Sea buckthorn is a storehouse of useful vitamins and minerals. And in order to preserve all its benefits for a long time, it is better to make delicious juice from it, which will come in handy especially in winter. After all, sea buckthorn is indispensable for fortifying and maintaining immunity during the cold season.
To make sea buckthorn juice, you just need to have a desire, a little free time, all the necessary ingredients and, of course, a juicer, because without it, the juice making process will drag on and become much more complicated.
Which juicer is right
There are several types of juicers, but not all are suitable for sea buckthorn. Sea buckthorn contains seeds that are undesirable in juice and can damage the juicer. For sea buckthorn, you need to choose a juicer that would make the most of all the berries, leaving behind only dry cake and seeds.
The most optimal model is the auger juicer. In some ways, her work resembles the work of a meat grinder: products are placed in a special compartment, which then pass through the auger and are crushed, which is why they release juice. In this case, the cake and seeds (if any) fall into a separate container, and then they can be used for other purposes (to prepare oil, for example) or simply thrown away.
Auger juicers come in both manual and electric options. Manual ones require some effort on the part of the user, while electric ones take all the work on themselves, and you just have to prepare the ingredients and put them in the device.
In addition, when buying a juicer, it is worth considering the approximate volume of squeezed juice. If you often and in large quantities make juice from berries, fruits and vegetables, it makes sense to get a powerful and spacious model that will make a lot of juice at a time.
Preparing sea buckthorn for juice
Undoubtedly, before preparing the juice, sea buckthorn must be carefully prepared so that nothing will spoil the taste of the future drink.
The first step is to sort out the berries, that is, remove all twigs, leaves, debris, as well as shriveled and unripe fruits. As a result, only ripe, juicy and firm berries should remain.
You also need to rinse all the selected sea buckthorn fruits in cool water. After that, it is recommended to lightly process the berries with boiling water, and then let the excess moisture drain.
Indications and contraindications for the use of sea buckthorn juice
Before stocking up on sea buckthorn juice for the whole winter, make sure that both you and your loved ones have no contraindications to its use. These include almost all serious diseases of the gastrointestinal tract, liver and gallbladder, as well as individual intolerance to sea buckthorn.
Sea buckthorn has much more indications. For example, it does an excellent job of strengthening the immune system, fights against vitamin deficiency and chronic fatigue, improves digestion and metabolism, and has a powerful anti-inflammatory effect. And this is not all of her merits.
Classic sea buckthorn juice recipe
If you have never harvested sea buckthorn juice for the winter before, it is recommended to start with the simplest and most classic recipe. It will not be difficult to repeat it.
Almost everyone will like the taste of this drink, because sugar syrup is added to the juice according to this recipe, which levels the excessive acidity of the berries.
The following ingredients are required (for 3 liters of juice):
- sea buckthorn - 2.5 kg;
- sugar - 0.4 kg;
- water - 0.4 l.
Step-by-step recipe:
- Prepare the sea buckthorn and then run all the berries through a juicer.
- Bring the resulting juice to a boil, simmer for about 5-6 minutes, then cool.
Boil the syrup with water and sugar, and while the syrup is still hot, gently pour into the sea buckthorn juice. Mix everything well. Pour the juice into the jars, after sterilizing them. After that, immediately roll up the cans for the winter.
Sea buckthorn juice with honey
To enhance the benefits of sea buckthorn several times, honey can be added to the juice. In this case, you will get a very aromatic and tasty drink that will brighten up long winter evenings and at the same time help with many diseases.
The following ingredients are required (for 2 liters):
- sea buckthorn - 2.5 kg;
- honey - 0.3 l;
- water - 0.3 l.
Step-by-step recipe:
- First, prepare the sea buckthorn berries. Then use a juicer to make sea buckthorn juice from them.
- Add water to the concentrated sea buckthorn juice, bring the mixture to a boil, simmer for about 5-7 minutes over low heat.
- Cool the mixture of water and sea buckthorn to about 40 degrees, and then add honey to it, mix.
- Pour the juice into carefully sterilized jars. Screw the lids on the jars.
Sea buckthorn juice with pumpkin
All orange products go well with each other in taste. Sea buckthorn and pumpkin are no exception. Sour-sweet and slightly tart sea buckthorn makes an excellent duet with a little spicy and sweet pumpkin.
Sea buckthorn pumpkin juice turns out to be very unusual and interesting. However, it may not be to everyone's liking, so first prepare a little for a test. And if your family will appreciate it, next time increase the volume.
The following ingredients are required (for 3 liters of juice):
- sea buckthorn - 1 kg;
- pumpkin juice - 2, 2 l.
Step-by-step recipe:
- Pass the prepared sea buckthorn berries through a juicer.
- Mix sea buckthorn juice with pumpkin juice. You can use pumpkin juice either homemade or store-bought. However, it is still better to make pumpkin juice yourself, because there will be nothing superfluous in it.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, but do not boil for a long time. 5 or 6 minutes will be enough.
- Cool the juice, pour it into well-sterilized jars, and then preserve them.
Sea buckthorn juice without boiling
Boiling is the key to a long and successful storage of sea buckthorn juice. But it should be borne in mind that when boiling, some of the beneficial properties of berries are irretrievably lost. However, with the help of citric acid and sugar, you can slightly extend the shelf life of the juice without heating it.
The following ingredients are required (for 3 liters of juice):
- sea buckthorn - 2.5 kg;
- sugar - 800 g;
- citric acid - 1 teaspoon.
Step-by-step recipe:
- Sort out and rinse the sea buckthorn berries, run them through an auger juicer.
- Add sugar and citric acid to the resulting juice. Stir everything thoroughly and for a long time so that the sugar is well distributed.
- Pour the juice into pre-sterilized jars, preserve them.
What else can you add to sea buckthorn juice
Sea buckthorn juice certainly has a bright and memorable taste. However, it becomes boring over time. But this is no reason to no longer harvest such juice for the winter, because you can always add a bit of variety to a bored drink.
For example, sea buckthorn goes well not only with pumpkin, but also with carrots or orange. In general, with everything orange.
And if concentrated sea buckthorn juice is hard on your stomach, next time make apple-sea buckthorn juice, it is softer and no less tasty.
And for an unusual refreshing note, you can add fresh mint or mint syrup to sea buckthorn juice.
The flight of fantasy is endless. By choosing the right combination on your own, you will enhance the benefits of the juice and delight your family with an unusual taste.
Storing sea buckthorn juice
If you follow all storage conditions, sea buckthorn juice will continue to delight you not only in winter, but also until the next harvest of berries. The conditions are quite simple:
- Try to avoid direct sunlight on the juice cans, so store the juice in a dark and cool place. A good old cellar or basement is best suited for these purposes.
- All jars should be well sterilized and tightly rolled up with lids. Otherwise, the juice will deteriorate ahead of time.
- For long-term storage, choose glass over plastic.
- Although heat treatment of berries kills some of the vitamins, it also prolongs the shelf life of the juice.
- If you do not have a basement, cellar or other similar place, and you are not sure about the sterility of the cans, it is better to freeze the sea buckthorn juice. This will extend its shelf life.
