Is it possible to freeze sea buckthorn for the winter and how to do it?

Sea buckthorn is a storehouse of vitamins and minerals. This is one of the healthiest berries growing in our country. It is rightly called the “miracle berry” due to its healing properties, which were known to the ancient Greeks, who prepared potions based on sea buckthorn for warriors and war horses. Not everyone knows that not only the berries of this plant are healing, but also the leaves and even the bark. Sea buckthorn berries are perishable products, so questions about how to preserve this vitamin treasury for a long winter period and whether it is possible to freeze sea buckthorn for the winter are relevant.

Sweet culinary masterpieces from sea buckthorn

Jelly

1 kg sea buckthorn
1 kg sugar

Cooking method

Fresh berries are sorted, carefully washed in a large container with water, and allowed to drain.
Place in an enamel pan and heat over low heat, without adding liquid, stirring constantly.
Bring the fruits to a boil and cook for 10 minutes until they become completely soft. Throughout the entire process, you need to stir the sea buckthorn, helping the bursting berries to actively release juice, as a result of which the contents of the pan do not burn.
Then transfer the hot mass into a nylon sieve with medium cells and quickly wipe.
Add sugar and stir well, without trying to achieve complete dissolution.
Next, the mass is left to cool and thicken for 7 – 10 hours.
The finished jelly is poured into sterilized jars, covered with plastic lids and stored at room temperature.

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Jam

There are several recipes for this dessert. However, the most beautiful and aromatic jam is made with whole berries, which during the cooking process become transparent and resemble pieces of precious amber.

Preparation

The sea buckthorn is washed, cleaned of spoiled berries and debris, and allowed to drain.
To remove the inherent bitterness of the fruits, they can be blanched for 3 to 5 minutes.
A thick syrup is made from water and sugar and filtered. The hot solution is poured over the berries and left to steep for 4 hours.
Next, the syrup is drained and boiled for 10 minutes, and then sea buckthorn is added and simmered over low heat until tender, about half an hour. It is not difficult to determine that the jam has reached the desired condition: the berries will become translucent, and the liquid will acquire a caramel consistency.
To finally make sure the dessert is ready, place a drop of cooled syrup on the saucer. If it does not spread, the jam can be removed from the heat.
The resulting product is poured into sterilized and thoroughly dried jars and quickly rolled up, not allowing it to cool.

Advice: Sea buckthorn jam is an excellent remedy for stomatitis and other inflammatory diseases of the oral cavity.

Sea buckthorn jam with apples

How to cook

The prepared berries are dipped into boiling water for several minutes, then cooled and rubbed through a fine-mesh sieve.
The resulting mass is mixed with sugar and allowed to cool for 2 hours.
The thickened puree is diluted with apple juice (preferably homemade) and cooked over low heat for 15 - 20 minutes, stirring continuously to prevent boiling.
The finished jam is poured hot into pre-sterilized jars and pasteurized at a water temperature of 80ºC. Half-liter containers require 15 minutes of processing; liter containers will require 5 minutes more. Then the jars are rolled up and stored in a dark place.

Juice without sugar

This drink best preserves the valuable vitamins and minerals present in fresh berries.

Preparation will not take much time, but in winter you can treat yourself and your loved ones with a natural energy drink.

The raw materials are thoroughly washed, spoiled and dry berries and debris are removed.
Pass the fruits through the juicer several times. The juice is put in the cold, and the cake is poured with warm water so that it lightly covers the mass and left for about half an hour. Then squeeze and add the resulting infusion to the main juice.
All the resulting liquid is filtered through a double layer of gauze, heated to 75ºC and filtered hot again. Pour into pre-sterilized jars and pasteurize at 80ºC in the same way as indicated in the recipe for jam.

Sea buckthorn juice prepared according to this recipe is recommended to be consumed with honey, which greatly increases the benefits of the miraculous drink.

In winter cold and with spring vitamin deficiency, sea buckthorn is the best remedy for maintaining the health of the whole family, from young to old.

It is worth paying attention to this amazing “golden berry”, which, moreover, does not require complex preparation methods and diversifies our table with many delicious delicacies

Useful video

I recommend watching this story, from which you will learn about the beneficial properties of orange berries and about preparations made from it.

