How to store viburnum at home for the whole winter, fresh and dried

The fruits of viburnum begin to ripen at the end of summer, but their harvest occurs in the last weeks of autumn. If you need to keep the berries fresh, it is recommended to pick them until mid-Octoberuntil persistent frosts arrived. Next, you should carefully sort through the raw materials and throw away all rotten and damaged specimens. And the remaining fruits can be harvested for the winter, but they need to be stored correctly.

How can you tell if viburnum has gone bad?

How can you not store viburnum?

How to collect viburnum and store it fresh?

For harvesting, you need to harvest the crop correctly and on time. It is better to harvest after the first frost, so the taste of the berries will become sweeter and lose excess bitterness. Using garden pruning shears, cut off a whole bunch and place it in a basket or bucket.

The berry can be stored fresh for a long time.

To prevent the product from deteriorating, it is worth organizing the following conditions:

The workpiece is well stored in a suspended state when the brushes are tied with natural thread.
Fresh storage should be done in a room with a low temperature. The room should be well ventilated.
To preserve vitamin C and avoid rotting or drying out of the berries, normal humidity should be maintained.

Ideal storage options are a veranda, cellar, cold hallway or attic. The only suitable place for storage in the apartment is the refrigerator. Berries can be stored here for about 1-2 months.

Freezing berries

If you freeze viburnum, the berries do not lose their benefits: all vitamins, micro- and macroelements are preserved in their original concentration. At the same time, the consistency also remains unchanged - the crop is frost-resistant, and the skin prevents damage to the pulp by sub-zero temperatures. There is one important rule for freezing - the berries must be separated from the stalks. There is no need to wash them; this is done after defrosting, before use.

How to prepare viburnum, ground with sugar?

The best option for storing viburnum is grinding it with sugar.

The product will take up little space, will not require constant revisions, will not require special conditions and will completely retain all vitamins.

Be sure to read:

How to keep grapes fresh all winter

The cooking principle is simple:

Separate whole, unrotten berries from the bunch. Rinse the product in cold water and leave in a colander to drain excess moisture. Dry. If minimal freezing is done before chopping, the berries will release more juice.
Using a blender, grind the product, strain the mixture through a sieve or cheesecloth. This will separate the seeds and skin from the pulp and juice.
Mix the prepared mass with sugar. Sugar and viburnum are combined in a 2:1 ratio, i.e. the amount of sugar should be 2 times more than the berries.
Transfer the sweet mixture into sterilized jars. A regular plastic cap will do for sealing. You can also preserve the product.

Viburnum, ground with sugar, should be stored in a cool place. Over time, the juice may separate from the sweet pulp, but this is normal for this type of preparation.

Subtleties of collecting and processing viburnum

Viburnum can be harvested from the second half of September, when the berries are abundantly filled with juice and become soft. True, at this time the taste will be bitter, which not everyone likes. Therefore, the second time for picking berries is after the first frost, when under the influence of negative temperatures the unwanted bitterness goes away.

When collecting, the following rules must be observed:

Work in dry weather - excess moisture leads to the formation of mold in the workpiece. The best time for collection is considered to be from 9–11 am, when the dew is completely dry.
You need to collect the entire umbrella, and not each berry separately. Otherwise, some of the juice will leak out and there will be nothing to prepare.
It is more convenient to use sharp garden shears for collecting. If you break off the umbrellas, some of the berries fall to the ground.

If most of the berries in the bunch are rotten or moldy, it is better not to harvest them. Even seemingly healthy specimens can be infected with mold, and therefore are not suitable for jam. As a last resort, they can only be boiled with or without sugar.

Collected umbrellas need to be washed. It is more convenient to do this under running water, but you can soak the berries in a large volume of water. Then all the debris, leaves and insects will float to the surface.

Rotten, dented or moldy specimens should not be used for long-term storage. They are torn off and disposed of.

How to squeeze juice from viburnum and prepare liqueur?

You can make liqueurs based on viburnum. The taste of the alcoholic drink will be bright and slightly tart.

There are several options for preparing liqueur, but for viburnum you should use the simplest one:

Make fruit juice from pre-washed and dried berries using a blender.
To get juice with pulp, you should filter the liquid through a sieve or cheesecloth.
Choose vodka or alcohol (depending on the percentage of alcohol for the liqueur).
Mix the components in a 1:1 ratio. Add sugar to the composition, put it in a dark and warm place for 12 days.
Make a small hole in the plastic lid, since the container must partially allow oxygen to pass through.
After 12 days, pour into another container, having first filtered the product through a fine sieve.

How is viburnum useful?

The traditions of its use in Russia for treatment, prevention of diseases and simply for the pleasure of experiencing its refreshing taste go back more than one century. The unique composition containing minerals, vitamins, organic acids and many other useful substances contributes to its wide use:

to maintain the tone of the heart muscle;
for the treatment of gastrointestinal pathologies;
for the treatment of skin diseases (lichen, acne);
for the prevention of atherosclerosis, colds;
as an additional remedy in the treatment of nervous system disorders.

