Summer is in full swing. Red currant ripened, and hostesses with might and main engaged in harvesting this berry for the winter.
After all, red currant is not only tasty, but simply necessary in the winter with mass catarrhal diseases as an excellent vitamin remedy due to the large amount of vitamin C.
The best way to preserve vitamins in a red currant is to freeze it.
Of course, before that you need to work a little, because sorting out small berries, though it is not difficult, but very tiring.
How to prepare red currants for freezing
First, the red currant is sorted out, remove all the twigs, leaves, and damaged berries.
The berries of red currant are well washed under running water, placing in small batches in a colander.
Then the berries are well dried, laying out a thin layer on a towel.
How to freeze red currants with whole berries
Well-dried berries of red currant spread in one layer on a tray or flat plate and placed in the freezer for several hours.
As soon as the berries of the red currant become hard, they are poured into plastic containers or plastic bags, well closed and removed for further storage in the freezer.
To make the work move faster, the berries are frozen in parts, that is: they sort out a small portion of berries, washed, dried, are sent for initial freezing. While the first batch of berries is frozen, the next one is prepared. But you can still simplify the freezing, skipping the initial freezing. After all, red currant berries are hard and, if well dried, then they will not freeze in one during freezing.
Thanks to this quality of red currant, the berries remain intact even after defrosting.
How to freeze red currants with sugar
Washed and sorted berries of red currant are laid out in plastic containers and sprinkled with sugar. Immediately close the lids and placed in a freezer for freezing.
How to freeze red currant puree with sugar
Red currant puree can be frozen in two ways.
Method 1
Pure red currant berries without twigs are crushed in a blender and mixed with sugar (for one kilogram of red currants take 200-400 grams of sugar).
Puree laid out in plastic containers. Glass containers for freezing can not be taken, since the glass at very low temperatures may burst.
Containers are filled with berry puree not up to the top, given the fact that frozen liquids expand and increase in volume.
The containers are well covered with lids and put in the freezer.
Method 2
Pure berries without sprigs are poured into a bowl, add as much sugar as in the first recipe, and pounded with tolkushkoy. You can also wear disposable rubber gloves or regular plastic bags, securing them to the wrists with rubber bands, and rub the currants with your hands. This method is good because, firstly, the berries do not come into contact with the metal surfaces of kitchen appliances and therefore all the vitamins are stored completely. And secondly, in the finished puree will come across whole berries, which will improve the taste and appearance of the finished product. The finished puree is poured into containers, tightly covered with lids and cleaned in the freezer.
How to defrost red currants
Before using red currant puree is defrosted in a refrigerator or at room temperature.
If for the preparation of a dish you need whole red currant berries, for example, for the filling, then you can not defrost them, but use them frozen.
Frozen red currant berries can be stored until the next harvest, but still it is better to use them for food no later than three to four months from the date of storage.
Red currant, like other frozen products, is not subject to re-freezing.
