Harvesting hawthorn for the winter and how to prepare it

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-12 17:37

Only fresh, healthy, fully ripe, but not overripe, undamaged fruits are intended for harvesting for the winter. It is necessary to start processing them as soon as possible after harvesting. Harvesting hawthorn berries for the winter is carried out through various methods of preparation.

Preliminary processing

There are many ways to cook hawthorn for the winter. But it is important to adhere to the harvesting rules, in accordance with which it is important to pre-select and process the berries.

They should be cleaned of hard, green and dry ends, gently but thoroughly, rinsed and dried on a paper towel. Berries, which have a stronger peel, can be prepared whole, the rest should preferably be used in chopped form (puree), in the form of juice or whole in syrup.

The shorter the processing time of the fruit, the more attractive the berries look in blanks, and their delicate peel does not crack. In addition, long-term storage in this case eliminates the loss of taste, texture, color and juice.

Freezing rules

Harvesting hawthorn for the winter has its own rules. There are several cooking methods available. Hawthorn is frozen in a tray covered with foil, or immediately in sachets arranged in thin layers. Even hawthorn frozen at very low temperatures does not lose its medicinal properties, so it can be used to make healthy drinks in winter.

Freezing should be done quickly at the lowest freezer temperatures (below -25 ° C) on a tray covered with foil to prevent the berries from sticking together. After freezing, after 1-2 days, transfer them to tightly closed containers or plastic bags for freezing.

The package must be sealed tightly, the contents must be signed and the date when the product was frozen must be clearly indicated. A temperature not lower than -18 ° C in the freezer is considered the most favorable for storing frozen berries. They should be used within 8-10 months.

Berry juice is harvested for the winter in the form of ice cubes or in small containers with a capacity of no more than 0.5 liters. It has more value than store-bought juice. If there is enough space in the freezer, freeze a mixture of hawthorn compotes and other berries, such as raspberries. The cooking time of frozen berries is 2-3 times shorter than fresh ones.

Sugar-frozen hawthorn berries

Methods for preparing hawthorn for the winter involve harvesting in the form of canned food, as well as freezing.

Frozen fruits often have a surprisingly sour taste, delicate, delicate berries, after thawing, look like mush. That is why it is better to freeze them with sugar.

Sugar helps preserve the flavor, color and shape of the berries after thawing. Sugar protects against loss of vitamin C during thawing for a year.

Before freezing, the berries are sprinkled with finely chopped sugar in an amount of about a glass of sugar per liter of fruit and shaken gently. It is best to freeze them in sugar at a mark lower than the storage temperature, that is, from -32 ° C to -40 ° C, so that all specimens freeze evenly.

Freezing in its own juice

Place the berries in a shallow container, cover with sugar (30 g of sugar per 1 kg of berries) and refrigerate for 2-3 hours to drain the juice. Then, without closing the container, place in the freezer. The next day, seal the container tightly, sign and place in the freezer for storage.

Freeze in syrup for the winter

Berries with a harder skin can be frozen in syrup. The sweet syrup prevents the fruit from decaying after thawing. Dissolve 40 mg of sugar in a liter of boiling water, and then cool. You can add lemon juice to the syrup, which also prevents the fruit from browning.

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Cool fruit syrup is poured onto the berries, laid out on a flat dish, and placed in the refrigerator for 6-8 hours on the coldest shelf, and only then transferred to the freezer. After 1-2 days, the container can be closed and signed.

Sugar Free Frozen Hawthorn Puree

First, wash and dry the berries on a paper towel. Next, the berries must be ground, adding a little lemon juice so that the hawthorn does not darken, and put into small closed containers. They should be frozen in such a container.

Puree made by boiling or manually chopped can be frozen in ice cube trays and then placed in a lockable container (saving space in the freezer).

Frozen puree with sugar

In order for the berries to retain their color and not be sour, it is necessary to grind them, mixing them with sugar (10-20 g of sugar per 1 kg of fruit). The sugar should be completely dissolved. The fruits can be rubbed through a sieve to get rid of the seeds), and put in plastic containers, tightly closed, signed and placed in the freezer.

After freezing, the fruit mass becomes soft, it can be used to prepare filling for pancakes, ice cream, cheese cakes and dairy desserts.

Harvesting hawthorn for the winter - recipes

Preservation can be considered as an affordable way of cooking for people interested in harvesting hawthorns for the winter.

Hawthorn jam

It is necessary to grind the fruits. Berries (0.5 kg) should be poured with a little water (glass) and cooked until soft. After this time, it is necessary to mix them additionally. Then the berry mass is poured into a saucepan, again poured with a glass of water and boiled, adding sugar in portions (only 300-400 g).

When the jam is thick enough, remove it from the heat, refrigerate and put it in jars.

Hawthorn juice

Hawthorn juice should be consumed within 1-2 days from the date of preparation, as it is not suitable for storage. Berry juice can be harvested in late summer and fall. Remove seeds from 1 kg of hawthorn fruit.

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Pour 2 liters of water into a saucepan, add 0.3 kg sugar, sweeten with honey (you can add a little lemon juice) and cook until the sugar dissolves and a homogeneous syrup is formed. Then add the chopped fruit and cook for another 10-15 minutes.

After cooling, you can strain this juice through cheesecloth. Juice can be made even faster by passing the berries through a juicer. You can additionally sweeten it with honey.

Mulled wine with hawthorn

For cooking you will need:

• 1 bottle of red wine (dry);
• a handful of fresh hawthorn fruit without stems;
• 2 cinnamon sticks;
• 2 whole nutmegs;
• Carnation;
• star anise;
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

Preparation:

1. Wash and clean the peduncles of the hawthorn.
2. Pour wine into a saucepan and add cinnamon, star anise, sugar and pre-peeled hawthorn.
3. Cook for about 15 minutes.

Hawthorn ketchup

For cooking you will need:

• about ½ kg of hawthorn fruit;
• 100 g dried tomatoes;
• 150 ml of red wine;
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 1 onion, a clove of garlic;
• 2 tablespoons of sugar;
• a tablespoon of olive oil;
• a teaspoon of mustard and spices (salt, pepper, chili).

Preparation:

1. Place the hawthorn in a saucepan, pouring a little water over it. Cook everything until soft, then rub through a sieve to remove any hard particles.
2. Sauté chopped onions, garlic and chopped dried tomatoes in olive oil.
3. Add hawthorn, spices, vinegar and simmer a little. Then stir, transfer to jars and pasteurize.

Bonus

1. Hawthorn can be harvested for the winter in the form of freezing, as well as canned food: jam, mashed potatoes, juice.
2. Correct selection must precede the start of the harvest. This means that you cannot take overripe berries. In addition, it is important to clear them of debris and remove damaged fruits.
3. If the berries are frozen whole, this will keep their attractive appearance and vitamin content longer.