Read further:

How to store sea buckthorn at home in the freezer in winter and recipes for delicious preparations

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How to preserve root parsley for the winter without losing valuable properties

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Useful lingonberries: how to store

Sea buckthorn: a little about the benefits

Sea buckthorn is rich in the following vitamins: B1, B3, B6, C, H, PP. Due to the huge content of vitamin C, it is used to prevent colds. But this is not all of its advantages. The berry contains many valuable microelements, such as iron, phosphorus, sodium, potassium, calcium, flavonoids, keratinoids, and in addition, glucose, folic, tartaric, malic and citric acids. These berries contain tannins and proteins, as well as monounsaturated fatty acids (omega-3).

Sea buckthorn helps against many ailments. It is used for cardiovascular diseases due to its ability to strengthen the walls of blood vessels. Its berries have antioxidant properties, help accelerate skin regeneration and wound healing. Therefore, they are used as a remedy for burns of varying degrees, as well as to remove age spots and other damage and changes to the skin.

Regular consumption of sea buckthorn berries will provide an anti-inflammatory and antiviral effect in the treatment of ARVI. Mixed with honey, it will cure cough.

Contraindications

Sea buckthorn, like any berries, has a high content of fruit acids. Therefore, caution should be exercised with it by anyone who has high acidity of gastric juice and diseases such as gastritis and stomach ulcers, cholecystitis, pancreatitis or urolithiasis. In addition, fresh sea buckthorn berries have a laxative effect.

How to properly freeze sea buckthorn for the winter?

Gardeners who grow these solar trees know that, for all their value, they are unpretentious to grow. But it’s not enough to grow berries; you also need to properly preserve them. Compote and jam are, of course, good, but heat treatment reduces the usefulness to almost zero. Is it possible to freeze sea buckthorn for the winter? After all, it is known that freezing preserves more nutrients. This is a responsible matter, especially when it comes to such a useful product as sea buckthorn berries. It is necessary to approach this process thoroughly - the result directly depends on it.

First, you should carefully sort out the crop. Spoiled or unripe berries are completely unsuitable for freezing. In addition, it is necessary to remove excess debris.

After all ripe fruits have been selected, they should be washed. To do this, you need to pour water into a deep container and pour berries into it. Then wash them carefully. It is better to change the water several times during the process.

The next step will be drying. Freezing does not require excess moisture. Place the washed berries on paper towels and allow to dry. This will take about 30-40 minutes.

Next, it is advisable to subject the product to shock freezing at -20 C o. To do this, the berries need to be spread in a thin layer on flat plates or trays lined with parchment paper and placed in the freezer for a couple of hours.

Important: freezing berries at an insufficiently low temperature of about -10-12 C will not give the desired result and will lead to damage to the raw materials.

Frozen berries can be placed in separate bags or plastic containers for long-term storage. In this case, it is necessary to place the containers separately from frozen meat and fish.

Sea buckthorn can be stored in the freezer for no more than 9 months.

Preparing sea buckthorn for freezing for the winter

Freezing is the easiest and most popular way to prepare and store berries. Its implementation does not require a lot of time and experience, which are necessary when preparing jam, compotes and the like according to recipes. All you need to do is simply place the berries in the freezer. And at the same time, you do not need to subject them to heat treatment, and you also do not have to waste sugar.

However, in freezing, despite all its simplicity, there are points that should be given special attention. Chief among them is the preparation of berries. Any negligence at this stage of freezing can lead to loss or partial damage to the preparation for the winter.

The collected sea buckthorn, first of all, must be sorted. All leaves, twigs and other random debris must be removed from it. In this case, you should immediately sort the sea buckthorn fruits, selecting only whole, uncrumpled, limp and unspoiled berries for freezing. Anything that turns out to be unsuitable for freezing for the winter, except for spoiled fruits, can be washed and used for other preparation methods or put into your tea at your next tea party.

Then the sorted sea buckthorn must be washed well. However, you should not do this under a running tap - due to the strong pressure of running water, the berries may be damaged. It is best to wash the fruits under a shower spray. You can also pour water into a large saucepan and carefully pour the berries into it. Then, carefully sorting the fruits with your hands and scooping small handfuls into your palms, rinse them.

