Home Bakery Birch sap: extraction, storage, useful properties. How to roll up birch sap? Harvesting birch sap for the winter

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Birch sap: extraction, storage, useful properties. How to roll up birch sap? Harvesting birch sap for the winter

Birch juice- This is a unique drink that cannot be attributed to either fruit or vegetable extracts, since it is extracted directly from a tree, and not from fruits. Its taste was much more familiar to our parents than orange or apple to us, but today it is much rarer to find real birch juice on sale. Know, the current concerns, how useful birch sap is, they would pay more attention to this sales market, because the healing properties in the drink are combined with excellent taste.

Characteristic

Birch sap is a clear, colorless liquid with a pleasant smell, which quenches thirst well, and has a rare composition. Birch gives a truly unique nectar, which combines a lot of active substances that are important for our health.

Compound.

The liquid contains a large amount of fruit sugar, organic acids, tannins, biostimulants, vitamins and microelements. The benefits and harms of birch sap are explained by the active composition.

Vitamins: C, group B (there are others, but in small proportions).
Trace elements: potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, iron.
Calorie content: about 24 kcal per 100 grams of drink.

Due to its low calorie content and rare composition, birch extract is indicated to improve the condition in many diseases and in order to lose weight and further maintain weight. It is a natural substitute for artificial stimulants and energy drinks. Almost a panacea, which with regular use will bring great benefits. To dubious thoughts, but is birch sap useful, the unequivocal answer is useful.

Medicinal properties for human health

A delicious birch drink will effectively cleanse the body of harmful waste, remove salts, and relieve inflammation. It is an active antiseptic and antioxidant, it will improve the condition of the skin with various dermatitis and even psoriasis, and the microelements included in it will improve the functioning of the cardiac system. Effective healing properties have made birch "blood" indispensable for adults and children with various pathologies and conditions.

For the liver.

It acts as an enhancer, not only helping the liver to better cleanse the blood of toxins and toxins, but also cleanses the liver itself of decay products, removing them naturally. Increases the production of bile, with liver pathologies, the use of juice will complement the effect of drugs and minimize their inevitable negative impact.

With diabetes.

For diabetics, it becomes an indispensable vitamin cocktail that helps fight the disease. It normalizes metabolic processes and the balance of substances, cleanses the kidneys and liver overloaded with drugs. BUT sweet taste, practically inaccessible to patients, makes this natural activator even more desirable. It is used both in pure form and in combination with other plant extracts.

With pancreatitis.

With inflammation of the pancreas, there are serious restrictions on the foods that can be harmful. Birch sap, with its cleansing, anti-inflammatory and analgesic effect, will be a real help in the fight against the disease. To enhance the effect, it is mixed with the most useful potato juice for pancreatitis, so that the beneficial substances complement each other.

With gout.

The excretory properties of birch sap are very useful for gout, which is characterized by increased deposition of salts in the joints. Daily use extract normalizes shaky metabolic processes and enhances the removal of deposits.

With gastritis.

Natural birch sap is also useful for gastritis, it will restore appetite, reduce pain, and in case of erosion, it will promote its accelerated healing. Being neutral, it does not increase the acidity of the stomach, supplying the body with active substances.

For the kidneys.

Inflammatory processes in the kidneys can be treated more easily and faster while taking birch sap. Being a strong antiseptic and diuretic, nectar will suppress inflammation, relieve puffiness, and clean the excretory system of waste.

For colds.

Sore throat, runny nose, cough - birch sap will have an antimicrobial effect, relieve inflammation of the mucous membranes, speed up recovery, and help the immune system fight acute respiratory infections and acute respiratory viral infections.

With mental stress.

Fructose and other sugars in the composition will nourish the brain during mental overload, during exams, relieve headaches and stress, and normalize blood pressure. A few glasses a day and study will go easier, mood will rise, memory capacity will increase.

Beneficial features

In addition to the therapeutic effect, which is necessary when the disease has already come and you have to fight it, it is also useful for completely healthy people so that they remain so.

For weight loss.

A minimum of calories and active substances made birch sap an important element of the diet, it enhances metabolism, cleanses the body, removes excess fluid and prevents fat deposition. They reinforce various diets and replace afternoon snacks and snacks, fructose satisfies hunger without adding calories. And the tonic properties of the liquid will make it easier to endure the voluntary rejection of heavy meals.

