ᐉ How to properly dry hawthorn at home

When hawthorn is harvested for drying: collection and preparation of fruits

Selection of raw materials for drying

The best method to extract all the benefits from a plant is to independently prepare raw materials.
In many people's gardens, hawthorn grows as a hedge. Its fruits are suitable for drying only if the bushes do not grow near the road. You can harvest in parks, forests, forest belts, and squares. Make sure that they are not placed near landfills or industrial enterprises. Plants accumulate harmful toxic substances and are therefore harmful to the body.

Several dozen varieties of shrubs grow on Russian territory. The natural question is when to collect hawthorn and how to dry it. Most varieties ripen at the end of August or beginning of September. The berries acquire that unique, rich scarlet hue. You can continue collecting until the first frost, until the cold destroys the beneficial compounds.

Smoothed (ordinary).
Paul Scarlett.
Blood red (Siberian).
Semi-soft.
Single-pistil.
Bicolor.
Green-fleshed (black).

For collection, choose dry, sunny days without high humidity. The fruits are not picked as a whole bunch, but one berry at a time. Make sure that the bush is not damaged by pests, they can ruin your entire drying.

Preparing fruits for drying

Picked hawthorn should not be stored for a long time, because... it can quickly become moldy. Therefore, it must be processed no later than 12 hours after collection.

Sort through the berries, discarding debris, remaining branches and leaves. Carefully remove the stalks and sepals.
Sort spoiled, darkened, rotten, unripe fruits.
Rinse the hawthorn under running water. This will eliminate any remaining dust and remove the natural protective film from the surface.

Some people say that there is no need to wash hawthorn. But then you will have to process it before cooking, pour boiling water over it and let it sit for at least an hour. This threatens the leaching of useful substances.

The fruits will be dried intact, so no further manipulations will be required. To drain excess moisture after washing, simply place the berries on paper or regular towels. If necessary, blot the top with napkins. After drying, each kilogram of berries will leave 250 grams of the finished product.

Hawthorn for the winter - recipes

Candied berries: The simplest and at the same time delicious way to preserve berries for the winter is to candied them.

Sort through, thoroughly wash and dry the berries. Roll in powdered sugar (make this by grinding sugar in a coffee grinder).
Place the berries in a wide-necked jar. To make them fit more tightly into the jar, shake the jar slightly when adding. More berries will be included, and they will be preserved better.
Leave a space of about 5 cm on top of the jar, pour granulated sugar there. Cover the neck of the jar with gauze or paper. Do not cover with a plastic lid, as the berries will suffocate.

After about two months, the berries can be poured into a vase and served instead of sweets.

If you add a little water to the hawthorn puree and take more sugar, you can make jam.

To make tasty jam, 1 kg. Add 0.5 kg of sugar to the berry puree and pour in a glass of water.
Place in a saucepan, add a teaspoon of citric acid for taste and good preservation, and cook until thickened. Place in jars and roll up. I don’t indicate the cooking time, the hawthorn cooks quickly, you’ll know when it’s ready.

Sour apples are better suited for jam.

First, make hawthorn puree and apple puree separately, according to the recipe described above.
Mix both purees, take 1 kg each. , put it in a basin, pour in a liter of water and put 1.5 kg. Sahara.
Boil until the desired thickness and, placing it in jars, roll up.

The original, sweet and bitter taste and a huge supply of organic acids, pectins, vitamins - A, C, K, E and group B, are the reason that hawthorn harvesting is becoming more and more popular. For those who have not yet tried this berry and do not even know what it looks like, below are its photos. It grows on bushes, which, when grown in gardens, are often used as hedges.

Berry picking takes place in the fall

For the preparation of culinary dishes, fruits collected from wild bushes and cultivated varieties are used. Garden forms are characterized by large fruit, the most popular varieties include: “Crimean”, “Chinese-2”, “Pauls Scarlet”, “Zbigniew”, “Blood-red” and others.

Considering the most popular recipes for preparing hawthorn for the winter, we should highlight:

drying and freezing;
jam, marmalade or marmalade;
compote, kvass, juice, tincture;
candied fruits and pastilles;
puree or sauce.

As you can see, these berries provide great opportunities for those who would like to try preparing them for the winter.

Hawthorn berries - contain a large supply of vitamins

An excellent way to preserve the vitamin composition of hawthorn is to freeze it. Its correct implementation allows you to preserve the vitamin and mineral composition as much as possible. To freeze, place the berries in hot water for 15 minutes, then drain in a colander, rinse under running water and lay out in a layer to dry. After this, pack them in portions into bags. Place in the freezer (t° -20-25°C), where it can be stored frozen for up to 6 months.

An alternative to freezing is drying hawthorn. To do this, it is laid out in 1 layer on a baking sheet and dried in a non-hot (t° 50°C) oven or oven, in the sun or radiator, dehydrator or special electric dryer. Dried berries can be used to make drinks, and if you grind flour, you can also use them to make dough.

