Sea buckthorn for the winter - recipes with sugar, frozen, dry

Today we’ll talk about the best way to prepare sea buckthorn preparations for the winter in order to preserve the vitamins and other beneficial substances found in this plant.

By the way, you can prepare not only the berries for future use, but also the leaves and small twigs, as they also have healing properties. This is especially convenient if sea buckthorn is collected with branches, cutting off the so-called “cobs” with pruners - the ends of the branches where the berries are located so tightly that they resemble corn kernels on the cob.

Temporary storage

Fresh sea buckthorn can be stored in the refrigerator or cellar for several weeks. The main thing is that it is collected in dry weather, otherwise it may rot.

We send the cobs to the compartment of the refrigerator intended for storing vegetables and fruits, or to the cellar. Shallow boxes, which must first be covered with a layer of paper, are best suited for storing the “northern pineapple”. This way, you can keep sea buckthorn fresh for up to 1 month .

We arrange the fruits collected from the branches into small bags or containers, which we place on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator or, again, we lower them into the cellar.

There is no need wash or otherwise process either the fruits or the cobs intended for such temporary storage, only when we start preparing something from them.

Is it possible to store sea buckthorn on a branch?

To prevent sea buckthorn from becoming sour when harvested, you can pick a twig with the berries stuck to it. For whole fruits, the fresh shelf life is significantly increased.

Conditions for lying down

Branches with sea buckthorn should be kept in a dry, cool place. A basement or refrigerator is suitable for this. The berries can also be separated from the branches, placed in a closed container, which is then placed in a cold room. The fruits are separated carefully, otherwise the likelihood of them rotting increases.

Shelf life of fresh product

At a storage temperature of +3...+4 °C, sea buckthorn does not spoil for 4-5 weeks. It is constantly inspected, since even one spoiled berry can infect all the others with rot. If the fruits are placed in a plastic bag and the air is pumped out of it, the shelf life will increase significantly. Without oxygen, the respiration of berries slows down.

Pre-treatment

A little further in the article we will find out what can be prepared from sea buckthorn for the winter, we will look at all the recipes step by step, and now we will briefly dwell on the pre-processing of the berries.

Regardless of what cooking methods we choose, we must wash and sort the fruits, removing diseased and dry ones.

Greenish and dense ones can be washed under running water. If they are ripe and tender, it is better to use a bowl that has already been filled with water.

We wash it very carefully, remove the washed fruits with a slotted spoon and immediately place them on a towel to be sure to dry. This way we will protect the delicate berries from damage. If you throw it into a sieve or colander, it may burst, the juice will flow out, which means that part of our harvest will then be lost.

Now that the fruits are clean, dry and sorted, you can proceed directly to the process of harvesting sea buckthorn for the winter.

Preserving sea buckthorn for the winter

Which preparation method to choose is a matter of taste, time and desire. We bring to your attention the best sea buckthorn recipes for the winter, which can generally be divided into 3 large groups:

Freezing.
Drying.
Preparation with sugar (honey, sorbitol).

All proposed recipes are without cooking in order to preserve as many vitamins and active biological substances as possible, which most often decompose under the influence of high temperatures.

Picking berries and preparing for storage

The period for picking berries depends on the purpose for which the gardener grows sea buckthorn. Before frost, the fruit contains the most vitamin C, then its amount decreases in favor of oil.

The berries are difficult to separate from the branches, so you must follow the following collection rules:

If sea buckthorn is transported over long distances, the branches are cut off and then the berries are picked on the spot.
Overripe fruits are trimmed with nail scissors.
The berries are collected starting from the top.
If you need sea buckthorn to make oil, you can place the container under the branch and run your hand over it.
Harvest in dry weather.

The container for storing the harvest is prepared in advance, covered with paper.

Freezing is the easiest and fastest way

Spread the prepared fruits in a thin layer on a small tray and place in the freezer. When they freeze, pour them into a special container and place them in the freezer for storage. You can also store it in plastic bags, but this is not as convenient and reliable as containers. Shelf life: no more than 8 months from the moment of freezing.

Tip: do not freeze wet berries! During the freezing process, it will stick together, some of the berries will burst, the juice will flow out, and the result will not be a frozen berry, but a slurry of half and half with ice.

