How to store cranberry juice at home. how to properly store cranberries at home. video: how to keep lingonberries or cranberries fresh in winter

Freezing

What can you do with cranberries if you have a large freezer? Of course, deep-freeze the berry. This is the second, but most popular way to preserve all the benefits that nature has in this berry. For storage in the freezer, it is better to choose those berries that have already been exposed to frost in natural conditions. As a rule, experienced gardeners wait until the first light frost picks up the cranberries a little, only after that the berries are picked.

Before freezing, it is recommended to sort out the cranberries, look carefully for rotten spoiled berries. Then rinse, spread thinly on a clean kitchen towel and let dry naturally. After that, we pack the clean and dry berries in bags and put them in the freezer for storage. If you have a very ripe berry, then for freezing it is better to choose not cellophane bags, but a plastic container with a lid.

The main ways to store cranberries

Fresh cranberries

Clean, undamaged berries can be stored for several months without any processing. At the same time, all vitamins and microelements are saved - due to the fact that cranberries contain benzoic acid (a natural natural preservative that prevents bacteria from multiplying). But this method is not without its drawbacks: some of the berries will still go bad.

Slightly unripe berries are selected so that they do not crush against each other (they will ripen over time). Glass jars, plastic containers, small wooden or metal boxes are washed and dried. Thin polyethylene bags will also work. Prepared berries in a layer of 1-3 cm are poured into a container and left in a cellar, basement or any other cool darkened ventilated place. Cranberries stored in this way may darken, but their taste and health benefits will not change.

Clean, undamaged cranberries can be stored for several months without any processing.

You can store fresh cranberries in the refrigerator by distributing them into small pouches or containers with a lid. For this storage method, cranberries must also be carefully selected.

Soaked cranberries

For this method, cans, bottles, plastic containers are used. The container should be such that later it would be convenient to get the berries out of the water with a slotted spoon. If there is a lot of cranberries, they are stored in enamel pans (chips on the enamel are unacceptable).

The berries are washed with cold water and poured into a clean dish. Then pour them boiled for two minutes and well chilled water to the top, close and store in a cool place. Alternatively, sugar syrup is used instead of water with the addition of cloves, cinnamon and allspice. With this method of harvesting, the cranberries will become somewhat watery, but they will not lose their healing properties.

Frozen cranberries

Prepared, strong, with a strong shell, the berries are laid out in small containers or plastic bags (wrapped in a flat briquette) in portions of berries at a time (double freezing is unacceptable).

It is better to freeze very ripe cranberries on a tray before distribution in packages, spreading them in one layer. When frozen, the berries preserve color, aroma and all medicinal qualities. Store cranberries at -10 to -18 ° C for up to five years. Berries harvested after freezing are stored only in this way.

Cranberries with sugar

Option 1. Berries in cold sterile jars are sprinkled with sugar in layers, shaking for maximum filling. The last layer is sugar.

Option 2. Cranberries are mixed with sugar in equal proportions.Then the mixture is crushed and placed in sterilized glass jars.

You only need to store such cranberries in the refrigerator. The product is tasty, but sugar kills most of the vitamins in it.

Dried cranberries

Option 1 - in the oven. Selected berries are poured into a saucepan and poured with water so that it covers them by about 1 centimeter. Then they take out the cranberries, boil the water, and then put the berries in it again. After waiting for the cranberries to burst, they are thrown into a colander and dried with a paper towel. Cover the baking sheet with baking paper and lay the berries on it in one layer. You can pre-dip them in sugar syrup. Preheat the oven to 95 ° C and place the baking sheet inside. Reduce the temperature to 65 ° C and leave for 8 hours.

Option 2. Prepared berries are laid out on a tray (baking sheet) and dried in the fresh air for several weeks, after which they are processed in the oven (see Option 1) or oven. Dried cranberries are transferred to glass or plastic containers and stored in a cool dark place.

Dried cranberries, unfortunately, lose most of their medicinal properties. Store it for no more than 5 years.

A great way to preserve cranberries is to dry them.

Canned cranberries

Sweet, juicy, slightly frozen berries are perfect for preservation. Autumn cranberries are also well preserved. We offer several recipes.

