Harvesting bracken fern for the winter: drying, freezing

Man has learned to use almost all the gifts of nature for a specific purpose. Many of them are edible, while others have healing properties. But there are those that are used both in cooking and in folk medicine. An excellent example is the bracken fern. When fresh, it has an unusual taste, somewhat reminiscent of a mushroom, and a composition rich in vitamins and trace elements. But like all plants, it is fresh only in a certain period. In this regard, people have learned to harvest bracken for the winter using various methods in order to preserve all the beneficial properties.

Harvesting bracken fern for the winter

In early May, rachis, the so-called fern sprouts, begin to appear from the ground. They are petioles with a snail-shaped top. Their growth is quite fast. Literally in 5-6 days, the sprouts straighten up and leaves begin to appear. The appearance of the first leaves means that this plant becomes unsuitable for harvesting. Therefore, the period from the appearance of sprouts to the first leaves, at about 3-4 stages of growth, is considered the most suitable time for collecting and harvesting bracken fern.

The sprouts that are harvested for the purpose of harvesting for the winter should be no more than 30 cm, while during the collection, the sprout should not be cut near the ground itself, but about 5 cm from it. After harvesting, the rachis are sorted by color and length. Sorted sprouts are collected in bunches, aligning along the top. Then the bundles are tied and cut exactly the ends. Shelf life in bundles after collection should not exceed 10 hours. To preserve all the useful and taste qualities, it is recommended to harvest for the winter no later than 2-3 hours after harvest.

You can prepare bracken fern yourself for the winter by drying, pickling and freezing. The industrial preparation of bracken fern in Our Country is carried out by salting it. This method, when stored in a refrigerator, allows you to save all nutritional qualities for up to 12 months.

How to dry bracken fern

Drying bracken fern is a good way to prepare this product and preserve all the taste for a long time. For this process, fleshy and dense shoots are selected in length – up to 20 cm. They are pre-boiled for about 8 minutes in salted water. The ratio of water to the mass of fern petioles should be at least 4: 1, since bitterness will come out of the sprouts.

After cooking, the shoots are thrown into a colander and doused with cold water. Then they proceed to further preparation. Drying can be done naturally in the fresh air or in an electric dryer.

How to dry outdoors

Drying naturally is a lengthy process, taking 3 to 5 days in normal humidity. And they perform it according to the following algorithm:

1. After heat treatment, the bracken fern is given a little time to cool, as well as to ensure that all the liquid is glass.
2. The cooled rachis are laid out in a thin layer on craft paper, cloth or a stretched fine mesh in a well-ventilated dry place.
3. Petioles that begin to dry out are periodically turned over and slightly kneaded.
4. After complete drying, the dried bracken fern is transferred to fabric bags and hung up in order to normalize the humidity.

Drying in an electric dryer

Drying in an electric dryer is a faster way to harvest. Just as in the case of natural drying, the petioles after cooking are allowed to cool and dry slightly. After they are laid out on a tray of an electric dryer in a uniform layer and sent to dry at a temperature of +50 degrees for 6 hours.

During drying, it is important to monitor the condition of the fern, because it is better not to dry it slightly than to overdry it. It should also be borne in mind that the drying time directly depends on the thickness of the petioles.

At the end of drying, the sprouts are poured into bags of dense fabric and hung to dry in a warm, dry place.

Determination of product readiness

Determining the readiness of the product during drying is simple. Properly dried bracken fern has a characteristic smell of this plant. Its color can be from light brown to dark brown with a green tint. To the touch, its stems are elastic and quite dry. If the stem breaks when pressed, this means that the fern could dry out.

Storage Rules

Depending on the humidity of the room, the methods for storing dried ferns differ. If the room where it is planned to store this product is sufficiently dry and with a humidity not higher than 70%, then this can be done in cloth bags, cardboard boxes or craft paper bags. At higher humidity, it is necessary to place dried rachis in a container that is hermetically sealed, for example, in a glass jar or plastic container.

In dried form, bracken fern can be stored for up to 2 years at stable humidity.

How to pickle bracken fern at home

In addition to drying, you can prepare bracken fern by pickling it. There are many ways to pickle petioles at home for the winter. At the same time, both fresh, only harvested rachis, and salted ones can be used for harvesting.

If you want to prepare fresh petioles of bracken fern by marinating, then they must be pre-boiled in a large amount of salted water for no more than 10 minutes. Before pickling, the salted product must be thoroughly washed and soaked for 5-6 hours in cold water to remove excess salt.

Bracken fern marinated for the winter in jars

When marinating fresh rachis for the winter in jars, they are pre-boiled in a large amount of water, then you can proceed to the harvesting process itself.

Ingredients:

• bracken fern – 1 bunch;
• water – 1 l;
• table vinegar – 1 tsp;
• salt – 2 Art. l .;
• sugar – 1 st. l .;
• peppercorns – to taste;
• ground pepper – to taste;
• bay leaf – 1-2 pcs.

