How to quickly sort out lingonberries from garbage

Going through lingonberries at home is a difficult task. Small berries are mixed with garbage during collection. It is impossible to manually clean a large amount of crop. Ingenuity, household appliances and appliances come to the rescue.

What are the methods of cleaning lingonberries

Small fruits are tedious to collect, and there is no desire at all to clean them before processing. To quickly sort out lingonberries at home, you need to turn on your thinking, come up with a convenient device. Household appliances available at home will help speed up the work. People who often go to the forest for berries know how to quickly clean the harvested crop from debris. The most common of them:

• Inclined plane and vacuum cleaner. The household appliance is switched on in suction mode.
• Wide basin and vacuum cleaner. The household appliance works similarly in suction mode.
• Inclined plane or wide basin plus vacuum cleaner, working for blowing.
• Hand sifting in strong wind.
• Sieving of fine-grained all.
• Application of an inclined rough surface for sticking debris.
• The classic way of washing with water.

Any of the methods helps to quickly clean the lingonberries from debris, eliminates the exhausting procedure – sorting through each berry with your hands.

In most methods, the cleaning principle is based on the fact that fruits are heavier than garbage. Most often, dry leaves, small twigs, cobwebs fall between them. Light debris is sucked up by a vacuum cleaner or blown out with a strong air stream.

The mechanical cleaning method works according to a different system. Debris sticks to a rough surface or falls into the sieve cells. The fruits remain clean on the working surface, ready for further processing.

The video shows an example of a quick cleanup:

How to quickly clean lingonberries with water

To process lingonberries at home, you still have to wash them. The method of cleaning debris with water solves two problems at once. Another advantage of the method is the preservation of the integrity of the berry. If it is sorted out by hand, sieved through a sieve or subjected to any other mechanical stress, part of the crop will certainly be damaged. In the water, the berries will remain intact, and all the garbage will go away.

For washing, take a deep container. It is better to take a bowl or a wide pan. Cold water is poured into the container, the freshly harvested crop is poured, left for about 15 minutes to soak the dirt. After the time has elapsed, light debris will first float to the surface of the water. It must be collected and thrown away. Further actions are aimed at mixing the fruits in the water with your hands. The berries will be washed, the remaining debris will float. As the water becomes contaminated, it is changed. The process continues until the liquid becomes clear. Water is drained through a colander, and the fruits are used for further processing.

How to quickly clean cranberries from debris with a vacuum cleaner

The vacuum cleaner in many ways helps to quickly sort out lingonberries, to separate them from light debris. The cleaning technology involves the following steps:

• A gutter is assembled from a flat, smooth board 30-40 cm wide and two rails for the sides. The length of the structure is arbitrary, preferably more than 1 m.
• On one side of the gutter, a stand is fixed from below to make an imitation of a children’s slide. A bucket is placed under the lower edge of the structure.
• A vacuum cleaner is installed near the slide. Remove the working nozzle from the hose – a brush. Turn on the device.
• From above, small portions of berries are poured along the gutter. They roll down the chute into the bucket, while light debris remains on the board and is drawn in by the vacuum cleaner operating in suction mode.

It is advisable to use a vacuum cleaner for cleaning with a suction force regulator. The appliance is adjusted so that it draws in only light debris without fruits.

It will help to quickly clean lingonberries from debris video:

The method is good in that one person can sort through the berries. It is important to initially securely fasten the chute so that the hands are busy only with a vacuum cleaner and falling asleep new portions. For large-scale crop cultivation, the cleaning method is also suitable, but the design is increased in size. The gutter is made up to 3 m long, more than 50 cm wide. 4 operators need to service such a machine. Two people on both sides of the gutter are standing with vacuum cleaners, one is backfilling from above, and another one is placing buckets from below.

It will be possible to qualitatively sort out lingonberries if it is collected whole. Crushed fruits release juice. It sticks debris to the skin and can only be removed by rinsing in water.

How to sort out lingonberries from garbage with a vacuum cleaner: method number 2

The second way to quickly peel lingonberries is easier, as it does not require the manufacture of an inclined chute. The design has been replaced by an ordinary bowl or any wide container like a basin. Cleaning performance is reduced, but faster than sorting by hand.

Fruits are poured into the container in one layer. The brush is removed from the vacuum cleaner hose, the suction force regulator is wound so that only debris is drawn in, and the berries remain. During cleaning, the contents of the container are periodically mixed by hand. A clean berry is poured into a bucket, and the basin is filled with a new portion of dirty fruits.

How to quickly sort through lingonberries with a fan

The third way to clean lingonberries from debris will require the use of a vacuum cleaner, from which you can connect the hose for blowing. In the absence of such a unit, a hair dryer or a powerful fan will do. You can come up with several cleaning devices: a sieve, an inclined chute, a wide basin.

With a vacuum cleaner or hair dryer, garbage can be blown out of lingonberries, covered in one layer in a basin. If it is rolled down an inclined chute, the appliances can be replaced by a fan. If desired, you can make an improved device. A powerful fan is fixed to the fine-mesh sieve from the bottom side. When turned on, the air flow passes through the cells, blows lingonberries covered with a thin layer, removing light dirt. After cleaning, the berry is poured into a bucket, and the sieve is filled with a new portion.

How to clean lingonberries after a forest by sifting

The simplest cleaning of wild berries can be carried out without any devices. You will need two wide containers and a strong wind. The essence of the method is to sift the fruit. A basin is placed on the ground. It can be replaced with any cover or film. The container with lingonberries is raised to a height of 1,5 m, little by little they begin to pour out. The wind will blow light debris to the side, and heavy berries will fall.

Cleaning lingonberries on a sieve with small cells

Wild berries are contaminated not only with leaves, but also with sand, dust, grains of earth adhering to the skin. Blowing or suction will not remove such heavy dirt. Before using any of the listed cleaning methods, it is advisable to sift the fruits. A fine mesh sieve is used so that the berries do not fall out through the holes. After sifting, all grains of sand will wake up. Fruits with large light debris will remain inside the sieve. For further cleaning, you can turn on the vacuum cleaner, fan or hair dryer. If there is little garbage, it is easier to sort out the berries with your hands.

How to peel lingonberries on a rough surface

The cleaning method requires the manufacture of an inclined chute. It is necessary to do the same procedures as with the method with a vacuum cleaner. The only difference is that the device is not needed. The bottom of the gutter is covered with any rough fabric. Berries are rolled on top in small portions. The dirt will stick to the fabric, and the peeled lingonberries will fall into the bucket. Shake out bedding material as it gets dirty.

Do I need to wash lingonberries after cleaning

The question that a wild berry must be sorted out after picking is beyond doubt. Does it need to be washed? It all depends on how the lingonberries are processed for further storage. If the fruits are temporarily stored in the basement or refrigerator, they go to dry, then you do not need to wash them right away. They will disappear faster from water. If, after cleaning, processing of lingonberries into jam, juice, compote immediately follows, then it is necessary to wash it. The same goes for freezing.

Wild berries in poor environmental conditions are heavily polluted not only with dirt, but also with heavy metals, chemical impurities distributed with fire smoke, bacteria, and fungal spores. Wild animals and birds spread the eggs of parasites, which fall on the fruits with wind or rain. All this must be washed off.

Conclusion

It is sometimes easier to sort out lingonberries at home if you combine several cleaning methods. The choice of method depends on the degree of contamination as well as the type of debris.