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It's time for strawberries! The unique aroma, incomparable juicy taste rightfully makes it the queen of berries. It is known that back in the 16-17th century, a wild-growing berry, strawberry, was grown in European gardens, from which strawberries appeared. In the herbal book of Jacob Theodor, dated 1625, one can read about the excellent taste of strawberries, that it quenches thirst and helps with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and kidneys. But this is not all the advantages of a small, but remote berry.
Modern medicine proves that strawberries are rich in vitamins (especially vitamin C) and potassium. Strawberry juice purifies the blood, and tea from strawberry leaves improves immunity, helps with indigestion, relieves night sweats, and has a beneficial effect on the function of the kidneys and urinary tract. To prepare one cup of tea, pour two teaspoons of leaves with boiling water, insist and filter. Tea should be drunk while still warm.
Especially tasty and unusually rich in valuable useful substances wild berry - wild strawberry. The cultivated berry - strawberries - has a higher water content, so its taste is less intense.
Among the Germanic peoples, strawberries are dedicated to the goddess of love and fertility, Freya. What causes the erotic effect of strawberries, to date, scientists have not yet proven, however, these sweet, red heart-shaped berries are associated with erotic love. Remember how, in the famous Hollywood movie Pretty Woman, Richard Gere explains to his girlfriend that strawberries set off the taste of champagne?
There are many varieties of strawberries. It is not always possible for a non-specialist to distinguish one variety from another. Perhaps you will notice a difference. Some varieties of strawberries have very large berries, others have a characteristic special aroma or a wonderful sweet taste. The decisive factors in the cultivation of a particular variety are, first of all, the yield and ripening time. Since the plant bears fruit once or twice a season, strawberry lovers grow varieties with different ripening dates to enjoy the taste of this miracle berry from June to October. 'Lambada', 'Kent' or 'Primera' are early varieties that bear fruit already at the end of May. Of the varieties of medium ripening, one can name "Elsanta" or "Korona". Late ripening varieties such as "Salsa", "Cosima" or "Florence".
Berry secret
What makes strawberries unique? If fruits such as cherries contain only 2-3 substances responsible for taste, then 360 volatile compounds provide the taste of strawberries. The range of flavors is impressive: we can feel a slight hint of caramel, and peach, and a delicate aroma of violet.
Unfortunately, strawberries also have their drawbacks: they are a very fragile and sensitive berry, which belongs to perishable products. It is easily damaged by pressure, it quickly loses its aroma and does not last long. Therefore, it is advisable to eat berries immediately after purchase.
How to choose strawberries
Undoubtedly, it is best to buy fresh strawberries directly from the manufacturer, or pick them yourself. The best time to pick berries is early in the morning. Harvested in the sun, strawberries become soft very quickly. Do not pick strawberries immediately after rain - wet berries absorb water, lose flavor and quickly deteriorate.
If you buy strawberries in the supermarket, pay attention to the following: the berries should be firm, shiny and have a bright red color. The cutting must be firmly attached to the berry. Check that there are no brown spots and dents on the berries - such berries quickly become moldy and rot. At home, immediately sort out damaged fruits, otherwise healthy ones can become infected from them. Grayish-matte berries are overripe, they are stored for a very short time.
Storing and freezing strawberries
The strawberries we eat lose their flavor and freshness every day. It is better to store strawberries unwashed. If you do not plan to eat the berries right away, put them in a wide dish, cover with a film and refrigerate at a temperature of +2-+6 0 C. Thus, the berries can be stored for 2-3 days, and at a temperature of 0 - +2 0 C - within five days.
Rinse whole berries with cold water immediately before use, let the water drain, and only after that you can remove the stalks, otherwise the berries will absorb a lot of water and lose their flavor.
If you want to extend the wonderful strawberry season and enjoy your berries all year long, just freeze them. Frozen strawberries can be stored for up to 10 months. To do this, select the freshest and most resilient berries. Ideally, if these are freshly picked berries. In purchased strawberries, freshness can be determined by green cuttings. If the small leaves are twisted or have lost their rich green color, then such berries are not suitable for freezing.
