Birch sap has a huge number of beneficial properties. The composition contains minerals, vitamins and enzymes, fructose, organic acids and essential oils.
Of course, the quality of purchased birch sap cannot be compared with your own collected birch sap. But it is stored for no longer than two days in a dark, cool place, harvesting takes place only in the spring, but what to do in the other seasons?
There are several ways to preserve birch nectar with all its beneficial properties for a long time at home.
Freezing
This is the most effective way to store birch sap. To preserve all the qualities, it is important to freeze it correctly. Firstly, this must be done immediately after collection. Secondly, the process must occur quickly, in the “shock freezing” mode at very low temperatures. Make sure your freezer has enough capacity. Thirdly, the juice needs to be strained.
Freezing in a glass jar is not recommended: there is a high probability that it will simply crack due to temperature changes. Use plastic bottles and containers. Do not fill the container completely, otherwise it will burst. You can also freeze the juice in molds and then transfer the cubes to a tight bag. They are convenient to use for cosmetic procedures.
Frozen birch sap can be stored at -18 °C for up to six months, and at lower temperatures for up to one year. It cannot be re-frozen.
Canning
Preserving birch sap is not difficult.For 1 liter you will need 120-130 g of sugar and 5 g of citric acid.
Bring the drink to a boil; if foam forms, be sure to remove it. Add citric acid and sugar, then strain through cheesecloth and pour into sterilized jars. Seat tightly. The jars should be kept upside down until they cool down.
Canned nectar can be stored for up to 2 years.
Concentrate
Another option is to make syrup, but this method is not the easiest.
Pour some of the juice into an enamel pan and boil. When about 1/3 of the volume has evaporated, add more. Continue this until the volume of all liquid is reduced by 10 times. During the boiling process, do not forget to skim off the foam. The larger the area, the faster the liquid evaporates, so it is better to use wide containers.
As a result, you will get a thick, yellow liquid, similar in color and consistency to honey, in which all the beneficial substances are concentrated. The syrup has a very pleasant taste; before use, it can be diluted with water, added to tea and simply eaten.
This concentrate practically does not lose its properties and does not ferment, so it can be stored for two years.
Dessert drink with lingonberries
Birch-lingonberry drink is very healthy and has a diuretic effect. To prepare it, take 150 g of lingonberries, squeeze and mix with 1 liter of birch sap. Place everything in a water bath for 5 minutes. After this, cool, mix with previously squeezed lingonberry juice. You can add honey to taste to sweeten the drink.
To increase shelf life, it is better to roll it in sterilized jars.If you store it at a temperature of +2 to 14 °C, the drink is good for a year.
Kvass from birch sap
Kvass is made from birch sap. A fairly high sugar content in it promotes fermentation. The drink can be stored for up to 3 months - just right for the whole summer. What could be better than a mug of kvass on a hot day? There are a number of different cooking recipes.
Classic kvass
For 1 liter you will need 50 g of sugar and 5 g of raisins. Add the ingredients to the juice strained through cheesecloth. The drink is adjusted within 3 days, after which it needs to be filtered again and stored in a cool and dark place.
Kvass with honey and lemon
To 1 liter of birch sap add 10 g of honey, 20 g of lemon juice and 6 g of yeast. Place a few raisins in a bottle, close tightly and leave in a cool, dark place for two weeks.
Kvass with bread, oak bark and cherry leaves
Place 20 g of toasted black bread crusts in gauze into a container with birch sap and leave in a warm place for three days. After this, add 20 g of oak bark and approximately 5 g of cherry leaves. After two weeks, the drink should be strained and cooled.
When preparing kvass, you can add orange, mint, tarragon and other herbs, dried apples, cloves, and berries to your taste.
Thanks to these tips, you will preserve birch sap for a long time, you will be able to enjoy the taste of the drink and get benefits at any time of the year.
The author is off topic. Kvass will not turn out as the juice will ferment. To prevent this, place a hazel twig (hazelnut) in a container with juice.
Avtar, what are you talking about - what temperature difference will cause a glass jar to crack when freezing juice - don’t write nonsense! it will crack not from the drop..., but from the expansion of frozen juice or other liquid!
