Unpretentious antiseptic. What are the benefits of lingonberries and how to store them

How to choose berries for storage

Lingonberries are not able to ripen while sitting.
Therefore, only ripe berries are selected for long-term storage. Harvesting should be done when the fruits acquire a rich color. Berries purchased or picked independently are sorted, removing unripe, spoiled, cracked, and crushed ones. Natural debris (sand, leaves, twigs) should also be removed.

For those who harvest on their own, it is better to go for berries in late summer - early autumn. At this time, most of the fruits are already fully ripe and suitable for harvesting.

We should not forget that lingonberry leaves contain no less useful substances than berries. Healing decoctions and infusions are made from them or simply used instead of tea.

What are the benefits of lingonberries?

The beneficial properties of lingonberries have been known since time immemorial. The berry is rich in vitamins, micro- and macroelements, minerals, as well as other beneficial substances.

Fresh fruits, decoctions and infusions are used for many diseases. They will help with diabetes, as they contain a large amount of copper, gout, reducing uric acid, and cystitis. Externally they are useful for sore throat, scabies, ulcers and lichen.

Lingonberries are useful for low acidity, hypertension, fever, by enhancing the effect of antibiotics, to restore strength after a long illness. It also helps remove heavy metal salts from the body. Increases immunity and serves as a prevention of colds.

Antioxidants in berries not only effectively destroy free radicals already present in the body, but also prevent their formation.

Due to their high antioxidant activity, lingonberries have beneficial properties such as cancer prevention and protection against early aging.

One of the most powerful pro-inflammatory compounds in berries, which also has antioxidant activity, is the anthocyanin quercetin. In terms of the amount of this compound, lingonberries are second only to blueberries.

Moreover, of all the berries studied, only lingonberry managed to significantly reduce the level of one of the most dangerous markers of inflammation, monocyte chemoattractant protein 1 (MCP1).

Lingonberries prevent the occurrence and help treat bacterial infections in the gastrointestinal tract, genitourinary system and oral cavity.

The berries and juice are most effective against bacteria of the genera Staphylococcal and Porphyromonas, as well as E.coli.

Lingonberry products have been found to be effective for:

treatment and prevention of inflammatory diseases of the genitourinary system (the beneficial properties for the body of women are especially great);
eliminating inflammatory processes in the oral cavity, preventing gingivitis;
protection against food poisoning, primarily those associated with the transfer of prepared foods, for example, to picnics, or contact with food with unwashed hands.

assistance to patients with rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory joint diseases;
prevention and treatment of diabetes:
decreasing insulin levels and increasing sensitivity to this hormone, decreasing blood sugar levels;
preservation of vision;
strengthening the immune system;
improved digestion, nutrition of beneficial intestinal microflora.

Preparation of berries and their shelf life

Before storing lingonberries, they are peeled from the stalks. This should be done carefully so as not to damage the skin of the fruit.

The sorted and peeled berries are washed under running water and then dried to remove excess moisture on a cotton towel. This will complete the preparation of the berries. They can then be processed or refrigerated for storage.

The shelf life of fresh lingonberries in the refrigerator is from 1 to 4 weeks. Sometimes, under favorable conditions, the berry can last longer. It all depends on the quality of the berries, humidity level and storage temperature.

Before storing lingonberries at home, you should choose the optimal type of preparation for yourself.

Frozen fruits last the longest. In this form, they “survive” well until the next harvest.

Pickled lingonberries will remain usable for 3 to 4 months if kept in the cold.

Various types of preservation, including making jam, require heat treatment. With such harvesting methods, one should not count on the complete preservation of most of the vitamins and organic acids. And there are three of them in this product: lemon, apple, benzoin.

It’s not every year that nature pleases with lingonberries. Therefore, sometimes you have to feast on preparations for more than one year. Fresh berries cannot be preserved even for six months, so you need to prepare the berries differently in order to enjoy vitamin jelly or jam in winter and spring.

Lingonberry leaves

Leaf harvesting can be done twice a season. But this should not be done when the plant is flowering.

The optimal time for collecting leaves is considered to be spring. In this case, you should choose dry, cool weather.

You need to collect only green, intact and unspoiled leaves. And they should be dried in a ventilated, dry place away from sunlight with regular stirring. Leaves should be placed on the fabric in a thin layer.

To speed up the process, you can use an electric dryer.

The optimal storage conditions for lingonberry leaves are a dry, dark, cool place. The workpiece can be kept in paper bags or bags made of dense natural fabric for 2 - 3 years.

As you can see, there are different ways to store lingonberries. Use our tips to ensure that bright, healthy berries delight you with their aroma all year round.

Few people know that lingonberry leaves also have a large amount of useful substances. Very often they are used in medicine and for the manufacture of medicines. The leaves are collected in early spring, in dry weather. Only green leaves without any signs of damage are selected.

It is best to store lingonberry leaves in craft bags to reduce injury to them. The shelf life reaches 3 years.

How to properly fill berries with water

There are several different ways to soak lingonberries. The fruits can be poured with cold water, sugar or honey syrup, as well as diluted lingonberry juice. This is done according to several traditional recipes.

