Grated strawberries with sugar for the winter
Strawberries are rightfully considered the queen of the summer garden. Not a single self-respecting gardener will disregard this wonderful berry. Useful properties of strawberries make it virtually indispensable in the realities of our ecology. Folic acid contained in strawberries contributes to the rapid removal of free radicals and heavy metal salts from the body. The use of strawberries is the prevention of cancer.
Cooking features
The preparation of grated berries is characterized by increased sterility. A large amount of acid can adversely affect the storage and taste of the prepared jam. It is very prone to fermentation.
Recipes
The taste and aroma of strawberries, familiar to many since childhood, would like to be preserved for a long, cold winter. There are an incredible variety of ways to preserve and process strawberries for winter storage. It will be useful for novice housewives to learn more about some of them.
Classical
To prepare this delicacy you need to take:
- strawberries - 2 kg;
- sugar - 4 kg.
The fruits are sorted, washed from various grains of sand, grains and other garden debris. Spoiled, crumpled and simply ugly berries are removed, tails and stalks are torn off. Strawberries processed in this way are ground with sugar using a meat grinder or blender.And leave overnight for complete dissolution of sugar. Then, almost ready-made jam should be boiled over low heat for 30 minutes, avoiding boiling.
Cool at room temperature. And boil again, avoiding boiling and removing the foam.
This traditional method is good for long-term storage of strawberry jam. You can store it warm and in a plastic container. There is still one minus - during heat treatment, the taste and aroma of fresh strawberries are distorted.
Therefore, in order to preserve all the useful and tasty properties of this berry to the maximum, options with minimal or no heat treatment should be considered. Candied strawberries can be crushed, twisted ground or in syrup.
Without cooking
The ingredients in this preparation are traditional - strawberries and sugar. Proportions 1: 2. We take 1 kilogram of berries and 2 kilograms of granulated sugar. No cooking or other heat treatment. Just strawberries and sugar. The taste and aroma of this summer queen is completely preserved in its natural form.
So, we sort the freshly picked strawberries, wash them, sort them out. We remove damaged berries, as well as illiquid and rotten ones. For this blank, only a berry that is even and without natural damage is needed. We remove the stalks and sepals. Then we grind the prepared strawberries in a convenient way: with a blender, pusher, meat grinder or a simple fork. The main thing is to carefully knead, grind the berry into a homogeneous mass without lumps and pieces. Sugar is also better to grind into powder with a blender or coffee grinder.
Now you can mix the berry paste and powdered sugar, and then leave for several hours to dissolve the sugar. If granulated sugar was used, and not powder, then the dissolution time must be increased.When the sugar grains cease to taste, the jam is ready.
Jam must be packaged so that it can be stored for a long time. Only use glass containers that can be sterilized.
You can choose any method of sterilization - from the oven to alcohol treatment. Don't forget to sterilize the lids too. Now jam is placed in sterile jars and a sugar cork is placed on top. This is when granulated sugar or powder is poured with a layer of 1-2 centimeters and then the lid is closed. The sugar cork will become an additional lid. It will be saturated with strawberry juice and may well be used in tea or for making compote.
Such jam should be stored in a dark, cold place. Ideally in the fridge.
Jam
The proportions in this recipe are traditional. We take two kilograms of sugar per kilogram of strawberries, but the cooking method is much more complicated by grinding the berries through a sieve. This is done in order to completely remove all small bones. All you need is pure strawberry pulp. The sieve is not taken too small, depending on the berries that you have. After all, the size of the seeds directly depends on the variety of strawberries.
Grind and mix with sugar. Let the sugar dissolve a little and put on a small fire. Stirring, cook for half an hour, avoiding boiling. Let's cool down. This cooking procedure should be repeated 3-4 times.
Then we pack the chilled jam in sterilized jars to the very top and make a small sugar cork. Still, strawberry preserves and jams are very prone to fermentation. And the sweetness corked in this way is stored much longer. Jam is perfect for pancakes, cereals. It will be an excellent filling for pies, pies and other culinary masterpieces.
Well, if, nevertheless, the fresh summer taste and smell of strawberries is closer and dearer to you, then you can choose another way to keep your favorite berry for the whole winter. After all, tea with fragrant strawberry jam cannot replace anything. Probably, strawberries are one of the important reasons for our universal love for summer.
frozen
Such strawberries, having retained their shape and taste, will bring you back a piece of summer to the table. Yes, and in the preparation of desserts, it is indispensable.
The most ripe, even, beautiful berries are selected and washed thoroughly. You have to try not to damage them at all. This time we leave the sepals and stalks. After washing, the berry should be laid on a paper towel to dry. The berry should not be damp from moisture. And it will be generally excellent if you collect them during the day, without dew, rain and watering, so that there is no excess moisture in the berry itself.