Method number 7. Heat treatment

1. Heat treatment allows you to preserve most of the beneficial elements, since cranberries are preserved in their juice. During the heating process, the temperature does not exceed 100 degrees.
2. The technology does not present any particular difficulties. Sort out the fruits, rinse them with running water, fold them onto a sieve. Wait for the moisture to drain, dry with napkins or towels.
3. Transfer the cranberries to a thick-walled enamel pot, place on the stove. Set up the smallest fire, simmer until juice comes out of all the berries.
4. It is impossible to bring the composition to the appearance of the first bubbles. Such a move will lead to a complete loss of vitamins. When the juice is washed out of the fruit, pour the mixture into sterilized jars.
5. Cover with lids, leave small gaps. Prepare a water bath. Line a wide saucepan with a towel, put it inside the jar, fill it with hot water up to the shoulders.
6. Pasteurize the cranberries in their own juice for about a quarter of an hour, then turn off the burner. Remove the cans with potholders, tighten with a special wrench.
7. Wrap the containers in a sweatshirt, turn the neck down and wait until it cools completely. Put in the refrigerator or cellar for the winter, use if necessary.

Soak the berries in sugar syrup or water, dry the cranberries, or heat them to extract the juice. Cranberries, mashed in mashed potatoes, do an excellent job with colds, fights vitamin deficiency in the off-season, and strengthens the immune system as a whole.

Recipes for storing cranberries for the winter without preservation

Basic homemade recipes for storing berries without processing involve rubbing them with sugar or other sweet ingredients. How many ingredients to add are indicated in the recipes below.

Recipe number 1

easily

The classic recipe for mashed cranberries with sugar

2 kg 1 hour 30 minutes

Steps2 ingredients

• cranberry

  1 kg

• sugar

  1 kg

Nutritional value per 100 g:
Calories 210 kcal

Proteins 0.25 g

Fat 0 g

Carbohydrates 50 g

1. Sort out, rinse and dry the raw materials.

2. Grind in a blender or food processor.

3. Pour the cranberry puree into a saucepan, add sugar, mix thoroughly and set aside for an hour.

4. Sterilize jars and lids.

5. Fill the jars and tighten the lids.

Video recipe

Classic recipe for grated cranberries with sugarVideo recipe: Classic recipe for grated cranberries with sugar

Learn how to make cranberries with sugar and orange.

Recipe number 2

easily

Cranberries with honey

3 kg 30 minutes

Steps2 ingredients

• cranberry

  2 Kg

• honey

  1 kg

Nutritional value per 100 g:
Calories 210 kcal

Proteins 0.25 g

Fat 0 g

Carbohydrates 50 g

1. Sort out, rinse and dry the raw materials. Grind the berries with a blender or meat grinder.

2. Add honey to the mass and mix thoroughly.

3. Fill sterilized jars, tighten the lids and store in a cellar or refrigerator.

Video recipe

Cranberries with honeyVideo recipe: Cranberries with honey

Important! For the recipe, it is better to use liquid honey to mix the mass well.

Recipe number 3

average

Cranberries under a sugar cork

2 kg 30 minutes

Steps2 ingredients

• cranberry

  1 kg

• sugar

  0.9 kg

Nutritional value per 100 g:
Calories 200 kcal

Proteins 0.25 g

Fat 0 g

Carbohydrates 50 g

1. Rinse and dry the raw materials.
2. Grind with a blender or meat grinder.
3. Cover with sugar and refrigerate for 10-12 hours.
4. Divide the mixture into jars so that there is 1-2 cm of space for adding sugar.
5. Cut out circles from parchment with a diameter of 1-2 cm larger than the inner diameter of the cans.
6. Place the circles in jars and add 2-3 tablespoons of sugar.
7. Close the lids and put in the refrigerator.

Did you know? Cranberries are 90% water. And, thanks to the dense shell, when a ripe berry falls, it bounces off the floor.

Recipe number 4

average

Frozen cranberries

2.5 kg 30 minutes

Steps2 ingredients

• cranberry

  2 Kg

• sugar

  0.5KG

Nutritional value per 100 g:
Calories 100 kcal

Proteins 0.4 g

Fat 0 g

Carbohydrates 25 g

1. Wash and dry the raw materials.
2. Grind the berries with a blender or meat grinder.
3. Cover with sugar and mix thoroughly.
4. Put the mass into the freezer.

You will be interested in learning how to make cranberry wine.

