The cloudberry berry is similar in shape to raspberries. But the taste and smell of her is completely different. And this is not surprising, because it is a northern plant and does not inhabit the garden.
Cloudberry berries are located next to blueberries, blueberries, lingonberries. Ledum and sphagnum (peat moss) often grows near them. So cloudberries still need to be found and only then choose how to store it.
How to collect cloudberries and keep fresh
The berry must be harvested in the immature form. This is done in July, when the cloudberries have a red-yellow color. In less than two weeks, as the berry perezaret and collect it will be impossible. The fruit will become very juicy and soft, so with a small touch it will just disintegrate into pieces.
Cloudberries are put in cans or small buckets. Filling them to the top is not easy, as the berries gradually settle, losing their volume.
Immature cloudberries poured on paper in a room at room temperature. In a few days it will come completely. The color of the ripe berries yellow-orange, reminiscent of amber.
Cloudberries can be put in a cool place where it will lie for up to three months without any treatment. But before doing simple operations:
- Berries are poured into clean glass jars and lightly crushed.
- Put a piece of gauze soaked in vodka on top.
- The jar is covered with a plastic cap.
It is in this form that fresh cloudberries are stored. The dark storage room is perfect for her.
Some fresh cloudberries can be left in a plate, covered with cling film and put on the middle shelf of the refrigerator. She will not spoil for almost a week.
Storing cloudberries in honey
An unripe cloudberry is also stored, filled with honey. This method is expensive because sweets will need about half a liter per liter jar of cloudberries. So:
- Berries go through and take out the inner flower.
- Pour a small layer of cloudberries into a clean jar.
- Pour in three or four tablespoons of honey.
- Further repeat: a small layer of berries plus honey.
- Pour the berries to the top.
- Top layer generously pour honey.
- Close the jar with a tight lid.
Cloudberries must be stored at a temperature of up to +4 degrees. Storage time - a year and more.
Wet cloudberries
Storing berries in the wet form is a win-win. Suitable for unripe cloudberries. An overripe or battered berry is not used for urinating.
The process consists of the following steps:
- To go through the cloudberry and go to sleep in the jar.
- Pour boiling water at room temperature. It can be slightly sweetened: add half a glass of sugar to three liters of liquid.
- Cover the jar with a piece of gauze and put it in a fridge or other place cooler.
In this state, fresh cloudberries will perfectly remain for at least six months. The longest possible period is two years.
Storage of cloudberries dried
In dried form, cloudberries remain healthy and tasty. And the place does not take much.
You can dry cloudberries, like all other berries:
- in a natural way;
- in the oven or electric drier.
Berries do not dry in the open. This process requires partial shade and well ventilated room. More suitable for drying the attic or balcony than the open space on all sides. You can expand the trays with cloudberries and under a canopy. For complete drying it will take a week or ten days.
In the oven, the berries are cooked much faster. It is enough to send her there for an hour or two and set the temperature to 50 degrees. The oven door should be left half open.
To cloudberry dried out evenly, it must be periodically mixed.
After drying, the berries should be left at room temperature so that they cool completely.
Ready cloudberries must be poured into a paper bag or canvas bag. Store berries best in the pantry. They remain nutritious and tasty for up to two years.
Frozen Berry - Storage
You can freeze cloudberries:
- individual berries;
- with added sugar;
- in the form of mashed potatoes.
Freeze individual berries:
- First, they need to be washed and dried. If cloudberries are relatively clean, it is better not to dip them in water.
- Spread the berries in a single layer on a tray or plate and send to the freezer for several hours.
- Put the berries in plastic bags or containers and put them in the freezer again.
Freezing cloudberries in sugar:
- The berries are laid out in small plastic cups and add a spoon or two (tea) sugar.
- The container is tightly closed by rewinding it with cling film.
- Cloudberries are sent to the freezer.
To make mashed potatoes, you can use a blender or a regular potato masher. Sugar should be added to the harvest: one kilogram of berries is enough.
The finished puree is poured into portion plastic cups, wrapped with cling film and sent to the same freezer.
All kinds of frozen cloudberries will lie there winter, if they are not eaten before.
There are a lot of useful substances in cloudberries, but especially vitamin C. Its content in the berry is four times higher than in oranges. Therefore, if there is an opportunity to prepare cloudberries for the winter, the body will say a big thank you for a useful product.
