Preparation of drinks from birch sap. Harvesting and conservation of birch sap - video

The liquid secreted from broken birch trunks and branches contains valuable organic acids, vitamins, minerals, enzymes and useful microelements. It strengthens the body, helps fight diseases and improves metabolic processes. There are many ways to preserve it, for example, with lemon and orange.

Birch sap with lemon

Preservation of birch sap with lemon is incredibly popular. At the same time, more is added to the processed product. It turns out a pleasant and tonic drink with sourness and minty aftertaste.

What you need:

• lemon;
• sprigs of mint;
• sugar.

How to roll up:

1. For 7 liters of liquid, you will need 3 sprigs of mint, the juice of half a lemon and 10 tablespoons of sugar.
2. Put the container with the contents on the stove and wait for the bubbles to appear. Reddish foam should be removed with a spoon.
3. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes.
4. Pour into sterilized containers and roll up boiled lids.
5. Cover with something warm, such as a blanket, and put it in a cool place the next day.

Birch sap with orange

Citrus flavor can bring not only lemon, but also orange to the drink. This sunny sweet fruit will give the juice a pleasant aroma, so hurry up to roll up birch nectar with orange and please yourself and your loved ones with a healthy drink.

What you need:

• lemon acid;
• sugar.

Birch sap, or birch tree, is a very valuable product that has a beneficial effect on the entire human body.

A LITTLE ABOUT WATER AND SOLUTIONS

Recall the inextricably linked triad: COMPOSITION, STRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES.

With the same composition, there can be a different structure of a substance and, therefore, its different properties.

An example is the sugar isomers of glucose and fructose, which have the same composition C6H12O6, but different molecular structure and very different properties.

Water does not consist of H2O molecules, but of clusters built, for the most part, of 2-5 molecules.

These clusters are interconnected to form very complex structures of water. The number of such possible water structures is extremely numerous. An example of this can be the shapes of snowflakes: among the billions of snowflakes studied, no two identical ones have yet been found.

Natural water, in addition to water molecules with light hydrogen (H - protium) H2O, also contains small amounts of water molecules with heavy hydrogen (D - deuterium) D2O and superheavy hydrogen (T - tritium) T2O.

In addition, there is no pure water in nature, but there are always aqueous solutions of various substances in different concentrations, the presence of which greatly changes the water structure.

In birch sap, the content of rather harmful heavy D2O and extra heavy T2O water is sharply reduced, and it also has its own special liquid structure, which is very beneficial to health. Therefore, birch sap is useful not so much because of the dissolved substances contained in it, but because of its special liquid structure.

This structure begins to gradually change immediately after extracting the sap from the birch, and after 2 hours it becomes already strongly changed.

Therefore, fresh birch sap is especially useful, and not stored or canned.

Drinking fresh birch sap is a pleasure. This is a pleasant, refreshing and body-strengthening drink that tastes little different from plain water. It has been famous for its healing properties since ancient times - it is an environmentally friendly, tasty, healing, refreshing soft drink.

Until the sticky leaves have blossomed (about a month before the appearance of leaves and flowering, during the period of snow melting), sap flow begins near the birch trees, called "birch crying". Within 15-20 days, birch gives us slightly sweet birch sap.

The sap of a tree growing near a busy highway or in an industrial area of ​​​​a city will bring harm instead of good. It makes no sense to buy birch sap in stores, because. during canning, almost all useful substances are destroyed.

How to extract juice?

It is necessary to cut out a small square of the outer bark and, in the cleaned place, turn the recess by 3-4 centimeters with a brace. Juice will flow in a brisk stream. You can attach a tin groove, you can distill it into a bottle using gauze tape.

After collecting the juice, it is necessary to tightly cover the incision with plasticine, wax, laundry soap, or fill it with moss. This will protect the tree from the penetration of bacteria and fungi.

In the old days, birch sap was collected in special boxes made of birch bark - it was believed that in them it retains its properties better. But with no less success, juice can be collected in glass jars or plastic bottles.

How to take the juice correctly and not harm the tree.

Firstly, it should be taken from trees with a diameter of 20-30 cm, it is better not to touch young and old birches.
Secondly, one tree can take no more than 1 liter of juice in 2-3 days. You can pierce the bark with a knife or chisel (but not very deep). A groove made of thin aluminum or plastic is inserted into the slot, through which the juice will run drop by drop into the container. Then, when the juice is collected, do not forget to cover the hole with garden pitch, plug it with a piece of moss, or cover it with wax.

There is a more gentle way: just a branch on a knot is cut off, and a bottle is hung on the stump. Using this technique, several glass or plastic bottles can be hung on one tree at once.

The cut knot should be lowered slightly down (the branch can be tied with a rope to the lower knot or to the tree trunk).

During the day, when the sun warms, the juice runs faster - you need to remember this, checking in time how the container is filled.

The best time to collect the juice is between 12 and 18 hours, when it flows most strongly.
The number of holes that can be made depends on the diameter of the birch trunk: if the trunk diameter is 20-25 cm - only one, at 25-35 cm - two, at 35-40 cm - three, and if the diameter is more than 40 cm - it is permissible to make four holes .

The period of extraction of birch sap depends on weather conditions. For example, if during the March thaw the juice has already begun to flow, and frosts suddenly hit, it may stop flowing for some time. As a rule, the juice begins to run when the snow melts and the buds swell, around the middle of March. Collecting juice is stopped when the leaves bloom, in the second half of April.

It is necessary to collect "birch tears" only in ecologically clean forests, because the tree is able to absorb harmful substances and exhaust gases.

It is best to choose a birch with a diameter of at least 20 cm, with a well-developed crown.
At a distance of 20 cm from the ground, a small hole is carefully made in the tree trunk. It is important to know that, basically, the juice goes in the surface layer between the bark and the wood, so a deep hole should not be made.

A birch bark tray or other semicircular device is attached to the hole made or under it, along which the juice will flow. The groove should be directed into the bottle, jar or bag.
Store birch sap in the refrigerator and no more than 2 days (although some store up to 1 month, but the juice loses almost all of its beneficial properties).

Like any juice, birch sap is best consumed fresh, stored for no more than 2 hours.

