How to store strawberries

This forest berry has a Latin name. Fragária veska – “fragrant edible”. In our country, it is often confused with strawberry, which is a cultivated variety of strawberry. This berry should be stored especially carefully in winter, because its collection is done by hand, as a result of very painstaking work. Fresh and properly harvested strawberries are rich in folic acid, vitamin C, they contain a lot of potassium, zinc and iron, which is useful for anemia, atherosclerosis, hypertension and other diseases. Let’s analyze how to store strawberries correctly so that you can enjoy the berry all winter.

How long can you keep strawberries fresh:

• Fresh strawberries can be stored in the refrigerator for a maximum of 7 days.
• In the freezer, the shelf life of berries is 6 months.
• Dried strawberries can also be stored in a dry place for 6 months, and if placed in vacuum packaging, then for 1 year.

In the fridge

A refrigerator will help preserve a capricious berry for several days. You can not wash the berries after picking, and also pour them into other dishes, otherwise they will release juice. Fresh strawberry berries, immediately before harvesting, should be carefully sorted, remove crumpled, damaged ones, select dry twigs, leaves, insects, etc. At room temperature, it is better not to store fresh wild strawberry berries after picking, so that they do not flow.

The terms of how to keep wild strawberries fresh without freezing are:

• at a temperature not higher than 6 °С – up to 4 days;
• at a temperature of 0 ° – 2 ° С – up to 7 days.

The optimal temperature for storing fresh berries in the refrigerator is the middle shelf, and the freshness zone will allow you to slightly increase the shelf life.

For the winter

There are many ways to store strawberries for the winter, while preserving their beneficial properties and vitamins as much as possible. But it is best to try to keep the berries fresh. There are several options:

• freeze whole berries;
• freeze berries in the form of puree (with or without sugar);
• grind fresh berries with sugar.

In the freezer

The optimal method of storing berries in a fresh form is freezing. In this way, their shelf life increases and the vitamins remain in full. The best way to keep wild strawberries fresh for the winter in the freezer is to package the selected berries in portions: in cups, portioned plastic trays with a lid or in bags with a special fastener.

The time it will take to store strawberries in the freezer in winter is up to 1 year at a temperature of -18 °C and below, depending on whether a vacuum was used during freezing.

The correct way to freeze strawberries is as follows:

1. put the picked dry berries on a flat plate;
2. freeze at a temperature of -23 °C and below, keeping for 5 hours;
3. pack in portions in plastic bags or trays.

The time for which a whole frozen berry can be stored in this form is up to 6 months, at a temperature of -18 °C and below.

To defrost it, you need to take it out of the freezer, put it in the refrigerator on the bottom shelf. After that, the berries lose their shape, become soft, they can be used to prepare smoothies, toppings or compotes.

Rubbing fresh berries for winter desserts is another popular way to keep strawberries fresh for the winter without cooking.

To do this, the berries are crushed in a blender and packaged in portioned bags, cups or trays. You can also make mashed strawberries with sugar to add to ready-made yogurts or ice cream. In addition, you can freeze the pureed berry in cups in portions – such a sugar strawberry will be a delicious natural ice cream.

Strawberries with sugar for the winter without cooking

Since ancient times, housewives mashed fresh strawberries with sugar and stored such a mixture in a cool place until spring. To grind strawberries with sugar, you need:

1. carefully sort, wash and dry the newly collected elastic berries;
2. add sugar to them in a ratio of 1:2;
3. gently crush with a wooden pestle;
4. put in sterile, perfectly dry jars and close with clean, sterile plastic lids (you can use thermal lids);
5. send to the refrigerator or cellar.

Strawberries mashed with sugar will be stored in this form for 9 months, almost until the new harvest.

Dried strawberry

In addition to freezing whole or pureed, you can store dried strawberries at home without freezing. To do this, the selected berries should be placed on a baking sheet previously covered with parchment paper, and the oven should be turned on at 50 °C (barely warm).

After opening the oven door, dry the berries for 4-5 hours until they become dry and shrink in size. Remove the tray from the oven, let the berries cool completely (2-3 hours) and transfer to a clean, dry glass jar.

You can also make dried strawberries for the winter in a special dryer for products. Place the prepared berries in the dryer, set the “Fruit” mode according to the instructions and make the preparation. Take out the strawberries, let them cool for 2-3 hours and store them in a dry glass container with a lid at a temperature no higher than 20 °C and a relative humidity of up to 70% in a place where the sun’s rays do not reach: in a pantry, kitchen cabinet, on the mezzanine, etc. p.

For brewing in a kettle, you can prepare fresh strawberries in bunches. To do this, select branches with berries, remove damaged leaves. Dry by tying bundles of 5-7 twigs in a dry, well-ventilated place in the heat (balcony or attic in summer). Store, like dried berries, in a glass jar, in a dry and dark place at a temperature no higher than 20 °C, with a relative humidity of up to 70%. Such a semi-finished product can be added to a cup for brewing or to a teapot with tea.

The shelf life of dried strawberries is up to 6 months at a temperature not higher than 20 °C and a relative humidity of up to 70% in a dark place.

In a vacuum

The use of a modern vacuum device should also be added to the ways of storing fresh strawberries. With its help, you can extend the shelf life of fresh berries in the freezer or dried at room temperature by 1.5 times.

Prepared berries are laid out in bags, then vacuumed and stored in the appropriate way:

• fresh – in the freezer for up to 1 year at a temperature of -18 °C and below;
• dried – in a dry, cool place for up to 1 year at a temperature not higher than 20 °C.

To preserve the taste of berries for even longer, prepare from them:

• lozenges;
• jam;
• butter;
• compotes;
• preserved in its own juice.

All these canned products can be stored until the new harvest in the pantry, pantry, and even the kitchen cupboard. But, unfortunately, heat-treated berries contain an order of magnitude less vitamins.