So, the selected strawberries should be washed, cleaned of the stalks and carefully laid out on a towel to dry.
The next day, the initially frozen berries should be taken out of the refrigerator, put into bags, tied tightly and put in the freezer now until winter.
The second way to freeze strawberries is to grind them into a puree, then spread the strawberry puree in portions into small plastic bags and freeze at a temperature of -18 0 C. This way, the berries will retain their flavor for many months. As needed, one package is defrosted, the puree is mixed with sugar and this yummy is added to cocktails, creams, desserts. Strawberry puree can also be frozen in ice cube trays.
Like any frozen food, strawberries shouldn't stay in the freezer forever. Stocks of frozen berries should be used up within a year, before the start of the next strawberry season.
What to do with moldy strawberries
Mold spots can often be found on some strawberries. Such berries should be thrown away, cutting off the moldy part is not enough! Due to the high water content, mold spores spread throughout the fruit very quickly, although this may not be visible to the naked eye. Strawberries with dark, soft spots should also not be eaten, it is possible that such berries have already been damaged by bacteria.
Translation: Lesya V.
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Sort through the strawberries, discarding any soft or moldy berries.
Remove inedible green sepals. Strawberries are usually sold with the sepals. They must be removed before freezing.
Think about how you want to freeze the berry. You can freeze the whole berries, but if you are going to use these strawberries for cooking in the future, it may be more convenient for you to cut the berries into pieces of the desired size in advance or mash them into a puree. If you freeze and then thaw the berries, they will be more difficult to cut, although you can easily mash a melted berry. Larger berries cut into pieces can be frozen and thawed more evenly.
Add sugar or sugar syrup (optional). If you add sugar or sugar syrup to the berry, it will help to keep its taste, aroma and shape better, but not everyone likes that the berries become too sweet from this. If you decide to go this route, take 100 grams of sugar for every liter of berries, whether whole, chopped or mashed. Another way is to make a rich sugar syrup by mixing sugar and warm water in a ratio of 1:1, then chill it in the refrigerator and pour over the berries so that they are completely covered in syrup.
- Sugar or sugar syrup is best added to the berry when it is already laid out in containers. However, it's best to decide whether you'll be adding sugar ahead of time to leave room for the sugar or syrup in the container.
Consider using pectin syrup instead of sugar (optional). This is a good option if you like unsweetened strawberries but want to keep their flavor and shape better than normal, "dry" freezing, without adding any ingredients. You will need to buy a pack of pectin powder and brew it with boiling water. The amount of water required per package varies and depends on the particular brand of product. Let the syrup cool completely before pouring over the berries.
Place the strawberries in a container suitable for freezing food. Plastic and thick glass containers work well, but make sure they are suitable for freezing first. Another way is to freeze the berries in a plastic freezer bag with a closure clip. Do not pack the strawberries too tightly, otherwise the berries will freeze into a single mass. We advise you to leave the container empty at the top by 1.5-2 centimeters, because when frozen, the berry expands.
- If you are freezing the berry in the "dry" way, without adding sugar or syrup, it is best to scatter the berry loosely in a single layer on a baking sheet or freezer tray and freeze for several hours. After that, frozen berries can be decomposed into containers or bags. In this way you will get individual berries. which can be obtained one at a time, and not a frozen, single conglomerate.
Before use, the berries must be partially thawed. Remove the strawberries from the freezer and let them thaw in the refrigerator for a few hours. If you want to speed up this process, you can put the strawberries under cold running water. You should not defrost the berry in the microwave or use other defrosting methods, this can turn the berry into an unappetizing shapeless mass. You can eat the berry when there are still ice crystals on its surface, completely melted strawberries often become soft and sour.
- In each case, the defrosting time depends on the size of the berries and the freezing temperature. A large volume of berries frozen together may need to be left overnight or even longer.
Strawberries freshly picked from the garden, if properly stored, will last a week in the refrigerator. But no one knows how long the berries have been waiting for you on the counter. Below are a few life hacks that will help strawberries last a couple of days longer.
