Just made the most AMAZING discovery EVER regarding Elderberries!!!

[luvmychicknkids]

At least I think so!!! I love using them but they are a serious pain to get off the stems. As far as I am concerned the fork method HAS to be a joke of some sort. It is time consuming, messy....not fun. Anyway, I made jelly with the few ripe one a couple of weeks ago. Then the rest got ripe this last week. I wasn't ready to use them so I clipped them off and put them in a big trash bag. I threw the entire thing in the freezer. I just took it out to figure out if I should thaw them before picking them off and they were falling off the stems!!!! I got all of them picked off in about 5 minutes!!!! With almost ZERO effort!!! And, I have less of the little stems than I do when I use a fork!!! I just HAD to share!!!!

 

[seminolewind]

Darn, I thought your amazing discovery was going to be that if you feed them to your hens, they lay all females!

 

[redhen]

what does an elderberry taste like?..i have heard of them before.but i dont think we have them in mass?..Wendy

 

[luvmychicknkids]

Quote:
ROFL.......oh how I wish that was it!!!!!

As for the taste....to ME they taste like a combination of grapes and mulberries. They are really good. However, they are poisonous until cooked.

 

[buck-wild-chick]

we make elderberrie wine and jelly

 

[luvmychicknkids]

Quote:
I do jelly. Haven't got brave enough to try making wine yet though I keep planning to!

 

[pkeeler]

I think elderberries taste like blueberries crossed with black cherries. They have a larger seed (or more thicker seeds) then blueberries, which makes eating them pretty crunchy. I think that is why most people make jelly out of them, they can strain the seeds out.

There are two main elderberries, red and blue/black. Red ones are poisonous while blue/black are not really poisonous (talking berries only). Some people are sensitive to a compound in blue/black elderberries which can be cooked out. I'm not sure if you can cook the red ones to make them edible.

I see elder flowers every June, but I almost never see ripe berries on the plants. The birds just love them that much.

 

[redoak]

My method was snip off a bunch and then sit down on the porch and roll them off the stem with my fingers. Your freezing method sounds alot easier I'll have to try it next time. I usually just make elderberry muffins or bread. I remember my parents used to make elderberry jam.

 

[Beekissed]

You can also use this method, instead of blanching, to get the peels off tomatoes!

 

[luvmychicknkids]

Quote:
I did not know that!!! It appears that "your freezer is your friend".