During pregnancy.

It does not contain allergens and will not harm the expectant mother and baby, but it is guaranteed to help. In addition to saturating the body with essential vitamins and microelements, it normalizes stools and relieves puffiness that torments many pregnant women. It will help the kidneys experiencing overload, keep weight, increase immunity. And with toxicosis, it will become just a deliverance from adversity, they can replace almost all daily allowance liquids. Pomegranate juice during pregnancy is also useful, but it should be drunk with caution.

When breastfeeding.

When breastfeeding, it will not only make milk as useful as possible, but also increase its production. This is a time-tested remedy that increases lactation in a natural way.

For kids.

Starting from a year old, the product should be introduced into the diet of babies. He will protect them from colds, improve the work of the tummy, provide energy. But it should not be purchased, but natural birch sap, without the addition of preservatives and citric acid.

For men.

And birch will provide all possible assistance to the strong sex, its juice perfectly fights inflammation that accompanies problems with the prostate, and it can significantly increase male strength. Unlike artificial pathogens, this is a natural potency enhancer that does not harm the heart.

In cosmetology.

The antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties of birch liquid are actively used to combat imperfections and improve the condition of the skin of the face and hair.

For face. Tannins and biostimulants in the composition of the nectar are effective against acne. You can wipe the skin with pure juice, this will not only get rid of acne, but also moisturize and tone. To enhance the action, they combine juice and healing colored clay in masks, diluting the raw materials to a creamy consistency and applying to the face. After washing off the product, the skin is wiped with juice.

For hair. In order for the hair to grow faster, shine and not “please” with dandruff, the purchased conditioner should be replaced natural juice birch trees, rinsing your hair with this healing composition. A nourishing and firming mask is prepared from burdock juice and oil, in a ratio of 3/1, the components are thoroughly mixed and rubbed into the scalp 20 minutes before washing. The head is covered with polyethylene and wrapped, then washed with a neutral shampoo. It is enough to use the mask once a week, the result will not keep you waiting.

For skin. Ice cubes from birch sap will help tone, nourish and moisturize the skin. They wipe the face, neck, décolleté. You can combine nectar with green tea infusion, chamomile decoction.

How to collect

To preserve the beneficial properties of the liquid and minimize the harm caused to the tree during collection, it is necessary to properly collect the juice.

The place is away from autobahns and railway lines so that the product does not turn out to be enriched with the entire chemical table.
The period is from mid-March to April, when the active current has already begun, and the leaves have not yet blossomed. When to collect maple sap is also an interesting question.
The tree is an adult birch, at least 20 cm in girth, from thin young birch trees and nectar is thinner, and the danger of ruining a watering hole is higher.
Hole - a longitudinal section or a recess drilled at an angle of small diameter, up to 5 cm deep. A plastic or iron hollow tube is inserted into the hole, the end is directed into a container.
The location of the hole is on the south side of the trunk, at a level of 20 - 40 cm from the ground.
Volume - although you can strain it all the way, without harm to yourself, the tree is able to give up about a liter of liquid. If a large, old birch, you can borrow a couple of liters by making a few holes in the trunk.
Time - during the day the current is stronger, the optimal time for sampling is from 12 noon to 5 pm.
Preservation - so that the tree does not expire after harvesting, the hole is covered with wax or plugged with a fresh piece of moss.

How to drink

The juice is neutral, therefore it is practically harmless even in large quantities, but three glasses a day are enough as a preventive measure or to keep the body in good shape. With treatment, this amount is doubled and drunk on an empty stomach. It is also possible to completely replace the water consumed per day with a product (only natural).

How to save birch sap at home

A large amount of sugar in the composition leads to rapid deterioration of the freshly collected liquid, it must be filtered and stored in the refrigerator for no more than three days. To stock up on nectar for future use, it is frozen or canned.

Preservation at home.

Unlike freezing, during preservation, a significant part useful substances is lost, but this is the only way to consume an all-natural product in the off-season. There are two most popular ways of harvesting for future use.

