Summer is the time of plenty. When currants, raspberries and co. ripen all at once, you often cannot keep up with eating them fresh, and the tender fruits keep only a few days. So the rich harvest does not spoil, you preserve the surplus and thus have something of the summer plenty all year. A jar of homemade currant jelly in winter tastes of sun.
Three proven methods are on offer: freezing, boiling down and drying. They differ in effort, keeping time and in how well they preserve aroma and nutrients. This article compares the three ways and shows you which suits which berry and which purpose.
Freezing: simple and gentle
Freezing is the simplest and gentlest method of preserving berries. Because no heat is involved, aroma, colour and most vitamins stay largely preserved. For most berries the freezer is therefore the first choice, above all for tender varieties like raspberries and blackberries.
The most important trick when freezing is pre-freezing. Spread the washed, well-dried berries individually on a tray and freeze them like that. Only when they are frozen hard do you fill them into bags or boxes. That way the berries do not stick together into a clump, and you can later take out portions, as much as you need. Thawed, frozen berries suit cakes, compote, smoothies and further processing.
Boiling down: the classic store
Boiling down into jelly, jam, preserve and juice is the most traditional way of preserving berries. Here sugar and heat preserve together: the high sugar content withdraws water from micro-organisms, and heating kills germs. Correctly boiled down and cleanly filled, jelly and jam keep for many months to over a year.
Prepare the berries
Wash and sort the berries. For jelly you juice them, for jam they are chopped or left whole, depending on the desired consistency.
Boil with preserving sugar
Boil the fruit or the juice with preserving sugar according to the packet instructions. The sugar and pectin it contains ensure keeping and the jelly-like consistency.
Fill hot
Fill the hot mass to the brim into clean, boiled-out jars and close them at once. Some briefly stand the jars upside down, but that is disputed today.
Store cool and dark
Store the cooled jars cool, dark and dry. That way they keep for many months. Opened jars belong in the fridge.
Berries with high pectin content like currants and quinces gel almost by themselves. Pectin-poor berries like strawberries need some help through preserving sugar or the mixture with pectin-rich fruits. Elder and sea buckthorn juice too are traditionally preserved by boiling down, whereby with elder the heating at the same time removes the raw toxicity.
Drying: concentrated aroma
The third method is drying. By withdrawing water, the micro-organisms are deprived of their basis of life, and the aroma concentrates. Dried berries are a long-keeping, sweet nibble and suit well for muesli, baking and tea.
For drying, above all smaller berries and those with not too high a water content are suitable. You dry them in a dehydrator or in the oven at low temperature under fifty degrees, so aroma and ingredients stay preserved and the berries do not bake. That takes a few hours and some patience. Completely dried and stored airtight, the fruits keep for many months. The vitamin-rich sea buckthorn too can be preserved this way or as a frozen berry for the whole year.
Freezing preserves most gently, boiling down makes a spreadable store, drying concentrates the aroma. Whoever preserves the summer harvest has something of the plenty all year.
The core idea for preserving
Frequently asked questions
How do you freeze berries correctly?
Wash and dry the berries well and first pre-freeze them individually on a tray. Only when they are frozen hard do you fill them into bags or boxes. That way they do not stick together and can later be taken out in portions.
Which method preserves the vitamins best?
Freezing, because no heat is involved. Aroma, colour and most vitamins stay largely preserved. When boiling down, more vitamins are lost through the heat, when gently drying at low temperature a part.
How long do boiled-down jam and jelly keep?
Correctly boiled down, cleanly filled to the brim into boiled-out jars and stored cool, dark and dry, jelly and jam keep for many months to over a year. Opened jars belong in the fridge and are used up soon.
Can you dry all berries?
Best suited are smaller berries with not too high a water content. Very watery, tender berries like raspberries are more difficult. Drying is done gently in a dehydrator or oven at under fifty degrees, so aroma and ingredients stay preserved.
Which berries gel well, which need help?
Berries with high pectin content like currants gel almost by themselves. Pectin-poor berries like strawberries need preserving sugar or the mixture with pectin-rich fruits so the jam sets firm.