Washed sea buckthorn must be dried. To do this, place the berries on paper napkins or a towel. It is advisable to dry the fruits so that not a drop of water remains on their surface. The less moisture that gets into the container for freezing and storage, the better.

Sweet sea buckthorn from the freezer

Is it possible to freeze sea buckthorn for the winter with sugar? Of course you can. This option is suitable for anyone who likes it sweeter, especially since this berry is quite tart and slightly sour.

To freeze berries with sugar, all preparatory procedures (sorting, washing, drying) should be carried out as with normal freezing. Sugar should be added after blast freezing. This way, the sugar will be distributed evenly, and the berries will not lose their shape and will look fresh. You can dose the sweetness according to your taste, but you should not overdo it, so as not to turn the benefit into harm. It is enough to add half of the sugar to some of the berries.

Sea buckthorn, pureed with sugar

Is it possible to freeze sea buckthorn for the winter in another way? There is an option - prepare frozen berries, first grinding them to a puree state. This method is suitable for those who are not happy with seeds. In addition, freezing puree will save a lot of space in the freezer due to its compact size.

Read also: How to fry frozen honey mushrooms from the store - step-by-step recipe with photos and videos

The recipe for such a miraculous puree is simple. Selected washed and dried berries are pureed in a blender with added sugar. The latter is added depending on taste preferences. The usual proportions of sugar and berries are 1:1. The finished sweet aromatic puree is placed in shallow plastic containers and placed in the freezer.

Sea buckthorn, pureed with sugar for preparing for the winter without cooking

Fresh sea buckthorn without cooking the berries is a real “vitamin bomb” that supports and protects the body from all sorts of ailments and diseases.

Besides, it is also very tasty. By putting a few spoons into hot tea, we get an aromatic drink that is pleasant in taste.

I always prepare berries this way also in order to make healthy, delicious fruit drinks. Children are simply delighted with these.

And be sure to prepare several jars. Moreover, everything is done as easily as possible.

700 grams of sugar
1 liter of sea buckthorn

If you count in kilograms, then for 1 kg of sea buckthorn you should take 1300 - 1500 sugar, depending on what degree of sweetness you prefer.

1. Of course, the berry must be washed before working with it, and excess leaves and twigs must be removed. Then give it a chance to dry. Since we will not cook it, it is not advisable for water to remain on the surface. It can trigger the fermentation process.

Therefore, it is better to wash the fruits in advance so that all the water has time to evaporate before cooking. And to be sure, also blot the top with paper towels.

2. Then grind it in a meat grinder or food processor, but try to prevent your assistant from whipping it at the same time.

You can also grind the berries using a blender. And if you don’t want the finished jam to contain seeds and skins, then grind through a sieve.

3. Sugar can be added after grinding the orange “beauty”. If you use a blender or food processor, then it is better to pour it in before you start churning.

In this case, the crystals will dissolve faster and there will be no need to stir the contents for a long time to achieve the desired state.

4. Transfer the resulting puree into clean, sterilized jars and add two tablespoons of sugar on top. Thus. we will create a “safety cushion”, and the finished aromatic puree will not ferment.

The prepared grated delicacy should be stored in the refrigerator or in a cold cellar. If the storage temperature is above 4 degrees, then fermentation processes may begin in the jar.

After the onset of cold weather, you can take the workpiece out onto the glassed-in loggia, thereby freeing up space in the refrigerator.

5. Eat at any time with tea, or make delicious fruit drinks. In this case, pass the diluted drink through a sieve, where all the skins and seeds that are no longer needed by that time will remain.

It's very simple and very tasty! And many housewives prepare fruits in this way.

Frozen sea buckthorn jam

Frozen berries are suitable for jam. The process of preparing this winter delicacy differs only in that you have to first defrost the sea buckthorn.

For jam you will need: 1 kg of berries, 1.5 kg of sugar and about 1 liter of water. The berries should be thawed and squeezed. Boil syrup from sugar and water. Place the berries in it and let it brew for 4 hours. After this, bring to a boil and simmer over low heat for no more than 10 minutes until the syrup becomes clear. Pour the prepared and slightly cooled jam into the prepared container.

