
- When the syrup is ready, pour it over the berries and let it cook, stirring the mixture regularly.
- Cook the jam over low heat for at least 20 minutes.
- After this, it is poured into jars, rolled up and placed upside down to cool.
When the jars have cooled to room temperature, they are put into the cellar or refrigerator.
Blueberries in their own juice
To prepare blueberries in their own juice, you only need the fruits and the same amount of sugar. The fruits are washed in water and the excess liquid is allowed to drain. After this, add sugar so that it covers the berries and leave for a day in a cool place.
This cooking method will preserve more vitamins than during heat treatment of blueberries.
Within a day, the blueberries will give juice and become saturated with sugar. You can use less sweetener so as not to make the blueberries too sugary. It is added to taste. The next day, the blueberries are poured into jars and covered with lids.
Compote
Dove compote will be an excellent preparation for the winter. The fruits, again, are washed in a large container of water. Sugar is added to the compote according to taste, but it is better to add more of it, otherwise the too sugary compote is diluted with plain water.
The berries are transferred to a deep pan and filled with water. Then add sugar. Cook for 10-15 minutes until the compote acquires a beautiful rich color. When the compote is ready, it is poured into jars and rolled up. And when the jars have cooled, they are lowered into the cellar and left there until winter.
Paste
To prepare pastila you need to take:
- 1 kg of berries;
- 650 g granulated sugar;
- 1 glass of warm water.
Pour water over the berries and put on the fire for about 20 minutes. When the blueberries soften, they need to be ground in a blender or rubbed through a sieve. Then place in a thin layer on a baking sheet and dry.The marshmallows are checked regularly. The finished marshmallow is flexible and does not break.
Blueberry juice with pulp
Blueberry fruits are sorted and washed under water. Then you need to pass it through a meat grinder or grind it 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 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 into jars and rolled up. And in winter, the whole family can enjoy tasty and healthy juice based on blueberries. Other fruits or berries are used along with blueberries for flavor.
Liquor
Liqueur is made from blueberries at home. To prepare it you need:
- 300 g fruits;
- 300 ml vodka;
- granulated sugar;
- 1 glass of water.
Crush the berries, put them in a jar and fill them with vodka. Leave in this form for 10 days in a dark room. The longer the liqueur is infused, the richer the taste will be. When the liqueur is ready, you need to boil the sugar syrup and mix everything together. Before pouring the liqueur into sugar syrup, squeeze it out. The finished liqueur should 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 water over the berry puree and add raisins. Mix thoroughly until the puree dissolves in the water. Not all of the sugar needs to be added. Cover the container with wine with gauze and put it in a cool room. After a few days the wine will begin to ferment. Then add more sugar and stir. It is important to make a gas outlet in the bottle. After 5 days, the gas outlet is removed. After 3 days, shake the wine. After 40 days the wine will be ready. The shade becomes lighter.After this, the wine is bottled.
Confiture
To cook confiture, lemon juice and gelatin are used together with fruits and sugar. Pour water over the fruits and cook for no more than 10 minutes. After cooking, the fruits are placed in a colander and the juice is squeezed out, 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 this, the confiture is poured into jars and put in the refrigerator.
Jelly
A delicious jelly is made from blueberries. To prepare it, you need to pour water over the berries and put it on fire. Cook until they are soft and most of the water has evaporated. After this, the fruits are rubbed through a sieve until smooth.
They put the fire back on, but now they add sugar to the mixture. Cook for 15-25 minutes until the jelly thickens. At this time, you need to dilute the gelatin. When the mass is prepared, diluted gelatin is poured into it and poured into a container. Place the jelly in the refrigerator. In a few hours it will be ready.
Blueberries pureed with sugar without cooking
Another way to preserve vitamins in blueberries is to rub them with sugar. The fruits are first ground through a sieve so that a homogeneous mass is obtained. Then add sugar. After the fruits produce juice, they are eaten as jam or added to teas.
Storage Features
Fresh blueberries are stored in the refrigerator. But you need to eat it as quickly as possible. If it sits for a long time, then after 1-2 days it will begin to become moldy and disappear.
Frozen fruits can be 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 consumption.
Jam, compotes and other products that have been prepared can be stored for an unlimited amount of time. But again, eat blueberry jams you need to do it right away, because the longer they sit, the less tasty they will seem. The optimal storage period in the cellar is 3 years. Jam must be stored in a cellar or refrigerator.