1. Choose fresh berries
Food storage starts with purchase. When you choose strawberries, carefully inspect the berries themselves and the container in which they are stored. If the strawberries have darkened, become soft, and pieces of pulp remain on the walls of the box, then the berries have already begun to deteriorate. Even a few moldy berries are a sign of a stale product.
When picking strawberries from your own garden, pick off completely reddened but still firm berries without waiting for them to soften.
2. Sort through strawberries immediately after purchase
Even if you really want to put the box in the refrigerator and take it out, just to pour cream on the berries, you need to make an effort and sort through all the berries after purchase. The cleanest, freshest batch of store-bought berries can contain a couple of moldy ones. You need to get rid of them immediately, otherwise this fly in the ointment will spoil the entire barrel of honey.
The same applies to food stored nearby: mold quickly spoils strawberries, so keep only fresh fruit in the refrigerator.
3. Choose the right storage container
In good packaging, strawberries will stay fresh longer, and good packaging for berries is boxes made of durable cardboard or wood with holes for ventilation. Plastic can also work, but holes must also be made in it. The thinner the layer of berries, the longer they will lie in the refrigerator. Spread layers of strawberries with paper towels to absorb excess moisture.
4. Do not wash all the berries at once
Strawberries should only be washed before you are going to eat them. If you leave the berries moist, they will spoil faster, so postpone the water treatment until you decide to use the strawberries. When it is required to store clean berries, after washing, put them on a paper towel and dry.
5. Use Vinegar
A mixture of water and vinegar helps to remove bacteria from the surface of the berries better than water alone. But this method should be used only if there were a lot of spoiled berries in one batch: then the benefits of processing will be higher than the harm from excess moisture.
Make a solution by mixing vinegar with water in a ratio of 1:3. Spray berries or rinse by rubbing each berry gently. In any case, do not forget to dry the strawberries on a paper towel.
6. Store berries in a special compartment of the refrigerator
In the last few years, almost all refrigerators have been produced with special compartments, the temperature in which does not exceed 2 ºС. That's where you put the berries.
7. Freeze strawberries
Many are unhappy with this method, because after defrosting the berries spread and turn into porridge. To prevent this from happening, send only strong berries to the freezer and only after removing the leaves, stems and drying the strawberries after washing.
If you're freezing whole strawberries, get creative. For example, dip berries in melted chocolate or yogurt before freezing.
Follow certain rules: in order for the berries to retain their beautiful shape, first lay them out one at a time (for example, on cutting boards), and then pour them into bags or boxes. There must be room in the bags so that the strawberries do not turn into an ice ball.
8. Freeze Strawberry Puree
If the berries do not stand the test of frost, and you can’t eat them right now, don’t resist the circumstances. Make a puree, and send it to the freezer already. Then you can add crushed berries to smoothies or make pie fillings from them.
9. Defrost Properly
Do not put the berries in the microwave or under running water, as they are guaranteed to soften. Let them thaw in the refrigerator and eat while ice crystals are still present. Completely thawed strawberries still lose their shape.
10. Preserve Strawberries in Sugar Syrup
This is a reliable way to preserve the berries, but in fact, you will end up with almost jam. For 800 g of berries, 400 g of sugar and three glasses of water will be required. Rinse the strawberries and dip them in boiling water for 30-60 seconds. Then transfer to sterilized jars. Pour boiling syrup from water and sugar, close with sterilized lids.
11. Pour pectin syrup over strawberries
This is not the most common way, because pectin powder is rarely found on the shelves of ordinary stores. But you can buy it. Pectin is a natural stabilizer, most often obtained from apples. Put clean berries in sterile jars and fill them with boiled and cooled pectin syrup (cooking proportions vary depending on the manufacturer, so follow the instructions on the package). Strawberries will not become too cloying and retain their natural taste, but not for long - such preservation is not very reliable. In pectin, berries can also be frozen for greater safety.
We all love summer for the abundance of fruits, vegetables and berries. Most of all I love strawberries. But, unfortunately, it does not please with its taste and aroma for so long. Of course, you can cook delicious jam for the winter. I wrote about the best recipes for strawberry jam in a previous article. But it is much more useful, and faster, to freeze the berry. It retains more vitamins and when cooking, we use less sugar, or we can do without it altogether.
