Whether in the garden, on the balcony or in the supermarket - berries are available almost everywhere. How do you preserve raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, redcurrants and the like for as long and as deliciously as possible? Freeze, dry, boil or is jam or a smoothie better? 00:00 Intro 00:19 Berry variety in summer 01:09 These berries grow in Germany: redcurrants, gooseberries and many more 02:55 How to preserve berries 03:21 Option 1: Freeze berries 04:49 Option 2: Dry berries 05:45 Option 3: Boil berries 07.38 Is juicing worth it? 08:09 Homemade jam made from fresh blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and strawberries 09:59 Conclusion BERRY TIME IN GERMANY Whether in the great outdoors, in your own garden, on the balcony or in the supermarket - berries are currently available in abundance almost everywhere! The berry season starts in June with currants. In addition to currants, other berries can be harvested in Germany. Strawberries from May to August and gooseberries and currants from June to August. Raspberries and blueberries are in season from June to September. Last but not least, blackberries are ready to be harvested from the end of July until October. PRESERVING BERRIES If you want to preserve berries for a long time, you should keep bacteria away from the berries as much as possible. These decompose the berries pretty quickly. Methods such as freezing or boiling can interrupt this process, as they reduce the growth of bacteria by killing them and removing oxygen and moisture. OPTION 1: FREEZING BERRIES Berries can be easily frozen on a plate or even on a baking tray. Important: They should not stick together. Once frozen, they can be stored together in a bag in the freezer. Freezing is also a good idea in terms of sustainability: the freezer compressor only needs to generate a few watts to freeze the berries. OPTION 2: DRYING BERRIES Drying is much more energy-intensive. Berries are spread out on a baking tray and dried in the oven at around 60 to 80 degrees for up to 12 hours. The aim is to remove as much moisture as possible from the berries. However, this method has an extremely high power consumption due to the long time in the oven. If you dry frequently and want to save on electricity costs, it is better to use a dehydrator. This is much more economical, but still uses a lot of electricity. OPTION 3: PRESERVING BERRIES When preserving berries, the rule of thumb is: for every kilo of fruit, you need one liter of water and three to four hundred grams of sugar. The sugar is dissolved in warm water and then added to the berries. Pour the finished mixture into jars, screw on the lids and cook for half an hour. Unopened, the preserved berries will keep for about a year. However, due to the long cooking time, preserving is not the optimal solution in terms of sustainability. For comparison: freezing berries uses 0.025 kWh. Preserving uses 0.5 kWh per 30 minutes. WHICH METHOD IS MOST SUSTAINABLE? If you want to preserve berries as sustainably as possible, freezing them is the best option! This uses the least electricity. Climate-friendly alternatives include making jam or preserving. Drying in the oven, on the other hand, is an absolute energy guzzler, consuming up to 500 times more energy. Further links • NDR (2023): Raspberries and Co: How to keep summer fruits fresh longer. https://www.ndr.de/ratgeber/verbrauch... • Bzfe (2020): Harvesting on public areas. https://www.bzfe.de/nachhaltiger-kons... • BMEL (2021): EU-wide uniform food labeling. https://www.bmel.de/DE/themen/ernaehr... Credits Author: Christine Grünefeld Moderation: Panagiotis Fotiadis Editor (solisTV): Kathrin Gatzemeier Editor (SWR): Cordelia Marsch & Katharina Voigt Image source: SWR, AdobeStock/Dušan Zidar/Firn/bit24/janvier Imprint, netiquette and co. ► Subscribe to the Marktcheck channel http://x.swr.de/s/13x1 ► Instagram @oekochecker: / oekochecker Ökochecker are produced by SWR ►https://www.swr.de/impressum ► Comments are welcome - but please observe our netiquette: http://www.swr.de/netiquette #nachhaltigkeit #beeren #marmelade