Blackberries from the garden only last a few days after picking, even in the refrigerator. But there are various ways to make the fruits last longer.
How can you preserve blackberries?
Preserving blackberries is easy: First prepare the fruit by removing stems and washing them. You can then use blackberries as compote, jam, jelly or chutney. By boiling it down and adding sugar, you get long-lasting blackberry products that last for several months.
Blackberries and their limited shelf life
During the ripening period of the blackberries, the fruits on the tendrils always ripen at a later time, which extends the season. Nevertheless, when there is a lot of warmth and sunshine, there can be a real glut of ripe fruit. If necessary, you can freeze these to preserve them, but blackberries tend to have a slightly mushy consistency once the whole fruit has been thawed. On the other hand, this weakness of blackberries does not come into play in lightly processed form, which also applies to cooking, for example.
Preparing the fruit for canning
Before cooking, you can carefully wash wild-collected fruits and also fruits from the garden if you want to remove any impurities. You should also pick out stems and any fruit that may already be moldy. When preserving, it is absolutely necessary to wash the fruits as a measure against the fox tapeworm pathogen, as they are killed at temperatures above 60 degrees Celsius. Further preparation depends on the planned type of processing. You can also puree the fruit to make fine jams before boiling them with the preserving sugar and filling them into jars for storage.
Delicious recipes for preserving blackberries
When canning blackberries, the fruit can be chopped, heated and mixed with sugar or other ingredients in different ways. Depending on the recipe you use, you can make the following foods:
- Compote
- Jam
- Jelly
- Chutney
Even with chutney made from blackberries that is not quite as sweet and rather spicy, you will not be able to avoid adding an appropriate amount of sugar when preserving the blackberries. The sugar not only gives the fruit additional sweetness, but also fulfills an important role in preserving the blackberries. You can achieve a shelf life of several months to a year if you store the preserved jars in a cool, dark place in the cellar.
Tips & Tricks
When canning the blackberries, always make sure to leave little to no air between the blackberry mixture and the jar lid. This is how you can prevent mold from forming on the surface.
