Aronia bushes are extremely productive: A harvest of around three to five kilograms of berries from just one bush is not uncommon. With several shrubs, large quantities of the aronia berry can quickly come together. The berries can be processed into jam and jelly, juice, fruit wine and liqueur. You can also freeze and dry them and then use them like raisins.
Versatile dried aronia berries
The dried aronia berry, often also referred to as chokeberry, can be nibbled raw as a snack, tastes good as an ingredient in muesli or cake. The dark berries are also very popular as a component of healthy smoothies. A mixture of sweet fruits such as apples, pears, bananas and aronia is very tasty. Try an apple crumble cake with aronia berries or process the fruit in a fruit sauce and serve it with a hearty dish with meat or cheese.
Dry the aronia berries in the oven
Aronia berries can easily be dried in the oven. It is ideal if you have a convection oven - this provides the necessary air circulation. Set the oven to a temperature between 50 and 60 °C and let it preheat. In the meantime, spread your aronia berries generously over several trays and then put them in the oven. Now the fruit should dry for at least an hour, preferably two. During the process, you should rearrange the sheets from time to time so that all the berries are dried evenly. The dried berries are shriveled and hard like raisins. An energy-saving alternative to the oven is a dehydrator.
How to dry aronia berries in the sun
However, the cheapest option is probably to dry the berries in the sun. In this case, however, you should be able to count on a consistent stable high.
- Air temperature between 25 and 30 °C
- low humidity
- enough space to spread the fruit in the blazing sun
- Leave fruit there for several days
- Protect berries from birds and other thieves (e.g. with a fly net)
- Turn berries regularly
You should store the dried berries in an airtight container. They have a shelf life of about a year.
tips and tricks
You can prepare a delicious fruit tea from dried aronia berries: Pour boiling water over one or two teaspoons of the dried berries and let them steep for about 15 minutes. You can also mix the berries with other, finely chopped, dried fruit and put together a healthy fruit tea yourself without any flavorings.
The garden journal freshness ABC
How can fruit and vegetables be stored correctly so that they stay fresh for as long as possible?
The garden journal freshness ABC as a poster:
- as a free PDF file to print out yourself