How many vitamins are left after cooking?
“For 1 liter you will need 120-130 g of sugar and 5 g of citric acid.”
Well, not every stomach can handle that much lemon, but a few grains (on the tip of a knife) are enough. We've been doing this for 25 years now.
Pleased with the concentrate, boil and add.
Birch sap cannot be boiled, otherwise it will be useless.
Only sterilize for 10 minutes. at a temperature of 65 degrees.
Next, into sterile jars, adding a little sugar and lemon juice.
Tomorrow I'll go and install it, they say it's already dripping
Let's check. True, there is still a supply of 4 x 3 liter cans left.
PEOPLE ! The simplest and highest quality way to store birch sap. Freshly collected juice is poured into clean plastic bottles. Conditions - NO AIR!!!. We put it in the shade, the temperature is not higher than 5°. In a month you will get it and it will be like champagne. I kept it for 2 years. FUCK UP!
that's right, it stays in plastic bottles in our cellar all winter, very good and tasty
I don’t boil the juice, but bring it to 90 degrees, 3 liters of lemon on the tip of a knife and an aspirin tablet. ROLL UP, WRAP UP UNTIL THE MORNING. Costs!!!!
Pour fresh juice into plastic bottles and into the freezer, and at any time I defrost and drink fresh juice. juice
I have been collecting birch sap for 70 years. It can be collected in the spring, for about a month. The first juice does not sour at room temperature for about five days. There are many ways to prepare kvass and other drinks. Don't boil the juice. To preserve it for the winter. heat it to 80 gr. having previously put 3 tablespoons in it for each liter of liquid. spoons of sugar and a little citric acid. No aspirin needed. Determine heating to 80 degrees. maybe by bubbles. which will rise from the bottom to the surface, it is better to have a thermometer. If overheated, it will also be stored. but less useful. I advise men to use fresh birch sap instead of lotions after shaving. Women should wash their face with it before bed and in the morning. Flower allergies can be successfully treated with birch sap if you drink it instead of tea. The juice dissolves well and turns kidney stones into sand. which then comes out painlessly. But here you need to consult a doctor.
I freeze it in 5 lit. In a chest freezer.
I have been collecting for over 10 years. I freeze small bottles. Method 2. I pour it into 5 liters. not full and I put a full handful under fried black bread\2-2 cm pieces\ and in the cellar\and what kind of okroshka you get\all without preservatives. 3-method with dried fruits it turns out very sweet.
I freeze in bags
Guys tell me what's best
If the juice goes into the flask and into the cellar, someone who did this will get stale or sour, if it gets stale, then for how long?
Can be frozen for richness. Two options.After water crystals form, drain the concentrate. Or freeze completely and drain the concentrate when defrosting. Verified.
Very tasty
For about 30 years we have been collecting juice as much as it flows. We drink it fresh and pour the excess into plastic bottles and store it in the cellar until new juice is made, from which we make okroshka, fruit drinks. Due to its sugars, it becomes cloudy, sour, and then this cloudiness settles down. And only then is it ready to eat. The acid is very moderate, it persists for a year.
I spotted a new method for collecting juice on Tik Tok: drill a hole with a 5 mm drill and insert a dropper.
We collected this year using a dropper, it’s very convenient! And after freezing, the juice became tastier and sweeter. Now I’ll just freeze
This year I collected some juice, I’ll try it in 3 liter glass bottles in the cellar, maybe it will work out….
Guys!!! I buy wort, it’s in any marketing, and for a liter of juice, 150g of wort, a handful of wine raisins. If you want it faster, then gram 5 dry yeast instead of raisins, that’s it!!! You get kvass from a branded manufacturer (Blagodey), etc.
All my life I’ve been drinking only fresh, but this is the second year I’ve been freezing it, but I’d like to make kvass that can be stored. In the recipes I read, some bring it up to 80-90*, but I saw a recipe where they don’t heat it up at all, add honey, lemon and raisins to the bottles and close them. How not to spoil it?
A request to everyone... Take care of the birch trees, use a drill with a 5mm bit, and then fill the holes with wax, tamping it down, and if you leave it, it will flow past and the birch will die
After harvesting, the holes need to be sealed with garden varnish...