How to clean blackcurrants from twigs and ponytails: quick storage methods and rules

To make currant jam or use the berries for other culinary purposes, you must first clean the harvested crop. This is necessary, because in the process of collecting fruits, branches, leaves and brushes come off with them. There are several ways to clean blackcurrants using improvised means.

Preparing currants

Before using the currant for its intended purpose, it is necessary to properly prepare the berries. To clean the fruits, it is necessary to sort out the entire harvest, get rid of damaged and crumpled berries, rinse the crop thoroughly, and only then proceed with cleaning and processing.

How to sort through berries quickly?

Sorting blackcurrants can be carried out even at the harvesting stage, inspecting each berry. This method will take a very long time, since it is easier to pick berries with brushes, and then perform selection. You can sort currants in many ways, using additional tools to simplify the process.

Using a pallet

To quickly clean the harvest, you can prepare a tray for berries, and next to it, place a board at an angle, which is usually used for cutting food. The entire crop is rolled in portions along the board into a pallet, as a result of which the berries fall into the container, and the branches and other foreign elements remain on the surface of the board. For convenience, you can use fixtures with a ribbed surface instead of a board so that branches and leaves cling to the ledges more reliably.

With a bowl and cold water

Currants picked with brushes are conveniently cleaned using any capacious container and water. The fruits are poured into a bowl and poured with cold water, after which all small debris floats to the surface of the liquid. Then it remains to remove the excess parts and portionwise get the brush from the bottom, removing the branches if necessary.

Using this method, you can not pour hot water on the crop, as its effect can lead to a violation of the structure and appearance, as well as to the loss of the original taste characteristics.

Should the branches be removed?

The process of removing the tails on the berries takes a lot of time, so when cooking jams and jams, many people put the berries in their original state. The presence of tails on the fruit does not affect the taste characteristics of the finished product. As a result of processing, the tails and small twigs are ground, and with further use of currant jam, they do not taste.

Remove blackcurrant tassels with a fork

Collecting blackcurrants with brushes is convenient because you do not have to spend time separating each berry from the twigs. To get rid of brushes, during the subsequent sorting of the crop, you can use a simple fork. To do this, brushes with berries are pulled between the cloves of a fork, as a result of which the fruits crumble.

Using this method, it is important to be extremely careful, since sharp cloves can damage the integrity of the berries, which will negatively affect their shelf life. Damaged berries should be eaten or processed immediately.

Manual method for red and white berries

There are several ways to sort through the red and white varieties of currants. The most affordable option is to manually sort out damaged specimens, twigs and leaves.

To simplify the process, you can lay out the collected currants on thin paper, wait until it dries completely, and then blow it with a hairdryer. A stream of weak air will blow away light leaves and twigs and leave fruits. Then it remains only to shift the currants into a colander, rinse thoroughly and use to create blanks.

How many sorted fruits can lie

Currants are harvested only once a year, so for many gardeners it is important to save the fruit for later use. Harvested fruits in rainy weather are recommended to be eaten or sent for processing immediately, as exposure to moisture will quickly spoil them.

If the berry is picked correctly, it is allowed to store it in several ways:

• fresh or frozen in the refrigerator;
• in the dried state;
• mashed with sugar;
• as a preparation for the winter.

Before you leave the berry for storage, you need to properly prepare it. To do this, the fruits are plucked from the branches, getting rid of damaged and crumpled specimens. Then the crop is thoroughly washed under low pressure of water and scattered in one layer to dry.

To store currants for several months, it is best to freeze the crop. The exact timing will depend on the temperature regime and the correct preparation. Before putting the fruits in the freezer, it is not necessary to wash them, but they must be dried thoroughly.

Dried fruits are poured onto any flat surface wrapped in cling film and kept in the freezer for a couple of hours. When the berries freeze, they are transferred to cellophane, hermetically sealed and returned to storage.

Being in vacuum conditions, at zero temperature, currants can be stored for about 1.5 months, at a lower temperature - up to 3-4 months.Deep freezing in modern freezers at temperatures below -18 degrees allows you to store the crop throughout the year without losing taste characteristics. If it is necessary to defrost the currants, it is recommended to transfer the fruits to the top shelf of the refrigerator so that they gradually thaw and do not lose their dense shape.

Also, for long-term storage, you can use the drying method. Fresh berries contain about 85% water, and after drying, up to 15% should remain. You can dry the fruits in the oven, microwave, special dryer, or leave the crop in the open air, in a place with constant air circulation.

Dried fruits are left for further storage in a dark place with a temperature below 20 degrees. As a container, use a plastic container, glass jars or cardboard boxes. If all the above conditions are met, the crop can be stored for up to one year.

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