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Soaking is an ancient preservation recipe for long-term storage of food. Fruits, vegetables and berries are suitable for the process. You can try to prepare lingonberries for future use at home, using one of the descriptions. This harvesting method will not only allow you to keep all the beneficial properties intact, but also increase them.
The benefits and harms of soaked lingonberries
Pickled lingonberries are good for health. She:
- increases immunity;
- lowers temperature;
- improves metabolism;
- has antioxidant properties;
- relieves inflammation;
- has a bactericidal effect;
- slightly numbing.
Contraindications to the use of berries:
- period of exacerbation of liver diseases;
- heart failure;
- kidney and gallstones;
- gastritis, stomach ulcer;
- hypotension.
Important! The product has a mild laxative and diuretic effect, so you should not overuse soaked berries, fruit drinks and water.
Cooking features
Before choosing a recipe for preparing pickled lingonberries for the winter, it won’t hurt to study a few recommendations:
- Wash and sort the berries you are going to soak well. It is necessary to inspect each berry, since rotten and bruised ones are not suitable for this purpose.
- Do not throw away lingonberry leaves if you have them. If you add them to the berries when soaking, they will become even more beneficial.
- Do not use aluminum cookware for cooking berries: upon contact with the acid contained in the berries, it releases toxic substances. It is better to give preference to enameled stainless steel containers, but you can also use food-grade plastic. Glass jars also work.
- Antonov apples will help highlight the aroma of lingonberries. Cut them into pieces and place soaked lingonberries on top. It will be saturated with their smell and become even more appetizing.
By following these simple tips, you can prepare soaked lingonberries for the winter according to one or more of your favorite recipes.
Useful tips and tricks
Pickled lingonberries, a recipe for which can be easily spoiled by incorrect actions at home, require care.
You can avoid mistakes by reading the recommendations of experienced housewives:
- Berries should be used, collected only at the end of August-September, carefully sorted. Rotten, soft, overripe fruits are not suitable for harvesting.
- A few lingonberry leaves that come across will only add additional vitamins to the soaked product.
- Utensils play an important role during cooking. For heat treatment and drying of products, only an enameled or stainless steel pan is suitable. For storage, it is imperative to sterilize glass jars and lids.
Almost every recipe for pickled lingonberries can be modified at home. So you can add spices and lemon zest to the syrup, and strain it before pouring it into the berry. Also, many chefs add several pieces of Antonov apples to the fruit, which reveal new notes of taste and aroma.
Lingonberries in their own juice
Berries prepared in this way can be stored without problems until the next season. Its pleasant feature is that with each month of storage it only becomes better and tastier.
This method of storing lingonberries for the winter is the most reliable, proven by many generations of lovers of this berry. During the cold season, you can not only prepare compotes, fruit drinks, but also sauces.
To prepare soaked lingonberries, you will need the following ingredients: 5 kg of fresh berries, 2.5 liters of clean water, 500 g of sugar (you can use the same amount of honey instead), salt, cinnamon and cloves.
The cooking process is simple and consists of the following steps:
- Carefully sort and wash the berries.
- Fill three-liter jars with fruit to the brim.
- Pour water into a separate pan and boil.
- Add sugar or honey. If you want, you can add cloves, cinnamon or any other spice at this stage.
- Cook the syrup until all the ingredients in its composition are completely dissolved.
- Then cool the syrup and pour into jars with berries.
- Cover the containers with gauze and place in a dark place at room temperature for two days.
- After this, close the jars with nylon lids and place them in the refrigerator or cellar.
From frozen berries
This option is useful if you run out of pickled lingonberries in the middle of the winter season or this shrub does not grow in the immediate area and you have to buy the berries frozen.
Ingredients:
- frozen fruits – 1.5 kg;
- sugar – 3 tbsp. l.
You can use any recipe for frozen berries described above, you just need to follow the preparation rules.
Detailed description:
- First, you need to remove the lingonberries from the freezer, pour them into a colander, which is placed over a deep plate, and leave overnight at room temperature, covering with gauze to prevent insects.