Knowing how to preserve viburnum at home for the winter, you can use these healing fruits for a long time.

Recipes for viburnum jam, jelly and marshmallows

Jam, jelly and marshmallows are prepared in accordance with a specific recipe, which involves preserving the vitamins of viburnum.

Be sure to read:

Cranberry: how to store?

Paste

How to cook:

Soak the prepared berries in hot water for 3 minutes, then rinse with cold water. Blanch.
Pour the fruits into a saucepan and cook until pureed.
Rub the puree through a sieve. Add sugar to the puree in a 1:1 ratio.
Continue cooking the sweet mass until it thickens.
Pour the mixture onto a baking sheet lined with paper. Cool, and then put in the refrigerator for another day.
Cut the frozen layer into rectangles or squares. Roll in powdered sugar.

Jam

How to make cold jam:

Pour honey into a jar with viburnum fruits in a 1:1 ratio. Water with sugar dissolved in it will also work.
Leave the container on the table and wait until the sticky substance turns red.
Add syrup to tea instead of sugar.

Viburnum marshmallow recipe:

Wash the berries in cold water.
Pour hot water over it and immediately start squeezing the fruits to get maximum juice.
Add 1.5 kg of sugar to 1 liter of juice. Mix.
Pour into jars, close the lids and put in the refrigerator.
Leave to harden for about a day.

Methods for harvesting viburnum

Heat treatment can be a good way to preserve viburnum berries for a whole year. But under the influence of temperature, all the beneficial substances in the fruits are destroyed, so it is better to choose simple recipes that do not require significant heating. Such preparations require sterility: all dishes are pre-treated with steam and dried. Do the same with berries: wash in purified water and dry. The most popular preparation methods include:

Juice. To prepare such a viburnum product, you can use a mechanical or electric juicer. It is also possible to grind the fruits through a sieve. The jars are sealed and sent to the basement.
Jam or marmalade can be prepared without significant heating. Mix the ground berries with sugar and heat until the crystals begin to dissolve. Afterwards, the product should be closed with a lid and stored at a low temperature.
Pastila is a good alternative to sweets. It is not necessary to add sugar when preparing this viburnum product. Lemon zest and cinnamon are often used as additives.
Viburnum jelly can be prepared without heat treatment. The finished product is rich in useful substances and can help with diseases: relieves fever and lowers blood pressure.

How to make oil and vinegar from viburnum?

Viburnum oil is prepared from the residues after squeezing out the juice, from the cake:

Pass the cake through a meat grinder.
Mix the main component with vegetable oil in a ratio of 1:4.
Leave for 1 month.
Strain, remove the pulp, and pour into bottles for further storage.

Viburnum vinegar can be prepared according to the following recipe:

Place ½ kg of fruit, 1 glass of sugar in a glass container, add 2 liters of water.
Place in a dark place for 60 days.
Stir daily for the first week.
When the water becomes clear, use vinegar to dress salads.

Making the liqueur

A medicinal liqueur can be prepared from these healthy berries, preserving their healing properties for the winter. It includes:

viburnum juice – 100 ml;
water – 100 ml;
sugar – 100 g;
vodka – 500 ml.

All components of this recipe need to be moved and kept at room temperature for two days, then seal the liqueur and bottle it. This drink can be stored at any temperature, even room temperature.

Drying viburnum in the oven or dryer at home

How to dry fruits in the oven:

Place the fruits on a baking sheet lined with paper.
Preheat the oven to a temperature of 50-60 °C.
Leave for about 1 hour.
When the fruits begin to wrinkle, remove the berries, cool them, then place them additionally in a glass container to allow the product to dry.

Be sure to read:

How to keep lemons fresh at home for a long time?

Drying can be done in a simpler way:

Place the fruits on paper in 1 layer and cover with gauze.
Stir the mixture periodically.
Leave for about 2 weeks.

Viburnum for the winter without sugar for filling pies

Do you love homemade cakes? Then there is a reason to add a tasty and healthy filling. You are about to make some pies, and the contents are already at hand.

We will need:

viburnum - volume at your discretion.

Preparation steps:

We free the viburnum berries from the stems.
We wash the berries and let the water drain.
Transfer the fruits to a jar (the volume of the container depends on the number of berries).
Place the container with the lid on (but loosely) into a cold oven.

Advice! Do not tighten the lid tightly while steaming viburnum in the oven - otherwise the jar will explode.

Set the temperature to 100–120 degrees. Simmer for 3–4 hours. After time, the berry settles, produces juice and changes color. We take out the jar, seal the lid - the filling for the pies is ready.

Storing dried viburnum

After drying, you need to think about how to preserve the berries so that they do not dry out, bloom or spoil.

The following methods are suitable:

If the stalk is preserved, then form a bunch from the bunch and hang it in a cool place. Additionally, the bunch can be covered with a light cloth.
If the berries were dried separately, then each viburnum fruit will be preserved if you pour the berries into a textile bag.
The ideal place for storage is a glass jar, which is closed with a plastic lid.
An alternative solution is a plastic container.