With competent tapping, when the bark and several layers of wood are carefully cut, no great harm is done to the tree. In the scientific literature there is no mention of the death of birches due to the extraction - even by industrial means - of birch sap. By the way, one of the indicators of birch vital activity is sap productivity. If it decreased from year to year, one could say that tapping undermines the health of the tree. However, five-year observations of tapping in the Middle Urals showed that the juice productivity not only does not decrease, but, on the contrary, tends to increase.

Natural birch sap is known for its healing properties

For medicinal purposes, two types of birch are more often used - drooping and sprawling. They use buds, leaves, juice, activated carbon, tar obtained by dry distillation of wood, xylitol - a sugar substitute for diabetics, obtained from wood waste - and all this is widely used in medicine.

Useful biological compounds, salts and minerals, dissolving in the juice, form an almost universal medicine. It contains 0.5 - 2% sugar, rich in vitamins. The juice contains enzymes, organic acids, tannins, calcium, potassium, iron salts, plant hormones, glucose and substances with high antimicrobial activity (phytoncides).

Every year a person should consume at least 8-10 liters of birch sap.

Birch sap destroys urinary stones, is effective in the treatment of stomach and liver ulcers, headaches, bronchitis, coughs, as well as rheumatism, sciatica and arthritis, removes harmful substances from the body. In addition, birch sap has a regenerating effect and stimulates metabolism; it is also an excellent dietary and refreshing drink.

Birch sap helps with beriberi, anemia, tuberculosis, uterine cancer, colds and skin diseases. It is also taken as a diuretic and antihelminthic, edema of cardiac origin, scrofula, gout, for the prevention of dental caries.

The systematic intake of birch sap has a general strengthening and tonic effect. Spring birch sap is taken for beriberi, allergic diseases, kidney and bladder stones, scrofula, scurvy, colds, and anemia. And it is especially useful for patients with pulmonary tuberculosis, tonsillitis.

Birch sap is rich in nicotinic, malic and glutamic organic acids. It contains potassium, calcium, magnesium, iron and tannins. Thanks to these components, birch sap has good tonic cosmetic properties.

The scientific literature mentions the antioxidant and antitumor activity of birch sap. It is also recommended to drink it for various diseases of the respiratory system, including tuberculosis; kidney and gallbladder stones, gout, rheumatism, edema, non-healing wounds and ulcers.

From the point of view of herbal medicine, birch sap is one of the best natural remedies for improving metabolism. Despite the fact that birch sap differs little from water, it ferments well and has a positive effect on the functioning of the stomach.

ABOUT BIRCH

Once upon a time, a birch in Rus' was called the "tree of four deeds": "The first thing is to illuminate the world, the second thing is to console the cry, the third thing is to heal the sick, the fourth thing is to keep cleanliness."

A Russian person learned to read and write on birch bark, illuminated by a birch torch.
"Scream" from the creak of cart wheels was comforted by birch tar, and decoctions from birch buds were given to babies "from crying."

And today, fragrant and flexible birch brooms and brooms are harvested every year in the forests. For a birch broom is beyond any competition in a bathhouse, where it is not so much a guardian of purity as a versatile medicine.

There is a wonderful remedy for the treatment of various cuts, abrasions and skin lesions - "Birch". Fill 3/5 of the bottle with sticky birch buds, pour vodka under the neck, cork tightly and leave in a dark place to infuse for 2-3 weeks. Store in the dark without draining the liquid from the kidneys. The solution is well preserved in a dark cool place for 2-3 years.

Not only traditional, but also scientific medicine turns to birch for help. From all sorts of ailments, almost all parts of the tree have long been used: unopened buds, and young leaves, and fungus growths on the trunks, and a strong antiseptic extracted from birch bark - birch tar.

Medical studies have shown that taking at least one glass a day for 2-3 weeks (optimally drinking three glasses a day half an hour before meals) will help the body cope with spring weakness, beriberi, absent-mindedness, fatigue and depression.
Birch sap is contraindicated for those who are allergic to birch pollen.

Birch sap increases the body's resistance to colds, infectious and allergic diseases, has an anthelmintic, diuretic, antitumor effect. It is also useful to wipe the skin with eczema, acne, moisturizing and cleansing dry skin with birch sap.

It is useful to apply the following mask on the skin of the face: mix 1 tbsp. l. sour cream with 2 tbsp. l. birch sap and 1 tsp. honey. You need to keep such a mask for about 15 minutes, rinse with cool water, the skin after it will acquire a beautiful matte shade.

Birch sap is useful for washing hair with dandruff, to enhance their growth and the appearance of shine and softness. The infusion of birch leaves has the same property.

If you are over 40 years old, try periodically wiping your face with a tonic:
Mix a glass of birch sap with one bottle (40 ml) of ginseng tincture. Wipe your face with this mixture in the morning and evening before using a day or night cream. But definitely after cleansing the skin.

The ideal cosmetic product is natural birch sap. But it is available only in spring, and then - if you have a birch grove nearby, moreover, in an ecologically clean area.

For cosmetic purposes, you can buy canned birch sap at a grocery store. Even better - use your own mined and frozen in small portion bags. Ginseng tincture is sold in a pharmacy. By the way, you can also buy tinctures of Rhodiola rosea, Eleutherococcus or Japanese Sophora there for this purpose. All of them perfectly improve the condition of the skin, slow down aging.

To preserve birch sap, alcohol can be added to fresh juice until a strength of 16-18 degrees (volume percent) is obtained. Store in a dark cool place. To enhance the effect, you can add 40-50 birch buds per half-liter bottle.

Birch sap is a good remedy for impotence, an assistant for menopause: if you drink at least a glass of juice a day, drowsiness, fatigue, irritability and other accompanying menopause phenomena will disappear. Healthy people can take fresh birch sap indefinitely (of course, avoiding an overdose of the total amount of liquid) instead of tea, compote, water for 1-2 months.

You need to store the juice in the refrigerator, because it quickly deteriorates and turns sour. It is useful to mix birch sap with all kinds of juices, insist on it St. John's wort, rose hips, mint leaves, thyme, lemon balm, basil, linden blossom, etc. The healing properties of medicinal plants, vegetables, fruits complement the healing effect of birch sap.

