In the summer and autumn, nature presents us with an abundance of berries, fruits and vegetables, and in order to enjoy their taste in the winter, people come up with all sorts of ways to store them.
A lot of vitamins and nutrients contain gooseberry berries, the collection of which begins in late July - early August. Since ancient times, gooseberries have been valued for its benefits and good taste. Therefore, recipes from the gooseberry for the winter - this is quite popular information. Prepare a berry for long-term storage can be in different ways: make jam, close the compote or pickle the fruit. More about the different methods and will go on.
How to choose berries for storage
Gooseberry is different varieties, respectively, its taste may be different. In particular, it depends on the degree of its maturity. Externally, gooseberries can be red, white and green, and on the berries of some varieties, when ripe, specks appear.
The sweetest berries are red, and the most useful - green.
To choose a gooseberry for harvesting for the winter, you need to determine the quality of the berries. They must be mature and not spoiled. To determine the maturity of the gooseberry, you need to touch it. If it is too hard, it means that it is still unripe. Excessive softness may indicate over-ripeness or even staleness. The optimal condition of the berries is not very firm, but elastic and retains its shape.
Important! Gooseberry berries can be used with the stalks, it will not bring any harm to health. Berries stored with stalks preserve useful properties longer.A quality gooseberry must be dry, otherwise the process of decay may begin. Dry gooseberries are stored longer, especially if they are put in a cool, darkened place that is well ventilated.
In the fridge, unprocessed gooseberries can be stored for up to two months. The higher the level of gooseberry maturity, the faster it should be used.
How to freeze gooseberries for the winter
Fans of berries, the taste of which after harvesting will be as close to fresh as possible, probably ask the question, "Is it possible to freeze gooseberries for the winter?" It is possible and even necessary, because frozen gooseberries not only retains its taste, and most importantly, does not lose most of the vitamins.
Important! Gooseberry berries are best frozen in portions - in one container to place a portion for one use.In general, freezing is the fastest way to harvest gooseberries for the winter. It is especially preferred by those who do not like to mess with the preparation of jam.
Another frequently asked question is, “Is it possible to freeze the gooseberries for the winter so that it remains crumbly?”, Since some housewives can only freeze the berries with one clod. This method exists and involves the implementation of several simple manipulations.
In order for the berries to remain crumbly after freezing, they must be washed well and dried thoroughly. Without water, fruits are laid out in one layer on a tray, which is placed in the freezer. After an hour or more (depending on the power of the freezer), the gooseberry must be removed and poured into a bag or storage container.
If it is bad to dry the berries after washing, then they freeze when frozen. It is important to choose only whole berries.
Important! Frozen gooseberries after defrosting must be used, otherwise it will deteriorate. Berry is not subject to repeated freezing.
There is a way to freeze gooseberry with sugar. Berries need to sort, wash and dry. For 1 kg of gooseberry 300 grams of sugar is taken, the ingredients are mixed and placed in portions in containers for freezing and storage.The third way to freeze gooseberries is freezing in sugar syrup. To do this, boil a thick sugar syrup, which is poured dry and clean berries. These blanks are also placed in the freezer.
Important! The gooseberry can initially be frozen in an open container, but for the first two days it must be packed as tightly as possible - this will save the berries from absorbing extraneous odors.
How to dry gooseberries
Gooseberry berries are 85% water, while the berry contains many vitamins and trace elements. When drying, these properties are fully preserved.
For many housewives, gooseberry drying is an unusual method, since it is not very common. Berry contains a lot of moisture, and without special tools to dry it is quite difficult.
Did you know? Long since in the villages the gooseberries were dried using a stove. The process took a little time and was considered a relatively simple variant of the workpiece.Nowadays, electric driers are used for drying gooseberries. With their help, the procurement process is incredibly fast and does not require much time and physical costs. Accelerates the drying process and the use of the oven. You can dry gooseberries in the open air, under the sun, but it will be much longer.
Properties of dried gooseberry berries:
- preserve vitamins and beneficial elements;
- the product is stored for a long time and does not deteriorate;
- dried berries more calories;
- occupy less space, as they significantly lose in volume and mass.
Did you know? Dry berries will be sour, even if you dry the fruits of the sweetest variety.Instructions on how to dry gooseberries:
Select ripe, but not overripe fruits (it is desirable to collect them from the bushes in dry weather). Berries for drying are suitable only whole, with no traces of rotting. Pedicles and sepals are removed from them.- Take a saucepan, pour some water into it, boil it. Put the berries on a metal colander and blanch them in small batches in boiling water for 3-4 minutes. As a result of this procedure, the berries become soft.
- Soft fruits are placed in the dryer. Turn on the device at low power. If instead of drying oven is used, it is necessary to monitor the temperature and periodically open it to water evaporation out.
- For uniform drying of the berries, they should be dried in small portions so that their layer on the surface in the dryer or oven is minimal. After a few hours, the temperature of the dryer or oven should be increased.
Select ripe, but not overripe fruits (it is desirable to collect them from the bushes in dry weather). Berries for drying are suitable only whole, with no traces of rotting. Pedicles and sepals are removed from them.Important! It is possible to raise the temperature inside the oven only after a few hours so that the drying process will proceed correctly. If you initially put the heat, the skin of the fruit quickly dries and the process of evaporation of moisture becomes more complicated.5. The drying process in the electric dryer lasts about 12 hours. 6. Dried gooseberries are laid out on the surface and allowed to cool. After that, they are collected in fabric bags and sent to storage.
Gooseberry: recipes for making jam
Whatever it is but The most popular gooseberry recipes for winter are jam recipes. There are a lot of them and they involve the use of different ingredients, methods of processing berries and so on. The most popular recipes for gooseberry jam are presented below.