Important aspects

Ripe viburnum is a tender berry. When collecting, you need to stock up on capacious containers so that the brushes do not wrinkle. Before processing them:

berries are sorted, removing rotten or spoiled by birds;
washed without removing from the bunches;
laid out in one row to dry on cloth or paper.

The fruits are easily separated from the branches; to do this, just shake the brush lightly. For freezing, viburnum is not washed, but is done immediately before use after defrosting.

Recipe for making viburnum with honey without boiling the berries

The only option healthier than jelly with sugar according to the recipe above is this one – with honey! Here, too, we will not use cooking. There are no tricks or complicated secrets either. It's simple. I suggest you prepare at least a couple of jars for the winter. 1-2 spoons of this jam with tea before bed will boost your immunity and arm your body to defend against viruses.

Honey enhances and complements the beneficial properties of viburnum. Everything is prepared simply and quickly. See for yourself!

Berries, pureed - half a kilo
Liquid honey – half a kilo

You can make more jam. The main thing is to maintain the ratio – 1:1.

1. If you harvest yourself, you should know that it is best to pick clusters of berries after the first frost. After all, the fruits contain a substance called viburnin. It is he who gives them bitterness. But under the influence of cold it almost completely disappears.

2. Remove the fruits from the tassels. We select, sort out the spoiled ones, and wash them thoroughly. After that, we give the opportunity to drain all the water, or even better, blot the berries with paper towels.

Place the sieve over a large container. We wipe the entire amount of the prepared product through it. You can do this with a masher or a ladle.

3. Measure out how much finished puree we have. For example, if we received half a liter of it, then we need to prepare the same amount of honey.

4. Add sweetness to the puree. If you have it candied, heat it in a water bath, or, as a last resort, in the microwave. Although in the second case it will lose some of its useful qualities.

To reduce losses, heat it in several steps for 10 seconds.

In any of the options, you should not let it overheat. It is only important to obtain a state where it is simply thinner; this is necessary for ease of mixing.

4. Pour honey into the viburnum puree and mix everything thoroughly. It is better to use a blender for this purpose. When the mass becomes as homogeneous as possible, you can pour it into clean, sterilized jars.

Since we did not heat-treat the berries, we should definitely sterilize the jars and lids.

It is better to screw such a workpiece under iron lids. Although, if you store it in the refrigerator or in a cold cellar, you can also use nylon ones. Keep the sealed container in a dark place.

Features of collection

If you do not buy viburnum, but grow it on your own plot, it is important to understand the timing and nuances of harvesting, since the safety of the harvest may depend on this. Next, we will consider how and when to cut it correctly and what external signs indicate its ripeness. Viburnum is a unique plant of its kind; its beneficial properties have practically no analogues.

Viburnum is a unique plant of its kind; its beneficial properties have practically no analogues.

When to collect viburnum

It is difficult to accurately name the ripening dates, since they differ for different regions. In general, already at the end of August - beginning of September, the berries begin to turn red. In mid-latitudes, the collection period begins already at the beginning of October. The onset of small, stable frosts is the main criterion for starting collection. It is with the onset of cold weather that viburnum loses its bitterness and acquires a pleasant taste. Also by this time it is completely enriched with useful substances.

If it is not possible to harvest the crop in frosty conditions, or the autumn in your region turned out to be very warm, the berries can be collected ahead of schedule and placed in the freezer for a couple of days to ripen.

Important! The day of picking berries must be fine and dry, without fog or precipitation, otherwise the harvest will be lost

How to cut correctly

Both fully ripe and slightly unripe berries need to be cut from the bush in a bunch (along with the stalk) using garden shears or pruning shears. The branches will already be dry. At the same time, unripe berries in this form will be able to fully ripen, and ripe ones can be easily separated from the branch by slightly rubbing them in your hand.

Viburnum juice

Ingredients:

viburnum – 1 kg;
sugar – 200 g;
water – 200 g.

Clean berries are poured into a juicer and the juice is separated. The remaining cake is poured with water and boiled for 5-7 minutes. The drink is filtered through cheesecloth or a fine sieve, mixed with juice, and granulated sugar is added. Boil the product for 10 minutes. The juice is poured into jars and sealed with lids. You can add spices and honey to the drink.

How long does kvass made from birch sap last?

Kvass made from birch sap is used to treat colds and for preventive purposes. Storing birch kvass is not difficult if you prepare the product in compliance with all the rules. After preparing and infusing the resulting product, you need to do the following:

Strain the resulting kvass. To do this, gauze is rolled into several layers and the kvass drink is poured through it into a container for storage. If the products are not planned to be stored for a long time, use clean plastic containers. For long-term storage, use glass containers - carboys or bottles.
After spilling the drink, the containers are well sealed and placed in a cool room.
If all rules are followed, birch kvass is stored for 3 to 6 months in a cool place with a constant temperature of at least 0.

Fresh juice can be stored in various ways. But immediately after collection, the natural juice retains its properties for several days. With proper processing - preparing a concentrate or kvass from birch sap - storage is extended and the drink is consumed much longer. From the product that has begun to ferment, you can make cider.

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