They often think that it is not necessary to wash sea buckthorn before freezing, they say, I’ll defrost it, then I’ll wash it, but believe the sad experience - it’s better to wash and dry it, and then freeze it. If you freeze the berries correctly, the taste, color, shape, and most importantly, the healing properties will be completely preserved.

The faster the process, the healthier the berries will be afterwards, since during rapid freezing the ice crystals will be small, which means they will not damage the cell walls when defrosting. If possible, it is best to freeze at a temperature of -25°C or lower.

Frozen sea buckthorn with sprigs

If you don’t have time right now to pick the fruits from the branches, you can freeze the sea buckthorn with branches. “Cobs” are suitable for this, since they have a lot of berries and few leaves.

Wash the cobs and be sure to dry them well.
Place in plastic bags, preferably in one layer, and freeze.
After freezing, place in containers and store in the freezer.
If necessary, we obtain the required quantity. It is better to remove the berries from the branches before they are completely defrosted.

So sea buckthorn can be stored for no more than a year, provided that it is thawed only once - before use. It is best to defrost in the refrigerator; the process will take 9-10 hours. It is strictly forbidden to defrost the “northern pineapple” in a microwave oven, as the berry loses its healing qualities.

Frozen sea buckthorn puree

Duration of fruit storage at home

You can store goods in different ways.

Freezing berries

This is one of the popular ways to preserve products. In order to maintain the consistency of the fruits after defrosting, they are quickly frozen. Ice crystals do not have time to form in the pulp, which subsequently leads to rupture of the shell. The procedure is carried out as follows:

the fruits are washed;
spread out in one layer to dry;
placed in the freezer for 24 hours;
poured into containers and stored for long-term storage.

Plastic bags are best suited for containers.

Drying

To dry products in the oven, perform the following steps:

the berries are washed and dried;
preheat the oven to 35-40 °, place sea buckthorn in it, located on baking sheets;
after 3 hours the temperature is increased to 60°.

The dried fruits are left for a day, then poured into jars and covered.

Important! The oven door should not be closed during drying.

Keep in the cold

Fresh sea buckthorn can be preserved in 2 ways:

pick branches with berries from the tree and put them in the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator;
remove the fruits, put them in a plastic bag, pump out the oxygen from it.

In the second method, the safety of fruits increases to 6-7 weeks.

In water

To preserve sea buckthorn in an aquatic environment, clean glass jars are used. The products are placed in them, filled with boiled water, and covered with a tight lid. Store containers with products in a cool place. Only whole, undamaged berries are selected for storage in this way.

In sugar

To preserve the fruits in sugar, they are first washed and dried. Then the sea buckthorn is mixed in a 1:1 ratio with sugar and placed in prepared glass jars. Fill the mixture to ¾ of the volume of the container. The remaining free space is filled with granulated sugar, the jars are closed and placed in the refrigerator.

Drying is a simple method, but takes longer

In the southern regions, where autumn is quite warm, sea buckthorn is often dried simply on the street, spread in a thin layer on baking sheets and covered with gauze or a thin cloth. It is better to bring it indoors at night. This entire process will take about two weeks or a little more, depending on the weather. We pour the finished dried fruits into linen bags; it is best to store them in the pantry.

For more northern regions, this option is not suitable, so you will have to dry it either in special dryers or in the oven.

In the dryer

It is more convenient, simpler and more reliable, especially if it has a thermostat and a convective drying system.

We take our prepared sea buckthorn and spread it in a thin layer on the mesh trays of the dryer. There is no need to pour it in a “slide”; in this case, the fruits will dry unevenly.

Turn on the dryer to a suitable mode (about 40-50°C) and dry until the desired condition is achieved for 10-12 hours. When pressed, the finished berry does not release juice, but remains soft.

Most of all in this form it resembles small raisins with seeds or barberries.

In the oven

If there is no special dryer for vegetables and fruits, then you can dry the fruits in the oven. But 3 points are very important here:

The oven will need to be open all the time or will need to be opened and ventilated very often to reduce the humidity inside the oven.
The temperature should not be higher than 60°C, otherwise the berries will be baked and not dry, and there will be little benefit from overcooked berries.
The fruits should lie in a thin layer.