Frozen berries last 6 months

Advice. If the collected hawthorn is placed in a basket or other container that allows free access of air, it can remain fresh for a week.

Another type of cold harvesting of hawthorn is candiing the berries. To do this, washed and dried fruits are rolled in powdered sugar and then placed in jars (preferably with a wide neck). Sprinkle sugar on top and close it with gauze. The shelf life of such a product is 2 months.

Hawthorn in sugar can be stored for 2 months

Hawthorn berry jam. Remove tails from 1 kg and wash, then add ½ liter of water, bring to a boil and cook until soft. Then drain the remaining water and puree the berry mass, rubbing it through a sieve or grinding it in a blender. Add the previously drained broth again, and then sugar - 8 cups. and boil until thick. At the end of cooking, add a little citric acid or ¼ cup. lemon juice. Transfer the hot mixture into jars and sterilize them.
Raw jam from hawthorn and sea buckthorn berries. Sea buckthorn – 1 kg, sort and wash, dry, grind into puree. Hawthorn – 600 g, blanch for 2 minutes, then puree, passing through a meat grinder. Mix both mixtures, add ½ sugar. Store raw jam in a cool place. Use as a dessert or an addition to other dishes, as well as a base for vitamin drinks. Using this recipe, you can also make raw jam from hawthorn and currants or from hawthorn and apples.

Jam can be used as a filling for pies

When considering the most common ways to prepare this berry for the winter, you cannot miss drinks, among which compote is the most popular. To prepare it you will need:

hawthorn and sugar, taken 1:1;
water – 1.5 liters for every ½ kg of berries;
cardamom

The initial stage of preparation consists of cleaning the fruit from seeds and branches. Then they should be filled with hot syrup pre-cooked from sugar and water, leave for 6-9 hours, after which the syrup should be drained. Place the berries in jars, add cardamom and pour in re-boiled syrup, sterilize for 10 minutes, then roll up.

Compote can be stored all winter

The second option for a healthy drink that can be prepared for the winter consists of hawthorn and apple juice. To prepare it, pour 1 cup of prepared hawthorn fruits (1 kg). apple juice (preferably sour) and boil for 3 minutes. Then add sugar syrup (300 g sugar per 1 liter of water). Pour the resulting drink into prepared jars and sterilize them for 5 minutes. and roll up.

Advice. Hawthorn drinks can be used as a base for making jelly, jelly and other drinks.

Among the original recipes on how to prepare this berry for the winter, berry candies are especially interesting. To prepare them, pureed fruits are mixed with sugar 2:1 and the mixture is boiled until the volume is reduced by 1.5-2 times. Then dilute starch (100 g per 1 kg of berry raw materials) with water and add to the boiled berry mixture and warm it up a little, kneading it well.

Berry candies

Hawthorn has long been used in cooking in various countries. By choosing it for preparing winter supplies, you can make many tasty and very healthy preparations. The recipes presented above will help you do this easily and efficiently.

We invite you to read: Hawthorn fruits: beneficial properties and contraindications

Usually a delicious jam is made from this plant. You can make it with or without seeds. This recipe will discuss the first method. To make the jam as tasty as possible, do not freeze hawthorn berries, but use fresh ones.

So, the ingredients:

Subtleties of craftsmanship: how to dry hawthorn at home

There are several ways to dry hawthorn for the winter. Each of them is special, although the resulting product is similar.

The lower the drying temperature, the more nutrients will be retained in the fruit. Therefore, natural drying in the open air is considered the most desirable. Make sure that the fruits are not exposed to direct sunlight. Under the influence of ultraviolet radiation, beta-carotene and many other “benefits” are destroyed.

On air

Drying time : 4-6 days.

Large sieves, trays, trays, racks or oven trays, and overturned wooden boxes are suitable for drying.

Wait for dry weather until the temperature drops below 18-20°C.
Cover the surfaces with any paper. Taking newspapers with black print for these purposes is not a good idea. Residues of toxic lead from printing plates remain on their surface, which will subsequently transfer to the berries.
Pour in the berries and spread with your hands. They should lie in one layer.
Place the trays in a shady but well-ventilated area. Many people prefer drying in the attic. City residents of high-rise buildings will have to limit themselves to a balcony.
Stir the berries once or several times a day. In the evening, before the dew falls, the trays are brought into the room, and taken back in the morning.

The readiness of the fruit is easy to determine. During drying, the berries acquire a darker, brownish tint and wrinkle. Take a few in your palm and squeeze. If they are soft, then continue drying, but if they begin to break, then drying is ready.

In an electric or gas oven

Drying time : 3-5 hours.

Regardless of what type of equipment you use, the process remains the same. The only difference is the gap in the door. In gas stoves you need to leave up to 10-18 centimeters, and in electric stoves 4-6 will be enough. In models with convection, the door does not need to be opened.