Recipe for lingonberries soaked in cold water

To store berries you need to prepare a special container. These can be glass jars or plastic containers. They need to be washed or sterilized well and dried. After this, the sorted berries need to be placed in containers so that they occupy from a third to half of their volume. Ideally, the amount of water should be twice the amount of fruit.

The water for pouring should be boiled and cooled in advance. The fruits should be filled with chilled water, the temperature of which should be below room temperature. The water level in the container should be a few fingers below the top.

It is advisable to store soaked lingonberries in a dark, cool place. The optimal temperature is +3-5 °C. In villages, such preparations are kept in cellars, and in urban conditions, the berries can be placed in the refrigerator or on the balcony, if the temperature there is appropriate.

It is also useful to read: How to clean lingonberries from debris

Recipe with sugar or honey syrup

Lingonberries can be poured with sugar or honey syrup to give the berries a sweet taste. To prepare it, you need to take 500 grams of sugar or half a liter of liquid honey and 2.5-3 liters of water. Water should be put on fire, honey or sugar should be added to it, boiled and placed well so that the added components dissolve.

After the syrup has cooled, they need to pour over the berries. This is done in the same way as when using clean water.

Recipe with lingonberry juice

During the process of washing and sorting the berries, some of the crumpled fruit always remains. You can squeeze the juice out of them and use it to pour other berries. Typically, a small amount of juice is mixed with water and boiled briefly. If desired, you can add sugar to the water to give it a pleasant taste. The resulting syrup can then be drunk or used to make compotes.

Freezing

A method that does not require much effort. It is considered the most reliable if you want to preserve the fruits themselves and their beneficial properties for as long as possible.

Lingonberries are pre-prepared:

sorting through
washed,
carefully (this is important) dry from excess moisture, avoiding damage to the fruit.

If this is not done, instead of preparing whole berries, you will end up with a frozen, shapeless mass.

Freezing occurs on a tray or baking sheet of a suitable size. The berries, laid out in one layer, are placed in the freezer for several hours. After freezing, the lingonberries are poured into bags (containers) in small portions and sent back to the freezer for permanent storage.

How to quickly sort through the harvest

Having harvested a large harvest, it is worth asking the question: how to clean the fruits from so much debris? In this case, there are several effective ways to clean raw materials. Which one to choose depends on the degree and type of contamination of the harvested crop.

To clean the harvested crop from debris, it is necessary to make an inclined chute. Cover the bottom of the device with a rough cloth, and roll the berries down the gutter in small portions. During the cleaning process, debris will remain on the surface of the fabric, and the fruit will begin to roll into the basin.

This cleaning method is suitable in windy weather. A wide basin needs to be placed on the ground, a small container with the harvested crop should be raised up one and a half meters. Start pouring out the fruits in small portions. The wind will blow away the debris, and the clean berries will fall into the prepared container.

Using a vacuum cleaner

Dry berries can be quickly removed from debris using a vacuum cleaner. Place a small amount of fruit in a sieve and direct air flow from below. To do this, the vacuum cleaner hose is connected to the blower.

When picking lingonberries in the forest, not only twigs and small leaves, but also sand and soil particles end up in the container with the berries. You can get rid of such pollution using a wide mesh. It needs to be installed at an angle, a film should be spread underneath or a large container should be placed and the fruits should be slowly poured out.

The collected berries must be prepared for storage so that the work is not in vain. To achieve this, a number of activities are carried out related to:

cleaning fruits from dirt and dust;
rejection of rotten, spoiled specimens;
rinsing under running water.

It is necessary to carry out procedures. After all, lingonberries are not always collected in environmentally friendly places.

Washing with water

A large number of collected fruits are difficult to clean from dust. It is recommended to use a large sieve into which the berries are placed and water is poured on top. The dirty liquid drains off, leaving clean fruit on the surface.

You can place lingonberries in a bath and fill them with water, then drain them. But with this method, part of the harvest is lost along with the liquid.

It is better to rinse with boiled water, cooled to room temperature.

Cleaning

Cleaning of debris, leaves and twigs occurs in different ways:

Sift the lingonberries in the wind, pouring them from one container to another. At the same time, the container with the harvest is raised to a height of 1-1.5 meters.
Use a fan or vacuum cleaner to blow out debris. In this case, the berries are scattered on an inclined surface.
The long gutter is installed obliquely. The berries are rolled over it, and the vacuum cleaner sucks in light debris. The clean harvest rolls into a basin where the end of the gutter rests.

We suggest you familiarize yourself with How to preserve horseradish in winter at home.
Choose a cleaning method depending on the amount of harvest. A small number of berries can be peeled by hand.

Collecting forest fruits is not difficult. Sometimes it's harder to save them. There are many ways to do this. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages. It is better to store the berries fresh, but you can freeze them, preserve them with sugar, or in their own juice.

If the lingonberry harvest is small, then it can be stored in the apartment. Before it has time to spoil, it will be eaten. When fresh, the fruits do not remain ready for consumption for long, for 2-3 months.

It is better to place the berries in a glass jar or paper bag at home. A room with a temperature within 15 degrees is suitable for harvesting. Without freezing, lingonberries are used to make fruit drinks and compote.

In a private house, you can use utility rooms for storage; in apartments, places where it is cool and low humidity.