Sterilization - the liquid over low heat is brought to a temperature of 80 °, poured into sterilized glassware, rolled up and pasteurized. Store in a dark, cool place. To improve the taste, you can add sugar (2 tablespoons per liter), orange or lemon slices, but then you have to boil the composition, and it will lose even more active elements.
Making a concentrate is the best option when there are problems with the place. The juice is evaporated over low heat until a quarter of the volume remains, and before use it is diluted with water to the original amount.

Contraindications

Birch sap can only bring harm to allergy sufferers who have birch pollen as a pathogen. And with caution it should be used for kidney stones and gallstones, it can cause movement of formations and blockage of blood vessels.

Recipes for making drinks based on birch sap

To increase shelf life and improve palatability Since ancient times, tasty and healthy kvass have been made from birch sap.

Kvass with raisins:

Juice - 1 liter.
Raisins - zhmenya.
Sugar - 2 tablespoons.

Fresh juice is filtered, poured into a glass container, all components are added. If the nectar is slightly preheated, the fermentation will be more intense.
The composition is left for several days.
Fermented kvass is sipped. Tightly closed and in a cool place, it will keep for several months.

Kvass with dried fruits:

Juice - 1 liter.
Dried fruits - 200 grams.
Raisins - 50 grams.

The liquid is filtered, raisins and dried fruits are thoroughly washed, discarded to drain, added to a container with juice.
The container is left in the room with room temperature for several days, shaking occasionally.
Fermented kvass is filtered, stored in a closed container.

Those who like it sweeter can add sugar or honey to taste, but fermentation will go without a sweetener.

With citric acid:

Juice - 1 liter.
Sugar - 2 tablespoons.
Lemon - on the tip of a knife.

The ingredients are mixed in a glass container and left to ferment in a warm place; there is no need to strain such kvass. Sprigs of mint or lemon balm are added to enrich the taste.

Recipes for the winter:

Juice - 1 liter.
Sugar - 2 tablespoons.
Lemon is half.

The lemon is cut into slices, covered with sugar, juice is poured in, put on a slow fire.
The mixture is brought to a boil, poured into sterilized jars, rolled up.

To enrich the taste, you can add mint and currant leaves, a thin slice of lemon or orange to the jar.

Juice - 3 liters.
Sugar - ¾ cup.
Dried rose hips - a handful.

Rosehip is washed, poured into a saucepan, sugar and liquid are added, brought to a boil over low heat and boiled for several minutes.
Hot poured into sterilized jars and wrapped.

Birch sap is a tasty and healthy alternative to chemical immunomodulators that can do more harm than good. In winter, it will make up for the lack of vitamins, and in the spring it will help restore the body.

Many people love birch sap or apiary, but someone buys it ready-made, and someone has a tradition to harvest birch sap in early spring.

This is a rather peculiar drink, loved by many, a source of a large amount of vitamins and minerals.

But, unfortunately, it is available only for a month of the year. Therefore, if you want to diversify your diet at other times of the year, you can roll up birch sap for the winter according to several delicious recipes.

How to collect birch sap

Harvesting birch sap for the winter takes place in early spring. To collect juice, you should choose trees with a diameter of 20 centimeters.

You will need tools for collecting birch sap, namely a knife (for cutting a hole) and a stainless steel groove. After you have made an incision in the tree, insert a pre-prepared stainless steel groove into it.

The most intense juice flows until 6 pm. After you have collected all the juice, close up the hole carefully. If this is not done, bacteria will get under the bark of the tree and the tree will quickly begin to wither.

You can close up the hole with garden pitch, moss, plasticine, wax or something else. The main thing - in no case do not leave holes open.

You can collect more juice from birch stumps. There is an unlimited amount of it. As soon as leaves begin to appear on the birch, the movement of the juice stops.

Traditionally, the juice is drunk immediately after collection, until it has lost its freshness and maximum benefits.

Within 2-3 days, birch sap can be stored in the refrigerator or in the cellar, during which time it will not deteriorate. But then it will inevitably turn sour and ferment. But if the temperature is close to freezing, then the juice will stand for about a month.

However, people who have known from time immemorial about healing properties birch sap, learned to store it in winter. Many of the recipes for harvesting birch sap by canning are still used today.

How to preserve birch sap for the winter

A simple recipe for seaming birch sap

Rolling birch sap is not difficult, especially for those who are familiar with the basics of home canning and have some hands-on experience.