Spread the prepared sea buckthorn in a thin layer on baking sheets covered with baking paper.

It will take quite a long time to dry, at least 3-4 hours; you can turn off the oven periodically. It is better to dry the first 2 hours at a temperature no higher than 40°C so that the fruits dry more evenly. Then the temperature can be increased to 60°C. The finished berry should be orange-golden, not brown, and fairly soft.

There is no need to dry the fruits to an “explosive” state. To do this, at the very end we reduce the temperature to the very minimum and thus bring the drying to the desired condition.

Tip: do not pour the berries into the container immediately after drying. Let it sit for a couple of days to even out the moisture content of the berries.

It is best to store in glass jars, but not in light. Alternatively, fabric bags, paper and cardboard boxes, and wooden boxes are suitable. It is highly undesirable to use metal containers for storage. From time to time you need to check how the dried fruits are stored; you can even just shake the container thoroughly - this will make it easier to see if everything is in order.

If spoiled ones appear, then the contents of such a jar must be sorted out and used as quickly as possible. Any dry, cool, dark place is suitable for storage, even on a balcony or loggia if they are insulated.

Sea buckthorn leaves and twigs can also be dried

The most beneficial substances in the leaves are when the bush is in bloom, but there are also a lot of them in autumn leaves. It is best to dry in a dark room; do not wash the leaves before drying . We spread the leaves in a thin layer on a tray and simply place them in a warm, ventilated room. If there are a lot of leaves, you can use an electric dryer.

It is best to store in canvas bags, but no more than 6 months. Dried leaves can be used by adding to teas, decoctions, and medicinal mixtures. It is especially useful during epidemics of acute respiratory infections, for colds and problems with the bronchi, and for immunity. Unlike fruits, the leaves do not cause allergic reactions and there is no acid in them, so there are no contraindications, even for a child.

You can make an incredibly tasty and healing sea buckthorn tea from fresh leaves. Of course, making it is more difficult, since the leaves for tea will have to be fermented. This will take a little more time, but the tea will be such that you cannot buy it in a store, because fermentation of the leaves gives the tea a special aroma and taste.

Drying fresh berries

This method of preparing sea buckthorn has an advantage when there are no conditions for storing canned or frozen foods.

Under the influence of high temperatures, the destructive activity of enzymes in the pulp of the fruit is suppressed, and the product retains the greatest amount of nutrients .

At home, the most acceptable way is to dry sea buckthorn in special dryers or in an oven .

Before the drying procedure, the fruits are washed under running cool water. This should be done with light movements; any pressure can lead to damage to the structure of the fruit, which will subsequently result in rapid decomposition of valuable substances.

Oven drying steps:

At the first stage, the temperature is maintained at 35°C-40°C for 2 hours. Initial exposure of the fruit to high temperature leads to the formation of dense crusts on the upper layers of the pulp, which makes it difficult for the evaporation of water from the product.
After this, the temperature is increased to 60°C-80°C. At this stage, you need to constantly monitor the formation of condensation and periodically ventilate the oven.
At the final stage, the temperature is reduced to 40 °C. At this time, the evaporation of moisture from the fruits practically stops, and they can burn.

When dried in an oven or dryer, sea buckthorn fruits retain the greatest amount of nutrients

Sea buckthorn with sugar for the winter

You can prepare many tasty and healthy preparations from the “northern pineapple”. Let's consider recipes without cooking and without sterilization; in this case, during the cooking process, the berry retains all its beneficial qualities. Sugar acts as a preservative here. You can also preserve it using honey and sorbitol instead of sugar.

Sea buckthorn in honey

The recipe is almost identical: pour the fruits into jars 2/3 full and fill them with liquid honey. If the honey is thick, it is advisable to preheat it slightly so that it becomes soft, but not melted. It is best to do this in a water bath. Store in the same way as candied sea buckthorn.

If the berry is strong, you can first mix it with honey and then put it in jars. But it tastes better with ripe, tender fruits.

Sea buckthorn honey jam

For 1 kg of “royal berries” we need 1 kg of honey.