Cover the baking sheets with paper so that the released sugars and fructose do not cause the berries to stick to the metal. You can use parchment for baking.
Spread the berries in one layer.
Preheat the oven to 58-65°C and place baking sheets with fruits there.
Heat with the door tightly closed for 30-40 minutes.
Reduce the temperature to 40-48°C, open the door slightly and finish drying until ready.

If the berries crumble too much, then you have dried out the product.

In a convection oven

Drying time : 1-3 hours.

This is a modern, quick and simple method of drying hawthorn.

Place the berries on the grates of the device.
Cover the lid by inserting toothpicks around the edges to create a gap.
Set the temperature to 45-58°C.
Turn on medium airflow.

Wait the allotted time and taste the fruits. If they are not ready, continue drying. If necessary, swap the racks, so the berries will dry faster and better.

In an electric dryer or dehydrator

Drying time : 5-9 hours.

The temperature in both devices is set to the same, and the procedure is the same.

Place the hawthorns on the racks so that all the berries are in one layer.
Set the device to 60°C. Dry for 1-3 hours.
Reduce the temperature to 45°C and dry the fruits until ready.

A simple recipe for hawthorn compote for the winter

This incomparable drink will invigorate and energize you. It is prepared from half a kilogram of sweet and sour apples and hawthorn fruits. You also cannot do without a kilogram pack of granulated sugar and two liters of water. We are making this for a three-liter container; we’ll take a little more liquid to make sure there’s enough.

Cut the apples into medium slices, not forgetting to remove the seeds. We wash the hawthorn. Preparing red berries for the winter also means combining them with other products. Heat the water, add granulated sugar and citric acid, boil for five minutes. We sterilize the jar and lay out the indicated products in layers on the bottom.

Pour in the hot syrup, roll up the lid and store upside down for a day. You will be pleasantly surprised by a soft, slightly sour drink. You can reduce the amount of sugar if you don’t like the compote to be too sweet. We prepare hawthorn for the winter and enjoy the delicacy during the cold season!

Mister dried hawthorn: storage and use

Storage Types

Before you figure out how to brew dried hawthorn, you need to find out how and for what period it can be stored without losing its beneficial properties.

Glass jars with nylon or metal lids.
Ceramic vessels.
Canvas bags.
Paper bags.
Wooden boxes.

The usual shelf life of such drying is 24 months. Avoid damp places, otherwise the hawthorn will become damp and may become moldy. Provide good ventilation. It is permissible to place the fruits in a plastic bag and send them to deep freeze. But some useful compounds will be destroyed. But the shelf life of the product will last up to 36 months.

How to dry hawthorn berries at home

Hawthorn is a shrub or small tree from the Rosaceae family. Its fruits are a rich source of vitamins and minerals, which is why it is often used as a therapeutic and preventive remedy for many diseases.

Therefore, when preparing winter supplies, you need to know how to dry hawthorn fruits in order to preserve the useful product for as long as possible. There are several main methods for drying hawthorn at home, after familiarizing yourself with which you can choose the most optimal one for yourself.

Preparing the berries

Hawthorn is a medicinal, nutritious and honey-bearing plant. It is very useful and many ways of using it on the farm have been invented. Therefore, if possible, it is recommended to dry and preserve hawthorn berries at home every season. However, before you start preparing for the winter, you should know how to prepare the plant for storage.

In folk and evidence-based medicine, not only the fruits of the plant are used, but also its flowers. They contain crategusic acid, tannins, essential oil, quercin, flavones, choline, carotene, vitamin C and organic acids. Flowers are collected one at a time or in inflorescences immediately after flowering begins: in the second half of May - early June, when they are just beginning to bloom.

Hawthorn has a short flowering period (only 3-4 days), so you should start collecting flowers immediately after they have fully opened.

Hawthorn flowers are small, white, with a specific, not always pleasant smell. The reason for this is the presence of dimethylamine, a chemical derivative of ammonia. However, the unpleasant odor does not affect the healing and nutritional properties of dried flowers.

You can also use young leaves for drying.

The fruits ripen in autumn - early September. To dry hawthorn for the winter, use ripe berries, which can be bright red, dark burgundy and even yellow (depending on the variety).

The fruits can ripen all autumn, until the beginning of winter. However, to dry them at home, you should pick the berries before frost.

Useful both wild and garden hawthorn. They will differ only in size. For winter preparations, it is best to use berries that grow in environmentally friendly conditions. Plants from home plots located away from the highway are also acceptable.

Plants that grow near highways or near the industrial sector are not allowed for use, as they will accumulate harmful substances.

The best types of garden hawthorn, which are perfect for long-term storage, are:

Hawthorn fruits must be dry, so they must be collected on a warm, sunny day. If it has recently rained, you should wait until the berries on the bush or tree dry out. The same principle applies to flowers - they should not be wet. It is better to pick them in the late morning or afternoon, when the dew has left the plant.

Only ripe berries are suitable for storage. They will most often be dark red in color (the color of the berries may vary depending on the variety) and have a sweet, tart taste. After harvesting, the fruits are washed well with running water and sorted. It is necessary to remove stalks, leaves and other debris, as well as rotten, spoiled or unripe berries. Hawthorn is laid on linen or cotton cloth, or paper towels and left until completely dry.

