Blueberries are an extremely healthy berry. It has antianemic, vasoconstrictive, antibacterial properties. This explains its use for medicinal purposes with a large number of diseases. You can eat blueberries not only in the season of its collection, but also by harvesting such a valuable berry for the winter.
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Dried blueberries
Drying is one of the ways to harvest blueberries for the winter at home. Collected fresh berries must be sorted out, removing leaves, twigs, spoiled berries and other garbage.
Lay prepared berries in one layer on a tray, baking sheet or any other flat surface in one layer. If desired, metal foil or parchment can be placed under the berries. On top of the berries you need to cover with gauze to protect them from flies and other insects.
Place the berries in the sun and leave there to dry completely. Turn over blueberries from time to time to evenly dry the berries on all sides. Avoid moldy berries. At night, blueberries must be cleaned indoors.
Completely dried berries are firm, wrinkled, when sprinkled, they produce a characteristic rustling sound. They should be stored in a dark place in a linen bag or paper bag. You can use dried blueberries for cooking compotes, jelly, baking.
Frozen Blueberries
Wash the picked blueberries in running water and dry the berries well on a towel. Lay them on a special pallet in one layer so that there is a small space between the berries. Thus, you will avoid freezing of fruits.
Place the blueberry tray in the freezer to freeze for 1 hour. After that, remove the berries and pour them into a plastic container. Store frozen blueberries in the freezer. Use such berries for any culinary purposes.
Frozen blueberry puree
Grind the washed berries with a pusher or a blender into a smoothie. If desired, add granulated sugar to taste. Put the berry puree in plastic containers and place in the freezer for freezing and storage. After defrosting, this puree is used as an independent dish, a filling for pies, the basis for the preparation of drinks.
Blueberry jam
Boil syrup from 300 g of water and 1.5 kg of granulated sugar. In a boiling syrup, put 1 kg of sorted and washed blueberries. Mix everything carefully and bring to a boil. Remove the dishes from the heat and leave the jam to cool completely. Then bring it to a boil again and cool. The foam that appears during cooking must be removed. Put the jam on the fire for the third time, add the juice of half a lemon. Bring the berry mass to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Then pour the jam into sterilized glass jars, close them with metal lids, turn them upside down, wrap and leave to cool completely. Store jam in a dark, dry place.
Blueberries in own juice
Pour the prepared blueberries into sterilized glass jars to the top and place them in a wide pan, on the bottom of which gauze is folded several times. Pour cold water into the pan. It should reach the shoulders of cans. Put the pot on the fire. When the water begins to boil, reduce the heat so that the boil is not very strong and the water does not fall into the jars of blueberries. Gradually, blueberries will begin to settle. As soon as this happens, you should fill the formed space with berries taken in one of the cans. Continue cooking blueberries in your own juice until the berries continue to settle, each time reporting jars of berries to the top. After that, put sugar in each jar at the rate of 1 tsp. on a half liter jar. Cover the blueberries with sterilized metal lids, boil the berries for another 5 minutes and roll up the jars. You can store them at room temperature.