Harvesting bracken fern for the winter: drying, freezing

Man has learned to use almost all the gifts of nature for a specific purpose. Many of them are edible, while others have medicinal properties. But there are those that are used both in cooking and in traditional medicine. The bracken fern is an excellent example. Fresh, it has an unusual taste, somewhat reminiscent of a mushroom, and a composition rich in vitamins and microelements. But like all plants, it is fresh only during a certain period. In this regard, people have learned how to harvest bracken ferns for the winter using different methods in order to preserve all the useful properties.

Harvesting bracken fern for the winter

In early May, rachis, the so-called fern sprouts, begin to appear from the ground. They are petioles with a tip curved in the form of a snail. Their growth is fast enough. In just 5-6 days, the sprouts straighten and leaves begin to appear. The appearance of the first leaves means that the plant is no longer suitable for harvesting. Therefore, it is considered the most suitable time for collecting and harvesting bracken fern is the period from the appearance of sprouts to the first leaves, at about 3-4 stages of growth.

The sprouts that are harvested for the purpose of harvesting for the winter should be no more than 30 cm, while during harvesting, the sprout should not be cut off at the ground itself, but about 5 cm from it. After harvesting, the rachis are sorted by color and length. The sorted sprouts are collected in bunches, aligned at the top. Then the bundles are tied and the ends are cut exactly. Shelf life in bundles after collection should not exceed 10 hours. In order to preserve all useful and taste qualities, it is recommended to harvest for the winter no later than 2-3 hours after harvesting.

You can prepare bracken fern yourself for the winter by drying, pickling and freezing. Industrial harvesting of bracken fern in Russia is carried out by salting it. This method, when stored in a refrigerator, allows you to preserve all food qualities for up to 12 months.

How to dry bracken fern

Drying bracken fern is a good way to prepare this product and preserve all its taste for a long time. For this process, fleshy and dense shoots are selected in length - up to 20 cm. They are pre-boiled for about 8 minutes in salted water. The ratio of water to the mass of fern stalks should be at least 4: 1, since bitterness will come out of the sprouts.

After cooking, the shoots are thrown into a colander and poured over with cold water. Then they proceed to further procurement. Drying can be done naturally in the fresh air or in an electric dryer.

How to dry in the fresh air

Natural drying is a lengthy process that takes 3 to 5 days at normal humidity. And they perform it according to the following algorithm:

1. After heat treatment, the bracken fern is given a little time to cool down, as well as for all the liquid to glass.
2. The cooled rachises are laid out in a thin layer on craft paper, cloth or a stretched fine mesh in a well-ventilated dry place.
3. Beginners to dry out the petioles periodically turn over and knead slightly.
4. After complete drying, the dried bracken fern is transferred to fabric bags and hung in order to normalize the humidity.

Drying in an electric dryer

Drying in electric dryers is a faster way of harvesting. Just as in the case of natural drying, the petioles after cooking are allowed to cool and dry slightly. After they are laid out on an electric dryer tray in an even layer and sent to dry at a temperature of +50 degrees for 6 hours.

During drying, it is important to monitor the condition of the fern, because it is better not to dry it slightly than to dry it out. It should also be borne in mind that the drying time directly depends on the thickness of the petioles.

At the end of drying, the sprouts are poured into bags of dense fabric and suspended to dry in a warm, dry place.

Determination of product readiness

Determining the readiness of a product during drying is easy. Correctly dried bracken fern has a characteristic odor of this plant. Its color can be from light brown to dark brown with a green tint. Its stems are elastic and dry enough to the touch. If the stem breaks when pressed, it means that the fern may dry out.

Storage rules

Depending on the humidity of the room, storage methods for dried ferns differ. If the room where you plan to store this product is dry enough and with a humidity of no more than 70%, then this can be done in fabric bags, cardboard boxes or bags made of craft paper. At higher humidity, the dried rachis should be placed in a container that is hermetically sealed, such as a glass jar or plastic container.

In a dried form, bracken fern with stable humidity can be stored for up to 2 years.

How to pickle bracken fern at home

In addition to drying, bracken fern can be prepared by pickling it. There are many ways to marinate petioles at home for the winter. At the same time, for harvesting, you can use both fresh, only harvested rachis, and salted.

If you want to prepare fresh bracken stalks by pickling, then they must be pre-boiled in a large amount of salted water for no more than 10 minutes. Before marinating, a salted product must be thoroughly rinsed and soaked for 5-6 hours in cold water to remove excess salt.

Bracken fern pickled for the winter in jars

When pickling fresh rachises for the winter in jars, they are pre-boiled in a large amount of water, then you can start the harvesting process itself.

Ingredients:

• bracken fern - 1 bunch;
• water - 1 l;
• table vinegar - 1 tsp;
• salt - 2 tbsp. l .;
• sugar - 1 tbsp. l .;
• peppercorns - to taste;
• ground pepper - to taste;
• bay leaf - 1-2 pcs.