Cellar conditions are most suitable for preserving the harvest. The temperature in it is 2 degrees. With it, the rotting processes are suspended, and the lingonberries will remain in excellent condition for a long time.

Frozen lingonberries are useful to enjoy, as they retain their beneficial properties. To prepare, scatter the berries on a baking sheet and place in the freezer. After a week, you can place the fruits in plastic bags and leave them on the freezer shelf.

If lingonberries can be preserved in the chamber for a long time, then in the refrigerator - 1-2 months.

Where and how are crops most often stored?

Unripe lingonberries contain a lot of acid and are bitter. As ripeness increases, taste defects decrease, and the berry is quite suitable for fresh consumption. In order for it to ripen, you need to know what fruits to take from the bushes. The whitish fruits of the plant are always collected, hoping that they will ripen at home. But more often than not they don’t wait for this. Only the fruits that begin to turn pink become red after 4-5 days.

It is better to place the berries in a glass jar or paper bag at home. A room with a temperature within 15 degrees is suitable for harvesting. Without freezing, lingonberries are used to make fruit drinks and compote.

In a private house, you can use utility rooms for storage; in apartments, places where it is cool and low humidity.

If lingonberries can be preserved in the chamber for a long time, then in the refrigerator - 1-2 months.

Long-term collection of lingonberries has allowed us to develop various storage methods:

freezing;
drying;
soaking;
fruit canning;
making jam;
boiling syrup.

Each of these methods allows you to preserve the product for a long time.

Freshly harvested crops contain many useful substances, so it is important to preserve them for a long time.

To do this, it is recommended to use the following advice:

Sort and rinse the fruits;
pour lingonberries into a glass jar;
pour cooled boiled water;
leave the water for 3 days, then add new water;
place the dishes with berries in a dark place away from heating appliances.

This method allows you to preserve the beneficial qualities of berries for a long time.

Canning lingonberries is a popular storage option that allows the crop to not lose its taste for several years. The fruits are poured into syrup, and delicious jam and preserves are made from them.

Canning lingonberries is a popular storage option.
After cooking, the product is placed in glass jars and covered with lids.

Soaked lingonberries

Due to the presence of benzoic acid, freshly harvested crops do not spoil for a long time, so they do not need to be exposed to heat.

There are two ways to preserve pickled lingonberries:

The harvest is sorted and then washed with cold water. Pour into glass jars and fill with sugar syrup. Store in a cool, dark place.
Wash the berries and pour them into a large container, filling only halfway. To make the fruits yield juice faster, a weight is placed on top of them. After this, the lingonberries are covered with sugar, taking 400 g per 1 kg of fruit. The container is filled completely with water and placed in a cool place.

The berries are thoroughly washed and placed in a large container, filling to the middle. The fruits are lightly crushed with a spoon and left for a short time until the juice appears. Then add more lingonberries, repeating the steps until the jar is full.

The main condition is that the last layer should be the berries. Then the dish is covered with a lid. When the berries are completely covered with juice, the container is taken to a cool room.

The harvest is placed on a parchment-lined baking sheet and placed in the oven for several hours, setting the temperature to 60° C. The oven door is not closed tightly so that the berries do not burn.

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The fruits are stirred occasionally, allowing them to dry evenly. When the juice stops oozing from the berries, take out the baking tray and leave them at room temperature without pouring them over so that the harvest is completely dry.

When using a dryer, the berries are laid in a thin layer. The temperature is set according to the instructions for the device. Periodically it is necessary to change the positions of the baking sheets with berries, since the bottom layer dries much faster.

For long-term storage of dried product, hermetically sealed glass containers are used.

Whether lingonberries will fully retain their healing qualities also depends on the storage location.

For long-term storage of dried product, hermetically sealed glass containers are used.

In the basement

A cold cellar (basement) is considered an ideal option for storing workpieces, where they will remain usable for a long time. It can be stored in wooden boxes, boxes, glass containers.

In a refrigerator

Freshly harvested crops can be stored in the refrigerator for 14 days without worrying about them spoiling. The berries are washed to remove dirt, then they need to be dried and placed in food containers. Apply as needed.

Freezing

The berries are sorted, leaving whole, ripe fruits. Then they are washed with running water and left to dry.

Place dry berries in portioned food containers. Slightly moist fruits can be frozen in small portions - they are laid out in a thin layer on a tray and sent to the freezer.

When the berries are frozen, pour the product into a plastic bag and tie it tightly. Thus, you need to freeze all the fruits and put them in the freezer for storage.

Harvested lingonberries can be preserved at home for several months. To do this, containers with berries are placed in a dark place. This will allow them not to lose their taste and healing properties until winter.

Soaked lingonberries

Storing lingonberries in winter at home is possible in soaked form. To do this, the prepared berries are poured with water or sugar syrup.

Fruits drenched in cold water remain fresh for 2–3 months in a cool room.

The storage temperature of soaked lingonberries (in water, syrup, own juice) should not exceed 3°C - 5°C. A container of berries can be kept on a refrigerator shelf or on a glassed-in balcony if the action takes place in winter.

How to store fresh lingonberries correctly

Lingonberry fruits contain acids that have antiseptic properties. They allow you to keep the berries fresh for a long time.