Recipe number 5

average

Dried berry

1 kg 60 minutes

Steps3 ingredients

• cranberry

  1 kg

• sugar

  1 kg

• water

  1 l

Nutritional value per 100 g:
Calories 140 kcal

Proteins 0.15 g

Fat 0 g

Carbohydrates 35 g

1. Rinse and dry the raw materials.
2. Blanch the berries in boiling water for 1 minute - cooking will sterilize the raw materials.
3. Cover with sugar for 3-4 hours.
4. Drain in a colander and let the syrup drain.
5. Dry in a microwave oven, electric dryer, oven or in the sun in a single layer on parchment.

Important! During the drying process, you can stir the berries from time to time. This way they dry out evenly.

In fridge

Popular storage today, freezing crops in the freezer, is one of the simplest. Procurement Algorithm:

1. Sort the cranberries, dry (mandatory).
2. Prepare containers for packaging. Small plastic containers or zippered bags will do.
3. Place enough berries in the container so that you can use it at a time in the future, since further freezing of thawed cranberries is not desirable. Cranberries do not like multiple frosts.
4. Place compactly in the freezer or refrigerator, in a box with other berries.

This method allows you to keep a small crop, harvested in person or bought in a store in an apartment. Shelf life up to 12 months. You do not have to open the cellar, which is covered for the winter, once again. The use of frozen cranberries is universal: compotes, fruit drinks, cakes, muffins, as a filling.

Other methods

Mashed with sugar

Many housewives, in order to change the sour taste of the berry, rub it with sugar. In this form, any child will love her. Fresh "jam" is suitable for any baking and preparation of healthy drinks.

1. The berries are chopped in the usual way (meat grinder, blender, food processor).
2. Sugar is added to the gruel. Observe the 1: 1 ratio so that the berries do not ferment later.
3. Pour into small jars and seal tightly. Put away for storage in a cool place.

Dried

If there are no places where you can put a jar of cranberries, then dry it.

1. You can dry the berries without touching the leaves and branches.
2. Spread the crop out on large trays lined with paper or cloth.
3. Dry only in a ventilated area, preferably outdoors (in the attic, on the balcony, under a canopy).
4. Can be oven dried at minimum temperature. Now some housewives have electric dryers, in which it is also convenient to make a blank.

Where to store the dried product? Usually they take glass, porcelain, and ceramic dishes for this. A wooden box or sewn canvas pouches that fit comfortably in your closet will do.How much to store? Such a berry can provide you with nutrients for three years.

Canned

For the winter, you can make jams, jams, compotes and other pickles from cranberries. In one of our articles, you were provided with a selection of recipes for making cranberry jam. It can be cooked:

• whole cranberry;
• with lingonberries;
• with oranges;
• with pears and apples;
• with walnuts;
• in a slow cooker;
• without cooking.

They also roll compote from cranberries, which is stored for a long time along with jars of jam in the cellar, basement, or they can simply stand in your home in a cool place. Such a workpiece involves the use of heat treatment, from which some of the nutrients are lost, but small children will appreciate the delicacy.

Storing cranberries in water

If cranberries are to be used as a dessert, they can be removed for the winter as follows:

The berries can be sprinkled with granulated sugar, this will maximize the preservation of valuable substances in them. We sort out the cranberries, wash them, dry them. We spread it in layers in a volumetric glass jar, sprinkling with sugar. The masonry should not be tamped, the components should lie freely. Pour about 1 cm of granulated sugar on top. Then we close the container with a nylon lid, gently shake it several times and put it in a refrigerator or cold storage room for storage.

An excellent berry puree is obtained from cranberries. Dry and grind the washed berries with a sieve, crush, blender or meat grinder. The first two methods are preferable because allow you to give the dish a special texture. And when in contact with metal, the berry mixture triggers oxidative processes (in extreme cases, you need to act very quickly). For each kilogram of mashed potatoes we take the same amount or a little more sugar, mix everything thoroughly. We keep the mass for a day at room temperature, the sugar crystals should dissolve. Put the puree in the jars, close the lids and put it in a cool place.

Such blanks can stand for a long time, but still you need to monitor them. In case of detecting mold or changes in the smell of the composition, it is better not to risk it and dispose of it.

