Content
- 1 Is it possible to freeze lingonberries for the winter?
- 2 The benefits of frozen lingonberries
- 3 How to freeze lingonberries in the freezer in portions
- 4 How to properly freeze lingonberries with sugar for the winter
- 5 Shelf life of frozen berries
- 6 What can be made from frozen lingonberries
- 7 Conclusion
Everyone should make sure that there are vitamins from the garden on the dinner table all year round. You can freeze lingonberries, strawberries, raspberries, cherries and other gifts of nature quickly and easily, while preserving all the chemical composition. We will learn how to do this correctly from the article.
Is it possible to freeze lingonberries for the winter?
Freezing is the most gentle way to store food, allowing you to keep it fresh and healthy. Sometimes it is not possible to freeze lingonberries correctly. Vitamins, original appearance, and aroma are lost. Let's look at how to properly freeze lingonberries at home.
Do I need to wash lingonberries before freezing?
When the fruits are harvested, you need to pay attention, first of all, to the presence of debris, immature, rotten specimens, leaves, tails, and insects in them. To freeze lingonberries for the winter, you should carefully sort through all of them. Rinse with running water.
The next step is thorough drying. Spread on any moisture-absorbing surface and remove excess liquid.For this you can use:
- napkin;
- paper;
- towel;
- cotton fabric.
The benefits of frozen lingonberries
The fruits contain a lot of water, the amount of which reaches 80%. The rest of the mass comes from:
- carbohydrates – 8–10%;
- organic acids (citric, malic, benzoic, quinic, tartaric, salicylic, lactic, succinic) – 2–2.7%;
- pectin substances – 0.63%;
- polyphenols;
- vitamins (C, PP);
- essential oil;
- minerals (phosphorus, iron);
- other substances.
Frozen lingonberries and recipes made from them have long been used for treatment, prevention, and strengthening of the body. Fresh berries, including frozen ones, have a number of therapeutic qualities:
- An excellent diuretic, which can also suppress the inflammatory process. The combination of these two qualities makes this berry necessary in the treatment of pyelonephritis and cystitis.
- A storehouse of vitamins and minerals. With the help of lingonberries you can strengthen the body during winter colds.
- It has a cleansing effect on the composition of the blood: removes cholesterol, normalizes glycemic levels, increases hemoglobin and clotting.
- Heals the heart, improves its rhythm, lowers blood pressure.
- Improves digestion, appetite, increases stomach acidity.
- Restores visual function.
- Accelerates wound healing and makes the skin elastic.
As can be seen from the above, frozen lingonberries and their beneficial properties can become a way to treat and prevent various diseases.
Calorie content of frozen lingonberries
The energy value of fresh and frozen berries is almost the same if stored without added sugar. Due to a number of chemical processes that occur during freezing, calorie content may drop slightly. So, fresh berries have 46 kcal, prepared for the winter - 43 kcal.
How to freeze lingonberries in the freezer in portions
You can freeze lingonberries for the winter in the refrigerator with whole berries, without foreign additives. Many people like to add sugar. To prevent the fruits from sticking together, you should freeze lingonberries for the winter in stages:
- Place a thin layer of berries on a tray and place in the freezer compartment.
- When the fruits harden, pour into a container (bag) and store at -18 degrees or below.
How to properly freeze lingonberries with sugar for the winter
The berries are quite bitter, so you can freeze lingonberries with sugar to improve the taste. To freeze sugar and berry mass, take equal parts. Everything is ground in a blender or meat grinder. Pours into containers and plastic cups.
Shelf life of frozen berries
The suitability of frozen foods depends on several factors. It is advisable to have a refrigerator or freezer in your home equipped with a modern No Frost cooling system. In contrast, regular old refrigerators cannot provide fast and deep freezing, which completely preserves the structure of the product.
The temperature in the chamber must be maintained at a constant level and not rise above -18 degrees. If it is within -10 degrees, as in old refrigerators, then in this case the shelf life is significantly reduced.
Lingonberries, unlike other berries, can be stored for quite a long time - from 12 months to 2-3 years. But this is the case if it is frozen entirely, in its pure form. Prepared in other ways, for example, with sugar, ground, it can be stored for up to a year.
What can be made from frozen lingonberries
An excellent tincture is prepared from the fruits. And the fact that they are frozen is even beneficial. In this case, the berry mass releases more juice. And this gives the final product a brighter color and richer flavor.
The juice has a whole bunch of wonderful features. It also relieves hypertension and can increase the child’s appetite. It is necessary for gastritis with low acidity, to strengthen blood vessels, and also as a choleretic, anti-sclerotic, hypoglycemic and cardiotonic agent.
How to defrost lingonberries correctly
The surest way to defrost food is to place it in the refrigerator on the bottom shelf. Then the process will take place gradually, which will save vitamins. Sometimes time is rushed when preparing food. In this case, it is permissible to immerse the bag of lingonberries in cold water. The defrosting process will speed up, and within ten minutes you can start using it.
You can defrost in a microwave oven on the appropriate mode, at the lowest power. Otherwise, the berry balls will be frozen inside and soft on the outside. But this should be done immediately before cooking or consuming the product.
What can you cook from frozen lingonberries?
You can conduct any culinary experiments based on the berries. They are commonly used in:
- jelly, compotes, teas, fruit drinks, etc.;
- sweets (baked goods, fruit salads, casseroles, curd products, jam, etc.);
- salads;
- sauces;
- meat;
- seasoning;
- porridge.
Many things are prepared from frozen lingonberries. It can be soaked, preserved, etc.
Conclusion
Freezing lingonberries does not take much time; anyone can do it. And then there will be no shortage of vitamins, and there will be no colds. Freezing lingonberries for the winter at home is a reliable way to strengthen the immune system and prevent many health problems.