Frozen berries can be used in different ways. These delicate juicy fruits are versatile: they are suitable as a filling for all types of desserts, pastries, yoghurts, as well as for decorating, for example, ice cream or alcoholic cocktails.
But not everything is as simple as it might seem at first glance. Freezing Victoria for the winter has its own characteristics and secrets. So, let's begin.
Strawberries can be frozen in three different ways:
- freeze whole berries
- freeze strawberries with sugar (if the berry is large, you can cut it into pieces)
- grind in a blender or mash with sugar
In order to choose the right freezing method, it is better to decide in advance which dishes the berry will go into. I do not like just defrosted Victoria, it is very watery. Most often, it goes to the preparation of fresh mashed potatoes (crushed with sugar) or compotes. Therefore, I often freeze sliced \u200b\u200bin containers, sprinkled with sugar a little. In this form, it takes up less space than the whole.
It is important to follow some rules for freezing for the winter:
First, you need to choose only the best ripe berries: clean, without damage and wormholes.
Pay attention not to the leaves: if they have dried up or turned yellow, the berry was collected a long time ago.
The second important condition is the presence of a freezer, because the ideal temperature for storing frozen berries is -18-25 C. Under such conditions, the berries will lie until the next season. When stored in a conventional freezer, the shelf life is reduced to 3-4 months.
Third, capacity. After all, our task is to preserve the berries and at the same time arrange them compactly in the freezer. We will choose a container depending on the method of freezing. For whole berries and for sliced \u200b\u200bstrawberries, plastic boxes of about the same size or zip bags (with a clasp) are best suited.
It is better to take containers square or rectangular, this saves space in the freezer.
Strawberry puree can be frozen in any container, even in small plastic bottles. It is more convenient, of course, to use rectangular containers.
Tip: If there are a lot of berries, you can use the containers as a form for freezing: place a plastic bag inside the container, cover with berries and freeze. Now the package with berries has a convenient shape, and the container can be used again.
Next, let's look at portions. It is important to think in advance how you will use the berries, because their re-freezing is unacceptable. Divide the berries so you can use a serving at a time based on your family's preferences. In any case, with a volume of more than 500-1000 grams, the berries will crush each other.
So, we took ripe and good berries. Now you need to sort them out, tear off the sepals and wash well.
To wash or not to wash the berries before freezing is a debatable issue. Most are inclined to believe that it is necessary in any case. I always wash it, because when defrosted, strawberries will give juice and then it will not be possible to wash it.
Do this in small portions in a colander, under a gentle stream of cool water or in a basin, changing the water several times. Only cold water, do not wash with hot water. After we throw it in a colander, and when it drains, transfer it to a cotton or paper towel.
It is important to remember that only dry berries can be frozen!
Now everything is ready, we begin to prepare it for freezing. It depends on the method we have chosen.
If you decide to freeze as a whole, put the berries on a tray or tray in one (!) Layer so that the berries do not touch, and place in the freezer.
It is better to set the quick freeze mode, if you have it. After a couple of hours, pour the already frozen berries into containers or bags.
According to the second method (in my opinion - the most convenient), we cut the berry into 2 - 4 parts, depending on the size. And put in a container, sprinkling with sugar. There are no strict proportions here, I add about a glass per liter container.
And the last way for these berries is grated with sugar. Prepared berries are placed in a blender and beat until smooth with the addition of sugar (the amount of sugar is about 300 grams per 1 kg of berries).
Instead of a blender, you can crush the berry with a pusher or even just mash it with a fork. I like this option better.
Pour ready-made puree into containers or zip bags.
We install our containers in the freezer in one layer, after a few hours everything will freeze.
Such strawberry puree can be prepared without a freezer, just roll it into jars.
For convenience, sign all containers - put the date of freezing and the name, for example - grated with sugar. Then it will be more convenient to find the right product.