Without heat treatment that is destructive to vitamins, fresh lingonberries can be stored for months even at room temperature.

Before storing lingonberries for the winter without refrigeration, you need to select ripe, but not overripe berries without damage, and wash them.

Then transfer the berries to a jar, fill them with cool boiled water, and put them in a cool place.

Let it sit for 3 days. Then drain the water, add fresh water, and close the container with a lid.

If you choose beautiful glass jars, you can place them right in the kitchen. The contents look so appetizing that they will become an organic addition to the interior.

Only collected or purchased lingonberries in their natural state, without filling, are well preserved in the refrigerator. Select ripe whole berries, wash them and dry them. Place in a deep container, such as a cardboard box or plastic container with a lid. Place in the refrigerator on the vegetable rack. There they can be stored for 2-3 months.

To keep fresh berries longer without pouring them at room temperature, prepare several sheets of paper. Place a layer of prepared lingonberries on the first sheet, transfer to a cardboard container, then the next layer on a sheet of paper, etc. This way the berries can “last” for about a month. But you need to keep an eye on them: if you see a fruit that is ready to spoil, get rid of it immediately.

When to pick berries

Red lingonberries begin to appear on low-growing bushes in August - September. But even in October you can find clearings with ripe berries in the forest. It is necessary to collect forest fruits that are red or deep pink in color. The brown berries are already overripe and tasteless. It is not recommended to collect lingonberries after the onset of frost. The value of the berry is reduced, and it will no longer be possible to store it whole.

Sometimes they pull out all the berries, still whitish and unripe, in order to have time to prepare them. But in this case, you will have to work hard to bring the harvest to maturity.

When lingonberries ripen

Ripe lingonberries have a sour, tart taste with a slight bitterness. It's actually a very tasty berry. The harvest of lingonberries begins in the first half of autumn, or to be more precise, from mid-September until November inclusive, until the first frost. Connoisseurs of wild berries advise picking lingonberries in October, by which time they become the most delicious and fully ripe in terms of vitamins and minerals.

In Russia, lingonberries grow almost everywhere, except in those places where snow lies all year round. It can grow in the mountains, on plains, and in peat bogs. But he prefers pine and spruce forests with moist soil, he loves the taiga...

Lingonberries should be collected away from roads, preferably in environmentally friendly areas (forest, taiga), since the berries tend to absorb radionuclides. Fresh, and more often soaked, lingonberries are sold at bazaars, and in stores they are on the shelves almost all year round. But if you want to make your own supplies for the winter, then it makes sense to buy it in October/November, when it is the healthiest and freshest.

How to keep berries fresh

Preservation of vitamins and other beneficial properties of the berry depends on the place and method of storage. Filtered water with or without sugar will help keep the fruits fresh. That is, it is worth making the lingonberries soaked. With this storage, the berries will not lose their vitamins and taste.

If the berry is not ripe, it is not recommended to eat it. Fruits picked too early have a bitter taste. Unripe lingonberries are poured onto a sheet covered with parchment paper and taken out to the balcony. After just a few days, the berries ripen.

Storage containers

When choosing a container for storage, it is better to give preference to a wooden container or a wicker basket. Glass containers and paper bags are also relevant.

Due to the large amount of antioxidants, lingonberries have good shelf life and are resistant to rotting. For example, berries in a wicker basket can be stored for two months in a cold room.

The shelf life of the product depends on the preparation method and storage location of the berries.

Lingonberries can be stored in their own juice for up to seven months.
Frozen fruits are stored for a year.
The berries will not be able to stay in the room for more than ten days.
Pickled lingonberries can be stored in the refrigerator for twelve months.

When fresh, lingonberries retain all the beneficial chemical elements they contain. You can buy frozen berries at the supermarket, but what's better than homemade treats? The whole soul of the housewife is invested in such a berry and undoubtedly it will be given to any member of the household who decides to try the treat.

Soaked lingonberries

The main and main method of preparing fresh lingonberries for the winter is soaking. In this form, the berries can be used to prepare sauces for various dishes, for filling in baked goods, and simply eaten as is. Moreover, with each day of storage, pickled lingonberries only increase their benefits and improve their taste.

You will need to sort out 5 kg of lingonberry harvest from visible impurities, dented and crushed berries. Rinse the fruits, then hold the lingonberries on paper or cotton fabric to remove excess moisture.
Pour the processed berries into glass containers to the very top.
Prepare syrup. To do this, take 0.5 kg of sugar or honey per 3 liters of water. Bring water to a boil, combine with sweets.
Boil water until sugar and honey are completely dissolved.
Fans of a variety of spices can add cinnamon and cloves to taste. A pinch of salt will not interfere with future preparation.
Cool the syrup and pour over the berries up to the neck of the jar.
Cover with a transparent cloth or paper. We leave it like this for two days.
Then we seal it with plastic lids and put it in the cellar or basement for long-term storage.

You can soak lingonberries in cold water without using sweet syrup. Storage in water in a dark and cool room is the main condition for preserving the benefits of lingonberries.

