They thrive wildly along the wayside or under the nurturing hand of the hobby gardener. A mystical touch has surrounded elderberries for generations. Tart taste, very healthy, but sometimes poisonous. Immerse yourself in a fascinating diversity.

Elderberries are very healthy

When are elderberries harvested?

In the garden, elderberries are ready to harvest a little earlier than in the wild. Thus, the ripening period extends from August to September. The fruits visually signal their state of ripeness by being colored all the way through.

The berries of the black elder are violet-black, without any red nuance. The same applies to the fruits of the blue elderberry. The fruits of the red elder, known as deer elder, no longer have greenish spots.

Which harvesting technique is recommended?

In earlier times, elderberry juice was used to dye clothing, hair and food. It follows that protection of hands and clothing during harvest is essential. The following procedure has proven itself:

  • use scissors to cut off the entire umbel with the berries
  • use two fingers to sort out unripe fruit
  • carry the harvest into the house in a basket or plastic tub
  • Rinse the individual clusters of fruit under running water
  • Scrape the elderberries over a colander using a fork
  • Then stone the red elderberries

Don't be tempted to snack on the raw berries while you're picking them. In the worst case, you have to pay for it with severe abdominal pain and severe nausea. The cause is the content of toxic sambunigrin, which only decomposes when heated.

The most important nutritional values

Elderberries are rich in provitamin A and contain significant amounts of various B vitamins. In addition, they score with these values per 100 grams:

  • 48 calories
  • 0.5 grams of fat
  • 2.5 grams of protein
  • 7.4 grams of carbohydrates
  • 4.0 grams of fiber

How to cook elderberries tasty

There is no doubt that the fruits of the elder have a tart, bitter taste. Hardly any recipe succeeds without a generous portion of sugar. Since the poison content can only be dissolved by heating in the same train, boiling down to jam is the most popular preparation. How to do it:

  • Mix 1.5 kilos of washed elderberries with the juice of one lemon
  • Stir in 500 grams of preserving sugar evenly
  • Bring to the boil in a saucepan while stirring and continue cooking for 4 minutes

The hot mixture is poured into sterilized screw-top jars, which are then closed and turned upside down for at least 10 minutes.

Juice berries for a vitamin boost

If you have a juicer at your disposal, the device will quickly transform your fresh elderberries into refreshing, healthy vitamin juice. To do this, fill the lower part of the pot with water and put 400 grams of sugar in the juice container. Put 2 kilos of the cleaned berries in the sieve. Juicing takes 50 minutes.

About 5 minutes before the end of the procedure, take half a liter of juice and pour it over the remaining berries from above. In this way you create an even concentration. Last but not least, the hot elderberry juice comes in bottles, which are immediately sealed tightly. Diluted with mineral water, the juice tastes particularly refreshing.

Freeze properly for a long shelf life

With elderberry, loving care usually results in a lush harvest. If not all elderberries can be processed immediately, there is sometimes a certain amount of time pressure. All elderberry species tend to shed their fruits and leaves in autumn. To bridge the time until preparation, freezing serves as a viable solution. Here's how to do it:

  • Freeze the washed berry cones completely
  • alternatively, comb out the fruit with a fork
  • select unripe and overripe berries
  • Place all usable elderberries in freezer bags

In the last step, seal the bags as airtight as possible and put everything in the freezer. Incidentally, the cold does not decompose the toxic ingredient, so the thawed elderberries must be boiled before consumption.

Elderberries dry in the oven and dehydrator

The traditional art of drying is becoming more important again, because nobody wants to treat their fruit harvest with chemical preservatives. The small berries of the elder are the ideal candidates for preserving them naturally by removing the water in a targeted manner.

The plan succeeds in the oven by spreading the washed fruit out on a baking sheet. With a top and bottom heat of 50 degrees Celsius, the drying process takes a little longer compared to circulating air. If you don't want to block the oven for so long, use a special dehydrator. This is equipped with a heater, a fan and several screens. The elderberries are dried at 60-70 degrees Celsius.

tips

Not only the berries are suitable for consumption, but also elderflowers. Freshly picked and dipped in pancake batter, fry the blossoms in lard. The regional specialty is served under the name 'Hollerküchle'.

Category:

Vegetable garden