Jam made from sea buckthorn frozen for the winter is absolutely the same as from fresh berries, both in taste and beneficial properties.

Recipe for ground sea buckthorn with sugar for the winter without cooking

Our goal is to maximize the preservation of all the properties of the original product, so canning sea buckthorn without cooking is the only way to achieve this.

So that children can eat the jam with pleasure, we will prepare it with a delicate consistency by rubbing it through a sieve.

Ingredients:

Sea buckthorn fruits;
Granulated sugar.

We take sugar and berries in equal quantities.

Let's prepare clean glass jars, lids, a colander, an enamel bowl, a saucepan, a fine-mesh sieve, a wooden masher, and a towel.

We sort the berries, remove the twigs and leaves, pour them into a colander and rinse well under running water. Let the water drain, place the fruits on a towel in a thin layer, and dry. Pour the dry berries into a bowl, add a little sugar and grind with a masher until pureed.

Now let’s look at how to make two versions of ground sea buckthorn:

Mix the berry puree with sugar, cover with a towel and leave for 1-2 hours to dissolve the sugar.
Rub the berry puree through a sieve to separate the skin and seeds, mix with sugar and let stand for 1-2 hours.

After the sugar has dissolved, mix the sea buckthorn puree well and pack it into clean, dry jars to a level just above the shoulders. Sprinkle granulated sugar over the berry mass to the very top; this is a good way to prevent the development of mold. Close the jars with lids and put them in the refrigerator.

In this form, pureed sea buckthorn can be stored for a very long time.

Tips for practical housewives: The seeds and cake remaining after rubbing the berries can be poured with sunflower oil in a 1:1 ratio and, tightly closed with a lid, put away for infusion in a dark place; in 2-3 months we will receive the most valuable sea buckthorn oil, which costs a decent amount in pharmacies.

The seeds and cake can be dried, ground into flour and added to any baked goods.

The benefits of frozen berries

If you freeze sea buckthorn for the winter, is it possible to make the usual sweet pies, other baked goods and other culinary delights from such berries?

To get a powerful dose of vitamins and get rid of winter depression, just take out a small portion of frozen berries and let them thaw a little. After this you can eat. If sea buckthorn is frozen without sugar, it is not too late to add it at this stage.

Of course, frozen berries are also suitable for preparing all kinds of dishes and desserts. Berries do not lose their beneficial properties after freezing.

Having figured out how to freeze sea buckthorn for the winter, you don’t have to worry about preserving the beneficial properties of this Russian superfood. You can freeze sea buckthorn for the winter, both for tea and for making sweet pastries, jam, and delicious berry puree. It is useful to eat frozen berries, adding them to your morning porridge or yogurt.

How to freeze sea buckthorn

When freezing food for the winter, be sure to leave room for sea buckthorn. This miracle berry contains a lot of substances important for the body, has medicinal properties, a high content of beta-carotene and a powerful dose of vitamin C. To miss and not prepare such a berry is to deprive yourself of a real storehouse of useful substances. So how to freeze sea buckthorn?

Total cooking time – 2 hours 0 minutes Active cooking time – 0 hours 40 minutes Cost – very economical Calories per 100 g – 82 kcal Number of servings – 8 servings

How to freeze sea buckthorn

Ingredients:

Sea buckthorn - 1 kg or any amount

Preparation:

In order to freeze sea buckthorn, you need to choose the right berries, namely: fresh, ripe and whole fruits. Unripe sea buckthorn is too sour and tart, so cooking compote and making other preparations with it will be a little expensive - such dishes will need to add more sugar.

When choosing a product to freeze, pay attention to the color and condition of the sea buckthorn fruit. They should be orange or light orange in color, without any plaque or other deterioration. It is desirable that the sea buckthorn be whole. Crushed fruits are not suitable for freezing.

In order for sea buckthorn to retain all its beneficial and healing properties when frozen, it must be properly prepared. This process should be given special attention, because any negligence at this stage of freezing can cause the berries to deteriorate not only externally, but also significantly affect the taste for the worse.