Rubbed with sugar

Another equally simple recipe for storing lingonberry harvest for the winter without refrigeration is to grind the fruits with sugar. It’s easy to preserve lingonberries with sugar for the winter, follow these steps:

Take berries and sugar in a ratio of 1 to 1. For example, for 1 kg of lingonberries you will need 1 kg of sugar. Calculate based on your harvest amount.
Sort the berries to remove dirt, rinse and place in a colander to drain excess water.
You can crush the berries yourself using a wooden spoon or pass them through a blender or meat grinder.
Mix the berry pulp with sugar and stir thoroughly.
Pour boiling water over the jars in advance or sterilize them, destroying pathogenic bacteria.
Using a clean spoon, place the pureed berries into a container, seal, and store.

In this form, the crop can be stored in any cool place. Even if you only have a few jars, you can keep them in the refrigerator. The shelf life can extend until the new harvest.

Dried berries

The dried fruits of the plant are no less useful. The harvested crop is stored together with any leaves, as their value is also described. The berries are scattered on large baking sheets lined with paper and placed in a ventilated room (attic, loggia). While the lingonberries are drying, you need to stir them and discard moldy berries.

The main condition for storing dried lingonberries is the absence of sunlight and air access. Such a preparation, subject to all storage rules, can last up to three years.

You can store autumn berries without sugar in the refrigerator. What you need:

Sort, wash and dry the berries.
Pack into small plastic containers. Choose a small volume of dishes to fit compactly in the freezer.
For freezing, plastic bags with a zipper are suitable, which can be bought at any hardware store.
Set the storage temperature according to the instructions included with the freezer.

When frozen, the berry can be stored for up to 1 year, but without re-freezing. It is better to use the entire portion of lingonberries once.

Save the berries for the winter

It will not be possible to preserve fresh lingonberries until spring, but there are many ways in which you can enjoy this berry until the next harvest.

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Among winter supplies, jars of lingonberries stand out for their elegance. Soaked, canned or simply ground with sugar, lingonberries are guaranteed to last until the next hunting season. Every day it will become tastier and tastier - this is another of its pleasant features.

Soaked lingonberries

A simple way to preserve lingonberries for the winter without refrigeration, proven over centuries, will allow you to prepare a spicy and healthy lingonberry side dish at any time and pamper your household with savory pastries with delicious filling.

Make compotes, jelly, fruit drinks from soaked lingonberries, or simply refresh yourself with a bright red, divinely fragrant drink infused with wild berries.

You will need:

5 kg lingonberries
2.5-2.8 liters of water
500 g sugar (or half a kilo of honey)
a pinch of cinnamon or a couple of cloves (optional)
salt (on the edge of a knife).

How to do:

Sort through the berries, place in a colander, and rinse.
Transfer the fruits into three-liter jars (up to the shoulders).
Next, bring the water to a boil, add sugar or honey, flavor it with cinnamon and cloves if desired.
Cook until sugar or honey is completely dissolved in water. Let cool.
Pour syrup over berries.
Cover the necks of the jars with gauze and leave them in the room for a couple of days.
We close the jars with nylon lids and place them in a cool place - pickled lingonberries should ideally be stored in the cellar, but a refrigerator shelf will do just fine.

Preserve in syrup

Lingonberries can be preserved like pear slices in syrup. Make a simple (sugar and water) and fruit filling.

5 kilos of lingonberries;
2 liters of water;
1.5-1.8 kg of sugar;
a glass of lemon juice.

Process step by step:

Boil water, add sugar to it.
Stir. Boil until the sugar crystals dissolve, add lemon juice.
Strain and cool.
Fill the jars with lingonberries and pour in the syrup.
Cover the necks with parchment paper, tie them, and place them in a cool place.

Instead of water, you can use fruit syrup, which is prepared as follows: squeeze the juice from lingonberries, add sugar (1:1) and boil.

With sugar without heat treatment

One of the best options for preserving vitamins is to simply grind lingonberries with sugar and store the preparation in the refrigerator.

This vitamin delicacy in its pure form will appeal, of course, only to those with a desperate sweet tooth - too much sugar.

But it cannot be reduced: the fermentation process can occur even in the refrigerator.

But as a filling for pies, everyone will like this sweet preparation.

You will need:

2 kg lingonberries;
2 kg sugar.

How to cook:

Sort through the berries, place them in a colander, and rinse.
After the water has drained, add sugar to the berries in a bowl.
Mix thoroughly, with force, without fear of crushing.
Dip a tablespoon into boiling water and place the fruit-sugar mixture into jars.
Close the lids and place in the refrigerator.

Where to store lingonberry fruits at home

There are many ways to store lingonberries at home during the winter. Another thing is that not all of these methods are useful. Some are downright harmful. These are a variety of jams, complots, grinding with sugar, etc. That is, all those preservation methods that turn the healing berry into an ordinary dessert.

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Therefore, if we start to find out what can be prepared from lingonberries for the winter in such a way as to preserve their beneficial properties as much as possible, we will see that there are not so many storage methods.

In fact, there are only 4 of them: freezing, drying, soaking and preserving in its own juice.

How to freeze?

Lingonberries are frozen in the same way as other berries.
Wash, dry and lay out in one layer on a tray.
Put it in the freezer.
When the berries become hard, transfer them to a bag or container. Then the next portions of berries are added to it.