In case of high body temperature, sexually transmitted diseases drink birch sap 1 glass before meals 3-4 times a day, observing a milk-vegetarian diet.

With beriberi, anemia, tuberculosis, in case of atherosclerosis, edema of cardiac origin, scrofula, for the prevention of caries, as a diuretic, anthelmintic, birch sap is drunk 0.5-1 cup 3-4 times a day for 3-4 weeks.

In the case of tonsillitis and other inflammatory diseases of the throat and oral cavity, gargle with birch sap.

With chronic rhinitis, you should drink 1 glass of fresh birch sap every morning in the spring.

Birch sap well drives stones and sand from the kidneys and bladder (destroys urinary stones of predominantly phosphate and carbonate origin, without affecting oxalate and uric acid ones). To do this, it should be drunk on an empty stomach for 1 glass.

For gout, arthritis, rheumatism, as a diuretic and tonic, juice is taken orally 1 cup three times a day. The course of treatment is 1-1.5 months.

Ways to place the container when collecting birch sap

Step-by-step instructions for collecting birch sap

Inventory: hammer, drill, pipes (everything round and hollow will do),
drill for the outer diameter of the tube and containers (bottles).

We select a larger tree and proceed to drilling.
During the drilling process, the juice is already flowing through the drill.
It is not necessary to drill deeply, we will regret the birch - that's enough,
so that the inserted tube supports the weight of the bottle.

The hole is ready, clean it from sawdust.

Pick up the phone...

...and hammer it into the hole with a hammer.

After a couple of seconds, the first drops of birch sap are already pouring.

We take a bottle (preferably plastic, so that it is easier) and put it on with a neck
on a pipe hammered into a tree.

We expect our containers to be filled with wonderful birch sap.

After an hour, we look at what nature has endowed us with.
And immediately drink fresh juice - it is the most useful!

Having collected the juice and drunk, ALWAYS tightly clog the hole of the cut
from a branch with a wooden cork.

BLANKS FROM BIRCH JUICE (OLD RECIPES)

FREEZING BIRCH JUICE - the best way to preserve it

Preserving birch sap in jars is not a very smart thing to do.

Birch sap is especially good fresh. During pasteurization or sterilization, it loses many vitamins and other useful substances.

Drinking such canned juice in the summer, when it is full of different berries and fruits, is below average pleasure.
So if you harvest birch sap for a long time - then only by freezing it.
After defrosting, it retains almost all of its properties.

For cosmetic purposes, it should be frozen in small plastic bags.

BIRCH (1st METHOD)

Cut the bark of a large young birch, make a transverse hole, firmly stick a splint into it and substitute a pan or bowl under it. From a good tree you can get from 10 to 40 liters of juice.
Pour juice into a barrel, pour port wine, vodka there, add sugar and raisins. Stir the contents of the keg thoroughly so that the sugar dissolves. Cork the barrel with a sleeve as tightly as possible and put it in a cold place, preferably on ice, for 2.5 months.

After this period, pour into bottles, cork carefully, securing the corks to the neck with a wire, put in a cellar or other cool place on its side.

For 5 liters of birch sap - 750 g of port wine, 500 g of vodka, 1.2 kg of granulated sugar, 600 g of raisins.

BIRCH (2nd METHOD)

Pour birch sap, port wine into a barrel, add sugar, crushed lemon pulp with skin, but without seeds. Put the barrel in a cold place (preferably on ice) for 2 months. After this period, bottle the juice, cork it carefully, attach the corks to the neck with wire, and put it sideways on the sand in a cellar or other cool place. Birch prepared in this way will be ready for use 3 weeks after bottling.

For 5 liters of birch sap - 1.6 kg of sugar, 2 lemons, 1 liter of port wine.

BIRCH (3rd METHOD)

Pour birch sap into a basin, put sugar, stir until it dissolves and cook until a third of the juice boils. Remove foam while boiling. Then remove the basin from the fire, strain its contents through a clean cloth directly into the barrel and, when the juice has cooled to a temperature of 40 ° C, pour in a thick solution of yeast, vodka, put lemons, cut them into circles and take out the seeds. The keg doesn't have to be full.
Leave the barrel in a warm room for fermentation for 10-12 hours, then take it to a cold room or on ice, where it will be left for 7 weeks.

After this time, strain the juice again, pour into champagne bottles, cork carefully, attach the corks to the neck of the bottle with a wire, and store in a cool place.
For 5 liters of birch sap - 1.6 kg of sugar, 2 tbsp. spoons of yeast, 1 liter of vodka, 2 lemons.

BIRCH WATER

Release the juice from the birch, pour it into bottles immediately. Put granulated sugar, lemon zest, raisins in each bottle. Close the bottles carefully by attaching corks to the neck of the bottle with wire, and place in a cold place for 2-3 months. The finished drink should foam well. Before use, put sugar to taste.

For 0.5 l of birch sap - zest from 1/4 lemon, 2 teaspoons of granulated sugar, 4 raisins.

VINEGAR FROM BIRCH JUICE

Pour birch sap into a barrel, add vodka, honey. Put all this in a warm place, without clogging the barrel.

Vinegar will be ready in 2 months.
For 2 liters of birch sap - 100 g of vodka, 40 g of honey.

This is an ancient folk recipe that allows you to keep birch sap in the cold for two to three months (fresh juice is not stored for long - a few days at most). Proper storage increases the acidity of kvass without compromising its taste.

Juice is fermented in glass bottles of any volume. After washing with hot water (preferably boiled), they are filled with fresh juice right at the sapling trees.

For every half liter, add an incomplete teaspoon of ordinary or glucose sugar, 2-3 raisins washed in cold boiled water, and - if you like - a little lemon zest.
The bottle is closed with a clean cork and secured with wire or bandages.

The pressure of carbon dioxide in the bottle is quite high, and so that the glass does not burst, putting more than the specified amount of sugar is not recommended.

After a few days, you will have a pleasant-tasting, sour, highly carbonated drink.

BIRCH Kvass

A bag with burnt crusts of rye bread or crackers is lowered on a rope into an oak barrel with juice. After two days, fermentation will begin. Then oak bark, berries or cherry leaves, as well as dill stalks are poured into the barrel. After two weeks, kvass is ready.