The easiest way is to pour raw materials into enamel pan, heat to a temperature of 80-90 degrees and cork in jars. The container must be prepared in advance, cleanly washed and sterilized. Rolled cans of birch sap are covered with a dense cloth and left to cool completely.

This is how canned birch sap is obtained, natural, without additives. It is better to store it in a cool place.

How to close birch sap with sugar

This is the easiest way to save beneficial features birch sap for a long time. Clean jars are taken, the lids are sterilized for them, the juice itself is brought to a boil, 2 tablespoons are added. sugar per liter of juice and lemon acid on the tip of a spoon (it can be replaced with half a peeled lemon), poured into jars, which are rolled up with lids. You can not boil the juice, but warm it up a little, pour it into jars and put it in a deep saucepan to sterilize for 10 minutes. Citric acid is required in the recipe, as it is a natural preservative.

How to put birch sap on yeast

You can use another way to prepare birch sap: take 20 g of yeast for each liter of sap. Pour the juice into a saucepan, heat, dilute the yeast. Expose the juice for 4 days in a cold place. Then pour it into sterile jars, roll up.

Delicious birch sap for the winter

The recipe for a drink with a richer taste, like in a store, is done a little differently. For a 3-liter jar of juice, you will need 0.5 cups of sugar and 1 tsp. citric acid. Preservation of birch sap with the addition of the listed ingredients is boiled and then rolled into sterilized jars. The resulting product is stored without problems in the conditions of the apartment.

Birch sap for the winter with orange conservation

You will need:

sugar - 2 tbsp. spoons per liter of juice
citric acid - on the tip of a knife
3-4 cups of orange or lemon for 3 liter jar

How to roll up birch sap for the winter:

Cut a lemon or orange into thin slices, put in a container, pour birch sap, send citric acid and sugar there. Bring the juice to a boil, pour into clean jars.

Put a slice of lemon in each jar, roll up quickly. Leave to cool, then store.

Order an energy saver and forget about the former huge expenses for light

How to prepare birch sap for the winter in the form of syrup

Another way to preserve birch sap is to make syrup from it. This option is not very common in our latitudes; Americans most often cook it, along with maple.

The syrup is prepared by evaporation. To do this, you need dishes with a wide flat bottom - a saucepan or a basin. Birch sap is poured there and boiled over low heat. When the volume of liquid decreases by a factor of three, fresh juice is added. This procedure must be repeated 2-3 times. In the process, the foam is necessarily removed and removed.

Important: no sugar added! Ready syrup is filtered through double gauze, bottled. Birch sap can be stored in a cool place throughout the year.

birch kvass

Without sterilization and rolling for the winter, there is another simple way to harvest birch sap. Kvass is made from it, which is obtained by fermentation in bottles, in which 2 tbsp. tablespoons of sugar per 1 liter and a small handful of raisins. Juice ferments rather slowly, because such a drink is stored until mid-summer.

The second way. Strain fresh juice through gauze, then pour into pre-sterilized glass bottles, close tightly with lids and expose to the cold. Watch carefully that there was no mold, otherwise this juice will be unusable. After a couple of days, the juice will noticeably become cloudy and begin to ferment. Fermentation lasts no more than two weeks. As a result, you get a natural drink that tastes very similar to kvass. It should be put in a cold place. You can save no more than a year.

From harvesting birch sap in winter, you can also make kvass. To do this, add a little yeast (50 g per 10 liters of juice), sugar and raisins. Put all this in a warm place, and after the juice starts to foam and hiss, pour the resulting mixture into jars (plastic bottles are possible) and put in a dark, cold place (better cellar).

Birch sap with dried fruits

You can also diversify preparations with dried fruits. You can also use dry rose hips. For a 3-liter jar of birch sap, you will need a handful of dried fruits and ¾ cup of sugar. Everything is boiled together for 5-10 minutes and then rolled into prepared containers.

Birch sap with lollipops

Another extraordinary version of a drink made from birch sap is obtained by adding ordinary candies to it. For example, barberry, duchesse, mint.

For 3 liters of juice you will need a couple of sweets (preferably one kind), ¾ cup of sugar, a little citric acid.

berezovik

True fans of birch sap can try to make such a drink. For 5 liters of birch sap, you need to take 1 liter of port wine, 2 lemons and 1.6 kg of sugar.