Frozen lingonberries are added to yoghurts, cottage cheese, smoothies, etc.

Another popular and quite useful method of preserving berries for the winter is storing them in their own juice without sugar. Please note - it is in “its own juice”, and not in syrup. If you roll it in syrup, it will be a dessert, not a healthy fruit.

There are two similar methods for preparing lingonberry juice without sugar: dry and with the addition of water.

Lingonberries in their own juice in water

In fact, this is a recipe not so much for preserving the berry itself, but for preparing delicious healing water based on it.

For 1 kg of berries, take 2.5-3 liters of boiled cool water.
Place clean sorted berries in a jar so that they occupy about a third, maximum half.
Fill them with water and cover the jar with gauze or parchment.
Place in the refrigerator for a week.
Consume lingonberry water by pouring it little by little from the jar. Pour into the jar the same amount of clean water as you poured.
Gradually the berries in the jars are depleted. And the water will no longer be lingonberry. However, they will be enough for a while.

By the way, you can add various spices to the water with which you pour the berries. For example, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, cloves. This will not only make the lingonberry water more aromatic, but will also additionally protect the product from contamination by pathogens.

How to soak lingonberries using a cold dry method?

Place clean berries in a large glass jar so that they occupy about 10 cm.
Crush them with a pestle. They have to give up their juice.
Add another 10 cm of berries on top and crush them again.
Continue layer by layer until the jar is full.
Cover with gauze or parchment and put in the refrigerator.

For better preservation, you can sprinkle a little granulated sugar on top of the last layer of berries. But there should not be much sugar at all. It should create a protective film, but not change the properties of the product.

Despite the fact that lingonberries in their own juice without sugar are considered the most correct way to preserve berries for the winter, this is not entirely true. The fact is that the amount of antioxidant quercetin in such a berry is reduced by 85%. In frozen lingonberries, much more of this one of the most useful components remains.

Not the healthiest recipe for preparing berries. However, if you don’t add a lot of sugar, and that’s exactly what you should do, then this method has a right to exist as a healthy diet.

Ingredients:

1 kg of lingonberries;
2 tbsp. spoons of granulated sugar;
0.5 teaspoons salt;
spices to taste (cinnamon stick, a few peas of allspice and clove buds, 2-3 cm of fresh ginger root - one or all together, as desired).

Wash the berries, sort them and put them in a glass jar.

Prepare a “brine” for urination using 1 liter of water, salt, sugar and spices. Cool and pour it over the berries in the jar.

Cover the jar with gauze or parchment paper and put it in the refrigerator.

Please note - for 1 liter of water and 1 kg of berries you should not take more than 2 tbsp. spoons of sugar. Some recipes call for up to 1 cup of this ingredient. Such a gigantic amount of sugar completely eliminates all the beneficial properties of lingonberries. To preserve the product, you don’t need so much sugar, since soaked lingonberries do not spoil if stored carefully.

Another way to properly preserve berries. And the answer to the question of how to preserve lingonberries for the winter without a refrigerator.

You can dry it using a special kitchen gadget for drying vegetables and fruits. But if you don’t have such a device, you can use a regular oven.

Place clean and dry berries in one layer on a baking sheet lined with baking paper.
Place the baking sheet in the oven preheated to 60 degrees.
Keep a close eye on the berries. Once they are wilted but still retain some moisture, remove the pan from the oven.
Transfer the berries to another surface. Also arrange them in one layer. And let it air dry completely.

You can store dried lingonberries either in a glass jar or in a fabric bag. Preferably in a dark, cool place.

A wide variety of dishes and drinks are prepared from lingonberries. It is added to salads, used as a filling for baked goods and in the preparation of sauces, jams, seasonings, compotes, desserts, as well as in aromatic homemade liqueurs.

Store this preparation in a cool, dark place. In addition to the universal use of berries (adding to baked goods, compotes, various desserts), they also preserve most of the nutrients. For 1 liter of clean, cold water, take 1 kilogram of fruit, 600 grams of sugar and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.

Thanks to sugar, which does not allow it to spoil prematurely, such a simple, but tasty and vitamin-rich preparation has a long shelf life. It will take 1.5 kilograms of berries, 1.5 kilograms of sugar. You can grind the fruits through a sieve, use a blender, food processor or masher to puree.

A fragrant, sweet and sour sauce based on lingonberries will be ideal for various meat dishes. It goes especially well with steak, shish kebab, kebab and other fried delicacies.

Ingredients:

lingonberries – 250 grams;
sugar – 3 tablespoons;
cinnamon – 1/2 teaspoon;
ginger root – a small piece (2-3 cm);
red wine (can be replaced with water) – 50 milliliters;
black and allspice - 1/4 teaspoon each;
anise and star anise - to taste.

Cooking technology:

The lingonberries are washed, sorted and poured into a pan. Then press lightly and add sugar, grated ginger root, cinnamon powder, pepper and star anise with anise.
Cover with a lid and let stand for 20-30 minutes. For quick cooking, you can do without this, but then the sauce will lose a little of its flavor.
Then the workpiece is poured with wine or water. An alternative is to use both ingredients together.
Place the pan on the stove, let it boil and cook for 5 minutes over low heat.

