Preserving berries

Mandy Hatfield

There are many varieties of berries grown in the Pacific Northwest. Strawberries are usually the first to ripen in the late spring, followed by raspberries, currants and blackberries, which include loganberries, marionberries, boysenberries, Cascade, youngberry and the wild evergreen and Himalayan varieties. There are also several varieties of blueberries available.

It’s berry season in the Umpqua. Blueberries, blackberries and marionberries to name a few. These berries can be preserved for use throughout the year in so many ways. I usually enjoy picking berries when they are in season. Most recently I picked blueberries.

When preserving berries, they are great to freeze, make jam, berry syrup, pie filling and canning. So many preservation techniques work for berries. I enjoy having frozen blueberries year-round for snacking on and for smoothies.

I like to wash them and freeze them in a single layer on a sheet tray. Once frozen, they easily transfer to a gallon Ziploc bag for storage. I like to put the date and the variety of blueberries picked right on the bag.

With blackberries and raspberries, make sure they are mostly dry when putting them on the sheet tray so that they don’t stick to the tray.

When picking berries for jam, jellies or syrup how much to pick will depend on the variety and size of the berry. However, a rule of thumb is two pounds of fresh berries will yield one quart of frozen or canned berries. Every quart of fresh berries will yield approximately 1 cup of juice for jelly or 2 cups of mashed berries for jam.

A 36-pound crate of whole berries will yield approximately 18–24 quarts. This is found in Preserving Foods: Berries (SP 50-780) from OSU Extension Service.

Raspberry jam is one of my families’ favorite varieties. We all love the tartness of the berries for the sweet jam.

My current interest is to try berry syrup. It sounds so delicious and tasty on pancakes. I would like to try this recipe out sometime this summer.

I have enjoyed having pie filling canned on hand in my pantry. It makes for such a quick tasty dessert in the winter months. I like to make crisps with my pie-filling, but they work great for pies too. I have made several varieties but love the raspberry ones I made. This also works great in a tart shell with a lattice overlay of dough.

As a kid I loved picking all fruits and would enjoy wild blackberries so much. I would can them in syrup and eat them in the morning for breakfast. What a treat to have blackberries for breakfast in winter.

With this many ways to preserve berries I better go get on some more picking. Hopefully, you find some of these ideas inspiring too.

Mandy Hatfield is the Nutrition Education Program Senior Instructor for OSU Extension Service of Douglas County. Mandy can be reached by e-mail [email protected] or phone at 541-672-4461

Mandy Hatfield

Select 6-7 cups of fresh or frozen fruit of your choice. A combination of fruits can be used. Wash, cap, stem and sort fresh fruits. Crush the fruit using a potato masher, food mill or food processor.

Follow this method for extracting the juice:

Drip Method is to place crushed fruit in a saucepan. Heat to boiling and simmer until soft (five to 10 minutes). Strain hot pulp through a colander and drain until cool enough to handle. Strain the collected juice through a double layer of cheese cloth or jelly bag. Do not squeeze the bag. Discard the dry pulp. Measure strained juice.

The yield should be about 4½-5 cups.

Making the syrup: Measure 5 cups of strained fruit juice into a large saucepan and combine with 7 cups of sugar. Bring to a boil and simmer for three minutes. Remove from heat, skim off foam and fill into clean half-pint or pint jars, leaving ½ inch headspace. Adjust lids and process in a boiling water canner.

Yield: About 9 half-pints.

Note: To make syrup with whole fruit pieces, save 1-2 cups of fresh or frozen fruit. Replace 1-2 cups of juice with the fruit before combining with sugar and simmer as in making regular syrup.

Processing time: See recommended process times for berry syrups in a boiling water canner (below). Start timing as soon as water returns to a boil. After processing, take canner off heat. Remove lid. Wait 5 minutes before removing jars.

Process times at altitudes of:

0-1,000 ft. — 10 minutes

1,001-6,000 ft. — 15 minutes

Above 6,000 ft. — 20 minutes

Storing Syrups: Syrups must be processed before storing at room temperature. Once opened, the syrups should be stored in the refrigerator. If freezer space is available, the syrups may be frozen instead of canned. Be sure to leave 1-inch headspace to allow room for expansion during freezing.

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