Since the berries are still raw, I decided to rinse them. I did it in portions: I pour the berries into a small bowl - they float, and the heavy moss settles at the bottom. It remains to catch the berries from the surface of the water and put them in a dry container. So, gradually, in portions, I washed all the berries. Then she spread out a clean cotton cloth and scattered berries on it.

My conclusion: it is easiest and fastest to sort out dry cranberries. I think you didn't even need to wash it. It is necessary to immediately sprinkle the berries in a thin layer, they will dry out, and only after that it is worth disassembling them. Garbage from dry berries is separated very easily! The berries roll off the palm like beads, strong, resilient and clean.

On the Internet, people are actively sharing ways to quickly sort out cranberries. The two most common "folk" methods:

• Roll the cranberries. A long cardboard is installed obliquely, dried, but not sorted cranberries are poured into the upper part. The garbage is raked up by the hand, and the clean berry rolls down. Similarly, you can do this: cover the ironing board with a cloth and lower the berries down on it. All debris will remain on the fabric, and only clean berries will "fly away" down.
• Blow the berries with air. Take a vacuum cleaner, remove the brush. The berries are placed in a bucket and placed under the switched on device. The air will blow out the debris, and only berries will remain in the bucket.

Secrets of experienced housewives

Secrets of storing and preparing cranberries from experienced housewives:

• Wash the berry without touching it with your hands so that it does not wrinkle, does not give juice. Use a sieve.
• Wear gloves when handling cranberries. The juice stains and irritates the skin.
• To determine if the cranberries are ripe, drop them on the floor or table. If the berry bounces like a ball when falling, then it is fully ripe.
• Soaked cranberries are used during harvest conservation.Add a few pickled berries when pickling cucumbers or cabbage. They will give the vegetables a spicy sweet and sour taste.
• Use well or spring water when soaking. If not, then use tap water, having previously boiled it.
• You can make delicious fruit drink from cranberries. Mix 300 g of berries and 140 g of sugar, cover with filtered water, boil over low heat, wait for the drink to cool. If using frozen cranberries, let them melt on their own. Add ginger, honey, or lemon.
• Place cranberries in a meat or vegetable dish. This will add spice to it.
• To prevent colds, pass 0.5 kg of cranberries and lemon through a meat grinder, add honey. Drink the mixture with hot tea.

Tips from experienced housewives

There are several guidelines that should be followed by anyone who wants to keep cranberries for as long as possible.

1. The ideal maturity for storage is easy to determine. The cranberries will bounce like a well-pumped rubber ball if dropped on the floor.
2. Soaking is best done in water collected in a well. Of course, you won't find a well in the city today. Therefore, tap water is also suitable. But such a liquid requires preliminary boiling or settling.
3. Part of the berries soaked for storage should be saved until the canned season. They can be added to cucumbers, zucchini and curled tomatoes. And the classic version is sauerkraut with cranberries. The berry is able to enrich the taste of neighbors, make them aesthetically pleasing.
4. Fruits harvested early in the spring, under the snow, are ideal for making original sauces. Sauces for meat and poultry are very popular.

Read on:

Advantages of the method of freezing cranberries at home

Simple tips for keeping broccoli fresh for a long time

Ways to preserve fresh grapes for the whole winter

How to keep strawberries fresh and flavorful - proven methods

8 ways to keep your watermelon fresh until New Years

How to store fresh cucumbers correctly so that they do not spoil as long as possible?

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Fruits and berries

Cranberry storage methods

The concentration of natural preservatives in cranberries is very high. Therefore, they are easily saved. fresh in cold place for 2-3 weeks. Before storing your cranberries in the refrigerator, make sure you only select strong, unripe cranberries. To keep fruits longer, check out the following methods.

Freezing

Freezing is the easiest way to store cranberries for the winter. Put the prepared berries in a plastic bag, tie and send to the freezer. Put as many fruits in one bag as you can use at a time.

If you need to freeze too ripe berries, then the process will be a little more complicated. Arrange them in one layer on a tray and place them in the freezer. When the product has hardened, sprinkle it into bags and store in storage.

The berries can lie in the freezer for about 1 year without losing their taste.

Using sugar

You can save cranberries in granulated sugar. Take a clean, dry jar and lay out the fruits in layers, sprinkling with sugar. There is no need to tamp the contents, the ingredients should lie freely. Pour about 1 cm of granulated sugar on top and close the container with a plastic lid.