Crushed lingonberries

This vitamin preparation can be stored in a dark, cool place for 2-3 years (a cellar or home refrigerator is suitable). You can make fruit drinks, compotes, sauces from it, and use it as a filling for baked goods.

Afterwards, the berries are poured into a saucepan with high sides and mashed with a potato masher. Then the jars are filled with pulp and filled with juice to the top, and then covered with several layers of gauze and screwed on with a lid with holes.

Jam

A nutritious, vitamin-rich and tasty way to prepare for the winter. To do this, take 1.5 kilograms of berries, 250 milliliters of water (1 glass) and 1 kilogram of sugar. Cooking time is 50-60 minutes.

Lingonberry juice

An aromatic, tasty, healthy and refreshing drink is easy to prepare from lingonberry fruits. You will need 200 grams of berries, 2-3 tablespoons of sugar (heaped) and 2 liters of water.

Cook for several minutes and turn off. Fruit juice can be consumed either fresh or left until winter, rolled into jars.

Jam

To prepare lingonberry jam you will need 1.3 kilograms of fruit, 900 grams of sugar and 200 milliliters of water.

A tasty and versatile option would be to boil syrup, which can be used as a filling for baked goods, ice cream, decorating various dishes, as well as for various drinks. Take 600 grams of sugar, 1 kilogram of lingonberries and 1 liter of water.

This delicacy will be a beautiful independent dessert at any holiday. Take 4 cups of berries, 2 cups of sugar and 1.5 water, as well as 25 grams of instant gelatin. The purpose of the preparation is both canning for the winter and consuming the jelly fresh, after hardening.

An interesting preparation option, especially for connoisseurs of homemade liqueurs and liqueurs, would be lingonberry liqueur. It has a rich, red color, a pleasant aroma and a mild, sweet and sour taste. To make it, you need the following ingredients:

vodka 40% (cognac can be used) – 0.5 liters;
lingonberry fruits – 150 grams;
sugar – 150 grams (but it is better to use liquid, aromatic honey – 100 milliliters);
clean water – 100 milliliters;
cinnamon – 1 stick.

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This is, without exaggeration, a delicious and healthy delicacy that can be used as a dessert, filling and decoration for baked goods, ice cream, or simply spread on bread. To do this, you need to take 200 grams of lingonberries, 300 grams of sugar and 3 tablespoons of water, and then process it all.

Compote

This vitamin compote with an original taste and aroma will not only quench your thirst, but also warm you up in the harsh winter. You need to take 0.5 kilograms of lingonberry fruits, 1.5 liters of water, 200 grams of sugar, 2 tablespoons of honey, 1 lemon, 10 clove buds and a few cinnamon sticks. At the beginning of cooking, add water to the berries and cook for 20 minutes.

Paste

In its own juice

The berries are washed, sorted, and placed in clean 700 gram jars, about 2/3 full. Add two stacks of sugar and, closing with a nylon lid, place on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator. After three days, each jar needs to be shaken a little, which will allow the released juice to be distributed evenly, and the undissolved sugar to settle and further dissolve. Lingonberries are stored in this way for a long time, the taste is fresh and pleasant, and the aroma is simply beyond words! At the same time, such storage preserves the beneficial properties of the berry as much as possible.

Pure lingonberries (3 kg) are placed in liter jars and 180 grams of sugar and half a spoon of salt are placed in each jar. You can add cinnamon or cloves for flavor. Each jar is filled with water, without adding a few centimeters, and sterilized in an oven or water bath for about five minutes after boiling. Close with a lid (any kind). You can drink the liquid, but if you don’t want to eat the berries, pour the same brine again and get a new portion of compote. Until the lingonberries take on a white color, they can be refilled. This berry is used to decorate meat dishes and fillings for pies.
The berries are placed in a large barrel or enamel bucket and filled with cold boiled brine. The brine is prepared at the rate of a glass of sugar per three liters of boiled water. If desired, you can add seasoning (cinnamon, cloves). Cover and lower into the cellar. After a month, the brine and lingonberries will be suitable for consumption.

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Lingonberries are steamed in the oven until the berry takes on a dark gray appearance and becomes a homogeneous mass. The steamed dish is placed in sterilized jars and stored under iron lids. The berries are used to prepare fried or baked meat. Although you can always add a few spoons of sugar to the puree and eat wonderful lingonberry jam.

Lingonberry jam is prepared in the same way as with other berries. Sugar and lingonberries are taken in a ratio of 6:10. To prevent it from burning, add a little water. Under iron lids, lingonberries are stored much longer, and the taste is more piquant.

Lingonberries are steamed in the oven until the berry takes on a dark gray appearance and becomes a homogeneous mass. The steamed dish is placed in sterilized jars and stored under iron lids. The berries are used to prepare fried or baked meat. Although you can always add a few spoons of sugar to the puree and eat wonderful lingonberry jam.

How to prepare lingonberries for the winter

Knowing the benefits of lingonberries, many housewives stock up on vitamin-rich berries for the winter. Blanks are made in several ways.

On a note! Berries should be collected only in ecologically clean regions, far from roads, since the fruits tend to absorb harmful substances and can become toxic.

