Freeze dogwood for the winter: how to do it right and is it possible

Kizil is one of the he althiest berries. It contains a lot of vitamins, pectins, organic acids, essential oils, tannins and phytoncides, and even more vitamin C than blackcurrant. If you freeze fresh dogwood for the winter, this will avoid beriberi, flu and colds, because it strengthens the immune system. It is enough to follow the rules of preparation - and there will always be a tasty and he althy delicacy at hand.

Is it possible to freeze dogwood for the winter

Freezing is the best way to store berries for a long time. It allows you to save the main medicinal properties, as well as almost all useful components. At the same time, the taste qualities are not only preserved, but even improved over time.

In winter, frozen dogwood is perfect for making various compotes, jelly, fruit drinks, jams and preserves. It is also often used as a seasoning for meat and fish dishes. A frozen mixture of grated berries with sugar is convenient to add to tea, porridge and just eat as a sweet vitamin dessert.

Product selection and preparation

Freezing requires only ripe berries - they turn bright red, taste sweet and sour, slightly tart and astringent. The collection is carried out in the fall, a film is spread under the bush and shaken lightly - the ripened dogwood falls freely. If unripe berries were bought, spread them out in a thin layer and wait a few days. Then you need to immediately start preparing for freezing:

Sort through the berries, remove the crushed and wormy, as well as sticks, leaves and other debris.
Place in a colander and rinse thoroughly under running water.
Spread out on a paper towel and let dry for 15 minutes

Preparing the freezer

Before freezing, you must also prepare the chamber. You should make room in it, if necessary - wash it. If the refrigerator has a pre-freeze function, it is worth turning it on a day before placing the berries. After another 24 hours, it must be turned off and the storage mode activated. It is recommended to set the temperature in the range from -18 to -23 degrees.

How to freeze dogwood at home

You can freeze the berry directly with the seeds. However, you need to do it correctly in order to preserve the maximum of vitamins and other beneficial substances. Freezing should be quick, so it is better to put the dogwood in the chamber in small portions.

The prepared berry should be scattered on a pallet in one layer and put in the freezer for 15-20 minutes, setting the temperature to -12 degrees. Then it needs to be taken out and packaged, but you need to do it quickly to prevent thawing. Containers are suitable for storage, as well as packages - ordinary cellophane or special ones for freezing. After filling the container with berries, you need to release all the air from it and close it tightly.

You can not pack dogwood, but freeze and store directly on the pallet. However, less berries will fit in this way, and the shelf life will be reduced by 2 times.

Another way to freeze dogwood involves the use of sugar. Easy recipe:

Pre-washed and dried berries must be rubbed through a sieve with small cells - all the seeds and skin will remain in it.
In the resulting mass, add sugar to taste and mix thoroughly.
Put the mixture into a container or ice-freezer, or roll into balls wrapped in cling film.

The berry, ground together with sugar, should be frozen at a temperature of at least -12 degrees for 1.5-2 hours. Then it needs to be taken out of the mold, put into bags and sent for long-term storage.

Storage rules

When storing, the following rules must be observed:

It is worth writing the date of preparation of the product on each package. This will help you meet the expiration date.
Frozen dogwood should not be placed near meat, fish or other strongly smelling foods, otherwise it will absorb odors.
In bags, berries can be kept in the freezer for 9-12 months at a temperature of -18 degrees. Bulk dogwood, scattered on a pallet, is stored for no more than six months.
Cornel ground with sugar should also be kept at -18 degrees. However, its shelf life is shorter - only 4 months.

How to defrost dogwood

You need to defrost the berry gradually, avoiding a sharp temperature drop. First, it should be moved to the lower section of the refrigerator. There it will thaw in a few hours, after which it should be used in the near future, since re-freezing is not allowed. Compotes and cereals can be prepared from frozen dogwood, adding it during cooking.

If you regularly eat dogwood, appetite will improve, heartburn will pass, vascular walls will strengthen and blood pressure will normalize. To keep this he althy berry always at hand, you can freeze it - and you can cook vitamin compotes and other dishes all year round.