Juicy elderberries invite you to snack. To ensure that everything runs smoothly during the harvest, you should follow a few rules. Under certain circumstances, the fruits are anything but digestible. Here you can find out how to pick elderberries correctly.
Elder is harvested in late summer
Identify ripe elderberries
Under normal weather conditions, elderberries ripen from early August to mid-September. The fruits dangle from the branches in dense, enticing clusters. Because they contain toxic sambunigrin when immature, you should assess ripeness based on the following criteria:
- the berries are blue-black to violet-black throughout
- there is no reddish tinge to be seen
- red elderberries have no green spots
To be absolutely sure of full ripeness, put on gloves and mash the berries. When a burgundy juice comes out, all concerns can be put aside.
Instructions for correct picking
If the maturity test is satisfactory, put on gloves and old clothes. Elderberry juice causes stains that are difficult to remove. Therefore, a basket lined with plastic film is considered the ideal means of transport for the harvest. How to do it right:
- Cut off a complete umbel with scissors
- Pick out any unripe berries
- rinse the harvest thoroughly under a spray of water
- Comb the berries from each umbel with a fork over a kitchen sieve
Plan the harvest in such a way that you then have enough time for further processing. Elderberries do not keep for long and quickly enter an undesirable fermentation process. If you cannot cook the fruit straight away, freeze the whole cones until then.
Stone the red elderberries
The fruits of the red elder contain seeds whose toxin content does not decompose when cooked. It is therefore essential to stone them before cooking.
tips
It is the berries of black elder in particular that are excellent for preserving. With just a few ingredients you can conjure up aromatic jam, fruity jelly or a first-class syrup. However, the fruit can only be digested by heating it to at least 80 degrees Celsius, because the toxin content dissolves at this temperature.