We cut the washed lemons, together with the zest, into pieces. We remove the bones. Pour port wine, juice into a saucepan (barrel), add lemons and sugar. We close the dish with a lid and take it out to the cold.

After 2 months, we bottle the birch and cork them well. Harvesting birch sap and storage Those who do not make birch for the first time are advised to attach corks to bottles with wire so that they do not fly off. Bottles are stored lying down in the cold (in the cellar). You can drink birch tree four weeks after bottling.

birch vinegar

If you like natural vinegar, you can try to make it from birch sap. It will take 2 liters of juice, 40 grams of honey and 100 grams of vodka.

We mix all the products in a saucepan or a barrel. We cover the container with gauze and put it in heat. After 2-3 months, the vinegar will be ready. It must be bottled and sent for storage in a cold place.

How to freeze birch sap

And the most useful way preservation of all the beneficial properties of birch sap until winter is freezing. The difficulty lies only in the fact that it is difficult to save large volumes of raw materials by this method. Otherwise, you can pour the juice and freeze it both in plastic bottles and in containers.

The taste qualities of the juice are preserved in full. It is advisable to freeze the juice immediately after collecting it, because the faster you prepare it, the more vitamins it retains. Sugar and citric acid are not needed in this case. At minimum temperatures in the freezer, juice can be stored up to six months. Juice is not subject to repeated freezing, after defrosting it is necessary to use it immediately.

Reliable scientific data on the beneficial properties of birch sap today either do not exist at all, or they are hidden away from human eyes. Self-extraction of juice is treated as a crime, and if you ask a person about what birch sap is, then the first thing he will remember will be a sweet and sour liquid “packed” in glass jar or tetrapack.

Of course, later, perhaps, someone will remember the trees with black and white bark, but that will be later. And this is somewhat disturbing.

On the other hand, the time is now when natural products A person recognizes nutrition not in the forest, in a clearing or near a river, but in a store, studying the colorful labels of semi-finished products.

Well, what kind of health can we talk about here ...

However, we have strongly deviated from the main topic of the article. After all, our main task is to find out what birch sap is, how it can be useful to us, how to prepare it and whether it is worth storing it for a long time.

Let's get started...

The benefits and harms of birch sap

Birch sap is a tree elixir of life that nourishes the birch throughout its existence.

This definition is far from scientific or at least generally accepted, but we believe that it reflects the essence of birch sap, its main purpose and value. At the same time, despite such a clearly defined biological role of birch sap, it is able to nourish not only the tree, but also the human body. And with no less efficiency.

At first glance, birch sap is very similar to water, but it is not water at all. And the point here is not at all in the sweet taste, which is a kind of " calling card» birch sap. In fact, the two liquids have different chemical compositions.

The maximum that water is capable of is saturation with minerals. Birch sap, in turn, contains minerals, vitamins, enzymes, phytoncides, fructose, tannins, organic acids, essential oils and most likely a lot more. Because even in our advanced age, not everything is visible through a microscope.

Thanks to such a rich composition, birch sap benefits everyone who is able to drink it. And this, not a lot, not a little - almost the entire population of our vast planet. The only exceptions are two categories of people:

those who were not lucky enough to “get their hands on” an allergy to birch catkin pollen
healthy children under the age of six months who have the opportunity to feed on their mother's breast milk (no one will give birch sap to sick children at this age, but hypothetically it can help them too)

For everyone else, birch sap will be a good help in life, as it improves metabolic processes in the body, and with regular use it can quickly remove a huge amount of toxins from the gastrointestinal tract and human blood.

In addition, all kinds of inorganic deposits (salts, trans fats, etc.), which are waiting in the wings in the joints, internal organs, connective tissue and under the skin, lend themselves to birch sap.

Such an effect on the body allows us to say with confidence that birch sap will be useful to everyone who has one or more diseases from the following list:

sciatica, arthritis, rheumatism, gout
stones in the kidneys, urinary and gall bladders (be sure to start with small volumes of juice and constantly monitor the size and position of the stones)
functional disorders of the gastrointestinal tract, liver, kidneys and other internal organs and systems
cardiovascular diseases
sore throat, cough, chronic runny nose, tuberculosis, acute respiratory infections and other diseases associated with the release of mucus and pus through the upper and lower respiratory tract
any oncology
any inflammatory processes in the body, and especially in the organs of the genitourinary system
intoxication of any origin
chronic fatigue, drowsiness and even depression

This is not a complete list of diseases and conditions in which raw fresh birch sap is indicated. However, we do not have a medical encyclopedia here, but just a small article about health. Therefore, on this conversation about the beneficial properties and diseases, we, perhaps, will finish.