Sea buckthorn should be sorted out - remove all twigs, leaves and other debris. Select crushed, limp, spoiled, dry fruits. All spoiled sea buckthorn can be thrown away. But good fruits, but too soft and unsuitable for freezing, can be used for other purposes. For example, cook compote or add to tea.

Next, you should wash the sea buckthorn well. To avoid damaging it, I do not recommend putting the entire batch of berries in a sieve or colander. After all, a strong stream of water can crush ripe berries. It is best to pour clean water into a saucepan or deep bowl and pour sea buckthorn into it. Using your fingers carefully, rinse it thoroughly. Small leaves and other debris will still float to the surface; you can catch it with your hands or simply drain it with water.

You can change the water in the pan several times, thoroughly washing the berries.

Now you need to dry the washed sea buckthorn. You can take a paper towel or a regular kitchen towel (I prefer to use a waffle towel, it absorbs moisture very well). Spread the sea buckthorn on a towel in an even layer and leave for 20-30 minutes. The fabric will quickly absorb moisture from the berries, and they will become completely dry. Do not rush to put the berries in bags; the less moisture there is on the surface of the sea buckthorn, the better for storing it.

Read also: Horseradish for the winter (horseradish appetizer made from tomatoes with horseradish and garlic)

Before putting the fruits into containers for freezing, I advise you to put the sea buckthorn in the freezer to freeze a little. To do this, line a special flat tray in the freezer with parchment paper and lay out the berries. If you don’t have such a compartment, place the berries on flat plates or a tray.

Set the temperature in the freezer to minus 22 degrees and leave the sea buckthorn for about 30-40 minutes. Quick freezing will help preserve the nutrients and vitamins of the berries. Slow freezing of berries (minus 10 - minus 12 degrees) is not advisable, it can cause tissue rupture and after defrosting such a product will disappoint you.

After the allotted time, you just need to pour the berries into a bag or special containers for freezing. Sea buckthorn frozen by this method will definitely not stick together and can be scooped out of a tray or bag with a spoon or scoop.

I recommend using plastic trays for storing frozen sea buckthorn. In such a container, sea buckthorn is protected from accidental damage with other products in the freezer, and it is more convenient to use such a container. You can put the sea buckthorn in a thick plastic bag, but you must remove the air from it and close it tightly.

For ease of use of a frozen product, you should always indicate the information on the label. Sign: “sea buckthorn”, indicate the month and year of preparation.

Sea buckthorn should be stored at a temperature of minus 18 degrees and below, for no more than 9 months. Try to give berries and fruits a separate place in the freezer. You should not store sea buckthorn near fish, meat or mushrooms, otherwise the berries may absorb foreign odors. Sea buckthorn frozen in this way does not lose its qualities and after defrosting is no different from fresh.

From frozen sea buckthorn you can make fruit drinks, compote, jelly, and brew tea. You can also make sea buckthorn jam, jam and jelly. You can also grind it with sugar, squeeze the pulp through a sieve and get an excellent sauce for pancakes or pancakes. To prepare drinks and jam, it is not necessary to defrost sea buckthorn first. But if you decide to defrost it, it is better to do it gradually, leaving the berries in the lower section of the refrigerator.

The first thing I made from sea buckthorn was compote. Bright, aromatic, tasty, and also such a healthy drink. You can also make a sauce for pancakes or pancakes from frozen sea buckthorn, just don’t forget to grind the pulp through a sieve to get rid of the seeds. Frozen berries can also be added to tea.

Hurry up to stock up on such healthy berries for the winter and freeze sea buckthorn so that you have a rich source of vitamins and microelements on hand during the autumn-winter period.

Features of freezing

Freezing is considered the most popular and effective way to preserve the appearance and properties of not only vegetables, but also berries.

The main advantage of this method is the maximum preservation of vitamins, because the berries do not need to be cooked.

But despite this, when freezing sea buckthorn you need to know several important nuances.