Tsar's jam
For royal gooseberry jam the following ingredients are needed:
- gooseberry - 1 kg;
- sugar - 1 kg;
- citric acid - 1 tsp;
- vodka - 50 ml;
- vanilla - 0.5 tsp;
- cherry leaves - 100 g
In the next step, the washed cherry leaves should be folded into a saucepan, pour 5 cups of water and add citric acid. Bring to a boil over medium heat, reduce heat and cook for 5 minutes. Strain the decoction into a container.
In the resulting decoction of cherry leaves, add sugar, put a container of berries on the fire and stir until sugar dissolves. After the syrup boils, vodka is added to it, vanilla and mixed.
Gooseberry berries pour syrup and insist 15 minutes. Berries with syrup should be placed in a saucepan, bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes. Boiling jam pour and sterilized jars and tightly closed.
Gooseberry jam in its own juice
A very simple recipe, while harvested, thus, the gooseberry will have high taste. It can be used for baby food in the season when there is no fresh fruit.
For this jam, you will need ripe gooseberries and granulated sugar. Preparation of berries is performed in a standard way, after which they are placed in jars. Banks with berries should be put in a water bath, and as the fruit begins to produce juice, they will be compacted. Berries need to be added to the jar until the juice level rises to the "hanger" capacity.
For those who love sweets, you can add 1-2 tablespoons of sugar per half liter jar. Then cover the jars with lids and sterilize. After that, the lids are rolled up and the cans are turned upside down, leaving them in this position until they cool down completely.
How to make gooseberry jelly jam
To date, making gooseberry gum jelly is very simple. Convenient and fast to do this with the help of a multicooker.
Berries and sugar are taken in a 1: 1 ratio. The berries are prepared in a standard way, after which they are poured into a multicooker bowl, sugar is added and left for several hours. It remains only to turn on the slow cooker to the extinguishing mode and prepare the jam for an hour.
Hot jam need to grind in a blender and spread on banks. Banks roll and leave to cool. Jelly gooseberry jam is ready.
Gooseberry with orange, preparing emerald jam
To make gooseberry jam with orange, you need 1 kg of berries, 1-2 oranges, 1-1.3 kg of sugar.
Gooseberries are prepared in the usual way. Oranges are peeled and peeled. Then they should be crushed together in a blender or using a meat grinder. Add sugar and stir until sugar dissolves.
In sterilized jars spread out the jam, roll up the jars. Gooseberry jam with orange is ready.
Preparation of the gooseberry ground with sugar
Very useful and vitamin preparation of gooseberries - berries ground with sugar. This is a simple method of conservation, which takes not much time. Such preparation does not need to be boiled and boiled, which saves time and eliminates the need to stand at the stove.
Berries are prepared in the usual way - it is enough to wash them and clean them from the stalks and sepals. After that, you can skip the fruit through a meat grinder and combine with sugar in a 1: 1 ratio. If the gooseberry is too sour, you can take a little more sugar.
The resulting jam should be decomposed into clean, dry jars, after sterilizing them in the oven or steamed. On top of the jam, pour a couple of spoons of sugar into the jars and do not stir them. Capacity covered with plastic covers, and cleaned in the refrigerator. The sugar poured on top forms a hard sugar crust, which will save the jam from the penetration of bacteria and fermentation processes.
How to cook gooseberry compote for the winter
Another way to harvest berries is to prepare gooseberry compote for the winter. There are many ways to accomplish this task: compote with sugar, without sugar, with other fruits and berries, with sterilization and without sterilization.
Gooseberry compote recipe with sugar:
- Prepare gooseberry berries: wash, peel, sepals, sort berries. Pierce the fruit in several places so that the skin does not burst;
- Put the berries in the jars, filling them one third;
- Pour the berries 35-40% sugar syrup, not filling 1.5-2 centimeters to the edges of the jar;
- Cover the jars with lids and sterilize for 10-25 minutes.
If you prepare the compote without sterilization, the gooseberry filled with syrup is infused for 5 minutes, pour the syrup (or water, in the recipe without sugar). This procedure is repeated 2 times, for the third time we pour the berries with hot syrup (water) and roll up the cans with compote.Gooseberry compote in berry juice recipe:
- At 0.5 liter can take the ingredients in the following calculation: gooseberry 300-325 grams, syrup - 175-200 grams;
- Prepare berry juice from raspberries, strawberries, red currants or strawberries;
- Prepare sugar syrup 35-40% consistency on natural berry juice;
- Gooseberry fruits put in jars and pour them with hot juice, not pouring it to the brim;
- Sterilized cans with compote: 0.5 l - 10 minutes, 1l - 15 minutes;
- Roll up cans with compote, check the quality of the roll-in and place inverted bottles for cooling.
How to pickle gooseberries
Gooseberry is good not only for compotes, jams and pastries, it is also used in salad recipes and is a side dish for meat, game, fish. For marinating, you need to choose large, slightly immature fruits. Fill is prepared from the following components:
- Water - 1 l;
- Sugar - 500 g;
- Carnation - 4 stars;
- Acetic essence - 3-4 tablespoons;
- Bay leaf - 1 piece;
- Cinnamon is a small amount per eye.
Pickled Gooseberry Recipe:
- Gooseberries need to sort, wash and clean the stalks and cups, then allow to drain the remaining water in a colander;
- Pierce each berry with a needle or a toothpick so that the skin does not burst. Punctures can be made in three places;
- Put the prepared gooseberries in jars and pour the marinade prepared in advance;
- Banks with berries should be sterilized for 15 minutes;
- Sterilized jars immediately roll up and put in a cool place.
Gooseberry harvest recipes are quite diverse, and each of them is simple in its own way. Some options involve obtaining taste pleasure when consumed, but most of the blanks allow you to maintain the usefulness of the product, which is of great value to human health.