We only note that fresh raw birch sap has the greatest healing cleansing power. A little less good frozen raw juice will bring, and you will get very little benefit from all kinds of kvass, tinctures, industrial drinks called "Birch sap" and other products of industrial and home processing of this wonderful elixir.

How to collect birch sap

Acquaintance with the technology of self-collection of birch sap should begin with an answer to the question WHERE it can be collected. Although, of course, purely physically birch sap can be stored anywhere, including the Chernobyl "reserve". Only now only the juice that was collected away from any factories, cities, major roads (including railways) and agricultural fields can bring benefits to the body.

Only in this case will birch sap be pure (without heavy metals, radionuclides, pesticides and other harmful chemical compounds), safe and nutritious.

You can collect birch sap from the moment when the first buds swell on the birch trees, and until the first leaves appear. At the same time, in sunny glades, collection can begin a little earlier than in the depths of the forest. True, the leaves here bloom faster than in the wilderness. Therefore, start in clearings and gradually move to darker places.

To check if the juice has flowed, you can use a thin awl to pierce the bark and see if a drop of juice appears. If it appears, you can start collecting.

Trees should be selected based on the following parameters:

trunk thickness at chest level of an adult - at least 20 cm
developed "lush" crown

To cause minimal damage to a birch, a hole in the trunk should be made at an angle of about 45 degrees (to make it easier for the juice to drain), with a thin drill - no wider than 1 cm, no more than 3 cm deep. Curved pieces of tin, wooden and plastic can be used as a groove tubes, medical systems, etc. The main thing is that these grooves do not “enrich” the tree and the collected juice with harmful chemical elements and compounds.

Each birch that meets the above criteria is able to produce an average of 1 to 7 liters of juice. At the same time, the holes made are tightened over time, and we get less and less juice. We recommend not making the hole deeper, but simply changing the tree. Just be sure to treat the damaged area - seal the hole hermetically with garden pitch, wax or clay.

How to save birch sap (until winter, at home)

Fresh raw birch sap can be stored in a cold place for up to 2 days without compromising quality. After this time, as well as when stored warm, birch sap starts to sour very quickly. And here methods come to the rescue long-term storage birch sap...

The ideal way to preserve birch sap until winter is to freeze it. Moreover, the juice must be frozen quickly, then everything useful will remain in it.

If there is no freezer, then you can “roll up” birch sap into sterilized glass jars. To do this, it is heated to 80 ° C, poured into jars and rolled up with tin lids. After that, the sealed jars are kept in 85-degree water for 15 minutes and left to cool at room temperature.

You can also make birch concentrate. To do this, the juice is brought to a temperature of 60 ° C and 75% of the total volume is evaporated. The remaining 25 percent of the concentrate is poured into sterilized jars and hermetically sealed. And before use, mix such a concentrate with water.

What is prepared from birch sap?

Since the "discovery" of birch sap, people have come up with dozens of recipes for making delicious and healthy (though not always) drinks, which include all kinds of kvass, syrups, homemade wines, fruit cocktails, sweet "water" and others.

The simplest drink is obtained by mixing birch sap with fruit or vegetable juices. In any proportions - to taste.

Birch kvass is a little more difficult to prepare (one of the options):
Fresh birch sap is poured into a glass bottle, a handful of raisins (a few pieces per liter) and sugar (2 tsp per liter) are added there. If desired, you can also throw a little lemon zest, fruits or berries into the bottle. After that, the bottle should be tightly closed and put in a cool place. In a few days, kvass will be ready, but you can open it either immediately or after 2-3 months. Will not deteriorate.

Another option is birch-bread kvass:
Pour birch sap into any clean container (preferably in an oak barrel), lower a cloth bag with rye breadcrumbs into it and close the vessel. After a few days, the juice will ferment, and you can add dill stalks, cherry leaves and oak bark to it. Then the future kvass is closed for at least 2 weeks. After that, the vessel can be opened, and kvass can be drunk.

