How do you store cranberries?

Any healthy fruit, berry or herb has the greatest healing properties when fresh. Therefore, any processing of valuable gifts of nature leads to the fact that the healing properties of the products are lost.

Of course, housewives will ask themselves the question: “How to properly store cranberries?” so that they remain useful even during long-term storage.

So, let's give some ways to store cranberries that will preserve all their healing properties and taste. But first, you need to familiarize yourself with the general rule for all methods of preparing cranberries for storage.

In the case of cranberries, this is exactly the case. And its valuable qualities should be preserved as long as possible by proper storage. This applies, first of all, to fresh berries, not frozen products. Frozen cranberries have already been purchased in this form, and they should be stored in the freezer and in no other way.

The advantages of cranberries include the presence of benzoic acid in its composition, which acts as a natural preservative. A positive property of benzoic acid is its ability to prevent the development of microorganisms that spoil the product. Therefore, cranberries can be stored for a long time without any processing or preservation. To keep the berries fresh for a long time, you do not need to use any other means that destroy bacteria: no salt, no vinegar, no other components.

By the way, scientists have not found benzoic acid in other healthy berries, such as blueberries and strawberries. Only lingonberries, which, like cranberries, can be stored for a long time, if the appropriate conditions are created, are distinguished by the presence of such a "preservative".

The berries are separated from leaves and various debris, sorted to weed out the bad or crushed ones. From the berries that have lost their shape, but are good, you can make a mors. Unripe cranberries are not suitable either as raw material for jams and other products, or as a base for drinks. Therefore, such berries should be disposed of. Whole and ripe berries can be stored in one of the four ways indicated, and until the next harvest of this useful plant.

Storage method #1 – fresh cranberries

• Ripe whole berries can be stored fresh without any processing for several months. To do this, they need to be placed in a cool, dark and well-ventilated place. Cranberries do not tolerate stale air with a lot of carbon dioxide, so they begin to spoil quickly.
• Cranberries are poured into small wooden boxes or thin polyethylene bags and left for storage in the designated place.
• Before this, it is not necessary to wash it, it is enough to simply sort it out to separate unripe, crushed or spoiled berries from ripe ones. You can also get rid of twigs and leaves that have mixed in with the berries.
• The presence of benzoic acid in the berry naturally contributes to the long shelf life of cranberries. It acts as a natural preservative and helps to get rid of bacteria that contribute to the spoilage of the berry.

Storage method #2 – recipe for pickled cranberries

• In order to properly preserve cranberries, it is necessary to prepare glass jars in which the berries will be stored. If the housewife has a large amount of cranberries, they can be kept in large enamel pots. The pots must be whole, without chipped pieces of enamel. The jars or pots must be washed, dried and left alone for a while.
• The next step is to bring the required amount of water to a boil, boil for a couple of minutes, then remove from heat and cool.
• Preparing cranberries: wash the berries in cold water, place them in prepared containers and pour in cold boiled water. Close the jar or pan with a lid and leave it in a cool place - a refrigerator, basement or cool balcony. That's it, the cranberries are ready for storage, and you don't have to worry about anything.
• Cranberries have antiseptic properties, so they are not “at risk” of spoiling. The most that can happen to them is some loss of taste and the acquisition of wateriness due to the fact that the berry “gained” water. But this does not affect the beneficial qualities of cranberries in any way, so you can safely eat them for your own pleasure until the next harvest.
• Pickled cranberries are good for making drinks such as jelly and fruit drinks, as a filling for homemade pies. And, of course, like fresh cranberries, they can and should be eaten raw, stocking up on vitamins.

Storage method #3 – frozen berries

This is the simplest and most accessible way to store cranberries. Before placing the berries in sub-zero temperatures, they need to be prepared for such long-term storage.

• The cranberries are washed and dried using a sieve.
• Then the clean and dried berries are placed in plastic bags for storage and put into the freezer. It is necessary to advise housewives that there should be as much cranberry in one bag as can be consumed at one time. Re-frozen cranberries are not suitable for consumption.
• You can use frozen cranberries in the same way as fresh berries. Compotes, kissels and fruit drinks are healthy drinks that are easy to prepare. Of course, you should treat yourself to just defrosted berries with honey added - it's tasty and healthy. But you shouldn't boil cranberries when preparing various dishes, such heat treatment kills vitamins, and the berry loses its healing properties. It is recommended to just warm the berry, and then just a little.

Method No. 4 – cranberries, ground with sugar

Of course, this method of storage has long been used by housewives to prepare healthy berries for the winter. But it is worth warning the reader that sugar, giving cranberries a sweet and pleasant taste, kills most of the vitamins. If you compare cranberries with sugar, which you took out of a treasured jar with some store-bought sweets, the red berry, naturally, wins against the latter. You will not find such a quantity of preservatives, flavorings and other "chemistry" in canned cranberries. Well, only sugar. Sweet tooth, on the contrary, will receive a moderately healthy product that will diversify their sweet menu and replenish the supply of nutrients in the body.

• How to prepare cranberries for this method of storage? They need to be washed, dried on a sieve and mixed with sugar. And then rubbed in a food processor, meat grinder or using a blender. Sugar is taken at a rate of one to one in relation to the weight of the cranberries. After which the mixture is laid out in sterilized jars and closed with plastic lids. This delicacy is stored in the refrigerator.
• Cranberries with sugar are good as a means of increasing immunity in colds and viral diseases of the upper respiratory tract. It can be used as a filling for various pies and as a sweet addition to hot tea.