What to do with all the delicious berries that ripen during the summer months? Especially in years with a good harvest, space in the freezer quickly becomes limited. Our tip: Simply boil the fruit.
How to preserve berries?
Preserving berries is easy: wash the berries and place them in sterilized jars, cover them with hot sugar water, close the jars and preserve them in a water bath or in the oven. This means the berries last longer and the taste is preserved.
The right glasses
You can use different jars for canning:
- Weck jars: These have a rubber ring on which a lid is placed. They are only closed with a metal bracket during the cooking process.
- Clamp jars: With these, the lid is connected to the jar using a wire frame. Here too, a rubber ring ensures an airtight seal.
- Twist-off jars: These are closed with a screw lid. They're not great for preserving berries unless you want to make berry jam.
Preserving the berries
Pay good hygiene when preserving so that germs do not accidentally get into the jar. Therefore, sterilize all utensils by placing the jars, rubber rings and lids in a pot of boiling water for at least five minutes. Alternatively, you can sterilize the glasses in the oven at 120 degrees for about 10 minutes.
- Wash the berries thoroughly and sort out any spoiled fruits.
- Weigh fruit so that the quantities in your recipe are not falsified.
- Put the berries in the cleaned glass.
- Close and place in a large pot that is two-thirds full of water.
- Bring everything to a boil.
- After the time specified in the recipe has elapsed, leave the jars in the hot water for at least another ten minutes.
- Remove and let cool. This creates a vacuum.
Recipe: Preserved Berries
Ingredients:
- 1 kilo of any berries
- 1 liter of water
- 300 – 400 g sugar
Preparation
- Prepare glasses and fruits.
- Fill sterile jars with the berries, leaving about three centimeters of space to the top edge of the jar.
- Put sugar and water in a pot and heat while stirring. The syrup should come to the boil once.
- Pour the still hot sugar water over the fruit. These must be completely covered.
- Wipe the edges clean and close immediately with the lids.
- Place on a rack in the preserving pot or a large cooking pot.
- Fill in water so that about two thirds of the glasses are in the water bath.
- Cook at 80 degrees for about 30 minutes.
- Let the glasses cool slowly.
Tip
If you don't have a suitable pot for preserving, you can also preserve the berries in the oven. Prepare the fruit, fill it into glasses and pour sugar water over the fruit. Place in a baking dish in which you have added at least 2 centimeters of water and cook for 30 minutes at 150 degrees.
