Birch sap is a seasonal product with a minimum shelf life. Fresh birch sap is stored for only a couple of days, and usually a very decent amount is collected. Therefore, it needs to be reworked.
Birch sap has many beneficial properties and has a beneficial effect on the body. Besides, it is very good at quenching thirst. Unfortunately, due to the short shelf life, you have to resort to various processing and conservation methods in order to keep it longer.
Conservation
The simplest and most reliable way to preserve birch sap is to roll it into jars. There are many ways, depending on tastes and possibilities. During the Soviet era, the most popular method of industrial conservation of birch sap was to preserve it in 3-liter jars with sugar and citric acid. The juice turned out to be tart, sweet-sour and quite rich in taste. To date, conservation has been somewhat complicated by various additives. Medicinal herbs, fresh citrus fruits and so on were added to birch sap.
At home, a universal recipe involves the use of exclusively natural ingredients without artificially isolated oxidants. For canning 3 liters of birch sap, you will need 2 tablespoons of sugar and a quarter of lemon or any citrus, along with the zest.
The jar is sterilized and sugar and citrus are added to it. Birch sap is brought to a boil, poured into a prepared jar and rolled up with a sterilized lid. The rolled up juice is turned over on the lid and wrapped in heat for additional sterilization.
Alternative save methods
Kvass from birch sap is very tasty and has a long shelf life. Birch sap (10 liters) is poured into any available container and a handful of raisins are poured. For better fermentation and giving a special kvass taste, you can add a few rye bread crumbs. Crackers can be substituted for malt. To improve the taste, lemon zest is again added. Fermentation variations are quite varied. Some people prefer using yeast for faster results. In any case, the fermentation process lasts at least a week and you can start drinking kvass almost immediately. Ready kvass is stored in a cool place for several months.
Some housewives with freezers have mastered freezing birch sap. But it takes up a lot of space and this storage method is impractical. It is much more preferable to use boiling in order to increase the concentration and subsequent dilution with water for consumption. For this, birch sap is evaporated at a temperature of 60 ° C until the volume is reduced by 75% and poured into cans.