Melt honey in a water bath, add sea buckthorn.
Stir gently, bring to a boil, but do not boil , but only simmer the berries in honey for 3-5 minutes.
Set aside for 2 hours, wait until it cools down and the fruits at least partially absorb the honey.
We repeat the process three times. For the third time, while hot, put it into jars.

Store strictly in the refrigerator, shelf life no more than 8 months. This jam replaces many medications. In terms of the cooking method, it is almost like the famous five-minute one, but they still cook the jam there, albeit for a short time, and we just warm it up.

Using this method, it is best to prepare selected, large and juicy berries; they give a lot of juice and are well soaked in sugar syrup. The result is real sea buckthorn in its own juice.

Sugaring sea buckthorn

This preparation is good because the berries remain intact. In this case, you need quite a lot of sugar, approximately 1 kilogram of sea buckthorn per 2 kilograms of sugar, but if you get more, it’s okay, the ratio of sugar to berries is approximate, but in this case it’s better to add a little sugar than not add enough, since the sea buckthorn can ferment .

Although this is not a problem - the “northern pineapple” is a universal berry, so if the sea buckthorn has fermented, it is not at all difficult to make a golden and very fragrant wine from sea buckthorn. Now let's get back to the recipe for candied sea buckthorn.

Place a handful of berries, ready for canning, into sterilized jars (preferably 0.5 l or 0.75 l). Sprinkle a layer of granulated sugar on top. Then again a layer of fruit. And so - layer by layer, to the very top. The top layer must be made of sugar.
Now we put the jars in a warm place, the fruits will give juice and settle.
Gradually add the berries, not forgetting to generously sprinkle with sugar.
At the very end, pour sugar in a heap; it should form a crust on top, which will reliably protect our workpiece from all kinds of bacteria, mold, etc.
We close with lids, you can even use simple polyethylene ones, but it’s better to use a screw.

This preparation is perfect for making desserts; it is very tasty to pour over ice cream, or just to drink tea with golden, sweet and sour berries on a chilly autumn evening. This is a really, really tasty recipe, despite its simplicity. If there is enough sugar, then such a preparation can be stored at room temperature, but it is still safer in the refrigerator or cellar.

“Cold” sea buckthorn jam for the winter without cooking

This jam is prepared in a way that is gentle on the berries, without heat treatment, and therefore allows you to preserve the maximum amount of vitamins in sea buckthorn.

You will need:

Sea buckthorn – kilogram.
Granulated sugar – 1.5 kg.

Algorithm of actions:

We collect the berries, rinse them thoroughly under warm, but not hot water, then lay them out to dry on paper towels.

Mix sea buckthorn with sugar, taking the proportions 1 to 1, let the products stand for about an hour, covering with gauze.

Sterilize containers for sealing.

Fill a quarter of the jar with sea buckthorn, pour the remaining sugar on top, seal with sterile lids, and store in the cold.

The shelf life of this delicacy is 1.5 years in a cold place. After a few months, the sugar will completely dissolve in the juice that the fruits will release, and the composition in the jars will acquire a bright, beautiful color and the proper consistency.

Sea buckthorn berry puree with honey

Not everyone likes small seeds, which are abundant in sea buckthorn berries. Often children, especially small ones, are reluctant to eat this healthy berry. To avoid such problems, you can make seedless sea buckthorn: rub it through a sieve. To make it easier to process the berries, you can pour boiling water over them.

For a liter of sea buckthorn, take a liter jar of sugar or honey, mix well, heat to 80°C, heat for 5 minutes, but do not boil, pour into heated sterilized jars, be sure to roll up hot. This preservation is best stored in a cool place.
If you have a juicer, it is easier to pass the berries through the juicer, and mix the resulting sea buckthorn puree with the required amount of sugar. This sea buckthorn, mashed with sugar, has the widest application.

By the way, you can dry the cake and subsequently use it to prepare various dishes or make healing sea buckthorn oil from it.

Tip: if the puree turns out too sour and liquid, add apple puree. They will soften the rich taste of sea buckthorn and make the puree thicker.

If you run out of fresh sea buckthorn, and there is a need to make such a puree, then you can completely use frozen sea buckthorn; this will not affect the taste or benefit in any way.

