Not everyone likes the bitter taste of viburnum, but you can not refuse the plant with beauty. Indisputable are the beneficial properties of berries, which help to overcome a cold, get rid of a headache, high pressure and insomnia.
Taste deficiencies of fruits are easily corrected with sugar.
Information on how to preserve viburnum longer will help to use the healing properties of the berry for more than one month after harvesting or buying.
When harvest viburnum
Kalina - a plant unassuming and does not require special care. It is well acclimatized after planting and happy harvest next year. Therefore, if possible, it must be placed on your site.
Harvesting and preserving the harvest - these processes depend only on diligence, because they are also simple.
Full ripening viburnum occurs in late autumn. The indicator is the first frost. As soon as he passed, you can immediately start collecting. The cold contributes to the fact that the berries lose most of their bitterness and become much sweeter.
Kalina is going to whole bunches. It is best to cut them with pruners and place them in wooden or cardboard containers. One berry can not be torn off: they will be damaged and turn into a mash.
Brushes viburnum can be put in a container in several layers. The skin of the pristine berries is dense and should not burst.
When waiting for the first frost is not possible, viburnum can be collected earlier (in August or September). But in this case, the berries must be sent to the freezer. There they will reach the desired condition. Berries can be left frozen or stored in another way.
How to store viburnum fresh
In an advantageous position are those who have their own home. Then viburnum can be stored, hanging clusters in the cellar, basement or shed. You need to make them a small bunch (bunch), gently tie and place the berries down. For convenience, you can stretch the rope and hang the brush on it. Until the next harvest berries remain in perfect condition.
You can put a brush viburnum on the balcony or in the refrigerator. In the first case, the bundle should be hung down with berries, in the second - folded into spacious containers (in a saucepan, jar) and not completely covered. In such circumstances, viburnum calmly survive the winter, all of its healing qualities remain inside the berries.
If it is not possible to store viburnum brushes at a low temperature, it is desirable to process, dry or freeze the fruit.
Storage of frozen viburnum berries
If the berries are not fully harvested, leave them in a tree - they calmly winter. Is that some of them peck birds. Kalina is an amazing plant: the berries are not only not afraid of a long twenty-degree frost, they become tastier from the cold.
This means that fruit can be stored frozen. For this:
- Separate berries from the stalks from the brush.
- Remove damaged fruits.
- Spoon the viburnum into sachets or into containers and ship into the freezer. If to freeze dry berries, they will remain in a friable look and will not stick together among themselves.
Before freezing, Kalina should not be washed. This procedure must be done immediately before eating berries. Do not freeze in a single container a large amount of viburnum. It should be enough to last for one-time use without residue. If the berries did not go all the way, you can not freeze them again: you will get a useless product. It is necessary to throw the remaining viburnum into the tea or to fill it with sugar.
Storage of viburnum with sugar
Kalina, rubbed with sugar, is a “live” jam, cooked without heat treatment. It is stored for at least a year. All the beneficial properties of viburnum are stored in full.
The sequence of cooking berries, rubbed with sugar:
- Wash viburnum brushes under a small stream of water.
- Spread out on paper towels and dry.
- Separate the berries from the stalks.
- Place viburnum in a large container and add sugar or honey in a 1: 1 ratio.
- Stir. Mashed berries with sugar, turning into mashed potatoes. Pips must not be removed, as they also contain useful elements.
- Leave the viburnum mixture for about an hour. Re-mix.
- Prepare mashed berries in a clean glass container, cover with plastic covers.
Store viburnum should be in a cool dim room. It is suitable and pantry and refrigerator.
If the storage space for blanks is not cool enough, you can hedge and sterilize the grated berries in hot water. Half-liter jars filled with viburnum should be held in boiling water for ten minutes, liter - twenty. When using sterilization, it is allowed to reduce the amount of sweet sand from one kg to 700 grams (per kg of viburnum). Berries can not wipe, and alternately with sugar poured into a glass jar. At the top there should be a layer of sweet ingredient. Harvested Kalina should be stored in the refrigerator. Banks tightly closed with plastic covers.
A week later, Kalina can be consumed. It will continue well until autumn.
Dried Viburnum
One of the ways to store viburnum - drying berries. This operation can be done in the oven. But first, it is desirable to slightly lower the berries.
To dry the brush viburnum in one layer should be decomposed on a baking sheet. Then send the berries in the oven, heated to 50-60 degrees. The door should remain ajar.
When the berries shrivel, it means that drying them is enough.
Kalina should cool down. Next you need to separate the berries from the stalks. If it is difficult to do, let them remain.
Dried viburnum is stored under a closed lid in a dry glass container. You can use cotton bags.
When the fall dry weather persists for at least a week, the berries can be dried in the air. They should be laid out on clean paper, covered with gauze or a thin towel. Periodically, the berries need to be mixed.
Kalina helps to maintain health, filling the body with vitamins on dark and cold winter days. This inexpensive and affordable product can replace many medications. It is only necessary to store viburnum so that all its beneficial properties remain inside the berries.