If the fruits are visually clean, without dirt, then there is no need to wash them.

How to preserve hawthorn for medicinal purposes: inflorescences and fruits

Plant harvesting should begin in the spring. As soon as the hawthorn begins to bloom, you can begin collecting.

inflorescences that have not fully blossomed or are completely unopened . They are the ones that need to be torn off.

A prerequisite for long-term storage of hawthorn: the collection of inflorescences should be carried out only in sunny and dry weather. Even a little moisture can cause the workpiece to simply rot.

The collected inflorescences are dried. To do this you should:

prepare a flat surface (table, baking sheet, board);
cover it with cloth or paper;
spread the inflorescences in a thin layer.

Hawthorn flowers should be dried in a dark place with unlimited access to fresh air.

The most optimal container for storage is cardboard boxes, the bottom of which is covered with paper. A small amount of dried flowers will be perfectly preserved in a linen bag. Hawthorn should be kept in a dry room with normal ventilation.

The fruits of the plant are harvested after they are fully ripe. Before drying them, you need to remove the stem and berries with a defect. If unripe fruits are accidentally picked, they will also have to be put aside.

Suitable for drying hawthorn berries:

a warm room that is well ventilated;
uncovered oven, preheated to 50 degrees.

Just like inflorescences, the fruits of the plant should be laid out in one layer.

Drying flowers and leaves

Only whole flowers and leaves are suitable for drying, not spoiled, without traces of insect activity (black spots, gnawed holes, etc.). They should not be wet, otherwise they will quickly begin to rot. There is no need to rinse them.

Flowers and leaves should be transported from the bush to the house in an open container: a bucket or basket. You cannot use bags, as the plant will suffocate very quickly.

Drying of hawthorn begins immediately after collection. Leaves and flowers are laid out on natural fabric or paper in one layer and placed in a dry, well-ventilated place. The smell of flowers will be attractive to insects, so you should cover the surface with the product with either thin gauze, or use mosquito nets on doors and windows.

During the procedure, leaves and flowers must be shaken and mixed periodically. The product will be ready for use in 7-9 days. The process can be speeded up by using an electric dryer. In it, drying is carried out at a temperature of 40C for approximately 3-4 hours.

Frozen hawthorn: harvesting rules

With the onset of autumn, many gardeners in their summer cottages begin to ripen tasty and extremely healthy hawthorn, which is harvested for the winter in different ways, as you will see for yourself.

However, for some strange reasons or out of ignorance, gardeners prefer to stock up on rosehips, and hawthorn trees are grown only as a decorative fence. And in vain, because red berries contain a lot of healing properties and, when properly prepared, release them completely.

Hawthorn is rightfully popular among people who are passionate about traditional medicine. Hawthorn is truly a source of beneficial vitamins, so necessary for your beauty and health.

Hawthorn is a wonderful berry that also tastes good. Both adults and children eat it with joy.

Hawthorn can be adapted both in your own plot of land, and it will actively bear fruit, and in the wild. Many people choose to gather these red and tasty berries with their whole family - this is truly an interesting and fun process.

Hawthorn has its own flowering period. As a rule, it falls between mid-April and mid-May. At this time, it is necessary to notice the tree from which the fruits will be picked and ensure that no pests appear on it.

I want to eat hawthorn not only in the warm season, but also in winter. Of course, this is possible, but how to freeze hawthorn correctly and in what form is it best to preserve all its beneficial properties? We will tell you about this in great detail in the following paragraphs.

Hawthorn blooms in late May - early June, and already at the very beginning of flowering, at the budding stage, you can begin harvesting.

Before harvesting hawthorn, make sure that the plant is absolutely healthy (no mold, no rust on the branches and leaves, pests or their larvae, stalks and sepals are not covered with cobwebs).

When harvesting hawthorn, you can resort to freezing, using certain rules. At the same time, the fruits do not lose their beneficial properties, since their chemical composition remains virtually unchanged. Frozen hawthorn is used in the same way as dried fruits - for making teas, compotes, medicinal infusions, flavorings for a wide variety of dishes - from meat to sweets.

Freezing should occur very quickly - for this, the fruits are placed in plastic containers and placed in a deep freezer (-18°C). An option is possible when the berries are distributed on a tray and, after freezing, placed in a plastic bag.

Also, for freezing, you can grind fresh fruits in a meat grinder or crush them in a mortar and pestle, then place the pulp, ground into puree, into jars or bags and freeze. The smaller the portion, the faster it will freeze, therefore, more vitamins will be preserved.

Hawthorn is a sweet-tasting berry with juicy pulp. But it is valued more not even for its taste, but for its medicinal properties. The fruits of the plant are useful for heart diseases, help cope with hypertension and strengthen the immune system.

And if you like the taste of hawthorn, or you want to use it for medicinal purposes, then why not use simple recipes for preparing it for the winter? Having properly processed the berries, you can store them for a long time while preserving all the nutrients and vitamins.

