Black currant is a real vitamin bomb among the berries. It supplies the human body with vitamins C, B, PP, K, E, H, A, and its composition is rich in nutrients such as iron, organic, phosphoric and ascorbic acids, pectins, potassium, calcium. It is interesting that not only berries, but also currant leaves have a healing effect.
To obtain the greatest possible benefit from currants, doctors recommend not to give it a thermal treatment, and it is better to freeze or dry. That is why in our article we will discuss ways and best recipes for currant harvesting for the winter.
Selection and preparation of berries
The first step towards the correct freezing of currants is the choice of the berries themselves. Preference should be given to ripe, fresh berries of high quality, preferably large. Pay attention that the fruits are just ripe, as overripe ones lose their useful properties and after thawing may not look too appetizing.
Not only black, but also red and white currant have useful properties.
Make sure that the berries are not beaten, damaged or rotten.
As for cleaning the currant from dirt, it is not recommended to wash it before freezing: you only need to carefully sort out the fruit, clean the twigs, tails, leaves and insects that can get into the dishes during collection. If you still decide to wash the "vitamins", then you should carefully dry them on a towel.
Important! We can not allow wet currants to fall into the freezer, because water will lead to deformation of the berries. Before freezing, you also can not keep the fruit in the refrigerator for more than a day.
Frost
Prepared berries should be placed in the freezer. It is recommended 5 hours prior to their premises to turn on the super-freezing mode, which contributes to the highest quality process of freezing products. 
Currants need to decompose on a board or tray and place in the freezer. The freezing process should occur at a temperature of -18 ° C throughout the day. After that, you can collect the frozen fruits in a convenient dish for you (bags or containers) and put them back in the freezer. Do not keep the fruit in the freezer for more than 8-12 months.
Check out how to freeze apples, strawberries, green peas, blueberries, pumpkins, eggplants for the winter.
Drying
Drying is another one of the best recipes for currant harvesting for the winter without cooking. Moreover, it is possible to dry not only the fruits, but also the leaves of this healing plant. Indeed, in its leaves no less useful properties and vitamins are accumulated. And, most importantly, they are not lost during processing.
Berries
The first step to properly drying the berries is to collect them: fruits should be picked on a sunny day so that they are completely dry. Otherwise, even with a properly organized drying process, the product may deteriorate. 
Drying the fruit is advised in the oven. To do this, the fruit must be decomposed into an iron pan. Berries do not need to dump in one dense pile.
Important! The most optimal temperature for drying is 50-70 ° С with the oven door ajar. It is rather easy to check whether the fruits are sufficiently dried: they should not let the juice in when squeezed.If you want to dry the fruit in the shortest lines - do it using a microwave. In this case, they should be placed on a plate and separated with natural fabric. This original way will help you to dry the fruits in just 2 minutes.
For storing dried currants, use a tightly closed glass container.Leaves
Currant leaves - a source of copper, magnesium, silver, sulfur, manganese, iron, essential oils and other trace elements necessary for the body. 
Therefore, tea from such leaves is a real find in winter. But in order to enjoy the benefits, the leaves need to properly collect and dry. It is necessary to collect high-quality leaflets, without any damage, in dry weather. Some gardeners harm the bushes of the plant, because they do not know when to pick currant leaves for harvesting for the winter.
The optimal time for collection is the end of August or the beginning of September, after the plant ceases to bear fruit. You need to pluck the leaves, which are located in the center of the stem. 
The recommended time for drying leaves is from 3 to 10 days, it all depends on the temperature conditions. The leaves need to be spread out on a flat surface, from time to time they need to be mixed. Dried leaves need to be crushed and folded in a paper bag or linen bag for later storage.
Did you know? Tea from dried black currant leaves is useful for both adults and children to improve brain function and vision. In the leaves of the plant there are many trace elements that contribute to this.
Currant, ground with sugar
There are many ways to make currant jam for the winter. The easiest is to grind berries with sugar. To do this you need only currants and sugar in the same proportions (1: 1). 
First of all, prepare the fruits: they need to be cleaned from the stalk, leaves and rot. Then the berries need to grind in a meat grinder (you can also use a blender or food processor). In some recipes, it is advised to mill not all products, but to leave at least a third of whole berries. It is up to you. 