Then the dried berry is laid out on a substrate from the freezer. But they do it carefully: separately for each berry so that they do not touch. Now let the berry freeze for several hours.
You need to pack already frozen strawberries, avoiding defrosting. Everything is done very quickly. Pack in sachets for single use. Strawberries, re-frozen, lose not only their beneficial properties, but also their aroma, taste and color.
This strawberry can be used to decorate cakes, desserts.
You can freeze fruits not only as a whole. Strawberries feel great both in frozen mashed potatoes and in grated form. With or without sugar, strawberries always keep well in the freezer. We spread the grated pasta with powdered sugar in containers and send it to the freezer.
The only thing that should not be forgotten is that portions should be for a single use. You should not re-freeze the berry, as it will lose its color, taste and nutrients. It must be eaten immediately, used for compote or thrown away.
You can also freeze whole strawberries by sprinkling them with powdered sugar. A very beautiful dessert. Everyone bought popsicles in the heat. Here are strawberries in powdered sugar - a great alternative to a store-bought treat. You can string each strawberry on a toothpick and freeze, dipped in powdered sugar.
Another way is to freeze the berries in ice cubes. Strawberry ice will be a great flavor addition to cocktails and smoothies. And along the way, it will perform a cooling role.
These recipes are good in the presence of a large refrigerator with a good freezer. And if you don’t have such equipment or the volume of the freezer does not allow you to occupy all the cells with fruit preparations for a long time, then in this case there are options in the recipe for preparing strawberry semi-finished products.
Strawberries under a capron lid
Since this berry is planned to be stored without a refrigerator, it is necessary to increase the amount of sugar. If in previous recipes the proportion was taken at the rate of 1 kg of strawberries 2 kg of sugar, then in this recipe you need to take half a kilo more sugar. And it's better if it's powdered sugar. It dissolves much better and absorbs into the berry faster, preventing the penetration of microorganisms that provoke the fermentation process.
We clean the strawberries from the tails, wash them well, sort them out, grind them with a blender or meat grinder. Mix with powdered sugar. Powdered sugar can be added in portions during the grinding process to reduce the contact time of the ground berry with air.We give time until the sugar is completely dissolved.
We prepare glass jars, wash, sterilize. Nylon caps also need to boil for 15 minutes.
Then we shift the grated strawberries into prepared jars to the very top, leaving 1-1.5 cm to the neck. This space must be covered with powdered sugar, without stirring, so that a sugar cork forms, which will preserve the berries. It is also better to store the resulting workpiece in a cool and dark place. And the sugar layer soaked in strawberry juice turns out to be dense, similar to caramel. Then you can perfectly flavor tea with it, or prepare an amazing fruit drink with strawberry flavor. After all, powdered sugar will absorb strawberry juice and fragrant seeds.
Strawberries in their own juice
In this simple recipe, nothing but berries and your time is needed. Strawberries are moved, washed, sorted. The stalks and sepals are removed.
A huge basin is taken. Preferably deep and wide. Such that the banks were immersed in it up to the shoulders.
We will cook strawberries in our own juice. This method is called "water bath". We put the processed berry in jars loosely. We put as many cans in the basin as will fit. At the bottom of the basin you need to lay a grate or a towel so that the jars do not crack. And we begin to boil a basin of water, in which jars of strawberries are heated.
Gradually, strawberries release juice and settle. Carefully pour the berries into jars, without compacting much. This process continues until the jar is filled with juice to the very neck. It is important that there is no air between the berry and the lid at all.
The hot strawberry jars are then rolled up with hot sterilized lids. It is important to observe the temperature regime in this case.Hot jars are rolled up with hot lids. The whole procedure is very fast. Turn over and wrap the container with strawberries in heat until completely cooled. It is in the warmth that the final processing of the berries takes place. When the jars have cooled, they can be removed to any convenient place. Strawberries prepared in this way do not matter where they will be stored.
Many housewives who are passionate about cooking prefer to decorate their desserts with homemade strawberries. To do this, strawberries are dipped in a boiling gelatin solution. Of course, such strawberries are not stored for a long time, but the moment your cake is served to the table will greatly decorate.
The variety of ways to harvest and store strawberries allows absolutely everyone to stock up on this tasty and healthy delicacy for the whole winter. Everyone can choose a convenient way for themselves. The aroma and taste of summer will not leave you throughout the cold and gloomy season of winter and autumn.
Tips
The main advice in the cooking process, as it has already become clear from the above, is to ensure the sterility of the instruments and the high-quality processing of the berries themselves. Then nothing will have a detrimental role on the taste and shelf life of the blanks.
Reviews
No one has ever been mashed strawberries left indifferent. One mention of this jam brings a smile and a desire to feel the taste of summer on your lips. If the jam is made correctly, taking into account all the recommendations, then the strawberries in it will sparkle with a new taste.
See the next video for a recipe for mashed strawberries with sugar for the winter.