There is another recipe for kvass. Birch sap is heated to 35 ° C, yeast is added to it at the rate of 15-20 g per 1 liter. The leaven is placed for 3-4 days in a cold place, then poured into containers and preserved.

GOLDEN BIRCH Kvass

It has a beautiful golden color and a wonderful aroma, and if left to stand for a long time, it begins to ferment and stings the tongue pleasantly.

In a container with birch sap (for example, a can), add dried apples (dry apples for compote), dried melissa sprigs and roasted barley (whole grains).

Such kvass is infused for several days in a cold place and stored in the same cold place.

RECIPE OPTION

About 0.5 kg of pure roasted barley is poured into a 20-liter bottle of juice, and the bottle is placed in the cellar.
After a week and a half, excellent kvass is ready, which can be stored in a dark and cool place for up to six months.

From fresh birch sap (sweet and slightly sour in taste) you can cook delicious and healthy

BIRCH SYRUP

(it can be added to tea or mixed with water)

After evaporation on fire in an open container (at the end - with stirring), the sugar concentration should be 60-70%. This syrup has a lemon-white color and the density of honey.

It has been proven that sweet syrup made from birch sap not only prevents dental caries, but even stops its development.

NOTE. Canadian maple juice, from which maple syrup is boiled by evaporation, is 3-4 times sweeter than birch syrup. Therefore, syrup is usually not prepared from birch sap - fuel consumption is too high.

A simple modern way of harvesting birch sap for the future

125 g of sugar and 5 g of citric acid are added to 1 liter of birch sap.

Then filtered, poured into jars, pasteurized and twisted with lids.

It is useful to mix birch sap with other juices obtained from fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as to insist it on mint leaves, lemon balm, thyme, St. John's wort, lime blossom, rose hips, lingonberries.

Birch sap - an elixir for health

Our ancestors knew about the unique properties of birch - it was not without reason that it was so revered by the ancient Slavs. It was believed that birch takes away adversity and illness, and in return brings happiness.

Birch branches and leaves, as a powerful magical symbol, after sacred rituals served as a talisman for the house, field and garden - the birch drove away evil people, witches, evil spirits, protected from destructive natural phenomena.

Traditional medicine: what treats birch

Everything is useful for birch: sap, bark, leaves, buds, and inflorescences. Note that birch brooms are so popular among those who like to take a steam bath, because the substances released from the leaves at high temperatures have an excellent effect on the skin: they treat dermatitis, acne, eczema, and also help reduce cellulite and swelling.

Want to have beautiful hair? A decoction of birch leaves will help strengthen curls, get rid of dandruff and heal the scalp. The same decoction treats skin diseases, relieves pain in arthritis and rheumatism.

Infusions and decoctions of birch leaves or its buds are an excellent diuretic for diseases of the kidneys and urinary system, with cholecystitis. Essential oil is made from birch buds.

It is used not only in medicine for the treatment of dermatitis, but also in perfumery - birch bud oil gives a characteristic aroma of expensive leather.

Tinctures from birch catkins are used for heart disease, gastritis and stomach ulcers. Only men's earrings are suitable for these purposes, it is difficult to confuse them with women's ones: unlike single women's ones, they grow in several pieces side by side.

Fresh birch bark helps treat abscesses, and activated charcoal tablets are widely used for diseases of the stomach and intestines.

Even a birch mushroom is useful - chaga, only it is advised to collect it in the fall. And spring, we repeat, is a great time to collect birch sap.

This very tasty, healing, refreshing drink has a sweetish taste due to the content of healthy sugars in it: glucose, fructose, sucrose.

Birch sap is a storehouse of vitamins, especially vitamin C, and it also contains organic acids, aromatic, tannins, biologically active substances and compounds, a lot of mineral elements, including potassium, calcium, magnesium, sodium, manganese, copper and even titanium.

Plant hormones and phytoncides that kill microbes make birch sap a real natural immune stimulant.

Note that the positive properties of the juice are stronger than those of the other, also medicinal, parts of the birch. After all, it is in the juice that all the life-giving power of the tree is contained, which it accumulated over the long winter.

In addition to the whole spectrum of diseases - from dermatitis to arthritis - the juice cleanses the body of toxins, stimulates metabolism, improves mood, and according to the latest data, it even helps women alleviate the symptoms of menopause, and men fight impotence.

Birch sap: when and how to collect

In March-April, the birch trees begin to wake up from their winter sleep. Birch sap rises along the trunk to tree buds.

This tendency of the sap upwards towards the branches can even be heard if one puts one's ear to the white bark. The characteristic noise is similar to the surf of a distant sea. It makes sense to collect juice during a short period of time: experts allocate no more than four weeks for this.

The beginning of the collection of birch sap can be determined by ... the weather: when the day and night temperatures reach several degrees above zero (approximately after March 25), the birch wakes up.

The sap wanes when the first leaves begin to appear on the trees. Moreover, the time of day for collecting juice is also strictly defined: from ten in the morning to six in the evening, in the evening and at night, the tree "sleeps".

Having decided on the collection time, you need to decide on the tree. In a birch grove or forest, you need to choose a healthy birch, without damage and traces of the disease, with a trunk of at least 20-25 cm in diameter.

At a height of about 50 cm from the base, make a hole with a drill, knife or other sharp object, up to 1 cm in diameter and about 2 cm deep, at a slight upward slope. Then it is necessary to insert a tube or groove into the hole through which the juice will run, and tie a container under the groove to collect the juice.

From one tree, you can collect no more than 1 liter of juice in 2-3 days, but you should not “drink” all the juice from a tree: it can die from such poaching. Therefore, usually the bottle is removed a day after the start of the collection. The hole must be filled with a wooden plug, and then covered with garden pitch or wax.

A more gentle way of collecting a healing drink is as follows: a branch is cut off on a knot, tilted down, and a container is hung on it to collect the juice. So the juice is collected more slowly, but the tree will lose less strength.