- In the morning, pour the juice collected during thawing into an enamel pan. Add water there so that the total volume is 2 liters.
- Now you need to boil the contents, add sugar or any chosen composition, and then cool completely.
- You need to pour the syrup over the fruits, which at this point have been transferred to a clean, sterilized jar, and place in a dark place, covering the neck with a piece of parchment.
- After 3 weeks, the container should be stored in the refrigerator.
The finished product is suitable for restoring immunity in winter or as an additional ingredient in hot dishes and cold snacks.
How to soak lingonberries according to a traditional recipe
The traditional recipe for homemade pickled lingonberries looks simple. This doesn't require anything special. Previously, wooden barrels were used instead of cans, but this is no longer necessary.
Ingredients
- 3 kg lingonberries;
- 3 liters of water;
- 300 g sugar;
- 1.5 tsp. salt.
First of all, prepare the jars: wash them, sterilize them, put them in the right order. After that:
- Sort the lingonberries, rinse them if they are frozen and immediately put them into jars.
- Boil the syrup in a saucepan until a smooth liquid forms.
- Pour cold syrup over the berries and leave at room temperature for 7 days.
During cooking, spices are added to the syrup to taste.
Storage rules
It is necessary to store pickled lingonberries in a dark, cool place where the temperature does not rise above 6°C. A refrigerator or cellar is suitable for this. In this case, the neck of the jar must be covered with parchment paper, a plastic or rubber lid. Under such conditions, the taste and quality of the product will remain at a high level for about a year.
If the recipe uses additional preservatives in the form of sugar and salt, then it is possible to enjoy the taste and aroma of the berry for up to 2 years. Fruits harvested in small quantities and will be consumed in a short period of time, it is permissible to leave them in a jar in a dark place at room temperature for up to 2 months. This is due to the fact that without yeast it does not have the ability to ferment.
The main condition for the established deadlines will be complete coverage of the berries with syrup or water. To do this, if you only need juice from the jar, you need to return the same amount of liquid (cooled syrup or boiled water) to the bowl.
Soaked lingonberries without sugar
Sort out fresh ripe lingonberries, rinse in cold water, put in a sieve, dry, put in large jars (at least 3 liters), fill with cold boiled water without sugar. Do not put apples in these lingonberries.
Pickled lingonberries give dishes a pleasant, spicy, sweet and sour taste. It is served as a seasoning for various meat dishes, game dishes and others. You can make a wonderful sauce from soaked lingonberries by adding spices to the berries.
Lingonberry water, obtained by soaking lingonberries, is very tasty and relieves thirst well, but has a slight laxative effect.
Soaked lingonberries with sugar without cooking
It is very easy to prepare the product without heating the ingredients. There is no need to cook and then refrigerate the syrup.
- Pour chilled boiled water over the lingonberries.
- Fill the jars with water at room temperature.
- Pour warm, but not hot water over the berries.
Important! Boiling water is not used. There are recipes with advice to pour hot water over the berries, but then the berry spoils and loses its beneficial substances.
It is not recommended to store this product for a long time as it is considered to spoil quickly. But you should remember that lingonberries do not ferment, and if you sort them carefully, there will be no mold. Just in case, the raw materials are washed in a weak solution of manganese.
Why is the drink dangerous?
Not everyone can drink lingonberry water. It is not recommended to use it during treatment with any medications, as it may conflict with chemicals. Lingonberry significantly lowers blood pressure and is therefore not recommended for use by people with hypotension. Due to the large amount of acid in the berries, the drink is not recommended for people with gastrointestinal problems, especially gastritis. It is also prohibited to give lingonberries to children under 12 months. In addition, berries can provoke an allergic reaction.
Fragrant lingonberries soaked in honey
Add honey to healthy lingonberries, and you will get an indispensable health cocktail for you and your family throughout the winter. Eat this sweetness for dessert, with tea or pancakes instead of jam, and forget what a cold is.