Candied berries: The simplest and at the same time delicious way to preserve berries for the winter is to candied them.

Sort through, thoroughly wash and dry the berries. Roll in powdered sugar (make this by grinding sugar in a coffee grinder).
Place the berries in a wide-necked jar. To make them fit more tightly into the jar, shake the jar slightly when adding. More berries will be included, and they will be preserved better.
Leave a space of about 5 cm on top of the jar, pour granulated sugar there. Cover the neck of the jar with gauze or paper. Do not cover with a plastic lid, as the berries will suffocate.

After about two months, the berries can be poured into a vase and served instead of sweets.

Harvesting of this unique plant begins at the end of September, when the fruits begin to ripen, and ends with the first frost. The weather for harvesting berries should be sunny and dry. They are picked during the day, when the dew has gone, and immediately sorted, discarding those that are rotten or spoiled by birds. You don’t need to pick individual berries, but the entire scutes.

Important! Only the fruits of plants that are located far from roads and railways, industrial plants and landfills are suitable for harvesting. Immediately after picking, the berries are sorted, all unripe and defective ones are discarded, then the stalks are removed.

Another simple recipe for preparing hawthorn for the winter is to grind it with sugar. They do it this way: the seeds are removed, the pulp is kept in boiling water or in a double boiler for 2-3 minutes, then ground through a sieve or twisted in a meat grinder.

Sugar is added to the resulting puree at the rate of 2.5 cups per 1 kg of berries, this mixture is heated to 80 °C so that the sugar melts, and placed in sterile jars. Filled jars are pasteurized for 20-30 minutes in boiling water and rolled up.

You can make delicious and aromatic sweets, thick beautiful marmalade and many other goodies from glod berries.

Marmalade is prepared as follows: the seeds are removed from the berries, poured with water and boiled until soft. Then the mass is ground, sugar is added, and the whole thing is cooked over low heat until the desired thickness with constant stirring. Ingredients: for 2 kg of berries take 2 kg of sugar and 1.2 liters of water.
You can make sweets based on this marmalade. To do this, add starch in the amount of 100 g per 1 kg of mass to the finished, non-hot marmalade, and mix everything thoroughly. This mass is evenly distributed in a thin layer (1.5-2 cm) on a wooden board and, after cutting into cubes, is left to dry in a well-ventilated area for 2-3 days.

Another interesting delicacy made from hawthorn fruits is candied fruit. In order to prepare them, take 2 kg of seedless berries, 2.4 kg of sugar, 0.6 liters of purified water and 4 g of citric acid. A syrup is made from water and sugar, berries are poured into it and left overnight. In the morning, put on fire and cook for 15 minutes, adding acid at the end. In the evening, cook a third time until soft. Next, the fruits are removed, the syrup is allowed to drain, laid out on a tray, sprinkled with fine granulated sugar and dried for several days.

We suggest you read: How to properly dry apples for the winter in an electric dryer, oven, microwave, in the sun on a string, in a convection oven? At what temperature should you dry apples and for how long?

Did you know? Translated from Greek, hawthorn means “strong,” and it was named so, according to one version, due to its hard and durable wood. Although there is another version: the plant is a long-liver and can live up to 400 years.

By harvesting hawthorn in the fall, you can replenish the supply of missing nutrients during the winter months and please your household with delicacies from this amazing berry given to us by nature. So don’t regret spending a few autumn days harvesting and processing these wonderful fruits - they’re worth it.

In addition to the classic dried hawthorn, there are also a huge number of more original preparations. Berry puree will be perfectly stored in jars. The tincture of these fruits, although it contains alcohol, will still have a beneficial effect on the functioning of the body. The main thing is not to exceed the permissible limits.

Cognac tincture

This tincture cannot be perceived as a regular alcoholic drink. This is a medicine that needs to be taken only once a day and no more than 30 drops. Only in this case will the drink be beneficial.

Products required for tincture:

200 g fruits;
0.5 liters of cognac.

This tincture should not be taken as a regular alcoholic drink
. Preparation steps:

Pour the washed berries into a darkened bottle.
Then pour cognac into this container.
Place the drink in a dark place for 45 days.

Hawthorn puree

Berries can even be prepared in the form of puree. At the same time, you won’t need sugar, they will be perfectly stored anyway, and in winter they will become the basis for other, more perfect dishes.

Ingredients required for puree:

1 kg of hawthorn;
200 ml water.

The berries need to be washed well and transferred to a saucepan.
Then just pour water over them and after boiling, cook for 5 minutes.
Boiled fruits should be placed in a sieve and ground.
Without allowing it to cool, transfer the puree into jars and roll up.

With the advent of modern household appliances, and in particular refrigerators with spacious freezers, people are increasingly beginning to resort to freezing berries in order to preserve all their beneficial properties. Naturally, hawthorn can also be prepared in this way.