Important:

- do not collect juice in the city and suburbs, it will not be environmentally friendly;
- you can collect juice in specially designated places - birch forests intended for felling;
- if the birch is less than 30 cm in diameter, then only one hole or cut can be made on it to collect the juice;
- be sure to treat the hole in the trunk, otherwise the tree may get sick;
- if the juice goes badly, do not deepen the hole, but rather choose another tree;
- if the juice has an unpleasant smell, this may mean that the tree is infected with a fungus - you can’t drink such juice!
- there is an allergy to birch sap;
- juice spoils quickly, so it's best to drink it fresh.

More tips:

1. When choosing, it is better to give preference to a larger birch.
2. It is better to place the collection container on the north side of the tree so that the juice does not begin to ferment under the sun's rays.
3. Do not try to "milk" birch to the last. It is better to collect juice from several birches.
4. Do not collect juice from a birch, near which there is an anthill - otherwise there will be attempts on sweets

Birch sap: recipes

The best thing you can do with birch sap is do nothing with it! Just drink it immediately after collection, while all the beneficial substances are contained in full.

You can store it in the refrigerator for no more than two days. It is recommended to take 1 glass 3 times a day.

Make cocktails: birch sap is good in combination with the juice of blueberries, viburnum, lingonberries, chokeberries, currants, apples and cherries, as well as various infusions like chamomile, mint, linden, rosehip, thyme, St. John's wort, lemon balm.

Of course, birch sap in its pure form and mixed with other juices and herbs is the most healthy drink, but if you want to save it, then try following the recipes below.

Kvass is made from birch sap

To 5 liters of birch sap add juice from 2 lemons, diluted in birch sap 25 g of yeast, 20 g of honey or sugar. All the ingredients are well stirred, bottled, put 1-2 raisins in each bottle, tightly closed and placed in a dark, cool place.
After a few days, the drink will be ready, but it can be stored for up to 4 months, periodically checking, as the bottles may burst from pressure.

Wine is made from birch sap

Boil 6 liters of birch sap and 350 g of sugar to 5.5 liters, not forgetting to remove the foam. 1-2 slices of lemon are placed in a container, 1 liter of white table grape wine is added, and hot birch sap is poured here.
Cool the mixture to room temperature, add half a teaspoon of dry yeast, mix and leave for 3-4 days. Then the container is sealed and placed in a cool place. After 2 weeks the wine will be ready.

By the way, ready-made birch sap in bottles tastes like natural, but, alas, it does not represent any value for health. Substances used for preservation neutralize all the beneficial properties of the juice.

birch leaf recipes

If you do not have the opportunity to collect a useful birch elixir, do not be discouraged. You remember that the leaves of this tree have the same powerful healing power, and they can also be eaten.

Once upon a time, our ancestors used birch leaves as an additive to various dishes. Harvest the early, tender leaves and use them to make a soup, a dry seasoning, or simply brew them like an herbal tea.

Chowder with birch leaves

Birch leaves are passed through a meat grinder, 2 tbsp. spoons of the resulting mass are placed in boiling water (3 cups), grated carrots and chopped onions are added, boiled for 5-7 minutes. Let it brew for 15 minutes and then serve with sour cream.

Seasoning with birch leaves

Dry birch and nettle leaves. Grind them into powder together with a clove bud (for 1 teaspoon of birch leaves, you will need 1 teaspoon of nettle and 1 clove bud).

Store in a tightly closed glass container, in a dark and dry place, add to dishes shortly before readiness.

Healing tea from birch leaves

Two teaspoons of crushed birch leaves are poured into 250 ml of boiling water and infused for 4 hours. The infusion is filtered and drunk 0.5 cups 4-5 times a day in a warm form, adding honey.

In birch sap - the vital energy of a slender tree. It is saturated with trace elements, vitamins, refreshes and has a healing effect. How to roll up birch sap at home? The answer to this question is in different preservation recipes using lemon, orange and citric acid.

Fragrant, transparent juice is not just a delicious drink with an original taste, but a whole natural first-aid kit in one glass. As part of "birch tears" - phytoncides, organic acids, enzymes and almost all trace elements necessary for the human body.

Attention! To get rid of various diseases and strengthen the body, it is recommended to drink from 8 to 10 liters. birch sap per year.

The peculiarity of the juice is that it is structured and has so many unique properties that it is rather difficult to list everything. Suffice it to say that birch sap has a pronounced antitumor effect and antioxidant properties. In addition, it dissolves stones in the bladder, in the kidneys, and is used in the treatment of ulcers, bronchitis, and tuberculosis. It has an anthelmintic, diuretic effect, strengthens the immune system and saves from beriberi. And even to get rid of wrinkles is used. In fact, this is a unique medicine.

When and where is birch sap harvested?

"Tears of a birch" are collected during the spring snowmelt, until the tree is decorated with young sticky leaves. In April, active sap flow begins at birch trees and they literally “cry”, releasing a clear liquid.

Birch sap is collected in spring

The collection period is short, only 15-20 days, and during this time experienced collectors extract enough juice for drinking and harvesting for future use.

By the way, purchased birch sap in a classic three-liter jar is just a semblance of a fresh healing liquid. If you are lucky and you ended up in Belarus or in central Russia at the right time, then you can use this chance.

The process of extracting the "universal medicine"

Extraction of any value requires knowledge, skills and tools. Only adult birches with a trunk diameter of 20 cm or more are suitable for collecting liquid. In trunks of 20-25 cm, 1 hole is drilled, 25 - 35 cm - two.

For a day, an adult birch can give up to 6 liters. juice, but it is better to collect 2 liters. from every tree.

Attention! It has been scientifically proven that the correct collection of sap does not harm birch groves and forests. On the contrary, during several years of intensive production, sap flow becomes more abundant.

Step-by-step guide to collecting healing fluid:

1. First you need to remove a piece of bark at a height of 40 cm from the ground.
2. Drill a hole up to 5 cm with a drill.
3. Insert a gutter, any tube, a transparent medical dropper or gauze through which drops will flow.
4. Place a collection container on the ground and lower the end of the tube or chute into it. The best conditions for a plentiful "harvest" are sunny weather and time from 12 to 18 pm.
5. As practitioners say, there is no need to spend 24 hours a day at the device. It is enough to check it 1-2 p. in a day.
6. After receiving 2 liters of the "universal medicine", the hole is filled with moss or a stick treated with a natural pesticide.