In the form of jam

An easy way to preserve lingonberries is to make jam using the classic method.

Required Products:

900 grams of lingonberries;
1100 grams of granulated sugar;
200 milliliters of water.

Wash whole, well-ripened fruits under the tap and leave for a few minutes to drain excess moisture. Place the berries in a suitable container and pour boiling water over them. After seven minutes, drain the liquid.

Outside the refrigerator

Lingonberries contain tannins, which are natural preservatives. Therefore, berries can remain fresh for up to 3 weeks without refrigeration.

The best place to store fresh lingonberries should not be raw. The optimal humidity level is 70% at a temperature of 18°C - 25°C. In this case, it is better to keep the fruits in a basket made of natural material so that they can “breathe”.

In a dry, ventilated cellar, storage of fresh lingonberries can last up to 8 weeks.

Fresh berries should be stored in the refrigerator on a separate shelf, otherwise the product will quickly absorb extraneous aromas.

The container with fruits should be wrapped in parchment or placed in a paper bag. The paper will absorb excess moisture, which will help increase the shelf life of fresh lingonberries in the refrigerator.

You cannot keep your supplies in plastic bags: after a short time, the fruits will begin to rot.

Preservation methods

There are different preparations for the winter from lingonberries. They are no different from canning other berries. But the distinctive feature of the product is that it does not deteriorate for a long time. It contains a lot of acid, which prevents the fruit from souring, and the thick skin protects it from damage. Therefore, it is possible to preserve lingonberries without sugar. And canning it does not seem to be a labor-intensive process.

Drying fruits

Lingonberries should be dried after harvesting, carefully sorting and washing them. The berries are poured in a thin layer onto a baking sheet and placed in the oven. It is necessary to keep the product at a temperature of 60 degrees. Leave the door slightly open and ensure that the fruits are completely dry.

A special chamber used according to the instructions is also suitable for drying.

The most popular method of preserving lingonberries is soaking. The sorted and washed berries are poured into bottles and jars that have been sterilized in advance. All that remains is to pour boiled water over the fruits. In this way you can store a tasty product for a long time.

Steamed berries

Lingonberries, steamed in the oven, are stored in cellars. To prepare, the washed fruits are poured into a pan and placed in the oven. It should be kept in a heated oven for 2-3 hours. Then put into jars, closing with a lid. The steamed mass is used to prepare pies, fruit drinks, and jelly.

It is best to cook the fruits in their own juice in a wooden barrel. After washing them, lay them in a small layer and compact them, sprinkling them with sugar. Then they continue to pour the next layer and so on until the end. Finish laying with a layer of berries and seal the container with a tight lid. Under the influence of sugar, lingonberry juice will be produced. To speed up the preparation, leave the product in a warm place for 2 days. Then put it in the cold.

Video Live Healthy Lingonberry

Frozen

Of course, storing lingonberries is possible without any processing; you can simply freeze them in sufficient quantities in the freezer compartment.

Soaked lingonberries

Another popular recipe for storing lingonberries is soaking. First you need to sort it out. The best way to do this is by skating. An inclined board is placed and the fruits roll down it into the pan. Leaves and debris remain on the board.

The fruits must be washed and poured with cold water at the rate of one part fruit and two parts water. Cover with a lid and, without adding sugar, store in the cold.

Store for approximately two months. The water will turn reddish and the berries will soften. Lingonberry water quenches thirst well and relieves hangovers, increases appetite and promotes digestion. And if you soak a homemade sponge cake with lingonberry water instead of cognac, even adults won’t notice the difference.

Pickled lingonberries are good to eat with honey, they go well with beer, and are used as a filling in pies and as a side dish for meat. If the lingonberry water runs out, the remainder can be filled with cold water again and stored for another month.

Steamed lingonberries

The berries are sorted and placed in a saucepan, covered with a lid, in the oven for 1.5-2 hours. They become gray, acquire an unmarketable appearance, and greatly decrease in volume. But if everything is done correctly, they can be stored for almost a whole year right in the bucket. At home, of course, for storage it is better to put them in glass jars, which are closed with plastic lids.

Steamed fruits are tastier than soaked ones. They can be added to dishes such as goose with apples, duck with sauerkraut. You can make jam from steamed lingonberries.

How to store canning with sugar

Wash the “rolled” (sorted) berries and place them in a jar. Then add half a glass of sand. Store for about a week. As a result, the volume of the mixture will decrease; it needs to be increased by adding berries and sugar. Lingonberries in juice are used as a filling for pies or as an independent dish; you can make a fruit drink from it by pouring boiling water over the prepared raw material.

Storage in the form of marshmallows

In the old days, berries were mixed with sugar (in a ratio of 2 to 1) and cooked until the mass became thick. It was cooled in the cold and cut with a knife into long pastilles. The pastilles were sprinkled with sugar and stored in boxes.

Storing lingonberries in the form of jelly

First, the berries are “rolled” (sorted), washed and boiled in their own juice so that they burst. Then filter through a clean cloth and add sugar at the rate of two glasses of sugar per glass of juice obtained. The resulting mixture is boiled to the volume of juice. Cool and pour into jars for storage.

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