Preparation method:

1. A jar is prepared, it is thoroughly washed and sterilized.
2. The boiled fern is thrown into a colander, washed under cold running water and the excess liquid is allowed to drain.
3. Spread the petioles in a jar and start preparing the marinade.
4. Water is poured into the pan, salt, sugar, pepper, bay leaf are poured into it and vinegar is added.
5. Bring everything to a boil and pour into a jar, roll up the lid.
6. The jar is turned over and wrapped in a towel or blanket. Leave it like this until it cools down completely.

How to pickle bracken fern with garlic

There is also the option of marinating bracken fern with garlic and soy sauce. In this way, an amazing snack is prepared, suitable for consumption without additional manipulations. For cooking you will need:

• fern cuttings – 1 kg;
• soy sauce – 3 st. l .;
• apple cider vinegar – 2 tbsp l .;
• sugar – 2 tsp;
• salt – 0,5 tsp;
• garlic – 1 head;
• vegetable oil – 4 tbsp. l .;
• ground red pepper – 1 tsp.

Pickling method:

1. First, boil fern rachis in salted water for about 8-10 minutes. Then they are transferred to a colander and washed under running water.
2. The garlic is peeled and passed through a garlic press.
3. Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan and pour red ground pepper into it, mix thoroughly.
4. In a deep container, preferably an enameled pan, spread the petioles of bracken fern, pour hot oil with pepper. Then soy sauce, vinegar.
5. Then add sugar and salt. Put in chopped garlic.
6. Everything is thoroughly mixed, covered with a lid and sent to the refrigerator for 3-4 hours.

How to make pickled bracken fern from salted

To pickle salted bracken fern, you can use the recipe with carrots.

Ingredients:

• salted fern – 300 g;
• water – 100 ml;
• onions – 1 pcs.;
• carrots – 200 g;
• sesame oil – 20 ml;
• vinegar 9% – 20 ml;
• sugar – 30

Pickling method:

1. Salted fern is washed and soaked for about 6 hours in cold water, changing it periodically.
2. After soaking, the petioles are transferred to a saucepan and boiled in clean water for about 5 minutes. Then they are thrown into a colander and washed.
3. Boiled sprouts are cut into small pieces.
4. Carrots are peeled, washed and grated for Korean carrots.
5. Onions are also peeled and cut into half rings.
6. Fry the onion in sesame oil until golden brown. Leave to cool and decant excess oil.
7. The fern is combined with fried onions and carrots. Proceed to the marinade.
8. Vinegar and sugar are diluted in 100 ml of water, stirred until completely dissolved.
9. Pour the mixture of ingredients with the marinade, mix, cover with a lid and put under pressure. Put in the refrigerator for 5-6 hours.

Storage Rules

You can store bracken prepared in jars by pickling for up to a year at temperatures below 0. This should be done in a dark place. It is important that the rachis in the jars are completely covered with the marinade.

If we talk about marinade with garlic, then the shelf life is reduced, as is the case with pickling salted fern. After all, these options are considered the preparation of ready-to-eat snacks.

How to freeze bracken fern

In addition to drying and pickling, bracken fern can be prepared by freezing. The freezing process does not differ in complexity from drying, it is performed as follows:

1. Select fern rachis of approximately the same color and size. They are washed and cut into pieces convenient for subsequent preparation.
2. Then the cut petioles are carefully lowered into boiling water.
3. Blanch for about 8 minutes and recline in a colander.
4. Rinse under running water, leave in a colander until completely cooled and excess liquid drains.
5. The cooled fern is transferred to portioned food packages. The packages are closed and sent to the freezer.

Frozen petioles can be stored without loss of quality all winter.

Application rules

Depending on the method of harvesting for storage, bracken fern has its own nuances in preparation for cooking.

The dried product for consumption must first be restored. To do this, the desired amount of dried fern should be poured with boiling water and left for 6-8 hours. After the water is required to drain and rinse the petioles with running water. When washing, it is desirable to remove the twisted leaves, and leave only the stems for cooking. They must be boiled for 8 minutes before cooking and cool. After this procedure, the fern is ready for use.

Pickled bracken fern is considered ready to eat. No manipulation is required. A salty product, in turn, requires additional soaking. This should be done for at least 7 hours. After soaking, the petioles should be boiled for 5-8 minutes, and then eaten.

The prepared product by freezing also requires preliminary preparation. It should be removed from the freezer 2-3 hours before cooking, then boiled for 5 minutes. After rinse and cool. Some recommend not to defrost the frozen fern, but immediately lower it into boiling water. But it is worth noting that when lowering the frozen product, the water temperature will drop and it will take time to boil again. And prolonged cooking can adversely affect the quality of the product.

Conclusion

You can prepare your own bracken fern for the winter in many ways. All of them allow you to save the nutritional quality of this product. It is worth noting that bracken shoots are highly valued for their ability to remove toxins and radionuclides from the body. Therefore, the harvesting of bracken fern in Our Country for 2018 occupies one of the leading positions and has its own strict requirements for obtaining a quality product.