Berry rolled with sugar

A simple and reliable recipe. Mix the crushed or mashed berries with sugar in a ratio of 1:1.5. In this case, there is no need to heat it, just mix the whole mass thoroughly.

There are several ways to chop or grind berries:

in a blender,
using a meat grinder,
pestle.

Let's look at the advantages and disadvantages of each of them.

Using a blender

You can quickly and efficiently grind quite a large amount of berries in a blender. However, at the same time, the seed is also ground, which gives a peculiar taste, but the amount of useful substances is then identical to the whole berry.

If we later strain the mass through a sieve or squeeze it through cheesecloth, the taste will remain. This option is suitable for preparing dishes that have primarily medicinal purposes .

Grind through a meat grinder

Here, too, everything works out quite quickly. It is not difficult to twist sea buckthorn; through a meat grinder you can process several kilograms of fruit in one evening. In this case, the bone is partially crushed, partially remains intact - much depends on the sharpness of the knives and how fine the mesh is.

But here you have to come to terms with the fact that part of the berry will oxidize when it comes into contact with metal, which means there will be losses in vitamins and other active substances contained in these valuable fruits. With this filling you can bake a pie, cook compote or jelly.

Grind with pestle

The most labor-intensive, one might say, almost a meditative process. The pestle should be made of wood or stone; it is highly undesirable to use a metal one. You can use a potato masher.

What’s good: here you can grind the berries so that the seeds do not grind. If you simply add sugar or honey to such mashed berries, you get a tasty preparation that is almost identical to fresh sea buckthorn with sugar. Aroma, taste, vitamins, beneficial bioactive substances - everything is preserved.

This berry, ground with sugar, is easily strained through a sieve, and the pulp does not have the characteristic oily taste of ground seeds. In this case, all the vitamins are preserved, but we lose valuable oils, which are contained most of all in the seeds. But children really like this puree, especially if it is combined with some other fruit puree or juice.

“Northern pineapple” goes well with other berries, fruits and even some vegetables, for example, pumpkin. The combination of sea buckthorn with apples when adding pears is especially tasty. The combination of sea buckthorn and walnuts is extremely useful, especially for men; oranges or lemons are often added there.

You can make an excellent vitamin drink with honey from sea buckthorn - a smoothie with sea buckthorn, persimmon and pumpkin, or there is a simpler recipe: sea buckthorn with banana, which can be supplemented with carrots and oranges if desired. The jam made from pureed strawberries and sea buckthorn is very fragrant and unusual in taste, it’s absolutely finger licking good! You can use frozen strawberries or wild strawberries.

Some sea buckthorn dishes may seem unexpected and unusual, but it makes sense to try to cook them at least once in order to appreciate their bright taste and aroma. Perhaps later this will become your favorite treat, which not only tastes great, but also helps you stay in good shape, maintain your figure and improve your immunity.

It must be said that processing sea buckthorn at home is not that difficult, and the benefits of such twists are obvious.

Interesting recipe-gift

This recipe is especially for those who read our entire article to the end. The simplest and fastest recipe you could wish for at home if you have a lot to do and little time.

Soaked sea buckthorn

We put the berries prepared in advance into jars and fill them with cold boiled water so that it completely covers the fruits. In this case, there is no need to warm it up or roll it up, just put it under the lid and put it in the refrigerator or cellar. So it is stored for quite a long time, almost until spring. As needed, we take the berries and use them to make jam, marmalade, compote, gravy, etc.

This is how sea buckthorn has been stored since ancient times in the Altai region; preserving sea buckthorn in this way allows you to preserve all the beneficial properties inherent in fresh berries.

If you add vodka instead of water, you get a tincture. This is also a long-known folk recipe. Only in this case it must be closed hermetically and used exclusively for medical purposes. But sea buckthorn liqueur is a festive drink that can surprise even the most fastidious guest. For those who do not like alcoholic drinks, we can recommend making a fruit drink or compote from sea buckthorn.

To store sea buckthorn for the winter, you can choose any of the above methods. Winter preparations of sea buckthorn will help you endure the cold without catching colds, protect against flu epidemics, help increase the body's resistance to infections and live a full, healthy life at any age.

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