Berries frozen according to all the rules will not stick together

You just need to follow a number of rules so that the berries remain as healthy as possible and do not spoil:

use the quick freeze function;
freeze only ripe fruits;
the berries must first be washed and dried;
in the freezer you need to spread film or foil, and put hawthorn on it;
Only after the berries are completely frozen, package them in bags.

The well-known hawthorn berries can be added not only to tea. It is from these beautiful, richly colored fruits that a huge number of preparations can be prepared. Each of them will turn out to be not only tasty, but also healthy.

At the same time, you just have to take into account that such preparations cannot be abused, even if it is jam or compote. Still, this is not a simple delicacy, but a medicine. And when taking any medications, you must follow the dosage, even if you prepare them yourself.

Methods for drying berries

There are five main ways to dry hawthorn fruits at home. Each of them helps preserve berries for a long period of time without losing their beneficial qualities. During the fruit drying procedure, the following basic principles should be adhered to:

it is impossible to indicate the exact time period for obtaining finished dry products: each case is individual and depends on the quality of the material used and the available equipment;
the fruits must be stirred periodically;
to check whether the berry is dry, you need to pick it up and squeeze it - if it is soft, then you need to continue the process;
the berries should not leak juice: the cracked berry is removed, and the place where it leaked is well soaked or covered with new lining material;
the finished product loses almost 75% of its weight, it becomes wrinkled, dark red and even brown.

On open air

The easiest way to dry hawthorn berries is traditional, using open space. Drying is carried out in a dark place where direct sunlight does not penetrate. The main condition is constant air ventilation and the absence of excess moisture. The procedure can be done in the yard (but be sure to bring the product into the house at night and in damp weather), in the attic, in the kitchen or on the balcony. In apartments they practice radiator drying.

Shelf life and storage of dry products

Dried flowers and leaves should be stored in natural fabric bags, paper boxes or wooden bags. There is no need to close them tightly, they should “breathe”.

Dry fruits should also be stored in containers made of natural materials. It is not recommended to use plastic bags or plastic containers for storing hawthorn - the fruits in them will quickly deteriorate.

The optimal shelf life of the dried product is 2 years. It is advisable to consume prepared hawthorn dishes immediately, unless other terms are provided for in the recipe (for example, when preparing infusions). Also, this does not apply to alcoholic drinks, the preparation of which can take weeks.

When and how to collect hawthorn

Most often, large, smooth, intact berries that have a rich black, orange, red or burgundy color are taken for personal use. You need to do this:

at the end of August - beginning of September (or a month later, depending on weather conditions);
before frosts begin to strike at night, otherwise the “apples” will lose their appearance and most of the beneficial substances from their composition;
in the afternoon or in the morning, when it is dry, clear, and windless.

Clean, fully ripe bunches should be picked after the dew with the stalks has evaporated; they will subsequently be easy to remove. Do not damage the branches of the house bush. Flowers are stored in May-June, some time after they have opened, cut off with whole umbrellas (dried, not wet), with stems.

Unopened buds should be left untouched: they slowly lose moisture, after which they become unkempt brown. Plant materials of this color are usually of poor quality.

Smooth, healthy, fairly large leaves - no more than a third from any branch - must be carefully torn off before the berries set. In early spring, if you have the skills, you can trim branches of woody shoots no older than 4 years, separate the bark - it can also be dried. Everything collected is transported, without compacting, in open buckets, wooden, birch bark, wicker baskets, baskets. Synthetic containers - plastic bags, plastic containers - block air access. Fruits and flowers can fail in quality: they become wrinkled, lose moisture along with useful biocomponents (condensation will be released). There is no point in drying them.

Features of drying hawthorn

There are many methods, they are equally effective. Which one to choose, how long it will take, where and how to put the raw materials depends on the specific conditions. From a medical point of view, the minimum benefit comes from working with leaves, while the maximum benefit comes from working with the berries of garden shrubs. Properly prepared in an electric oven or with another approach, they can lie all winter, saving almost the same amount of microelements, flavonoids, vitamins that they contained at the time of collection.

Outdoors

If the weather is good, stable + 18-25°C, sunny, cloudless, hawthorn raw materials are given:

spread in a thin layer on fabric, metal, constantly replaced paper flooring (grids, trays, baking sheets, sieves);
dry, stirring lightly from time to time, otherwise it will cake and freeze;
bring it under the roof at night, protecting it from dew;
protect with gauze from insects flying towards the aroma.

Dry on the street, balcony or attic, provided that the workpieces are not exposed to sunlight and the breeze moves freely around the room. Under favorable conditions, the flowers will reach the desired condition first (in 2-3 days), then the fruits (another 2-3 days), then the bark.

In an electric oven

Bring the internal temperature to 40°C, place the berries in a single layer on a dry, clean baking sheet, if possible covered with siliconized parchment paper. Large “apples” are not forbidden to be crushed or cut. Leave for 60 minutes, turning on the convection mode or opening the damper slightly so that the moisture evaporates freely. Then heat to 60°C, not higher, otherwise the beneficial substances will begin to be destroyed. Let sit for 4-8 hours until done.

