Summer is a wonderful time when everyone is resting and enjoying life. But not summer residents. Those who have a garden work there all season, caring for plants, so that a large crop comes out in the fall. To preserve all vegetables and fruits, many actively use conservation. Typically, the time for harvesting comes in late August - early September, but some products require processing in early summer, for example, strawberries. Fragrant and sweet, she ripens in June. Below we will talk about the benefits of the product and a recipe for strawberry jam without boiling berries.
Plant description
Strawberries are small bushes with leaves with a serrated edge. First, small white flowers with a yellow core appear in front of the fruits, from which later berries will grow.
The flowering period takes a maximum of 3-4 weeks for the plant, and then red sweet strawberries gradually appear and ripen. Fruiting time - mainly July. In particularly warm years, from early spring, bushes begin to bloom in May and complete fruiting by early June.
The plant needs careful care so that the crop is rich. It is especially important to quickly pick ripened berries, because not only people, but also insects will want to feast on. The best option is to freeze strawberries or make jam. But how to save all the vitamins? The best recipe is strawberry jam without boiling berries.
The benefits of strawberries
To list all the beneficial properties of this early berry, you need a whole book! Berries contain vitamins of groups A, B, C, E and K.
Strawberries have a beneficial effect on the gastrointestinal tract. Here, and the health of the gums, and the condition of the intestines, and the stomach. It is proved that berry juice helps prevent periodontal disease, is useful in remission with gastritis.
Special attention should be paid to cardiovascular diseases. Better medicine and prophylactic than strawberries, simply can not be found. Folic acid has a beneficial effect on the heart and the circulatory system as a whole.
In addition to fruits, the leaves of this plant are also used for medicinal purposes. Make decoctions, tinctures. Natural and free medicine surpasses the properties of most medicines.
Ingredients
To use the fruits at any time of the year and preserve all their beneficial properties, it is best to make strawberry jam for the winter. Without cooking the berries, the taste will remain almost as fresh, and the aroma will be stronger.
We will need the following products:
- Strawberry. Since there will be no heat treatment, fresh berries should be selected. Firstly, the risk of fermentation will be reduced in this way, and secondly, outwardly strong berries will look much more beautiful in jars.
- Sugar. Add bulk in a proportion of 1/2. That is, if you process 2 kg of strawberries, then sugar will require 1 kg.
- Water. Proportion - for 500 g of sugar 1/4 cup of water. It is used only if the delicacy is prepared with sugar syrup (option 2).
You can make jam from forest strawberries without boiling berries. Such fruits are always very fragrant. Opening a jar in the winter will immediately bring back memories of the warm summer.
Some experimenters add lemon to a strawberry treat. He adds sourness and removes excessive sweetness and sugaryness. Add 1 lemon per 1 kg of berries.
Cooking (without boiling syrup)
This option is very simple, and the result exceeds all expectations.
- Sort strawberries, remove all pedicels, leaves and other debris from each berry, then rinse well several times under running water. Do not soak! This rule is mandatory if you do not want the fruits to lose their shape and “spill”.
- Take a container to fit the whole strawberry. Start spreading the berries in an even layer, then sprinkle with plenty of sugar. Then again strawberries, and again sugar. Continue to form layers until all ingredients are complete.
- Place the container with future jam in a cool place (to avoid fermentation) for a day. During this time, strawberries will produce juice, which, when interacted with sugar, will turn into ruby syrup.
- Arrange the mass in pre-washed and sterilized jars. Roll up and put away in a secluded place.
In winter, jam is good to serve with tea instead of sweets and cookies. A natural product is always tastier, especially if it is made with your own hands.
Cooking (with cooking syrup)
The difference with the first option is that strawberries are not sprinkled with sugar, but poured with boiled syrup. The first item remains unchanged, and then the cooking is different.
- Add sugar to water, mix well until gruel forms. Then put on fire and cook until syrup without crystalline granules turns out. The main thing is not to overdo it, 2-3 minutes are enough.
- Place the berries in a large metal dish and pour in the syrup. Put to cool in a secluded place. When berry juice stands out, continue cooking.
- Perform the procedure "cooking syrup - adding to berries - cooling" two more times. Strawberry jam without boiling berries should not be too thick. Note that after cooling, it will gain a denser consistency.
- Arrange the mass in washed sterilized jars, roll up and remove to a previously prepared place for cooling.
How to store?
Both recipes are very good looking. However, the first one can be called less energy-consuming, but the second allows you to get a more delicate and liquid product due to the fact that the berries did not give all the juice. Strawberry jam without boiling berries gets positive reviews.
Jars with delicacies should be stored in a cool dark place. People living in a private house do not have to think about where to put the blanks, because, as a rule, they have a basement. However, lovers of canning with an apartment sometimes have to refine their storage.
Some apartments have a small utility room layout. Usually there are counters and unnecessary trash. Why not equip it with a pair of shelves and put jars there? A great idea that will decorate a room and add storage space.
If there is no separate room, you can put conservation in racks or cabinets. At room temperature, competently rolled jars of strawberry jam without boiling berries will be stored no worse.
Cooking Tips
To make the preservation even more pleasant, and the dishes tastier, you should listen to the tips below:
- If you like workpieces and do them all the time, buy special cooking utensils. Its bottom is thicker than that of an ordinary stewpan, due to this, the heat is distributed more evenly. Choose the volume to your taste.
- Add vanilla sugar to your sweet workpieces. A lot is not needed, 1-2 tablespoons will be enough. This ingredient will give a special sweet aroma to the treat, and it will become even tastier.
- Jam is best distributed in small jars, not more than 0.5 liters. Firstly, they look nicer than large containers. Secondly, the likelihood that most of the goodies will disappear is markedly reduced.