Grind fruits with sugar in a separate container and mix thoroughly. Let the product stand for about an hour so that the sugar is completely dissolved. 
Place the prepared jam in a sterile clean glass dish and close tightly. Keep such a healing product advised in a cool place. 
Jam Recipes
Demand among gourmets use other currant jam recipes for the winter. We advise the most popular ones that should be brought into the piggy bank of the hostess.
Classical
The classic recipe for currant jam for most people smells like childhood. When eating such jam, every adult will remember winter trips to the village to grandparents, where such delicacy was always on the table. 
So, let's reveal grandma's secret of cooking treats. To make blackcurrant jam according to the classic recipe, you will need:
- currants - 1 kg;
- sugar - 1.5 kg;
- water - 1.5 cups.
Ready syrup pass through a sieve or gauze fabric, folded in 3-4 layers, several times. Purified syrup should be put back on fire and boiled. Pour dried whole berries into boiling syrup and cook until ready. 
The thick consistency of jam indicates that it is ready. It's time to roll it into the banks. 
Five minutes
The recipe of currant jam for the winter "five minutes" - one of the fastest and easiest to prepare. To implement it you need to prepare:
- 1 kg of berries;
- 1.5 kg of sugar;
- 1.5 glasses of pure water.
Currant-Banana Jam
This is an original recipe for real gourmets. Jam is prepared without cooking, so it should be stored only in the refrigerator.
Prepare black currants, bananas and sugar in a 1: 1: 1 ratio, for example, 0.5: 0.5: 0.5 kg. Whip berries with sugar in a blender. Bananas need to be cleaned, cut into cubes and also send to the blender. After grinding the bananas, mix all the ingredients. Fragrant jam is ready to use.
Did you know? The name of the plant was due to the wayward sharp aroma. The words "currant" and "currants", oddly enough, have one root. But with all this, the currant jam smells just fine.
Jam
Currant jam - the main "weapon" in the fight against influenza or other catarrhal viruses in the autumn-winter period. The fact is that the berry is rich in phytoncides that destroy viruses and infections in the body. 
Every day there are new recipes for cooking black currant jam. We will reveal the secret of one of the most popular. Components:
- currants - 1.5 kg;
- sugar - 1.5 kg;
- water - 0.5 l.
In these recipes you can use both black and red currants.
Jelly
Currant jelly for the winter is a great opportunity to replenish your body with vitamins. 
To get this delicious dessert, you only need to stock up on berries and sugar (1: 1.5). Fill the prepared fruits with cooled boiled water so that they are barely covered. Bring mixture to a boil and boil over low heat for about 30 minutes.
After the required time, add sugar and boil another 15 minutes. In this case, the jelly must be constantly mixed and collected foam. The process of converting the mixture into jelly can be traced by how it begins to thicken and stick to the walls of the dish. Your jelly is ready for seaming. To give it an original taste, add a little cloves and cinnamon. Awesome jelly made from red currants. To prepare such a delicacy you have to squeeze the juice from 1.5 kg of berries. Get about 1.2 liters of juice. Then add 1 kg of sugar, boil for 3 minutes and roll up.
Learn how to make blanks of viburnum, blueberries, cranberries, apricots, strawberries, gooseberries, sea buckthorn, yoshta, cherries, apples for the winter.
Compote
Currant compote can be prepared from frozen or dried berries, and rolled up in the banks in the summer. 
Options to cook currant compote set. We offer the most delicious recipes.
- The simplest recipe is the classic one: put 1 liter of water, 800 g of berries, 200 g of sugar and, if desired, 2 tsp. cinnamon Boil for 2-3 minutes, roll up.
- Currant compote with raspberries and melissa is prepared using 800 g of currants (red or black), 200 g of raspberries, 1 liter of water, 1 kg of sugar, 0.5 lemon and 2-3 sprigs of lemon balm. Berries need to be blanched and placed in sterilized jars, on top of them put lemon and lemon balm. All this pour pre-prepared syrup and roll up.
- To prepare a currant compote of frozen fruits, you will need 1 cup of berries, 0.5 cups of sugar and 3 liters of water. Fruits and sugar should be added to boiling water and boil for a few minutes. The cooled compote is ready to use.
