Behind us are the first days of summer, the season która we associate with the richness of tasteóin and aromaóin commonly available fresh fruitóand vegetables. Since all good things come to an end quickly, this is the perfect time to start thinking about które its flavors we want to preserve in jars in the form of jamsów, juiceów, compoteóin i przetworóin order to móc them to sweeten your autumn and winter days. It is worth preparing them yourself. Made with your own hands will be a guarantee not only of taste, but above all health. How to go about it? Check out what you absolutely need to know about homemade preserves.
We can prepare homemade sweet preserves practically from the appearance of seasonal fruitsóInto October. At first, there seems to be a lot of time and a lot of opportunities. Nevertheless, it is worth approaching it sensibly and planning what we want to equip our pantry with. First: thinków yourself what flavors and fruits you like best, and on whichóre of them is the greatest demand in your home. If, for example, we are not fond of compotes, it is not worth making them. You can also take into account the financial aspect and preserve these fruits, whichóre in the winter are much more expensive and therefore no longer so readily available. It is also a good idea to check in advance what fruits ripen in the given months, which will make our work much easier and allow us to spread it out over time. A set of self-prepared delicious jamsów, juiceów and przetworów will give us the chance for a moment of healthy and sweet pleasure on winter mornings, and help us in this time of hardship for many to keep róA varied diet.
Why homemade jam is better than bought?
In times of highly processed foods, we need to pay special attentionólnformation about the composition of the productów. When buying preserves in the store, we do not have full knowledge of the process of preparing them. Preserves prepared at home do not contain artificial preservativesów, thickenerów, dyeów, flavor enhancers and aromasów, które unfortunately usually present in the preparations available at the store półka. About the superiority of sweet preparationsów prepared at home is also evidenced by the fact that we decide ourselves where and what quality of fruit we choose from. Strawberry jam with fruitów harvested on the same day and additionally selected will be much better than that whichóry was created from „Strawberries after a long driveóry”, From purchase to manufacturer or factory. Sweet jam consumed in moderation and prepared from fresh fruitów certainly will not harm us, and will provide many valuable ingredientsóin nutritional.
„Homemade preserves very often we make with children in mind, especiallyóSucrose, made up of two sugarsóre they reach for the most: jams, compotes and juices. It is very important when we pay significant attention to what our kids eat. Homemade preserves are not only unique in taste, but róAlso the element of strengthening immunity. In the role of a vitamin bomb will work perfectly, for example, black currant juice which is a rich source ofóm.in. Vitamins C and B, iron, calcium and magnesium. Juice from raspberries or elderberries, containing vitamin C and natural salicylic acid, is an excellent remedy when we catch a winter cold, and berries can be helpful in case of diarrhea. We also know that the youngest, although adults róAlso, they love sweetness. So in the interest of a good diet for our family, it is worth preparing jams, juices and preserves thatóre are definitely healthier than those available at store półkach. Któnone of us during the gloomy autumn and winter days will not feel like eating aromatic apple pie? For such a power of healthy sweets and fruitóIn can be afforded, of course, keeping the rules of sweet róThe balance of” – explains nutritionist Jadwiga Przybyłowska, an expert in the Sweet R campaignówbalance.
Sweet Rówbalance – the key role of sugar
It is worth remembering that when preparing preserves ourselves, we can decide their sweetness ourselves. Tastes are not discussed, some prefer when there is more sugar, others less. However, it is important to remember that the role of sugar in home preserves is crucial. The average Pole believes that sugar is only used to sweeten dishes or drinksóIn order to make them tastier. And this is true, however, we should not forget that sugar is primarily a natural preservative. Sucrose, made up of twoóch molecules of monosaccharideów – glucose and fructose, whichóra is colloquially identified with sugar, in fact it is its mainówny ingredient and is extracted from beetsóin sugarcane or sugar cane. It is a naturally occurring product in fruits or vegetables and nothing róIt differs from the one thatóWe will find it in „in the garden”. Sugar prolongs the shelf life of a productów, thanks to the phenomenon of osmosis – absorbs excess water, in whichówhere bacteria multiply. This can be easily observed by placing the fruit in pure and sugar water. In fresh water the fruit will shrink, in pure water it will swell. Sugar should be consumed in moderation and also when preparing processedów you need to control its amount, keeping in mind the sweet róin balance.
What else to remember?
Let's remember that the good consistency of homemade preparationsów is a result of the length of cooking and the amount of sugar thatór depend on the amount of pectin and water in the fruit. To get a good consistency, you need to add more sugar to the fruitów with less pectin, such as strawberries, cherries, raspberries and blueberries. The solution is also to mix fruitów with a low content of pectin with those ofóre have more of them like apples, apricots, quince or citrus. Depending on whether you decide to make jam, cottage cheese or marmalade, you need to remember that you should add more or less sugar to the fruit.
Is it worth the trouble?
The crowning argument of opponentsóin the preparation of winter suppliesów is the belief that making them is too time-consuming, difficult, and the costs incurred are the same as buyingóin finished productsów. Stereotypically, we think that filling the pantry is associated with days spent in the kitchen, full of work from dawn to póź evening. This view is greatly exaggerated. If we plan our work already at the beginning of summer, we can make preserves in stages, and the work will not require a lot of time then. One canóI would also like to draw your attention to theóhe cooperation involves children, whoóre sure to feel a sense of challengeótioned and eager to wash or cut fruits or vegetables. So it may turn out that locking summer in a jar will be a way for us to strengthen family ties.
Campaign „Sweet równowa”
The aim of the campaign is to educate about the role of sugar in the human diet and to show that products containing sugar can be part of a healthy and balanced diet, combined with an active lifestyle.