Harvesting birch sap for the winter with citric acid

Usually, wood drink lovers consume part of the juice immediately after extraction, and some is left for canning. A greater percentage of the unique nutrients contained in "birch tears" can be preserved with proper processing.

Advice. The main thing is to prevent the drink from boiling, otherwise some of the healing properties will be lost.

To start work, you need to prepare glass jars, 5 liters. clear juice, 25 gr. citric acid, 630 gr. Sahara. When these ingredients are added, the juice with a mild taste acquires a bright sweetness and slight sourness.

Canning steps:

1. Pour all the juice into a saucepan, and put on a quiet fire. As soon as foam appears, it must be removed. If bubbles appear, indicating the beginning of a boil, quickly turn off the heat.
2. Put citric acid and sugar in the drink.
3. Before pouring birch sap into sterile jars, it is filtered through a fine sieve or gauze.
4. Roll up jars or bottles with lids, and, after cooling, take them to a cold place. Some advise holding spins in hot water for about 15 minutes. for additional sterilization.

Birch drink with lemon or orange

Birch sap with a delicate citrus aroma will appeal to even those who do not like clear drinking. Calculating the components of this recipe is very simple:

• the total volume of 3 liter jars should be equal to the number of liters of juice;
• each jar will take 2 tbsp. l. sugar and 1 slice of lemon or orange. What exactly to use depends on your taste. To begin with, you can close several blanks with lemon and part with orange.

Advice. An interesting variation of the recipe was offered by the inhabitants of the village bordering on the birch forest. Instead of fruits, they put sucking sweets in jars: barberry or duchesse.

Cooking steps:

1. Bring the juice to a hint of a boil.
2. Turn off quickly, pour into prepared containers.
3. Drop the indicated amount of sugar and fruit into each jar.

Preserved birch sap with mint, tangerines and dried fruits

Transparent birch sap for a cook is like a blank sheet of drawing paper for an artist. Canning can be approached creatively, and enhance the taste of the drink with various additives:

1. The collected and filtered juice is brought to a boil and turned off.
2. A sprig of mint, a slice of peeled tangerine, a few slices of lemon are added to the fragrant liquid. Better - without zest, it will give a bitter aftertaste.
3. Then put pre-washed dried fruits. For example, raisins or rose hips.
4. Add citric acid to the pan in a ratio of ½ tsp. for 10 l. juice. Bring to a boil again and pour into prepared containers.

Exquisite drink. Juice plus currant cuttings

Admirers of colorless juice with a smooth, slightly sweet taste and pronounced aroma will like the infusion with currant cuttings. The principles of its preparation are the same as in the previous versions. Only the branches need to be washed in advance and cut so that they fit well in jars. Then put them in sterile containers, and pour hot strained birch sap. Exquisite drink for the winter is ready!

Kvass infused with wood drink

One of the original recipes for preserving "birch tears" is the preparation of kvass.

To get a fermented drink, you need to heat the birch sap to 30 ° C. Add to the pan with liquid 15-20 gr. yeast and a few raisins. If you like citrus flavor, you can put lemon zest in your drink. The last stage of preparation is fermentation for 2 weeks.

Advice. The lid from birch kvass during fermentation must be periodically removed, releasing the formed gases.

As a result, the juice turns into a delicious carbonated drink with a pronounced taste. You can keep it all summer long.

Recently, healing "birch tears" have practically disappeared from store shelves, and yet they have unique properties that cannot be replaced by anything else. Harvesting a wonderful drink for the future can save you from spring beriberi, help in the fight against ailments. And just to please with an unforgettable mild taste.

Harvesting and conservation of birch sap - video

Since ancient times, people have been harvesting birch sap on their own. A healthy drink contains many substances necessary for the body. It is important to know not only how to collect, but also how to harvest it, so as not to lose taste and benefits.

• kvass recipe
• Canned
• original drinks
• Other blank options

How is the collection of birch sap

It is customary to start collecting from mid-March before the buds form. It is best to do everything in the morning, as activity decreases in the evening. For collection, you should stop on healthy trees with thick trunks. It is important to harvest birch sap in ecologically clean areas, since birch trees quickly absorb harmful substances. You can not do it on the roadside areas.

It is necessary to make a hole at a distance of about 1 m from the ground. You can make a deep incision or drill a hole.

Insert a tube or gutter there at a slight downward slope. Thanks to this, the drops will flow down into a bowl that can be placed on the ground or attached with wire to the trunk. Juice can stand out within a few days and during this time it will be possible to extract from 10 to 40 liters. After the volume of secretions decreases, a wooden stake is hammered into the hole or smeared with wax.

It is important to know how to prepare birch sap, since fresh liquid can be consumed for no more than 3 days. After that, the concentration of nutrients is significantly reduced, and the liquid can cause indigestion.

What can be prepared from birch sap

To be able to enjoy the drink throughout the year, it must be properly prepared. There are several different options, which we will discuss below.

kvass recipe

Prepared according to this recipe, kvass can be stored during the summer. It can be drunk separately, and also used for other drinks, for example, a cocktail with berries and mint is delicious.

To figure out how to make kvass from birch sap, you need to prepare the following ingredients:

• 1 liter of liquid, 18 g of yeast, 3 raisins and lemon zest.

Cooking:

• First, heat the liquid to 35 degrees, and then put the yeast and other ingredients there. Mix everything well until completely dissolved;
• Pour everything into a jar and close with a tight lid. Leave for 2 weeks. After the time has passed, you will get delicious, and even carbonated kvass.

There is another recipe for making delicious kvass:

• To do this, mix birch sap in an amount of 10 liters with 50 g of yeast, 35 g of honey and juice of 4 lemons;
• In each bottle you need to put 3 raisins. Bottles should be kept for 14 days in a dark, cool place.

Birch kvass can also be cooked with bread.

For him, pour the liquid into a clean container and it is best if it is an oak barrel. Put there a gauze bag with rye crackers. Close everything and leave for a few days. Then, put dill stalks, cherry leaves and oak bark there, which will only improve and diversify the taste. After 2 weeks, you can open the container and drink delicious kvass.

