The beneficial properties of vegetables and fruits for the human body are invaluable. But in order to saturate the body with vitamins, a person does not have enough harvest time of the year. Preserving and preparing for the winter will help you enjoy the summer delicacies and benefits of fruits, including pomegranates.
Who does not know about the beneficial properties of pomegranate. These fruits are a storehouse of vitamins B, C, calcium, iron, phosphorus, folic, ascorbic acids and many other useful substances. You can't eat a lot of pomegranates at once, an overdose of acids is also harmful. Therefore, it is worth thinking about how to prepare the fruits for future use. The best option is in the form of juice.
It is best to hot preserve pomegranate juice, as this will preserve the maximum of useful substances. But first you need to cook it.
For high-quality juice, choose ripe pomegranates, they will give a richer color and sweetness when pressed, fruits with dents, sunburns are also suitable if they do not contain signs of mold. For 1 liter of juice, you will need about 3.5 kg of pomegranates.
Rinse the fruit well and cut it in half. After that, depending on the presence or absence of special household appliances (juicer, blender, etc.), squeeze the juice from the pomegranate seeds in any way possible. Moreover, this must be done very quickly, since slow pressing contributes to the saturation of the juice with tannins, the tart taste of which is not to everyone's liking.
Next, filter everything through sparse cheesecloth. After that, the juice is usually poured into an enamel pot and heated to 85 degrees.
Lovers of sweet juice can add sugar, since even ripe pomegranate will still be sour.
Remove the juice from the stove and pour it into sterilized jars or bottles, seal them with boiled lids and put in a large container with hot water for pasteurization, for example, in a bath. The water temperature should be 80 degrees. Depending on the capacity of a jar or bottle of juice, the pasteurization time will be:
- 40 minutes for a three-liter can, - 20 minutes - for liter, - 15 minutes - for half-liter. After pasteurization, the sealed jars should be turned upside down and left to cool.
As an option for cooking - pomegranate juice with spices, which will decorate the taste of meat and fish dishes.
When preparing this seasoning, the juice is heated to a temperature of 70-80 degrees and spices are added to the pan. For 1 liter of juice, you will need 6 grated garlic cloves, finely chopped cilantro (coriander) - 75 grams, 2.5 grams of red ground pepper and 15 grams of salt. After adding spices, boil for another 2-3 minutes, then pour hot into prepared sterile jars and roll up.
When stored, pomegranate juice will give a brown sediment that does not need to be drunk. Before use, you do not need to shake the container with juice; on the contrary, gently opening it, slowly pour the juice. A huge amount of acids contained in pomegranate juice, in addition to useful properties, can also have negative consequences for the body, for example, irritation of the gastric mucosa, therefore it is recommended to dilute it with water before use.
