Blueberries for the winter: what can be done, how to freeze and save

In the summer, everyone actively begins to prepare for winter and stock up on berries, fruits and vegetables. Preparations are made in various forms. Berries, for example, are frozen fresh, compotes, preserves, jams and various sweets are cooked. It is especially useful to stock up on blueberries for the winter. This tasty and he althy berry contains a large amount of useful vitamins and minerals. But besides that, blueberries make delicious jellies and jams, which are used instead of sweets.

Selection and preparation of blueberries

Before you start cooking a dove or freezing it for the winter, you need to choose and prepare it correctly.Preference should be given to ripe and large berries, without signs of damage. They should not have stains, insect marks and other damage that contribute to the rapid deterioration of blueberries. Fruit should feel firm and firm 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 they retain their taste, aroma and beneficial properties during freezing. At first, blueberries are selected and only good fruits are left. Damaged ones are thrown out immediately. The faster the blueberries are sorted out, the less likely they are to go moldy.

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. Blueberries will dry out during this time 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 cook with blueberries for the winter?

There are many blueberry recipes. It is used for cooking jams, jams, jellies, marshmallows and other sweets. To preserve the maximum of useful 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 must be dried. It is quite easy to make even at home.

To cook dried berries, you need to have an oven at home and that's it. That's enough.

Drying process of blueberries:

• Spread fresh berries in a thin layer on the surface of the 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 the drying time, 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 start to deteriorate. You can use this blank to make 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 desirable to freeze only ripe and strong berries, without signs of damage. Before freezing, they are sorted out, spoiled ones are thrown out.

Easiest to freeze 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 must 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

During the cooking of jam, it will not be possible to save all the vitamins, but it will be possible to enjoy delicious sweetness.

Preparing jam is quite simple:

• Sort and rinse the berries in water, put on the bottom of the pan in which the jam will be cooked.
• Put 250 ml of water on fire and gradually add 850 g of sugar to it to prepare a thick syrup.
• When the syrup is ready, pour over the berries and put it to boil, stir the mixture regularly.
• On a slow fire, the jam is cooked for at least 20 minutes.
• After that, it is poured into jars, rolled up and put upside down to cool.

When the jars have cooled to room temperature, they are put in the cellar or refrigerator.

Blueberries in own juice

To prepare blueberries in their own juice, only the fruits and the same amount of sugar are required. The fruits are washed in water, allow excess liquid to drain. After that, they are covered with sugar so that it covers the berries, and left for a day in a cool place.

This method of cooking will preserve more vitamins than during the heat treatment of blueberries.

During the day, blueberries will give juice and soak with sugar. You can use less sweetener so as not to make the blueberries too cloying. It is put 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 with water. Sugar is put in compote to taste, but it is better to pour more of it, otherwise too sugary compote is diluted with ordinary water.

The berries are transferred to a deep saucepan and poured with water. Then sprinkle with sugar. Cook for 10-15 minutes until the compote acquires a beautiful rich shade. 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.

Pastila

To make marshmallow you need to take:

• 1 kg berries;
• 650g granulated sugar;
• 1 glass of warm water.

Pour the berries with water and put on fire for 20 minutes. When the blueberries soften, grind them with a blender or rub through a sieve. Then spread in a thin layer on a baking sheet and dry. The marshmallow is checked regularly. The finished marshmallow is flexible and does not break.

Blueberry juice with pulp

The blueberries are sorted and washed under water. Then you need to pass through a meat grinder or grind 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 delicious and he althy juice based on blueberries. For taste, other fruits or berries are used along with blueberries.

Liquor

A blueberry liqueur is made at home. To prepare it you need:

• 300g fruits;
• 300 ml vodka;
• granulated sugar;
• 1 glass of water.

Crush the berries, transfer to a jar and pour vodka.Leave in this form for 10 days in a dark room. The longer the liquor is infused, the richer the taste will be. When the liquor is ready, you need to boil the sugar syrup and mix everything together. Before pouring the liquor into sugar syrup, it is squeezed out. Ready liquor should be stored in the refrigerator.

Wine

To make wine you will need:

• berries;
• water;
• a handful of raisins;
• 15 g citric acid.

Mash the berries into a porridge. Add sugar and citric acid to the water. Pour berry puree with water and add raisins. Mix thoroughly so that the puree dissolves in water. Sugar does not need to fall asleep all. 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 mix. It is important to make a gas outlet in the bottle.After 5 days, the gas outlet is removed. After 3 days, the wine is shaken. After 40 days the wine will be ready. The color becomes lighter. After that, the wine is bottled.

Confiture

For cooking confiture, lemon juice and gelatin are used together with fruits and sugar. Pour the fruits with water and cook for no more than 10 minutes. After cooking, the fruits are thrown into a colander and squeezed out the juice, in which the gelatin is then dissolved. The fruits themselves are crushed with a blender with the addition of sugar. Then juice with gelatin and berry mass are combined together and lemon juice and lemon zest are added. After that, the confiture is poured into jars and put in the refrigerator.

Jelly

Delicious jelly is prepared from blueberries. To prepare it, you need to fill the berries with water and put on fire. Cook until they are soft and most of the water has boiled away. After that, the fruits are rubbed through a sieve until smooth.

They set fire again, but now they put sugar into the mass. Cook for 15-25 minutes to thicken the jelly. At this time, you need to dilute the gelatin. When the mass is ready, diluted gelatin is poured into it and poured into a container. Put the jelly in the refrigerator. It will be ready in a few hours.

Blueberries pureed with sugar without boiling

Another way to preserve the vitamins of a dove is to rub it with sugar. The fruits are first ground through a sieve so that a homogeneous mass is obtained. Then sprinkle with sugar. After the fruits give 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 soon as possible. If it lies for a long time, then in 1-2 days it will begin to become moldy and disappear.

Frozen fruits are stored no more than 2 years. After two years, even frozen, they will lose all flavor 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 human consumption.

Jam, compotes and other products that have been cooked keep an unlimited amount of time. But again, blueberry-based jams should be eaten right away, because the longer they sit, the less tasty they seem. The best shelf life in the cellar is 3 years. Jam must be stored in a cellar or refrigerator.

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