Shake the jar gently several times to mix the ingredients evenly. Store the workpiece in a cool place.

Those with a sweet tooth will definitely appreciate the cranberries rubbed with sugar. The main advantage of the method is that, after cooking, the sour berry turns into a healthy dessert ready to use. To do this, grind the fruits with a blender or twist in a meat grinder.

Further, the berry mass can be rubbed through a sieve to obtain a homogeneous structure or leave it in its original form. For each kilogram of puree, take the same amount of sugar, mix thoroughly. Incubate the mass at room temperature for 24 hours to allow the sugar crystals to completely dissolve.

Put the finished dessert in sterilized jars, close the lids and put it in the refrigerator or cellar.

Soaked cranberries

The oldest of these methods is keeping cranberries soaked. Previously, the berries were placed in oak barrels, filled with cold water and placed in a cellar. Today the method has become more modern thanks to the use of glass containers.

The washed fruits are placed in sterilized jars, poured with cold boiled water and covered with plastic lids. In this form, the berries will retain their consumer qualities for up to 2 years if stored in the cold.

You can also use sugar syrup as a filling, to which cinnamon, cloves and other spices are added to improve the taste.

In its own juice

Alternatively, you can preserve the cranberries in your own juice. Take ripe and slightly crushed berries, mash them until mushy, then heat a little and squeeze out the juice. Put the whole hard fruits in a saucepan and cover them with juice in a 2: 1 ratio.

Heat the workpiece without boiling, then distribute it over sterile jars. Further, preservation must be covered with lids and sterilized: liter cans - 15 minutes, half-liter - 10 minutes. Then it remains to roll up and wrap up the conservation, and after complete cooling, take it out to a cold place.

Cranberries can be preserved in their own juice

Drying

Dried cranberries are suitable for making fillings and compotes, but very little vitamins remain in such a product. Berries can be dried in the oven, electric dryer, or outdoors.

If conditions permit, use the latter option. Spread the fruits in one layer on any hard surface and leave to dry completely in a dark place. In the apartment, berries can be dried on a balcony protected from sunlight. The finished product is stored in glass sealed containers.

Dried berries can be stored for up to 3 years

Cranberries have a very dense skin. Therefore, before drying in the oven, they are blanched in boiling water for several minutes. When the skin bursts, the berries are thrown into a colander and dried on a towel, and then laid out on a baking sheet covered with parchment and sent to the oven, preheated to +95 ℃. After 10 minutes, lower the temperature to +65 ℃ and dry it with the door open.

Unripe cranberries and ripening rules

In the old days, no special tricks were used to store berries. The berries, harvested in September-October, were sorted out and sprinkled in a thin layer somewhere in a dry place. She could mature on her own.

The ability of cranberries to keep fresh for a long time and not spoil directly depends on the percentage of organic acids that it contains. The higher the acidity of the berry, the longer it will be stored.

From this point of view, it seems justified to pick slightly unripe cranberries in the "white barrel" phase. There is a lot of acid in it, it is quite hard, it does not wrinkle. In addition, an unripe berry is capable of ripening.

In order for the harvested cranberries to ripen at home, a clean towel is placed on the bottom of a wicker basket or cardboard box and the berries are carefully shifted.

It is important that the berry is only slightly unripe. If the fruits are completely white, there will be no sense

Next, the basket is placed in a dry place at room temperature. Under these conditions, cranberries ripen within one to two weeks. After that, it can be laid for long-term storage.

If you put a ripe tomato or apple in a container with ripening cranberries, the process will go faster. This is due to the release of ethylene gas from the fruits.
Scattered fresh cranberries

Method number 4 - cranberries, grated with sugar

Of course, this method of storage has long been used by housewives to prepare useful berries for the winter. But it is worth warning the reader that sugar, giving cranberries a sweet and pleasant aftertaste, kills most vitamins. If we compare cranberries with sugar, which was taken out of the coveted jar with some store-bought sweet, the red berry naturally wins against the background of the latter. You will not find such amount of preservatives, flavorings and other "chemistry" in cranberries rolled up in a jar. Well, just sugar. The sweet tooth, on the contrary, will receive a moderately useful product that diversifies their sweet menu and replenishes the supply of nutrients in the body.

