Cowberry blanks for the winter without cooking

Lingonberries for the winter without cooking are one of the ways to harvest tasty and healthy berries. The first information about its cultivation dates back to 1745, when Empress Elizaveta Petrovna ordered to plant shrubs to decorate the Tsar’s Garden. But real lingonberry plantations began to be planted in the 60s of the last century. Since then, varieties have been created that are suitable for mechanized harvesting and yield up to 60 kg per hundred square meters, which is 20-30 times higher than the number of berries that can be harvested in natural conditions.

Cowberry blanks for the winter: how to save vitamins

Lingonberries have a specific taste, rich in vitamins, microelements and biologically active substances. Due to the fact that the berry is sweet and sour, with bitterness, it is used in desserts, for making jams, fruit drinks, seasonings and served with meat, mushroom, fish dishes.

Fresh lingonberries can be stored for a long time due to the large amount of benzoic acid contained in the berries. But until the next harvest, they do not lie even in the refrigerator. In addition, not everyone can replenish stocks of lingonberries every year – it grows in regions with a cool climate, in forests, tundra, alpine meadows and peat bogs. Many residents of the southern regions saw the berry only in pictures.

It is better to cook lingonberries for the winter without cooking for the following reasons:

1. This crop is not among the berries (sea buckthorn, red and black currants), which retain many useful substances during heat treatment.
2. Cooking destroys approximately 80% of vitamin C.
3. Nicotinic acid, which even in fresh berries contains little, after prolonged heating remains 4-5 times less.
4. After boiling, the content of carotenoids, as well as B vitamins, is reduced by 2-3 times.
5. Harvesting lingonberries for the winter without cooking retains 95% of vitamins.

How to prepare lingonberries for the winter without cooking

The first and main rule of long-term storage of lingonberries at home is to use only well-ripened high-quality berries harvested in August-September. The biochemical composition and nutritional value remain high not only in wild species, but also in varietal plants that are cultivated in the garden or on industrial plantations. All the differences between cultivated and harvested in the forest or in the swamp fruits are in a different amount of useful substances.

A varietal berry grown under artificial conditions remains medicinal. People who are going to eat lingonberries cooked without cooking for the winter should not forget about this. It is better for sweet tooths to give preference not to wild berries, but to cultural ones, but still do not forget about a sense of proportion.

Before making lingonberries for the winter without boiling, the fruits are sorted out, unripe (they are unsuitable for food), spoiled, soft are discarded. Then washed with cold water.

Banks must be sterilized. If they are going to use wooden containers to store fresh lingonberries for the winter, they are first soaked in cold water, then poured with boiling soda solution, and after 15 minutes they are rinsed several times.

Cowberries prepared for the winter without cooking can deteriorate:

• if low-quality raw materials are used;
• due to non-compliance with the recipe;
• with improper storage;
• if the container (jars, kegs, pans) is poorly or incorrectly processed.

Lingonberries mashed with sugar without boiling

There are two very simple and similar ways to cook lingonberries for the winter without boiling. The same ingredients, their proportions, but the result is different.

They take a well-ripened, evenly colored berry, sort it out and wash it thoroughly. Then they recline on a sieve or colander and let the water drain. For 1 kg of fruit take 500-700 g of sugar.

1 method

The berries are turned through a meat grinder, mixed with sugar, laid out in sterile jars and closed with nylon (leaky) lids. Store in a cool place.

2 method

The fruits are placed in an enamel bowl and crushed with a wooden or ceramic (not metal!) Pestle. Then the crushed berries are thoroughly mixed with sugar, placed in sterilized jars, closed with lids. Put in the refrigerator or other cool place.

How are these methods different? The fact is that lingonberries, twisted in a meat grinder, came into contact with metal. It can be prepared very quickly, unlike the one that has to be crushed with a pestle. After standing for a month, the mass will become like jelly. But a hand-crushed berry retains more vitamins.

Lingonberries sprinkled with sugar for the winter without cooking

Such sweet balls are especially loved by children. Berries can be prepared in two ways – with granulated sugar or powdered sugar. The fruits are carefully sorted, discarding all unripe, spoiled or damaged, then washed, allowed to drain and dried on a kitchen towel.

For 1 kg of lingonberries take 1 kg of granulated sugar or powder, 2 egg whites.

Proteins are mixed with berries and rolled in powdered sugar or sand. The tray is covered with parchment paper, the candied fruits are poured out and allowed to dry. Store in glassware or cardboard boxes.

Lingonberries with honey for the winter without cooking

Cooked without cooking with honey, lingonberries can be stored in the refrigerator or freezer. First, the berries are sorted out, then crushed in a meat grinder, blender, or using a wooden or ceramic pestle.

1. For storage in the refrigerator, 3 parts of berries are mixed with 1 part of honey. Spread in sterile jars and close with nylon lids.
2. To keep the fruits in the freezer, lingonberries and honey (5: 1) are mixed, packed in plastic bags and placed in a chamber. Portions should be made of such a volume that you can eat the product during the day.

Lingonberries with oranges without cooking

The recipe without cooking lingonberries with orange can be called a classic. These fruits go well together. To prepare delicacies, take 1 kg of lingonberries, oranges and sugar.

The berries are sorted and washed. Oranges are rinsed. Cut into slices and take out the bones. The skin does not need to be removed.

Fruit is turned through a meat grinder, combined with sugar. Leave for 2-3 hours in a warm place, stir from time to time. Then the mass is laid out in sterile jars and put in the refrigerator.

Lingonberries for the winter without cooking with water

You can keep lingonberries fresh for the winter by filling them with water. First, ripe berries are carefully sorted out, rejecting all greenish, soft and even slightly damaged ones. Then they wash it, put it in enameled, glass or wooden dishes, fill it with clean water and leave it for 3 days. After this time, the liquid is drained.

The fruits are laid out in glass, and preferably wooden containers, filled with fresh water and corked. In a cool room, the berries will stay fresh all winter due to the presence of benzoic acid in them.

Lingonberries are well preserved if they are simply poured with cold clean water. But in containers you can add:

• liquorice root;
• mint;
• spoiled milk;
• Antonov apples;
• bread crusts;
• chicory.

Blueberries and lingonberries with sugar without cooking

To prepare raw jam, take 500 g of lingonberries, blueberries and sugar. The berries are turned through a meat grinder and combined with sugar. Leave for 2-3 hours, covered with clean gauze. From time to time the mass is stirred. Raw jam is laid out in sterile jars, covered with nylon lids and stored in the refrigerator.

Rules for storing lingonberries harvested without cooking

Of course, it is best to simply freeze lingonberries. But if there are a lot of berries, all of it will not enter the chamber. There are many other foods that can only be kept fresh when frozen.

Preparations from berries with sugar or honey are stored in a refrigerator, cellar or cool basement. They will spoil at room temperature.

Conclusion

Lingonberries for the winter without cooking are a tasty and healthy preparation that can be used not only as a treat, but also as a medicine. The main thing is to use high-quality, fresh, fully ripened berries and store jars in a refrigerator or a room with a low, but not negative temperature.