Use soaked berries as a filling for pies and dumplings. This is a great way to pamper your children with a sweet treat that they will devour on both cheeks. You can read a detailed description of this method of soaking lingonberries below.
Ingredients
- 2.5 kg of berries;
- 0.6 liters of honey;
- 5 liters of drinking water;
- cinnamon, cloves.
Preparation:
- Wash the wild berries thoroughly and place them in a glass or ceramic bowl.
- Add honey to the water, place it in a water bath to obtain a homogeneous syrup consistency, without boiling. Add spices.
- Pour syrup over the lingonberries until the water covers the berries by three fingers.
- Place in a cool, dark place and leave for up to 5 days.
- After the specified period, close the lid and place in the refrigerator or cellar for storage.
How to soak lingonberries for the winter to make sauces
To make the sauce, lingonberries are soaked so that the water is concentrated and the berry is not too watery.
- A full container of raw materials is filled with strong syrup or brine. It produces less liquid than lingonberries.
- The mixture is infused for at least two weeks in a dark place.
- Readiness is checked by color; the redder the water, the better.
After the lingonberries have infused sufficiently, they are put in the refrigerator. When some of the berries with juice are taken for cooking, make sure that there is enough liquid left.
Important! Spices are added to the brine or syrup to taste.
For soaked berries in sauces, spices are a necessary component. Their quantity and varieties for the ideal sauce are selected experimentally. Popular varieties include cinnamon, cloves and allspice.
Lingonberries soaked with salt
Ingredients
- lingonberries - 1 kg;
- water - 1 l;
- salt - 20 g;
- sugar - 3 g;
- cloves - 1 pc.
Preparation:
- Wash and dry the lingonberries, pour them into sterilized jars.
- Boil water, add cloves, salt and sugar, cook for a couple of minutes.
- Cool the brine to room temperature and fill the jars with lingonberries to the very top.
- Close the jars tightly with lids and store for a week at a temperature of approximately 10 degrees.
- Then put the jars away for the winter in a cool place (up to 6 degrees).
Lingonberries soaked with salt are great for salads and other snacks.
Lingonberry juice
The simplest thing is if you went to the forest and picked berries. But a purchased one will do.
Ingredients
- lingonberry (berry) – 0.5 kg;
- sugar – 4-5 tbsp. l;
- water – 5 l.
Cooking method
In a large saucepan, bring water to a boil. Mash the berries and place in boiling water. Add sugar, stir until completely dissolved and bring to a boil again. Do not boil.
Remove from heat, cover with a lid. Let cool and brew. When the fruit drink has cooled, strain through a sieve and put it in the refrigerator.
Best served cold.
Cold soaked lingonberries
This method of preparation allows you to preserve all the usefulness of lingonberries and fully reveal their taste.
- Place 2 kg of fresh or frozen berries in jars.
- Cool 2 liters of boiled water in the refrigerator; 1/3 of the total volume can be frozen to ice.
- Add mint leaves and spices to taste to the lingonberries.
- Pour water into a jar and add ice.
- Leave the mixture in the refrigerator for a week to a month.
Water and berries are used for drinks, salads, and as a seasoning for meat.
Spicy preparation
Lingonberries prepared according to this recipe will have a pleasant taste and pronounced aroma. A large number of different spices are used, which makes the product not only tasty, but also more healthy. You need to take cloves, cinnamon, peppercorns, and a pinch of salt. In addition, you will need water and sugar or honey.
Put water on the fire in an enamel pan, add all the ingredients except lingonberries, and boil. Leave to cool. Leave the syrup for 2 hours. Pour the syrup over the berries in the jars. Seal the jars tightly and store them in a cool, dark place.
How to choose?
Lingonberries must be ripe. Externally, such fruits have a crimson-red hue, thick skin and elastic consistency. It is these berries that will contain the maximum amount of quinic, malic and lactic acids.
The ripening period occurs at the end of summer or beginning of autumn. It all depends on the region where the shrubs grow. To prevent the berries from getting crushed, it is best to collect them in a wicker basket. Be sure to remove the stems and leaves. And then rinse the berries under running water and dry on a cloth.
