The strawberry season continues, and it is difficult to find a person who would remain indifferent to this fragrant berry. And if some people are allergic to garden berries, then wild strawberries all cause extremely pleasant emotions.
Today we’ll talk about how to save strawberries for the winter.
Useful properties of berries
Strawberries have long been revered by people for its healing properties. This berry contains an amazing vitamin complex, as well as flavanoids and acids (pantothenic and folic). In addition, a large amount of ascorbic acid and P-active compounds are present in the berry, giving it the brightest color. Vitamin P is quite rare in nature, and its representation in the berry is of particular value, and the more ripe it is, the more useful.
Folic acid promotes the production of red blood cells, and its large presence in the berry makes strawberries the main tool in the fight against anemia.
The berry also contains a large number of useful trace elements and minerals, among which there is:
potassium;
fluorine;
iodine;
copper;
iron.
As for the last trace element, its content in strawberries is even higher than in an apple. Therefore, it is not surprising that this delicious berry takes its rightful place in directories with medicinal plants.
Wild strawberries help a lot in the treatment of the following diseases:
ischemia;
gout;
osteochondrosis;
most kidney and liver diseases;
salt metabolism disorders.
The beneficial properties of this berry were fully deservedly recognized not only by folk, but also by official medicine.
Strawberry leaves are also endowed with great value, in winter they can even replace berries. In ancient times, specially prepared for the strawberry season, and when it came, people had to eat at least 5 glasses daily, as this is an excellent prevention against many diseases.
Nowadays, of course, it is unlikely that many can afford to eat so much. In the markets and in shops, the berry is by no means cheap, and strawberry clearings grow far from all. Therefore, the hope is only on the garden berry and various preparations.
How to save wild strawberries
Harvesting strawberries is usually carried out in dry weather, before lunch. The presence of dew or dampness after the past rain is fraught with the appearance of rot. Berry is not recommended to pour repeatedly from one container to another. The main condition is rapid hypothermia.
Strawberries do not tolerate long-term storage, but if you place it in a refrigerator with a No Frost zone, or at a temperature of 0-2 ° C and a humidity of 95%, it can be stored for up to 7 days. Naturally, with each new day, the taste of the berry will deteriorate, so it is best to freeze strawberries immediately after harvest.
How to save wild strawberries for the winter
There are 3 options for freezing, in which the maximum number of useful properties of this berry will be preserved. However, it must first be well prepared. Ripe berries should be cleaned from the stalks and washed in the shower, and then spread out in a thin layer on napkins or newspapers so that they dry out.
1. Berries are laid out in portions on pallets and frozen, and then poured into a bag or plastic container.
2. Then the strawberries need to be punched with a blender or ground through a sieve, after which it is laid out in small molds and frozen. After the berry puree hardens, it is laid out from the molds and transferred to a container for long-term storage. If you add a little sugar in the puree, you can get delicious fruit ice cream.
3. Sugar is poured in a proportion of 1 cup per 1 kg of berries, after which it is frozen in small portions in plastic bags.
If the berries are small, it is easier to dry them with leaves, and use in winter as a healing tea. For drying, any berries are not in good condition, with the exception of overripe ones. They get over, spoiled berries and litter are eliminated. Then they are laid out in a thin layer on a baking sheet and dried in several ovens at temperatures up to 50 ° C.
Berries can also be laid directly on a layer of leaves and dried all together. After that, they are poured into a paper box and applied as necessary. For example, they can be crushed and added to any tea, brewed separately, used as an additive to mulled wine, and more.
How to save strawberries without cooking: harvesting with sugar
You can also save strawberries for the winter if you grate it with sugar. This method is done as follows:
immediately after harvesting, the berries are washed and dried;
remove rotted berries and green sepals;
ready strawberries fall asleep in the ratio of 1 kg of berries per glass of sugar and grind manually or through a blender;
Then we spread the resulting mixture into molds and fill it in 0.5 containers, plastic bottles are perfect. Everything, the dessert is ready!
If sugar is added a little more, such a dessert can be stored in the refrigerator and without freezing and there will be an outward appearance on fresh jam.
How to keep strawberries fresh: heat treatment with sugar
In order for the mass to come out more homogeneous and better stored, strawberries need to be subjected to heat treatment. This is not about boiling, like ordinary jam, you need to warm up to 60 ° C.
After harvesting, strawberries must be prepared in a standard way: bulkhead, sepal selection and pouring into a container.
Then, using a wooden pestle, the berries are kneaded until the juices are empty, after which the pan is set on low heat. During cooking, you need to gradually add sugar, and it should be taken in mass 2 times more than berries.
After dissolving all the sugar, the pan with berries is removed from the stove, poured into clean jars and covered with polyethylene lids. The cooled mixture can be stored in the refrigerator throughout the winter.
Wild strawberries harvesting for the winter: preparing jam
This fragrant berry also makes excellent jam. If there is not enough space in your refrigerator, you can also make jam from strawberries for the winter. Of course, it will lose part of its beneficial properties in comparison with frozen berries, but its excellent taste and aroma will be preserved.
For jam we need sugar (2 times more than strawberries), water and an enameled container. The cooking process itself looks like this:
1) pour half of all sugar into the container and fill it with water, then put on low heat so that the sugar can melt;
2) we fill in strawberries and bring the mass to a boil. Then we make fire for a minimum and cook the berries for another 5-7 minutes;
3) add the second half of sugar and mix with jam until dissolved, then remove the pan from the heat;
4) after the berries have completely cooled, they must again be set on low heat and brought to a boil. This procedure must be repeated several more times.
Cooking over low heat is necessary so that the berries retain their integrity. The last boil will be a little longer (up to 10 minutes), after which the jam is poured into clean sterilized jars and rolled up with the same lids. It can be stored without a refrigerator, on a shelf or in a pantry.