First of all, you need to put on an apron so as not to stain your clothes from the caustic bright orange juice.
There are two ways to collect them: by carefully picking each berry or by cutting it along with the shoots.
Now we move on to the proper processing of sea buckthorn. First you need to sort through: remove all debris, branches, leaves.
Select whole, unbruised and unspoiled berries.
Many housewives ask whether it is necessary to wash sea buckthorn before freezing? Necessarily, but carefully. To do this, place the berries in a colander and rinse well with filtered liquid. It is better not to use running water, as the pressure of tap water can damage the integrity of the fruit. Another option for washing sea buckthorn: pour water into a large enamel bowl and carefully pour it in. Then stir with smooth movements for several minutes. Then strain the water through a colander.
Place the washed sea buckthorn on a clean and dry towel. Leave it like this until it dries completely and can be used for its intended purpose.

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Important! The less liquid there is on the berries, the better the freezing will occur.

An equally important part of the preparation is the choice of storage containers.

It should be remembered that after thawing, a portion of the fruit must be consumed immediately, since the leftovers can no longer be deep-frozen again. It is for this reason that before you start harvesting berries, you need to decide on the portions for further use.

So, let's look at what types of containers you can use for storing berries in the freezer:

disposable cellophane bags;
plastic food containers or jars;
jars of sour cream, yogurt.

The 2nd and 3rd types of containers are considered the best for storage, since sea buckthorn is protected from damage by other frozen products.

Unlike bags, jars will not tear, therefore, the berries will remain safe and sound.

Is it possible to freeze sea buckthorn

Berries, containing a lot of minerals and vitamins, if properly frozen, are almost identical in composition to fresh ones. Frozen sea buckthorn is healthier than jam and canned compote. If the freezer is spacious, sometimes whole branches of the plant with berries are placed in it.

Nutritional value of frozen sea buckthorn

In properly frozen fruits, the composition of microelements remains almost the same as in fresh ones - 90%. Vitamins are also not affected, except for the rapidly degrading vitamin C, which still remains in large quantities, unlike heat-processed products. This substance is very unstable. Even when stored in a room for 24 hours, its amount is reduced by ten percent. The same thing happens with a frozen product, but 6 months before. If you freeze quickly, a little goes away - up to 20% of ascorbic acid.

Calorie content of frozen sea buckthorn

In 100 g of berries, depending on their growing conditions, there are 75–85 kilocalories. Contains fresh berries:

1.2 g protein, or 5 kcal;
5.7 g carbohydrates, or 25 kcal;
5.4 g fat, or 52 kcal.

Frozen fruits contain almost the same amount.

The benefits and harms of frozen sea buckthorn

The healing effects after eating berries differ only in the smaller amount of vitamin C in the frozen product. The fruits have a positive effect on increasing the body's defenses, the condition of blood vessels, treat vitamin deficiency, inflammatory processes, and promote the healing of skin lesions. Sea buckthorn is rich in antioxidants, is considered a strong natural antibiotic, and is used to prevent cancer.

At the same time, the presence of acids makes it undesirable for use in case of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, liver, pancreas, and gall bladder. Being an allergen, it can cause a painful reaction.

Read also: Step-by-step recipe with pictures of making physalis jam

Subtleties of preparing sea buckthorn with sugar

Sea buckthorn is a specific berry. You can verify this by watching how it grows. Small berries tightly fit the trunk of the bush. You won't be able to collect them manually.

They are cut with garden tongs along with the branches. The loss of small branches does not harm the plant. Berries are removed from cut branches using nail scissors.

You can remove the amber miracle from the branches using a special device that resembles tweezers with a string stretched at the ends. Cooking sea buckthorn with sugar also has its own subtleties.

Features of the choice of main ingredients

To prepare sea buckthorn pureed with sugar, only ripe berries are selected. There is no rush to harvest. The material must mature. The fruits are sorted and sorted during the harvesting process. Spoiled berries are disposed of. Sea buckthorn is first crushed with a blender, then rubbed through a sieve. This will help rid her of the pits. Further preparation of sea buckthorn with sugar for the winter is not difficult.

But the finished delicacy separates: a light and liquid consistency gathers at the top, and a medium-thick layer forms in the middle. Thick sediment falls down. There is no need to be afraid of this and mix the layers.

