How to store cherries?

One of the first berries in the garden is ripe cherry, delighting its owners with juiciness and bright taste.It upsets one thing: the shelf life of this berry, even in the refrigerator, is calculated for several days, and at room temperature for hours. Breeders are trying to bring new varieties that are not so perishable, but so far they manage to advance in terms of only a day or two. However, for those engaged in transportation of sweet cherries, and such advances are of great importance. At the same gardeners, storing the fruit at home, developed their own methods to keep them longer.

There are several recommendations that significantly affect the extension of the preservation period of sweet cherry berries in good condition. This applies to both the collection or acquisition of fruits, and the way they are stored.

1. Tearing ripe berries is better during the most dense pulp - in the early morning.
2. Try to leave cuttings when breaking the cherry. With them, the berries begin to deteriorate later for two reasons. First, the stalk has a small supply of nutrients and moisture. Secondly, if the integrity of the berry in the place of attachment to it is not violated, the penetration of microflora into the fetus is impeded.
3. The sweet cherry intended for storage cannot be washed. If there is moisture on the berries, then they need to be dried (put on a dry towel or napkin).
4. It should carefully sort out the collected or acquired sweet cherry, leaving dense berries, without signs of decay, with no damage in the form of cracks, peeling of the skin, dents, wormholes.

When buying, it is better to choose fruits with green and strong (not sagging) cuttings. Of course, you are unlikely to allow you to choose each berry, so you should give preference to sellers who have a sweet cherry with a large number of cuttings on sale.

Depending on the duration of the planned storage at home, there are four ways:

• for several days - in the general compartment of the refrigerator;
• for autumn and winter, but not more than 8 months - in the freezer;
• for use within 1 year - methods of thermal drying;
• for use at any time for 1 year - canning.

Fresh cherry is a perishable product that starts to rot at room temperature after a few hours. Therefore, a small amount of berries should be stored in the refrigerator. In the vegetable compartment (bottom drawer) they remain unchanged from three to five days. Just do not pull with the laying of berries in storage - the sooner the cooling of the product begins after removing it from the branch, the greater the chance of keeping it fresh for up to a week.

In the compartment located under the freezer of a standard refrigerator and having a temperature in the range of 0 degrees, the freshness of the cherry is preserved for up to 2 weeks. In this case, do this:

• first, the berries are placed in the lower compartment so that they cool to a temperature of 5 degrees;
• after cooling the product (after about 3-4 hours), it is transferred to the compartment under the freezer.

Sweet cherry is a juicy berry, it cannot be cooled too quickly. However, this does not apply to fast freezing during storage. Freezing is a necessary measure, so you have to choose the lesser of two evils: it is better to save the sweet cherry with minor changes than to lose the entire crop.

If the harvest is rich and there is not enough time to use all the berries, then one of the easiest ways to keep them fresh is to quickly freeze them in the freezer. At a temperature of -18C sweet cherry is stored for 8 months, without losing its beneficial properties. However, it should follow some basic rules.

1. It is necessary to use for packing fruit vacuum or special bags for berries that do not allow smells from the outside, thereby protecting the product from changing the flavor. In no case should not take for this simple cellophane bags that do not have sufficient tightness.
2. Frozen berries must be freshly picked from the bushes, well sorted, cuttings removed, completely washed and completely dry. Drying should be carried out for 2 hours on dry towels with transfer to the other side after 1 hour.
3. Initially, the fruits are laid out on a baking sheet of a suitable size in one layer so that they do not touch each other, and frozen in a freezer for 2 hours.
4. After that, a baking tray with frost-bitten berries is extracted, the fruits are carefully sprinkled into bags, and they are already placed in the freezer compartment.

For drying cherries at home, suitable electrical appliances (dryer or oven, equipped with a temperature control system). Ripe berries are selected, which are carefully washed, dried with napkins, separated from the cuttings. Bones can be left.

The whole process in the dryer is reduced to the following algorithm:

• berries are placed in one layer in the appliance;
• the temperature is set at 60 degrees (to avoid cracking the berries) for 2 hours;
• drying temperature rises to 80 degrees (for soft varieties at 2 hours, for dense varieties at 4 hours);
• drying to readiness when returning to a temperature of 60 degrees;
• when ready, the device is turned off, the berries are cooled naturally and are stored for storage.

Dried berries should be soft to the touch, but the juice should not stand out. The color remains the same as it was before drying. Any change in these properties should be a reason for urgent inspection of the fruit. Causes may be pests or rot.

In the oven, the drying process is a bit simpler than in an electric dryer:

• berries are laid out on a baking tray in one layer and dried for 8-10 hours at a temperature of 50 degrees (with the door slightly open so that moisture is removed);
• the temperature is set from 70 to 80 degrees, the fruits are dried until ready (a sign of the end of the procedure - the fruits no longer stick together).

Ways of preservation of berries of cherries are diverse: preparation of compotes, mashed potatoes, jams, preserves. Especially aesthetically pleasing sweet cherries in compotes. The most delicious drinks are obtained with the addition of strawberries.

For compote, sweet cherry is torn off in clear weather. Choose dense fruits, not overripe, without any flaws. The harvested crop is carefully washed first in deep dishes (for example, in a basin) with clean water, and then under a shower. After that, you should wait for the natural drying of the berries, and when they are completely dry, you need to remove the cuttings (water should not get into the berries). After that, the sweet cherry will be ready to prepare the compote.

Poured ready compote in sterilized jars with lids. Store the drink in a cool place at a temperature not higher than 18 degrees (in the basement, cellar). Refrigerator for storing jams, jams and sweet cherry stews is not suitable.

In the next video, see the recipe for delicious dried sweet cherries.