Well, in the long winter we will eat this wonderful and fragrant berry. A few more words on how to unfreeze it. It is better to do it gradually. First, move the container from the freezer to the refrigerator for about 12 hours. I usually leave overnight. Then thaw at room temperature.
Spend just a little time in the summer - and then in the winter you can enjoy delicious and extremely healthy desserts.
It's strawberry season here. The price tags have gradually dropped, and the variety of choices has increased. Now is the time to buy strawberries or think about what to do with the one that has grown on your site. But how to properly store strawberries so that they remain fresh and do not lose their appearance and useful properties. We will talk about this today.
fresh berries
When buying strawberries, first of all, you need to pay attention to the freshness of the berry you are buying. After all, it is not enough to know how to properly store fresh strawberries at home, it must initially be fresh. Carefully inspect both the berries and the container that is used to store them.
Strawberries should be bright and elastic, beware of darkened soft berries. Pay attention to whether pieces of berries remain on the walls of the container if you move it a little. If this is found, then know that these are not fresh berries that have already begun to deteriorate. Nothing good will come of them.
If strawberries are grown directly by you, then you should not wait until the berries begin to soften. It is necessary to tear already red, but still firm and elastic berries.
From such a crop, you can both cook something interesting and freeze them for the future. Such strawberries will also lie much longer, it is only important to keep them at a low temperature.
iterate over
After you buy strawberries, immediately, upon arrival home, take the time to sort through them. Even if you bought berries in order to then just get them out of the refrigerator, mix them with cream, eat it like that, or add it to ice cream - you need to sort it out. It often turns out that when buying, you missed a few not very high-quality berries, and they can harm their neighbors.
Do not forget about how long strawberries are stored in different conditions. If you decide not to put it in the refrigerator, then you can count on eight hours, and this is from the moment of collection. Here everything depends more on the honesty of the seller.
By putting it in the refrigerator, you will increase this period to five days, which is already normal. Fresh freezing and placing in the freezer will provide you with strawberries for the whole year, while they will not lose their beneficial properties.
So, it is also necessary to sort out strawberries because the mold that can form in it will easily move to other fruits and vegetables in the refrigerator if they are not in separate trays or are not packed with cling film.
Capacity selection
Even by choosing the right strawberries, you can do much harm to yourself by choosing the wrong container for storage. Cardboard or wood are best suited for storing strawberries - small boxes with holes for air circulation. Plastic will also do, especially if it complies with the latest conditions regarding ventilation.
Do not take very large containers, because under the weight of many other berries, strawberries will begin to deteriorate and choke. A not very high container is well suited, in which there will be a maximum of several layers of strawberries.
At the same time, a simple paper towel can be put between each of the layers - it will absorb all the excess moisture and prevent the berries below from marinating in their own juice.
To wash or not to wash
Strawberries should be washed only before cooking or directly eating. If you intend to keep the berries in the refrigerator for a while, it's best to avoid showering beforehand.
If the berries are very dirty, for example, they were collected from open ground after rain, then you can gently rinse them and then leave them on a paper towel. Only after that, you can send them for storage in the refrigerator.
Vinegar
We already know roughly how to store harvested strawberries in the refrigerator or just in the room, but there are a few secrets that I would like to talk about. One of them is vinegar. Yes, simple vinegar, which is often used in cooking various dishes.
You can make a fairly simple solution, in which three parts of water require one part of vinegar. Further, the whole thing is used to wash the strawberries. You will need this method if you either bought or collected a large batch, in which there were a lot of spoiled berries.
Vinegar in solution will help to carry out a kind of disinfection, which in turn will protect healthy berries. After such a bath, the strawberries should be allowed to dry on paper towels.
Cold storage
If you want to store strawberries for several days, then a refrigerator is best for this.
At the same time, please note that there is a special compartment for this - usually these are boxes for vegetables and fruits at the bottom of the refrigerator compartment. There the temperature does not exceed two degrees Celsius.
Freezer
An excellent solution for housewives who want to have fruits and vitamins throughout the year is freezing. For this, fresh and elastic strawberries are best suited, which must be cleaned of all excess and dried well before freezing. I hope the tips help you.