Rules for preparing containers

The finished dessert is placed in glass jars. The container is sterilized in advance. Sterilization is carried out with a stream of steam, hanging the jar on the spout of the kettle. Sterilization time depends on the container. 0.5 liter jars are sterilized for 5 minutes. For liter containers, the sterilization time is increased to 10 minutes. The finished product is covered with metal lids.

They are carefully sorted before use. Lids covered with a rusty coating are rejected. Monitor the quality of the sealing rubber. If the gasket in the lid has yellowed and become sticky, the lid should not be used.

How to properly select sea buckthorn for freezing

Only ripe orange berries should be frozen. After harvesting, the fruits should not be kept for a long time, a maximum of 5–6 hours, so that they do not lose vitamins naturally. Prepare thoroughly for freezing:

the fruits are freed from large branches and leaves, poured into a deep bowl with water several times;
after each water change, the number of twigs, petioles and damaged fruits floating to the surface decreases;
then they sort more, extracting the crushed berries - they make tea or compote, grind them with sugar;
Whole selected fruits are taken out with a slotted spoon and laid out in a thin layer on a kitchen towel to dry for 20–30 minutes.

Drying sea buckthorn for the winter

To dry sea buckthorn fruits at home, the berries must be collected no earlier than the end of August, September, October, until the first frost. After frost, the skin of the berries often bursts and the fruits become difficult to collect for subsequent processing, although they do not lose their healing properties even after severe frosts. The berries are shaken from the tree onto a previously prepared clean cloth. Since the skin of sea buckthorn is very delicate, the berries should be washed very carefully under low pressure. Then the fruits are sorted, discarding the bad ones, and lightly dried in air until the water is completely dry. After this, the sea buckthorn should be placed in one layer on baking sheets and dried in the air. Drying sea buckthorn at home must be done in the shade to avoid destruction of the valuable carotene in the berries in the sun. Dry in the oven at 50ºC. The fruits should not burn.

The most appropriate way is to dry the cake at home. In this way, maximum use of the berries can be achieved: for juice and oil, and only then for seeds. Moreover, the dried cake has absolutely the same properties as whole, already dried berries. The cake is placed in small gauze bags and dried in the shade. Then the sea buckthorn berry cake is dried in the same way as the berries in the oven. The dried cake is scrolled in a meat grinder or ground in a coffee grinder along with the seeds and then used to prepare 80% sea buckthorn oil by adding vegetable oil and infusing for 3 weeks in triple extraction. To prepare the second and third extracts, the old cake is squeezed out and removed, and new cake is added to the resulting oil, repeating the infusion procedure. Then, the resulting oil is carefully filtered.

How to freeze sea buckthorn for the winter

There are several methods for freezing berries, including using modern household appliances. Refrigerators with blast freezing chambers allow you to preserve the structure of tissues and get rid of microbes. Freezers with fast freezing function process the product at -22 ºC. It is better to freeze fruits in small portions, so that the thawed product can be consumed immediately. Berries should not be repeatedly exposed to low temperatures, as beneficial substances are lost. You can prepare ready-made portions of fruits, ground with sugar, in small containers.

Shock freezing of sea buckthorn

This technology is more common in industry, but there are also household appliances that allow you to instantly reduce the temperature in a separate freezer to -30... -50 degrees. When frozen in a conventional chamber, large ice crystals form in the intercellular space of the fruit, breaking the cell walls. Thawed berries bleed juice and become flabby. Under conditions of shock freezing, tiny crystals are formed, the cell walls remain intact, and as a result the product looks like fresh. Blast freezing requires a rapid decrease in temperature starting from -25 ºC.

Freeze portions of sea buckthorn in containers or plastic bags

Prepare the container in which the frozen product will remain in advance. Purchase special small containers for the freezer or use small containers for dairy, culinary or confectionery products. The process of freezing whole Siberian pineapple fruits is carried out in two ways.

Most freezers have a compartment with a shelf-tray for freezing fruits and vegetables. It is covered with parchment paper and the fruits are laid out in one layer. Frozen berries are then packaged in small portion containers or sealed bags.
The fruits are immediately placed in selected containers or regular bags in pre-distributed small portions. Dry and clean containers or cups are not filled to the top and are not closed immediately, but after freezing.