Prepared from birch sap and medicinal drinks. Usually for these purposes, birch sap is mixed with berries and honey.

For example, here is a recipe for making a birch-lingonberry drink:
The first step is to squeeze the juice from 150 grams of lingonberries. Then put the pomace in a saucepan and pour 1 liter of fresh birch sap. Hold this "compote" for 5 minutes in a water bath and cool. Mix with previously squeezed lingonberry juice and add a little honey (or a lot if you like sweets very much). Drink according to your mood. The drink has a pronounced diuretic effect.

As we have already said, there are a great many recipes for such drinks - at least according to a recipe for a berry. And if you remember about lemons, oranges and dried fruits, then during the spring you can provide yourself with a variety of drinks for the whole year. True, before that you will have to stock up on berries and dried fruits well ...

Birch sap is a clear liquid that flows out of cut or broken birch trunks and branches under the action of root pressure. Sap flow begins in the spring with the first thaws and continues until the buds open. The exact period of release of birch sap is difficult to establish, because it depends on weather conditions. For example, if during the March thaw the juice has already begun to flow and frost suddenly hits here, then it may stop flowing for some time.

However, as a rule, the juice begins to run around mid-March, when the snow melts and the buds swell. To determine the beginning of sap flow, it is enough to go out into the forest and make an injection on a birch as thick as a hand with a thin awl, if the juice has gone, then a drop of juice will immediately come out at the puncture point, you can start collecting and harvesting it. Collecting juice is stopped in the second half of April, when the leaves are already blooming.

The most intensive sap flow through the tree occurs in the light half of the day, so it is better to start collecting in the morning, at night the juice "falls asleep". best time there will be a gap between 10.00 and 18.00 for the collection of juice, when it flows most strongly. The number of holes that are recommended to be made depends on the diameter of the tree, if 20-25 cm - then only one, with a volume of 25-35 cm - two, with 35-40 - three, and if the diameter is more than 40 cm - it is quite possible to make four holes.

The collection of birch sap should be started in the most sun-warmed places, where the birch wakes up even if there is still snow around. As the forest warms up, one should move deeper into the thicket, to where the forest wakes up later than on the southern edge. Usually, 2-3 liters of juice per day are obtained from a birch. A large tree can produce about 7 liters of juice per day, and sometimes more. It is preferable to collect the sap where the felling is planned, and it is not recommended to take it from young trees.

Due to the fact that birch roots go far into the ground, it does not absorb poisons from the surface layer of the soil. Therefore, all places where birch grows are equally good for collecting sap, but it is still better to collect sap, attention, only in ecologically clean forests, because the tree itself is able to absorb harmful substances and exhaust gases.

How to extract birch sap.

The choice of dishes for collecting and storing birch sap must be approached selectively. 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 it is quite possible to collect juice in ordinary glass jars or even in plastic bottles, but remember that chemistry is able to give the juice its specific flavor, and sometimes it dissolves in it itself.

Juice is usually obtained by cutting, cutting or drilling the bark of a tree, the diameter of which is not less than 20 cm, with a well-developed crown. It is better to make a slot or a hole in the trunk on the south side of the tree, where the sap flow is more active, at a distance of 40-50 cm from the ground, downward (the movement of your knife should be from the bottom up), the depth of the hole is 2-3 cm to penetrate under the dead bark, and if the birch is very thick, then even deeper. An aluminum, plastic groove, birch bark tray or other semicircular device is inserted into the slot, through which the juice flows into the container. Sometimes the juice is extracted by cutting off small branches and attaching a plastic bag to the place of the cut.

No need to strive to "Drain" all the juice from one tree, it compensates for some of it, but if you bleed the tree completely, it can dry out. It is better to take a liter of juice per day from 5-10 trees than to take 5 liters from one, dooming it to death. After the collection of birch sap is over, it is necessary to take care of the tree itself and tightly close the holes made with wax, cork or moss so that bacteria do not get into the trunk, which can seriously threaten the life of the tree. After birch trees are cut, sap collection can be organized from stumps.

How to store birch sap.

