John Myers
Elderberry juice – this is how you succeed in making your own
From mid-August to late September the elderberries reach their perfect ripeness, then you can make your own elderberry juice as follows:
- Use a steam extractor. With the device, you can get the job done quickly and easily. Alternatively, you can also use a saucepan and a clean kitchen towel, and a hand blender.
- First, wash the elderberries and remove any damaged berries. You should also pick out the stalks and existing leaves – then you will get really clean elderberry juice.
- Then put the berries in the top container of the steam juicer. Fill the lower container with water. Then heat the water so that it boils and steams. The steam rises and the berries burst open due to the heat. The juice comes out and runs down, where it is caught.
- Meanwhile, prepare a few glass bottles into which you will then fill the juice. You must first clean and boil the bottles, they must be as sterile as possible.
- Fill the hot juice into the bottles, you should add about 150 grams of sugar per liter. However, the amount depends heavily on the actual sweetness of the berries. Note: The juice must be hot, otherwise there will be no negative pressure in the glass bottles and it will not keep for long. If it is cold, reheat it in the saucepan. The optimum filling temperature is around 80 degrees Celsius.
- Alternative: If you don’t have a steam juicer, you can also boil the berries in a saucepan with a little water. Then take another pot and filter the juice through a kitchen towel. You can either squeeze the cloth with your hands or let the juice drip through slowly.