Sea buckthorn frozen with sugar

A sweet semi-finished product is also prepared.

The berries are rubbed through a sieve.
Sugar is added to the finished puree to taste.
They are packaged in convenient containers so that you can use the sweet jam in one day.

Two ways to freeze berries

Freezing sea buckthorn for the winter can be done in two ways. The first is to immediately distribute the dried berries into selected containers or bags and place the latter in the freezer. If plastic containers or cups serve as containers for frozen sea buckthorn, they are not immediately closed. First, the berries are given time to freeze, and after 2 days, when removed from the freezer, the containers are tightly closed with lids. Then the containers are returned.

If cellophane bags are used, the fruits are placed in them in a thin layer, the bag is tied and placed in the freezer in such a place so as not to shift or “disturb” the berries until the moment when they are needed.

Another way is to place the sea buckthorn on a tray in one layer. Place the tray in the freezer and turn on the deep freeze function. In this case, the berries will not freeze together, and after a couple of hours they can be taken out and poured into selected containers, and then returned to the freezer. Sea buckthorn frozen in this way can be easily scooped up in the required quantity, either from a bag or from a plastic container.

Thawed sea buckthorn tastes no different from fresh. Its berries can be used in exactly the same way as freshly picked ones!

Author: Mikhail Malofeev
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How to properly defrost sea buckthorn before eating

It is worth taking care of defrosting before use. You need to plan when you will need vitamin products.

It is better to defrost berries in the refrigerator, placing the bag on the top shelf. The advantages of this method are that the nutrients of sea buckthorn are preserved, and harmful microflora does not develop. The process is lengthy, takes up to 9 hours.
At room temperature, sea buckthorn will defrost faster, but there is a danger of simultaneous growth of bacteria.
It is not recommended to quickly defrost sea buckthorn in the microwave, since the technology destroys the cellular structure of the product.

What can you cook from frozen sea buckthorn?

Frozen berries contain most of all its beneficial components.

The fruits are consumed without any processing, with porridge or tea.
By combining with sugar, you get a high-calorie, but high-vitamin dessert - fresh jam.
Frozen berries or jam briquettes are used to prepare fruit drink, jelly or compote.
If sea buckthorn is taken for these purposes, it is not defrosted, but immediately placed in boiling water, adding sugar.
To fill the pies, defrost the sea buckthorn and keep it in a sieve for some time to allow the juice to drain.
They prepare jellies and sauces for pancakes, as well as for meat.
Sour berries are used when stuffing poultry for baking in the oven.

Rubbed with sugar

Sea buckthorn pureed with sugar is stored well without cooking, so it retains a maximum of vitamins and other useful substances. In addition, such “live” jam turns out to be very tasty. For the recipe, sea buckthorn and sugar are taken in a ratio of 1:1.5.

Clean dry berries are ground in a meat grinder or blender. You can leave the puree in this state or grind it through a sieve to obtain a homogeneous mass without skin and seeds. The first option is preferable in terms of benefits, since sea buckthorn peel and seeds contain very valuable substances that have the most pronounced therapeutic and prophylactic properties.

When using a meat grinder, sugar is added to the already crushed mass, and then allowed to brew and stirred periodically so that the crystals dissolve faster. If sea buckthorn is ground in a blender, it is better to first mix both components and then grind them together. This will ensure the sugar dissolves faster and eliminates the need for prolonged stirring to achieve the desired homogeneity.

The finished mass is laid out in sterilized jars. Pour 2 tbsp on top of each. l. sugar to minimize the risk of fermentation. Hermetically sealed. Store at a temperature not higher than +4⁰С.

Shelf life of frozen sea buckthorn

Packages and containers with frozen berries are laid out in sections for storage. It is advisable to keep them separate from meat and fish so that odors are not absorbed. Make sure that the containers are hermetically sealed and that no moisture is released: due to condensation, the chamber has to be defrosted more often. At normal freezer temperature, -18 ºC, sea buckthorn can be fully stored for 9 months. During this period, the valuable product needs to be used, otherwise it will not bring any benefit to the body later.