10 useful tips

1. When placing a berry in an enamel pan, you need to make sure that there are no chips. Even minor bald spots of enamel reveal harmful metal, which, when interacting with acid, can serve as a source of severe food poisoning.
2. It is best to distribute the harvested crop immediately according to the storage sources, since the unassembled berry spoils faster. Crumpled, overripe berries are sent for processing, while firm and unripe berries are ideal for a long time.
3. For long-term storage, cranberries harvested at the end of September or October are suitable. Spring, overripe cranberries are sweeter, but they are absolutely not suitable for storage for a long time. There are also fewer vitamins in it, especially iron and zinc are lost.
4. The benzoic acid contained in cranberries resists any harmful microorganisms. That is why this berry may not spoil without heat treatment, sugar and additional preservatives. Lingonberry has similar properties.
5. Some housewives add other berries to the cranberries, for example, currants or viburnum. This should not be allowed, since damage is inevitable with such storage. From such a tandem, you can cook a very tasty compote, but only if stored separately.
6. Berries slightly touched by frost are best stored in the freezer. This will provide better safety and benefit.
7. Masks with cranberry juice are famous for their anti-aging effect. The course of such masks significantly reduces wrinkles, saturates the deep layers of the skin with vitamins and moisture. The result is elastic, healthy skin and a fresh, rested look!
8. Cranberries are great for cleansing. Gently scrubbing the skin with several berries, you can achieve perfect smoothness, and with regular use of this kind (once every ten days) - a lasting effect no worse than salon procedures.
9. Cranberry juice is a great alternative to expensive hair conditioner. Just after washing, rub a little juice into your hair and rinse off after a few minutes. Hair becomes silky and shiny, dandruff disappears and growth improves with regular use.
10. Cranberry has powerful disinfecting properties, and due to its high acid content, it also cleans limescale well. Taps and door handles rubbed with cranberry juice will shine like new, like an expensive antibacterial cleaner.

Cranberries are ideal for long-term storage. With and without sugar, frozen and fresh, it can withstand up to a year, while retaining the entire set of nutrients.

Selection and preparation of berries for storage

This is how it happens, collected after the first frost ... still transparent

Storing cranberries requires prior selection and careful preparation.

1. For long-term storage, cranberries are harvested in September-October. During this period, it has not yet ripened and is very sour. However, sampling and flushing is easier.
2. If you collect the fruits for storage after the first frost, the berries will be translucent. During this period, their maturity is at their peak, they are juicy and sweet.
3. Cranberries, collected for storage in the spring and overwintered under a layer of snow, are considered the most fragrant and sweet. It is appreciated by gourmets.There is one "but" - during its storage, the loss of vitamin C is too great. Therefore, it is pointless to store such cranberries.
4. The selection of berries, which will be stored at home as best as possible, is as follows: the fruits are isolated from leaves, debris, then crumpled and spoiled ones are sifted out. It is also worth refusing to store completely green, brown or rotten cranberries.
5. The product selected for storage is well washed under running water, and then dried on a textile towel.

Preparation of berries

Harvesting takes place in a very short time, so many do not have enough time to consume fresh fruits. Harvesting for the winter is very popular. The berries must be properly prepared. Then it can be eaten all year round.

Basic preparatory procedures:

1. Harvesting is carried out from the beginning to mid-September. At this time of the year, the fruits reach their maximum size, flavor and color saturation. The harvested crop is suitable for freezing in the freezer or for soaking.
2. A crop harvested a second time is suitable for long-term storage. This must be done at the end of autumn. During this period, the pulp is saturated with juice and is particularly soft. It is recommended to prepare them in their own juice, make mashed potatoes, store them whole with added sugar. The second crop keeps well in the refrigerator.
3. The berry can be picked for the third time from March to April. They are not suitable for fresh storage. They make delicious compotes, preserves, jams, fruit drinks, and you can also resort to other methods of canning and preparation.
4. Sort out the harvested crop, wash it in cold water in small portions, leave to drain.
5. Dry the berries on a towel. Remove unripe, overripe or dented fruits from the general collection, as well as debris, dirt, branches and leaves. Ripe and ripe berries will last longer.

For storage for a long period, several harvesting methods are used: soaking in water, freezing, drying, heat treatment.