In a gas oven

Turn on the stove and heat it to the same starting temperature as in the previous case. Load the fruits inside, providing air access, reduce the gas to a minimum, dry, waiting 5-7 hours. Check and stir regularly.

In an electric dryer

The principle and timing of raw material aging are approximately the same. You can pour full pallets, but every 60 minutes move the lowest one to the top, and move the rest with a “ladder”. Pressure is standard. Determine readiness by the degree of moisture saturation of the berries. Do not allow burning, frying, steaming, or turning into completely dehydrated lumps of peel: the bioactive components will be destroyed.

Using a microwave

Another method of electric drying. Do not wash the boilers, collect them in small volumes and place them on a heat-resistant plate between two layers of cotton fabric. Set the power to 200 W.

On battery

Pour the raw materials into drying containers that stand firmly on the radiators, lay paper down. Then proceed as if using the “fresh air” method. Stir regularly and change the litter. Keep pets away. Put away for storage one day after it is ready to prevent mold contamination.

On the air fryer

The fastest method. Set the temperature to +45-60°C, medium blowing speed. Dry by opening the device door slightly.

In the refrigerator (modern, with auto defrost)

Recommended for those who cannot use other methods. Place a tray on the shelf, lay two layers of newspapers (then replace the bottom one every day). Spread the hawthorn loosely on them and place paper, gauze or cloth on top. Leave for 5 days, stir if desired. The disadvantages of the natural method are the length of time and the inability to further disinfect the raw materials. Drying hawthorn preparations in an oven or other device is often preferable.

Fruits prepared for storage are distinguished by their oval or round shape, dark, rather rich shade of peel, increased hardness and density. Wrinkled, they do not give juice; when cooled, they cannot be cut with a knife; when squeezed in your hand, they crumble and do not stick together. If you try, they will seem astringently sweet or tart. The inflorescences may remain intact or disintegrate. The petals should exude a weak, specific, pungent aroma, have a bitter taste, and be easily crushed into powder with two fingers.

Ready-made bark, processed in an oven on a gas or electric stove or in a drying oven, is brownish on top, yellowish on the inside, brittle. Raw materials that have not been brought to perfect condition must be dried a little more, otherwise they will begin to deteriorate.

How to prepare hawthorn for the winter? Interesting ways

Hawthorn juice.
For 1 kilogram of hawthorn berries, take 50 grams of granulated sugar and 1 liter of water. We wash the hawthorn berries and, adding a little water, cook over low heat for 1-2 hours. Place the boiled berries on a sieve and rub through it. Add granulated sugar and a little more water and bring to a boil.

Disassemble the hawthorn berries, wash them, and place them in a saucepan. Add a little water and boil. Place the boiled berries in a colander, cool and rub through a sieve. Next, add granulated sugar and more water, then put it on the fire and cook until the required thickness.

In folk medicine, hawthorn fruits are actively used to regulate the functioning of the cardiovascular system. They lower blood pressure, have a beneficial effect on the nervous, digestive and urinary systems, and also help strengthen the immune system.

In cooking, hawthorn is used to make jam, compote, and used as a filling for pies. Preparing hawthorn for the winter means stocking up on vitamins for the year ahead and providing the body with natural support, since the substances it contains also prevent various diseases.

Hawthorn fruits can be frozen, but it is recommended to do this very quickly so that the berries do not have time to lose their beneficial properties. Therefore, those who have a refrigerator with a quick or deep freezing function are lucky:

collect ripe berries, rinse and place on a paper towel;

If you dry hawthorn correctly, the dry berries can be stored for up to eight years. Dried fruits can be used both for medicinal purposes and in cooking. You can dry fruits in different ways:

In the oven. The fruits are collected, ripe and undamaged are selected. After which they need to be washed and dried. Dry berries are laid out on a baking sheet and placed in an oven preheated to 60°C. The door must be left ajar to allow moisture to escape.

At home, you can prepare a tincture from both ripe fruits and collected hawthorn flowers:

Dried berry tincture. 150 grams of dry fruits need to be crushed and poured with a liter of vodka. The tincture is placed in a dark and cool place and waited for three weeks.

Hawthorn jam. Fresh berries are washed and dried. After which it is necessary to remove the stalks and seeds. Peeled berries are covered with sugar at a ratio of 2:1 and placed on very low heat. After boiling, cook for five minutes, turn off and cover with a lid. The procedure must be repeated two more times with an interval of 10 hours.

One of the fastest and easiest options is drying. After removal, the fruits should be evenly distributed over the surface of the oilcloth or placed in an electric dryer. Under natural conditions, the process is much longer – it takes at least a week. In rainy weather, berries should be brought indoors.

To speed up drying, you can use a regular oven. Both fruits and buds that have not yet blossomed are suitable as raw materials. The dried harvest is placed in a fabric bag and is perfectly stored for a long time - several years.