Canned birch sap

There are several ways to close a drink in jars and keep it for a long time. There are many recipes that differ in the composition of the ingredients. Consider the most popular and affordable options.

How to make birch sap at home:

• The easiest way to prepare such a liquid: in an enamel bowl or in a stainless steel container, heat it to 90 degrees, and then pour it into clean jars and close. Wrap them in a blanket and leave them overnight, and then put them in a dark place;
• Another simple option: add sugar and citric acid to taste to the liquid. Bring everything to a boil so that the granulated sugar is completely dissolved. Then pour into jars and close. Banks are recommended for additional pasteurization to be held in water heated to 90 degrees for 15 minutes;
• At home, you can preserve the drink with pine needles, which will give an unusual refreshing taste and aroma. It is necessary to prepare fresh summer pine shoots. They need to be washed in running water, and then scalded with boiling water, which will remove the existing wax coating. After that, it is recommended to rinse the shoots again with cold and hot water. Put 3 kg of needles in a 50 l pot and fill it with liquid to the top, which should be preheated to 80 degrees. Leave everything to infuse for 7 hours. After the time has elapsed, strain and add 5% sugar and 0.2% citric acid from the total amount. It remains to pour into jars, close and pasteurize in hot water for 25 minutes;
• You can close the drink with mint, which will give an original flavor note. For 50 l
  liquid you need to prepare 85 g of dry mint leaves. Having connected the components, they should be left to infuse for 6 hours. After that, it is necessary to close and pasteurize, as in the previous recipe;
• To close a drink with yeast, you need to take 20 g per liter. First, heat the liquid and dissolve the yeast in it. Leave everything for 4 days in a cold place, and then, pour into jars and roll up;
• You can close the drink with citrus. For 1 liter of liquid, take 2 tbsp. spoons of sugar, on the tip of a knife citric acid and orange slices to taste. Bring everything to a boil and pour into jars. Put a slice of lemon in each jar and roll up.

The original taste is obtained by combining the drink with honey, infusion of wild rose or lemon balm. Can be mixed with fruit or vegetable juice.

original drinks

To preserve birch sap, you can prepare various delicious drinks that can be drunk immediately or rolled into jars over the winter.

Consider a few popular options that even a novice cook can cook:

• Birch-lingonberry cocktail. It is worth extracting 140 g of lingonberry juice from berries. Put the remaining bench press in a saucepan, and top up the volume with birch drink, 1 liter. Keep everything in the steam bath for 5 minutes. strain, combine with lingonberry juice and add a little honey;
• Refreshing cocktail. To prepare it, you need to prepare a liter jar of dried apples and pears for 10 liters of liquid. Combine the drink with sugar to taste and put a gauze bag with dried fruits in it. Close the lid and leave in a cold place, for example, in the basement, for 3 months;
• Berezovik. This cocktail is especially for adults. Take 2 lemons and cut into slices, removing the seeds. Pour 1 liter of port wine, 5 liters of juice into a container, put citruses and 1.6 kg of sugar. Close the lid and refrigerate for 2 months. After the time has elapsed, bottle and cork. It is important to fasten the corks with wire so that they do not break off. Store bottles in a horizontal position in the cold. You can drink after a week.

Other options for harvesting birch sap

To preserve the maximum amount of useful substances, you can freeze the liquid, for example, in cubes. Another option is to prepare a concentrate. To do this, the liquid is brought to a temperature of 60 degrees and about 75% of the total volume is evaporated.

The concentrate must be closed in banks. It must be consumed by combining with water.

Another option is to make vinegar. Combine 2 liters of drink, 45 g of honey and 100 g of vodka. Close the jar with gauze and leave in a warm place for 3 months. After the time has elapsed, pour into jars and store in the refrigerator.

Birch drink can be used to make moonshine. To do this, warm up 30 liters of liquid a little over minimal heat and put 6 kg of granulated sugar and 200 g of yeast into it. Mix everything well, add currant leaves and leave for 7 days in a warm place. Then strain and drive through the moonshine still.

Now you know almost all the existing options for harvesting birch sap.

Having collected the liquid yourself and prepared a delicious drink from it, you can be calm about the health of your family, since no store product can be compared with a homemade birch cocktail.

by the materials mjusli.ru

2015-10-13T21:24:54+00:00 admin beverages homemade preparations, food and health, drinks, useful tips

Since ancient times, people have been harvesting birch sap on their own. A healthy drink contains many substances necessary for the body. It is important to know not only how to collect, but also how to harvest it, so as not to lose taste and benefits. Contents of the article How birch sap is collected What can be prepared from birch sap Recipe for canned kvass Original drinks Other harvesting options How it goes ...

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The unique healing properties of birch have long been known. Bark, unblown buds and birch leaves have healing qualities. And about the magical elixir of youth, health and longevity - birch sap, laudatory odes should be composed ad infinitum.

The benefits of drinking birch sap

What does birch sap contain?

Birch sap is a natural natural vitamin cocktail. The drink contains vitamins B6, B12, fructose, tannins, calcium, potassium, magnesium, manganese. Birch sap has a subtle pleasant sweetish taste. The drink is clear or slightly hazy in color. The composition of natural nectar can compete with many vitamin preparations. Birch sap is useful and well absorbed by the body.

The drink is perfect. 100 g of birch sap contains only 22 kcal. Such a low calorie content of the product takes place in the diet of people who monitor weight.

Treatment with birch sap at home

Birch sap has no contraindications. This natural nectar is shown to all age categories of people: from young to old. By drinking birch sap, the immune system is strengthened, cardiac activity improves, blood vessels become elastic, and mental stress is relieved. It is useful to take birch sap before responsible work, exams, during intense mental stress. The drink stimulates mental activity, improves cerebral circulation.

Birch sap removes swelling, improves metabolism in the body, stimulates the intestines, removes intoxication products from viral and microbial diseases.

Indicated for pregnant women and nursing mothers. The drink relieves depression, normalizes blood pressure, eliminates hot flashes during menopause in women. Birch elixir affects male strength, so men are advised to drink this natural miraculous drink. Traditional healers believe that with regular intake of birch sap, cancer cells stop their development.

