Cranberry storage

You can store cranberries at home in several ways, both long-tried and completely new. With proper storage, the northern berry can last for more than one month. This will allow a person to get a full set of vitamins in winter, since the northern beauty has a huge range of useful properties. But they are saved only with proper storage.

Shelf life of cranberries

The shelf life depends on the chosen method of preserving the northern berry. It could be a month or several years. For example, dried cranberries can be stored for up to three years. It is important to properly collect and prepare the berry for storage. If the cranberries have not undergone special processing and have not even been frozen, then in the refrigerator the shelf life is possible for no more than two weeks. If the hostess is not sure that the product is being used during this time, it is better to either freeze it or preserve it in another way. In order to extend the shelf life, it is important to properly prepare the collected material beforehand by selecting strong and ripe berries.

How to prepare cranberries for storage

To prepare cranberries for long-term storage, you must do the following:

1. Sort and separate debris and leaves.
2. Remove spoiled and crushed berries.
3. Remove all unripe specimens, as well as white, green and overripe ones with signs of rot.
4. Wash the berries after picking.
5. Dry on a flat tray until the berries are completely dry.

Only after all the preparation is it necessary to quickly and correctly process or store the northern berry. If the berry is harvested after the first frost, then most often it does not need additional preparation. But you still have to weed out diseased and depressed fruits.

Experienced housewives, when checking for ripeness, proceed as follows: they throw the berry on the floor. If it bounces like a ball, then it is in an ideal state of maturity.

How to store cranberries at home

There are several popular methods for preserving the berry and its vitamins for the winter. This includes freezing, canning, and drying. Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages. To preserve for a long time, you can take not only the harvested berry at maturity, but also slightly frozen. There is an opinion that cranberries after the first frost are much tastier and contain more vitamins. But not all storage methods are suitable for frozen cranberries. The ideal option is to freeze it even more.

dried cranberries

Dried cranberries are successfully used in various dishes, and are also consumed fresh. Drying the northern berry is easy:

1. Sort and wash the berries, getting rid of debris and defective specimens.
2. Preheat oven to 93 ° C.
3. Arrange the berries in a pan.
4. Add sugar syrup and stir.
5. Keep on medium heat for 5 minutes.
6. Mix.
7. Sue within 10 minutes.
8. Crush with a wooden spoon.
9. Arrange the berry on permanent paper. In this case, it is important to ensure that the cranberries all burst.
10. Place in the oven at 65°C for 7 hours.
11. Paper towels should be changed a couple of times during cooking.

After cooking, cranberries must be transferred to a tight cellophane or paper bag and stored in a dark place. Thus, in paper bags, the dried crop can be preserved for up to three years.

Cranberries with sugar

This is one of the oldest delicacies in Our Country. Cooking is not difficult. First of all, it is necessary to properly prepare and sort out the berry so that crushed or diseased material does not get into the workpiece.

Then, large ripe berries are gently washed and dried. After that, lay out in layers in a clean, sterilized jar. It is necessary to spread it like this: a layer of cranberries, a layer of sugar. The jar needs to be tapped periodically so that the cranberries lie more densely. In any case, the last layer in the jar should be sugar.

As a preparation for the winter, you can use another recipe – cranberries, mashed with sugar. To do this, do the following:

1. Take sugar and cranberries in equal proportions.
2. Grind with a blender or with a meat grinder.
3. Pour into jars and cover with parchment.

In this form, cranberries should be put in a cool place. All winter on the table will be fresh vitamins.

There is another way, but in this form the berry is stored for no more than two weeks:

1. Boil sugar syrup.
2. Wash and pierce all berries.
3. Pour the prepared syrup over the cranberries.
4. Put overnight in a cold place.
5. The next morning, remove the fruits from the syrup and roll them in sugar.
6. Keep refrigerated.

The last recipe is very fond of children who are happy to eat this delicacy instead of sweets. But the method is not popular, since it cannot be stored for more than a month – the product deteriorates even in the refrigerator.

cranberries in the fridge

Unprocessed cranberries do not last long in the refrigerator. But if the hostess does not want to freeze or soak it, then you just need to put dry and clean berries in a plastic container. It is important that such a container has holes to allow air to circulate.

In addition, most different types of harvested cranberries, with the exception of canned varieties, can be refrigerated. This applies to both candied and soaked blanks.

You can simply put cranberries in sealed packages on the shelves that are intended for vegetables and fruits, but in any case, such a berry should be used first.

Freezing fresh berries

The main and best way to stock up on useful raw materials for future use is to freeze them in their entirety. The procedure is quite simple, and with proper storage, such a berry does not lose its valuable properties for a long time.

If the raw material is harvested before frost:

1. Sort and rinse so that crushed and diseased berries, as well as too small ones, do not get frozen.
2. Dry on a flat surface without using heat.
3. Spread evenly into bags and let out as much air as possible.
4. Arrange in the freezer in even layers so that the frost evenly affects all servings.

If the cranberries are frozen correctly and have not been thawed, then they will not freeze in one layer in the freezer, and the berries will be separate from each other. If, after removing the cranberry, it froze with one red briquette, it means that either there was water in the package, or the berry was defrosted several times.

So that cranberries do not lose their properties, it is important to freeze them in portions and, having pulled out one package, use it entirely. In this case, it will not constantly defrost and lose its nutritional and vitamin qualities.

If the northern beauty is too ripe, then it is better to freeze it simply on a pallet, without packaging it in cellophane at the initial stage. After freezing, the finished product can be divided into portions in sachets. So she does not choke and freeze qualitatively.

soaking in water

One of the oldest harvesting methods is the soaked product. In order to remove the sourness, the berries are soaked in sugar syrup. Step-by-step instruction:

1. Wash and dry, pre-sort.
2. For 1 kg of cranberries, add a tablespoon of sugar, as well as a pinch of salt and a little spice to the taste of the hostess.
3. Boil water and cool.
4. Put the raw materials in clean sterilized jars to the level of the shoulders.
5. Pour in cooled boiled water.
6. Store either in the basement or in the cellar, if not, in the refrigerator.

And you can also store the berry on the floor on the balcony. The shelf life of such a blank is one year. It should be borne in mind that when soaking, cranberries will slightly change their taste and will not crunch as much as fresh ones, but at the same time all useful properties are preserved, so the method is popular.

Conclusion

Keeping cranberries at home in such a way as to preserve all the useful properties is the dream of every housewife. The northern berry has a huge set of vitamins, including a large amount of vitamin C. This will help strengthen the immune system in winter. But the berry is not preserved fresh, and therefore it is desirable to freeze or dry it. You can also soak, as they did in ancient times. A cellar or basement is a great place to store your crops, but a refrigerator or a balcony is also suitable in an apartment. In this form, you can store useful raw materials for more than one year, but you should first select the best specimens for storage.