Preparation method:

1. A jar is prepared, it is thoroughly washed and sterilized.
2. The boiled fern is thrown back in a colander, washed under cold running water and allowed to drain off excess liquid.
3. They put the petioles in a jar and start preparing the marinade.
4. Water is poured into a saucepan, salt, sugar, pepper, bay leaf are poured into it and vinegar is added.
5. Bring everything to a boil and pour into a jar, roll up a lid.
6. The jar is turned over and wrapped with a towel or blanket. Leave this way until it cools completely.

How to pickle bracken fern with garlic

There is also the option of marinating bracken fern with garlic and soy sauce.In this way, an amazing snack is prepared, suitable for consumption without additional manipulations. For cooking you will need:

• fern cuttings - 1 kg;
• soy sauce - 3 tbsp. l .;
• apple cider vinegar - 2 tbsp l .;
• sugar - 2 tsp;
• salt - 0.5 tsp;
• garlic - 1 head;
• vegetable oil - 4 tbsp. l .;
• ground red pepper - 1 tsp.

Pickling method:

1. First, boil fern rachises in salted water for about 8-10 minutes. Then they are transferred to a colander and washed under running water.
2. The garlic is peeled and passed through a garlic press.
3. Heat vegetable oil in a frying pan and pour red pepper into it, mix thoroughly.
4. In a deep container, preferably an enamel pan, lay the bracken stalks of the bracken fern, pour hot oil and pepper. Then soy sauce, vinegar.
5. Then sugar and salt are poured. Add chopped garlic.
6. Everything is thoroughly mixed, covered with a lid and sent to the refrigerator for 3-4 hours.

How to make pickled bracken fern from salted

To pickle salted bracken fern, you can use the carrot recipe.

Ingredients:

• salted fern - 300 g;
• water - 100 ml;
• onion - 1 pc .;
• carrots - 200 g;
• sesame oil - 20 ml;
• vinegar 9% - 20 ml;
• sugar - 30 g

Pickling method:

1. The salted fern is washed and soaked for about 6 hours in cold water, changing it periodically.
2. After soaking, the petioles are transferred to a saucepan and boiled in clean water for about 5 minutes. Then they are thrown into a colander and washed.
3. The boiled sprouts are cut into small pieces.
4. Carrots are peeled, washed and grated for Korean carrots.
5. The onions are also peeled and cut into half rings.
6. Fry the onions in sesame oil until golden brown. Leave to cool and decant excess oil.
7. The fern is combined with fried onions and carrots. Start to marinade.
8. Vinegar and sugar are diluted in 100 ml of water, stirred until completely dissolved.
9. Pour the mixture of ingredients with marinade, mix, cover and put under a press. Put in the refrigerator for 5-6 hours.

Storage rules

You can store the bracken fern harvested in jars by marinating for up to a year at temperatures below 0. This should be done in a dark place. It is important that the rachises in the jars are completely covered with marinade.

If we talk about marinating with garlic, then the shelf life is reduced, as in the case of pickling salted ferns. After all, these options are considered the preparation of a ready-to-eat snack.

How to freeze bracken fern

In addition to drying and pickling, bracken fern can be prepared by freezing. The freezing process does not differ in complexity from drying, it is performed as follows:

1. Fern rachis of approximately the same color and size are selected. They are washed and cut into pieces convenient for subsequent preparation.
2. Then the chopped petioles are gently dipped in boiling water.
3. Blanch for about 8 minutes and discard in a colander.
4. Rinse under running water, leave in a colander until it cools completely and excess liquid drains off.
5. The cooled fern is transferred to portioned food bags. The bags are closed and sent to the freezer.

Frozen petioles can be stored without loss of quality throughout the winter.

Application rules

Depending on the method of preparation for storage, the bracken fern has its own nuances in preparation for cooking.

The dried product for consumption must first be restored. To do this, pour boiling water over the desired amount of dried fern and leave for 6-8 hours. After that, the water must be drained and rinsed with running water. When washing, it is advisable to remove the curled leaves, and leave only the stems for cooking. Before cooking, they must be boiled for 8 minutes and cooled. After this procedure, the fern is ready to eat.

Pickled bracken fern is considered ready-to-eat.No manipulation required. A salty product, in turn, requires additional soaking. This should be done for at least 7 hours. After soaking, the petioles need to be boiled for 5-8 minutes, and then eaten.

The harvested product by freezing also requires preliminary preparation. It should be removed from the freezer 2-3 hours before cooking, then boiled for 5 minutes. Then rinse and cool. Some recommend not defrosting the frozen fern, but immediately dipping it into boiling water. But it is worth noting that when the frozen product is lowered, the water temperature will drop and it will take time to re-boil. And long-term cooking can adversely affect the quality of the product.

Conclusion

You can prepare your own bracken fern for the winter in different ways. All of them allow you to preserve the nutritional quality of this product. It is worth noting that bracken shoots are highly valued for their ability to remove toxins and radionuclides from the body. Therefore, the harvesting of bracken fern in Russia for 2018 occupies one of the leading positions and has its own strict requirements for obtaining a quality product.

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