Drinking fresh natural juice is the best option to maintain your health. Some gourmets enrich the drink with fruit and herbal supplements. The juice takes on a new flavor. Extraordinarily tasty and fragrant birch sap with rosehip infusion, blackcurrant or lingonberry juice.

Birch sap strengthens hair, eliminates dandruff, treats acne and facial furunculosis. It is easy to prepare your own birch sap tincture. A glass of juice is mixed with 40 g of pure 96% alcohol or 60 g of vodka. This tincture will help with increased greasiness of the skin of the face and acne.

When to collect birch sap

The best time to stock up on birch sap is early spring. At this time, the trees awaken, the juice actively begins to move along the trunk and branches. If possible, you need to take advantage of this moment and improve your health by using a natural natural product daily.

According to the observations of connoisseurs, the sap obtained from single adult birch trees located in sunny places, with a trunk diameter of 20-30 cm, is considered to be the highest quality. Birch sap should be collected wisely so as not to damage the tree.

A hole of no more than 3 cm is drilled in a birch, a groove is inserted and the juice is collected in a clean container. When the collection of juice is completed, the hole must be covered with wax or garden pitch.

How to save birch sap

Canned birch sap

Birch sap has a short shelf life. It is recommended to keep the drink in a glass container for no more than 2 days in the refrigerator. Then the juice sours. In order to use a natural drink for as long as possible, it must be properly preserved and birch sap should be prepared for the winter.

For long-term storage, birch sap is preserved. Juice, previously filtered and heated to 80 degrees, is poured into clean sterile jars. The jars are rolled up with lids and kept at a temperature of 70-80 degrees for about 20 minutes. It is better to store the juice prepared in this way in a cool place, protected from light.

Is it possible to freeze birch sap?

Quick freezing of birch sap is an ideal way to preserve all the useful substances in the product. But in order to prepare a sufficient amount of juice, you need a large freezer. Therefore, not everyone can afford to store birch sap in this way.

Birch sap drink recipes

Kvass from birch sap

Real tasty Russian birch sap kvass is better to cook in a wooden barrel. We offer an old recipe for making a Russian health drink.

Birch sap is poured into prepared small wooden barrels. Toasted rye rinds are wrapped in gauze bags and dipped into barrels of juice. After a while, the fermentation process of the drink will begin. Bags with bread crusts are taken out, and branches and leaves of blackcurrant, cherries, oak bark are added to the barrel. Store kegs with kvass in a cool place.

Birch sap with lemon

Scientists have proven that drinking a glass of birch sap a day eliminates depression, fatigue, vitamin deficiency. Increased resistance to colds. By mixing birch sap with different ingredients, you get a variety of taste drinks enriched with vitamins and minerals.

The recipe for birch sap with lemon is a godsend for people who maintain their weight category in the normal range and take care of their health!

Ingredients:

• birch sap - 10 l;
• lemon - 4 pcs.;
• yeast - 50 g;
• honey - 50 g.

Cooking

Squeeze juice from 4 lemons. All ingredients are mixed in a large container: birch sap, lemon juice, honey and yeast. All components are mixed and placed in clean jars or bottles, without topping up to the very neck. The container with the drink is left to ferment in a dark place. Birch sap with lemon should be stored in the cellar for no more than 8 months.

Birch sap with barley - video

To diversify the taste of birch sap and make it even more useful, we offer a recipe for a nutritious and healthy drink made from birch sap with honey without preservation. It pleasantly refreshes and quenches thirst on hot summer days.

Ingredients:

• fresh birch sap - 10 l;
• fresh yeast - 50 g;
• natural honey - 30 g;
• raisins - 30 pcs.;

All components are mixed and kept in a dark and cool place for two weeks. After that, kvass can be consumed throughout the summer season without worrying that the drink may go bad.

Birch sap with orange

In the presence of a large amount of wood nectar, a method for harvesting birch sap with an orange is useful. Kids will love this drink. Juice with orange flavor is pleasant to the taste, contains many useful substances. The use of such a drink will have a beneficial effect on the health of the whole family.

Ingredients:

• birch sap - 3 l;
• orange - 1/4 part;
• citric acid - 1.5 tsp. spoons;
• sugar - 150 g.

Cooking

1. Put a circle of orange, citric acid and sugar into prepared sterile jars.
2. Birch sap is filtered and brought to a boil.
3. Boiling birch sap is poured into jars and rolled up with lids.
4. The prepared juice is stored in a cool place.

Birch sap with dried fruits

Birch sap with dried fruits tastes good, has a beautiful color, is healthy and quenches thirst well. Especially appreciated is birch sap with dried pear - wild game, which has healing properties. Such a drink is used in various cases of obesity, diseases of the liver and biliary tract.

Ingredients:

• birch sap - 10 l;
• dried fruits - 300 g;
• raisins - 200 g;
• mint leaves and lemon balm.

Cooking

1. Freshly harvested juice is filtered and brought to a boil.
2. Dried fruits with raisins are placed in a bowl with birch sap. Mint leaves and lemon balm are also added there.
3. After the appearance of foam, the drink is filtered.
4. Store birch sap with dried fruits in a cool place.

birch sap lemonade

Refreshing and healthy lemonade will quench your thirst in hot weather. We offer a recipe for a drink based on birch sap, reminiscent of the taste of real lemonade, just like in childhood!

Ingredients:

• birch sap - 2 l;
• lemon - 1 pc. (large);
• sugar - 7 tbsp. spoons;
• pieces of ice.

Cooking

1. The lemon is cut into circles, squeezed out the juice and covered with sugar.
2. Birch sap is filtered, sugar and lemon are added. The mixture is heated to a boil.
3. Lemonade is kept for 3 hours. Then strain and cool.
4. Birch sap lemonade is served in glasses with pieces of ice.

Wine and champagne on birch sap at home

Birch sap wine

Real gourmets will appreciate the wine made with birch sap. Traditionally, it is believed that wine is made using different grape varieties. In northern countries, grapes do not grow, so natural birch wine is popular there.

Birch wine is poured into a barrel or a glass bottle and left to ferment for 15-20 days. For good quality wine, a sealed water seal is installed on the wine container.

When the wine is ready, it is poured into clean bottles and corked. Store birch wine in a dark and cool place for a year.

Birch sap champagne - recipe: video