Elderberry fruits are rich in vitamins and minerals. Unfortunately, simply picking and eating raw is out of the question. Find out here how to properly harvest and process elderberries.
How do you harvest and use elderberries correctly?
Elderberries are rich in vitamins and minerals, but should not be consumed raw as they are poisonous. To harvest and process them properly, pick only ripe berries, wash and remove unripe fruits before cooking them into jam, juice or puree.
Only the tires are allowed in the potty
The harvest season for elderberries extends from August to October. In the weeks before, the berries are not yet ripe and are therefore still poisonous even after processing. In the weeks that follow, there is a risk that the elderberry bush will shed its fruit along with the withered leaves. The following harvesting technique effectively prevents unsightly discoloration caused by the berry juice and burst fruits:
- Put on gloves and an apron and grab a knife and a washable basket
- harvest every umbel completely
- pick unripe fruits with two fingers and throw them away
- carry the fruit umbels into the house in a basket and rinse them under running water
- comb out the elderberries with a fork over a sieve
- resist the temptation to snack on the fresh fruits
Immediately after the harvest, processing begins as the elderberry fruits do not last long.
Various methods of preparation
Black elderberries lose their poisonous status when cooked at a temperature of at least 80 degrees Celsius. This circumstance only minimally limits the possibilities for delicious preparation. We have put together the best variants for you:
- cook into jam with 1 kilo of berries and 1 kilo of preserving sugar as well as a little lemon juice and blackcurrant liqueur
- Make refreshing juice by boiling 2 kilos of fruit and 200 grams of sugar for an hour
- Conjure up a delicious elderberry jam on the stove from 500 grams of berries, 150 milliliters of water, 3 spoons of sugar, 1 pinch of cinnamon and 10 plums
If you don't have time to process them immediately, just freeze the cones. The frozen fruits can be easily shaken off the stems later.
Tips & Tricks
They give elderberries a significantly longer shelf life by drying them. This can be easily done in the oven or in the dehydrator at less than 40 degrees Celsius. Since the berries are still indigestible when dried, they serve as an aromatic ingredient for jams, jellies, compotes and preserved juices.