Express recipe for pickled lingonberries for sauces
Ingredients
- Lingonberries – 1 kg;
- water - 900 ml;
- sugar – 1 tbsp. l.;
- salt – 0.5 tsp;
- cloves, cinnamon.
Preparation:
- Boil syrup from water, sugar and spices, cool completely.
- Place the washed berries in glass jars, fill with syrup and leave for 3-4 days at a temperature of 10-15 ° C, then put in the refrigerator.
- Sometimes the bright and healthy berry is used as an additional component in preparations and salads, and here is a classic example - apples soaked with lingonberries.
The nutritional value
The calorie content of lingonberries is low - 46 kcal per 100 g of berries. It contains carbohydrates, citric, salicylic, malic and other organic acids, pectin, carotene, tannins, vitamins A, C, E, glucose, sucrose, fructose (the total share of sugars is 10–15%).
Lingonberries are rich in minerals: potassium, calcium, magnesium, manganese, iron and phosphorus. Due to the high content of benzoic acid, lingonberries are well preserved and have preservative properties.
The leaves of the plant contain tannins, arbutin, hydroquinone, tannin and carboxylic acids, gallic, quinic, tartaric acids and vitamin C, and the seeds contain fatty carboxylic acids: linoleic and linolenic.
Lingonberries soaked with apples
To prepare you will need:
- 1 kg of lingonberries;
- 5 glasses of water;
- 500 g Chinese apples;
- 3 cups granulated sugar.
Preparation:
- Wash the lingonberries and place in a prepared container (alternating with thoroughly washed apples).
- Pour all this over the prepared and completely cooled syrup.
- Then everything is done in the same way as when soaking one lingonberry.
- Instead of Chinese apples, you can take any other apples (Antonov apples are best), which are cut in half before cooking.
- To add flavor, you can use lemon zest or cloves with cinnamon. The syrup is boiled with these spices, then it needs to be strained.
With honey
If you replace granulated sugar with honey, you can simply get a storehouse of vitamins for the winter. But in order not to lose them during cooking, you should exactly repeat all the steps in the description, because the bee product loses its beneficial properties during heat treatment.
Ingredients:
- sorted lingonberries – 1.6 kg;
- drinking water – 2.5 l;
- honey – 0.15 l.
You can enhance the warming and flavoring effect by adding a little cloves and cinnamon.
Cooking process step by step:
- It is necessary to put the berries in a colander, rinse under the tap, allow all the liquid to drain and spread on a kitchen towel, allowing to dry.
- Next, you need to boil the water, after passing it through a filter, and let it cool quite a bit.
- When the liquid reaches 60°C (approximately), honey should be completely dissolved in it.
- Carefully pour all the berries into a sterilized 3-liter jar and fill it with sweet syrup. The water should cover the fruit by about 3 fingers.
- The neck of the container needs to be rewound with a piece of gauze and the contents allowed to brew for 5 days.
- Now you need to close it with a plastic lid and store the product in a cool place (cellar, refrigerator).
The preparation can be served as a healthy dessert with hot tea, the liquid can be strained, and the berries can be used as a filling for dumplings or open pastries. The remaining juice is best consumed to boost immunity during the cold season.
Soaked lingonberries in weight loss diets
Due to the beneficial qualities of this berry, its inclusion in the diet provides ideal conditions for losing excess weight. After all, lingonberries are also a low-calorie berry. The body is saturated with essential substances and vitamins, which significantly reduces the process of converting carbohydrates into fat deposits.
Lingonberries can be used to prepare many delicious dishes and drinks: fruit drinks, jam, preserves, baked goods, meat products and even soups. But if you want to reduce your weight and improve your health, use this berry only fresh or frozen without sugar. Otherwise, you will gain weight.
Lingonberry mono-diet
Only lingonberries and kefir are consumed, other products are excluded from the diet. The duration of the mono-diet cannot exceed 3 days. The ideal day to start a diet is Friday. On the first day you should drink 1.5 liters of kefir and eat 3 cups of berries.