It should be noted that hawthorn is not only dried. Preparing for the winter is, of course, a troublesome task, but the result is worth it. Fresh fruits are frozen and cooked. Juices, jams, compotes, jams and pastilles are made from them. There are countless canning recipes.

Do not forget that after heat treatment a lot of vitamins are lost, so it is recommended to cover the ground berries with granulated sugar and use them to boost immunity. And for those with a sweet tooth, we offer a couple of delicious cooking options.

Before you prepare hawthorn for the winter, you need to take care of the products for preservation. For a kilogram of fresh berries you will need the same amount of sugar, one and a half glasses of plain water and half a dessert spoon of lemon.

Sort through and remove blackened and damaged fruits. We rinse and let the liquid drain (use a colander). In a deep container, dissolve sugar in water and put on fire. Cook the sweet syrup until the grains of sand completely disappear.

Pour the hot solution over the berries and leave them in the room for 10-12 hours. Place the pan with the fruit on the stove, let the mixture boil, add citric acid and cook for 15 minutes. Cover with a towel and wait until it cools completely.

If desired, you can make seedless jam: boil the fruits for ten minutes, then pass through a meat grinder or sieve. This homemade delicacy is perfect as a filling for confectionery products.

Preparing hawthorn for the winter means stocking up on vitamins for the year ahead and providing the body with natural support, since the substances it contains also prevent various diseases.

Freezing valuable fruits

collect ripe berries, rinse and place on a paper towel;
spread a layer of foil in the freezer compartment;
place the berries on it in one layer and set the fast freezing mode;
Once the berries are frozen, transfer them to a bag or container.

The classic version of the workpiece is drying

In the oven. The fruits are collected, ripe and undamaged are selected. After which they need to be washed and dried. Dry berries are laid out on a baking sheet and placed in an oven preheated to 60°C. The door must be left ajar to allow moisture to escape.
In an electric dryer. Clean and selected berries are laid out in one layer and dried at full power for several hours.
In a bag on the battery. Clean and dry berries are placed in a small canvas bag, which is placed on the battery. There should not be a lot of berries, otherwise they will not dry well.
Natural drying. The berries are laid out on paper and covered with gauze. You can dry the berries in this way in a dry and well-ventilated area.

After drying, the stalks are removed from the berries and they are transferred to bags or jars. Dried berries can be used to prepare infusions in combination with other herbs and berries, and crushed fruits can be mixed with flour.

Medicinal tincture of hawthorn fruit

Dried berry tincture. 150 grams of dry fruits need to be crushed and poured with a liter of vodka. The tincture is placed in a dark and cool place and waited for three weeks.
Fresh berry tincture. 200 grams of fresh berries should be poured with cognac (0.5 or 0.7) and placed in a dark and cool place for 6-7 weeks. After which the tincture is filtered and stored in the refrigerator.
Tincture of hawthorn flowers. 100 grams of collected flowers are poured with a liter of vodka and left for 10 days. Then they filter and accept.

You need to take tinctures 20-30 drops three times a day. They strengthen the heart muscle and help lower blood pressure. That is why they are recommended for older people.

Compotes and jam from hawthorn berries

Hawthorn jam. Fresh berries are washed and dried. After which it is necessary to remove the stalks and seeds. Peeled berries are covered with sugar at a ratio of 2:1 and placed on very low heat. After boiling, cook for five minutes, turn off and cover with a lid. The procedure must be repeated two more times with an interval of 10 hours.
Hawthorn compote. Wash fresh berries and remove seeds. Pour three cups of peeled berries into a sterilized jar. Add 2-2.5 cups of sugar to boiling water and pour the resulting syrup over the berries. Roll up the lids, place them under the table with the bottoms up and wrap them up.

Although hawthorn fruits are very useful, they are not suitable for everyone. For example, infusions and decoctions are not recommended for people suffering from hypotension, as well as pregnant women and nursing mothers.

They write that it is “fashionable” to dry hawthorn in the oven, but I dried it the old fashioned way - on the stove (in the village) and on the radiator (in cloth bags). Although I know that not all districts of St. Petersburg provided heat. I put the rest in a 3 liter jar to the brim and filled 1.3 liters (no more could fit) with high quality vodka.

We invite you to familiarize yourself with: Incomparable salad of vegetables and champignons for the winter

But I remember how, during Gorbachev’s Prohibition Law, at a birthday party they drank such a tincture (nothing was sold anywhere), it didn’t come to the cake, everyone fell asleep safely, some on the chair, some under the table: no overeating, no fights, it was comfortable and it was funny.

Everyone knows that pharmacies sell alcoholic tincture of hawthorn, but for some time now this drink has simply been compromised.

It is better to simply dry it - in the oven, at low temperature, or in a special dryer. In winter you can brew tea. It is better to store dried hawthorn in a dry glass container in a cool place. In this form, hawthorn can be stored for several years.

Another simple way is to freeze the berries in the freezer. In winter, you can cook a healing compote.

Collect the ripe berries, rinse and place on a paper towel.