When it comes to summer berries, people immediately think of strawberries, raspberries, cherries and currants. But gooseberries are somehow undeservedly relegated to the background. And in vain. These fruits are simply a storehouse of vitamins and other useful substances. And there are real legends about the unusual taste of gooseberry jam. But how can you keep the berries fresh and as healthy as possible for the winter? Next, we’ll look at how to properly freeze gooseberries so that they retain all the beneficial microelements.
Is it possible to freeze gooseberries?
These berries are ideal for this type of preparation. They contain pectins, which increase turgor and extend shelf life.
Popular varieties for freezing:
- Change;
- Glory Lepskaya;
- Malachite;
- Houghton;
- Korsun-Shevchenkovsky;
- English yellow;
- Eaglet;
- Kolobok;
- Change;
- Mysovsky 37;
- White Triumph;
- Flamingo;
- Mucurines;
- Northern Captain;
- African;
- Date fruit;
- Consul;
- Hinnomaki Gelb and Strine;
- Russian;
- Spring;
- Spring;
- Defender;
- Invicta;
- Neslukhovsky;
- Anniversary.
Selection and preparation of berries for freezing
Gooseberries delight with a wide variety of species. The berries are green, white, yellow, pink or red (some dark varieties appear black). When freezing, you also need to take into account the taste of the fruit. Some people like it with sourness, while others like it sweet. And the sugar consumption will be different.
Preparatory work:
- It is better to pick berries from the bush early in the morning, before they become hot in the sun.
- Be sure to remove leaves and tails.
- The fruits should be washed thoroughly under cold running water.
- Next, they need to be thrown into a sieve or colander.
- Excess water should drain.
- Then you need to put it on a towel and let it dry.
Important! Unripe or overripe, crushed, spoiled fruits are not suitable for storage. Sweet berries with thick skin tolerate freezing better. It is believed that there are more vitamins in white and green fruits.
Methods for freezing gooseberries at home
This preparation is characterized by a high content of vitamin C (more than in apples, and almost as much as in raspberries). 100 g of fresh berries replenish 1/3 of the daily requirement of this vitamin. Frozen gooseberries are a source of vitamin B, A and PP.It compensates for the lack of chromium in the body (one of the best sources of this element). It contains a lot of chlorophyll (very good for blood), serotonin (prevention of the formation of malignant tumors) and coumarins (useful for proper blood clotting).
Whole berries
This type of freezing is best suited for thin-skinned fruits. It would be correct to spread them on a dish in an even layer and put them in the freezer for a short time (an hour or more). This is done so that the gooseberries harden and do not burst during deep freezing, and so that the berries do not stick together.
Then take them out, let them sit, put them in containers and return them to the freezer. If thick-skinned fruits are used, pre-freezing may not be necessary. The most convenient single serving is 300-500 g. The container must be wide and with low sides. This way the berries will freeze quickly and evenly. This is the easiest and fastest way to freeze gooseberries without cooking.
Important! Gooseberries make delicious compotes, jellies, marmalades, jams, and marshmallows. A special place is occupied by emerald and royal jam. You can make delicious wine from the juice. Berries are also added to salads, sauces are made from them, and they are marinated as a separate dish or with vegetables.
Freezing gooseberries sprinkled with sugar
Place dry, clean berries in convenient containers, sprinkle with granulated sugar. It is a simple natural preservative. If there are no plastic containers, tetra-pack packaging (for example, milk or juice) will do. It has antiseptic properties and is lined with aluminum foil on the inside.
This type of freezing has two options. The first is that gooseberries with sugar go straight into the freezer.Second, the berries are first placed in the refrigerator so that the sugar is saturated with juice. Then cover the container and place it in the freezer.
In sugar syrup
If you come across overripe gooseberries with thin skins, you can also freeze them. Sugar syrup will help preserve it. The prepared fruits should be placed in small plastic containers. Separately prepare the syrup (boil 1/2 kg of granulated sugar in a liter of water). When it has cooled completely, pour it over the berries. And you can safely freeze it.
As a puree
Another way to deliciously preserve thin-walled gooseberries. Completely dry berries need to be crushed to a puree. To avoid losing nutrients in the process, it is better not to use a meat grinder (or any other device with metal parts). It would be better to use a wooden masher.
Cooking process:
- Using a home scale, divide all the purees into kilogram portions.
- Add 300-400 g of granulated sugar to each. This norm is approximate. The sweeter the berry itself, the less sugar is used. And vice versa.
- Pour the resulting mass into containers and place on a shelf in the refrigerator.
- Once the puree is cool enough, you can freeze it.
Shelf life of frozen gooseberries in the freezer
In order for the workpieces to last quietly for a year or even more (maximum - a year and 3 months), they should be provided with a temperature of -18 ˚C and below. The extremely negative temperature of a typical household freezer is -30 ˚C. If you freeze berries at a temperature of 0...-8 ˚C, it is better to eat them within 3 months.
Recommendations and tips
Gooseberries contain a lot of water. If all the available berries are frozen in one bag, then in winter you will get a monolithic block of ice instead of ideally shaped fruits.You need to make sure that the containers with gooseberries are carefully closed. Under no circumstances should berries be stored near meat or fish.
It is better to mark containers or bags with gooseberries with stickers. Especially if many different types of fruit are frozen.
It is not recommended to eat gooseberries for people with diseases of the stomach and pancreas (stomach and duodenal ulcers, colitis, enterocolitis and pancreatitis).
Summer is a hot time for housewives in every sense. After all, I want to prepare so many things for the winter. You should not spare time and effort on gooseberries. You can cook a huge number of dishes with it, and not just sweet ones. In addition, with such a high content of useful substances in them, vitamin deficiency will not be terrible.