It is better to make a cocktail from kefir and lingonberries, since the acid contained in lingonberries will not irritate the walls of the stomach. It is recommended to drink this cocktail not in 1-2 doses, but in portions 7-8 times. Naturally, on fasting days you should drink water regularly, and overweight people need it even more than thin people.
Benefits of the composition
The berries contain a fairly large amount of acetylsalicylic acid, which is a preservative. Thanks to it, lingonberry products are stored quite well and do not lose their appearance. In addition, this substance can thin the blood and fight the first manifestations of cholesterol plaques on the walls of blood vessels.
Lingonberries are rich in vitamins C, E and A. They are indispensable for colds, as well as for any inflammatory processes. Vitamin C helps fight illnesses and strengthens the immune system, while vitamins A and E act directly on the source of inflammation and regenerate the tissue of the damaged organ.
Lingonberry water
In addition to the lingonberry berries themselves, lingonberry water also has almost the same healing properties. Her recipe is simple and easy to prepare. We take ingredients based on 1 kg of lingonberries.
Method #1 (quick):
- Pour the berries into a bowl, fill with water so that the level is 2-3 cm above the surface of the berries.
- Wash the lingonberries.
- Remove floating debris.
- Rinse again.
- Drain the remaining water through a colander.
- Boil 2 liters of water in a 5 liter enamel container.
- Cool the water to 70 degrees and add the berries. (If desired, you can sweeten the water slightly before adding the berries).
- Cover with a lid and let sit until the water cools.
- Drain the water through a colander into a suitable container, and you can drink it with pleasure. In this case, a certain amount of vitamins and nutrients will be lost, but this deficiency is compensated by the speed of preparation.
Method No. 2 (long):
- The first 6 points - peeling the berries and boiling water - remain unchanged.
- Then cool the water to room temperature.
- In this case, there is no need to add sugar.
- Pour lingonberries into glass jars (up to half the volume in each jar) and fill almost to the top with cold water.
- Cover with plastic lids and store in a cool place.
- Leave for 2-2.5 weeks.
When the color of the water turns deep pink, the lingonberry water is ready to drink. If desired, the berries can be sprinkled with sugar while eating.
Preparing lingonberries before starting the process
The method of soaking came to us from ancient times; our ancestors prepared food for the winter in this way, because they did not have freezers or jars for seaming. Nowadays, many different methods of preserving food have been invented, but they have not abandoned the practice of soaking lingonberries. This way it is preserved much better.
In order for the product to be preserved as expected, it is necessary to carry out a preliminary preparatory process. Its subtleties are as follows:
- Each berry is inspected for rot and bruises; spoiled ones are placed in a separate container; they will not take part in the urination.
- Select ripe but firm fruits.
- Washing thoroughly is a must.
- The water is allowed to drain from the berries; if desired, you can dry them.
Dishes also remain important; the quality of the final product directly depends on it. Under no circumstances should aluminum containers be used - oxidation of the metal will lead to the formation of toxic substances. The product immediately goes from being useful to being harmful. The most acceptable option are wooden barrels or glass jars. Food-grade plastic will perfectly preserve urine throughout the year.
The containers are thoroughly washed with soda and rinsed. It is advisable to sterilize glass jars before starting work.
Pears soaked with lingonberries
Ingredients
- 10 kg of pears;
- 1.5 kg lingonberries.
Filling (per 10 liters of water):
- 10 tsp. curdled milk;
- 2 tbsp. l. salt;
- 1 tbsp. l. dry mustard.
Preparation:
- Place the pears in rows, sprinkle with lingonberries and arrange with blackcurrant leaves.
- Pour in cold wort, cover with a cloth, place a circle and a bend. Store for the first 8-10 days at a temperature of 18-22°C, making sure that the top layer of pears is covered with must and, if necessary, supplement it.
- Then transfer it to a cool place for further fermentation.
- After 1.5 months, the pears will be ready to eat.