The content of the article
How to store birch sap? Whole or fresh - no way. Birch in its essence is ordinary water. And, it would seem, should remain unspoiled for a long time. But no. It contains so many substances that in two days even in the refrigerator it begins to mold. And what to do - bacteria and microorganisms also love birch "water".
But sometimes you want to enjoy birch sap when there is autumn slush, summer heat, winter cold ... What should I do? Usually - save for future use.
Birch sap is stored in three ways:
- deep freeze;
- canning or evaporation;
- preparation of drinks;
It is clear that the taste and amount of nutrients after processing birch trees vary slightly. But in a different way.
How to store birch sap in the freezer
Birch "water" is poured in small portions, approximately 200-300 ml, and subjected to shock freezing.
Why small? Because thawed it is also stored only 2 days. So why drag out the whole block to drink a glass? It is much more convenient to thaw birch sap in portions at a time.
Tip. It is not recommended to store birch in packages. It is better to pour it into special food containers.
Winter canning
Birch sap should be heated to a temperature of about 80-85 ° C, then pour into glass bottles or jars, roll lids from tin. After all the procedures, the corked containers must be pasteurized additionally for 15-20 minutes at 90 ° C.
Cans with precious contents that have cooled at room temperature can be safely stored in a cool dark place for 6-8 months.
Another way to store birch sap is by evaporation. At a temperature of 60 ° C, birch sap is heated for a long time, evaporating its volume up to 25% of the total. That is, if initially there were 10 liters of liquid, then only 2.5 liters should remain at the end.
The juice is caramel brown, but that's fine. It is poured into containers, closed, as usual home spins and cleaned in the basement or cellar.
The whole drink received is not consumed. It must be diluted with clean water in a proportion of 1 part juice to 3 parts water.
Tip. For complete reliability, the drink is bottled and jar to the top so that there is no air left. Covers for the same reason are coated with liquid wax or paraffin.
Birch Water Drinks
If there is no desire to mess with the spins, then the preparation of drinks is your choice. Wonderful kvass, balms, fruit drinks are made from birch sap. There are a great many recipes; below are the simplest, but no less tasty ones.
Kvass
To 2 liters of birch sap at room temperature add 4 tsp. sugar free and medium handful of raisins. To taste add grated lemon zest, several favorite berries, fruit slices. The mixture is thoroughly mixed, poured into glass bottles, then removed to the sourdough in a cool dark place for 7 days.
After a week, kvass is filtered and drunk. Keep such a drink in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.
By the way, raisins are not washed before laying, otherwise the fermentation process will take place with mold.
Tip. If pine needles are added instead of fruits or berries, then kvass will turn out not only tasty with a pleasant aroma, but also useful with a high content of vitamin C.
Balm
Mix 5 liters of birch sap, 1 liter of quality red wine (better than homemade, without preservatives and chemical additives), 1.5 kg of granulated sugar, 2 washed and finely chopped lemons. Close the mixture with tight lids, but do not roll up. Cleaned for two months in a cool place (cellar, underground).
After filtering, give "rest" another 21 days. You can enjoy it!
Tip. Balm is not used as a standalone drink. It is added to tea, cocktail, coffee.
Morse
Morse from birch juice is prepared with the addition of any berries that are at hand. They are squeezed, the liquid is set aside. The remaining pulp is poured with birch, put on an already boiling water bath. Heated for no more than 5 minutes. Remove from heat, allow to cool completely.
Then mixed with previously prepared berry juice, cooled and drunk. Sweeten with sugar or natural honey if desired.
Such a drink perfectly quenches thirst, gives the body an energy boost and a surge of strength, replenishes the vitamin-mineral balance.
The obtained elixir can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks.
Tip. Birch "water" is harvested in early spring, when there are no berries yet in the season. And what prevents to take frozen from last summer? Surely in the freezer there were several bags with last year's supplies.
Valuable Utilities
- In the old days, birch were left to roam without additives. The result was a low alcohol drink. It is unlikely that a modern person will like the taste, but what prevents to try?
- Pure untreated birch "water" is transparent, resembles a spring. The appearance of air bubbles or whitish foam indicates that the drink has deteriorated. It is not worth consuming or processing such a liquid.
- Freshly birch sap is a very useful drink for diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.
- After cooking, kvass can be insisted on linden flowers, hypericum, chamomile. From this nutrients will only increase, the taste will become more saturated.
- Only fresh birch sap is suitable for preservation. Stayed 2 days can not be saved by sterilization. But for the preparation of kvass it is still suitable.
- If during collection from a tree the birch tree goes unclean with a yellow tint, then time has already been lost. We need to wait for next year.
How to store birch sap? So that he retains his valuable properties as long as possible, it is best to store him directly in a birch. And to produce according to the season and in quantities for personal use. People say - everything has its time.
Video: how to preserve birch sap
Submit
You have some yellow-green water with floating leaves in your photo. Are you sure this is birch sap? Birch sap and birch leaves are incompatible things. Juice ends when the kidneys begin to bloom. Fresh birch sap, if it is clean without adding earth, dirt, insects, is absolutely transparent and stored in the refrigerator for more than a week.