In the event that you do not want to drink the juice immediately, but want to keep it longer, pour it into a glass jar and refrigerate. So the drink will be less oxidized, that is, spoil. However, it is better not to store the juice for longer than 2-3 days, otherwise it will ferment and turn from healing nectar into poison. But if you preserve the juice, then it will stand for a few more months. A few recipes:

Fresh birch sap is fermented in glass containers of any volume. After washing with hot (preferably boiled) water, they are filled with fresh juice. 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 container is closed with a cork or lid and secured with wire or bandages. The pressure of carbon dioxide during fermentation is quite high, and so that the glass does not burst, putting more than the indicated amount of sugar is not recommended. After a few days, you will have a pleasant-tasting, sour, highly carbonated drink.

To preserve the juice, heat it in an enamel bowl to a temperature of 80 degrees. Pour into glass bottles and jars. Fill almost to the top and cork with lids, and bottles with corks, followed by grinding. Then soak for 15 - 20 minutes in water at 85 degrees for pasteurization.

To preserve birch sap, kvass is made from it. Heat up to 35 degrees, add 15-20 g of yeast and 3 raisins per 1 liter, you can add lemon zest to taste. After that, the jar or bottle is tightly closed and left for 1-2 weeks.

Kvass can be cooked differently. To 10 liters of birch sap add the juice of 4 lemons, 50 g of yeast, 30 g of honey or sugar, raisins at the rate of 2-3 pieces per bottle. Pour into bottles and keep 1-2 weeks in a dark cool place. Kvass can be ready already in 5 days, but the fact that it stays longer will not spoil the drink, it can be stored for the whole summer.

Another kvass recipe. A bag with burnt crusts is lowered on a rope into a barrel of birch sap rye bread. After two days, yeast will pass from the crusts into the juice and fermentation will begin. Then a bucket of oak bark is poured into the barrel as a preservative and tanning agent, and for aroma - cherries (berries or leaves) and dill stalks. After two weeks, kvass is ready, it can be stored all winter.

Our ancestors drank birch sap fermented in barrels without added sugar - this was a traditional low alcohol drink at Russian feasts. Birch sap in itself is a pleasant, refreshing and body-strengthening drink, but you can add juice to it chokeberry, lingonberries, blueberries or insist on various herbs (thyme, chamomile, cumin, linden flowers, rose hips) in a jar covered with gauze for about 2 weeks. You can add to it infusions of St. John's wort, mint, lemon balm, pine needles, cherry juice, apples, currants.

Birch sap can be evaporated to a syrup containing 60% sugar. This syrup has a lemon-white color and the density of honey.

Belarusian drink. Pour the juice into a large bottle and put in a dark, cool place for 2-3 days. Then barley malt or toasted crushed crackers are added to it. For 5 liters of birch sap - 30 gr. Barley malt or breadcrumbs.

Balm is also prepared from birch sap. For a bucket of juice, you need 3 kg of sugar, 2 liters of wine and 4 finely chopped lemons. All this must be put to ferment for two months in the cellar, and then bottled and kept for another three weeks.

Medicinal properties of birch sap.

Birch sap contains organic acids, tannins, minerals, iron, potassium, calcium, glucose, fructose, phytoncides. The use of birch sap promotes the breakdown of stones in the bladder and kidneys, cleanses the blood, enhances metabolic processes, removes harmful substances from the body in case of infectious diseases. It is useful to drink juice for stomach ulcers, diseases of the liver, duodenum, gallbladder, low acidity, sciatica, rheumatism, arthritis, bronchitis, tuberculosis, scurvy, headache and sexually transmitted diseases.

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

It is also useful to wash your hair with dandruff with birch sap, to enhance their growth and the appearance of shine and softness (an infusion of birch leaves has the same property. Birch sap good remedy from impotence. Birch "Tears" has a very good effect on people during menopause, if you drink at least a glass of juice a day, then drowsiness, fatigue, irritability and other accompanying menopause phenomena will disappear.

The systematic intake of birch sap has a general strengthening and tonic effect. Birch sap is contraindicated for those who are allergic to birch pollen. AT medicinal purposes birch sap should be drunk fresh. It is recommended to take 1 glass 3 times a day 20-30 minutes before meals for 2-3 weeks.

Birch juice. Useful properties, extraction and storage of birch sap

Birch sap, or birch tree, is a liquid flowing from cut and broken birch trunks and branches under the action of root pressure.

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

Useful properties of birch sap

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.

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.

Birch sap is rich in sugars, organic acids, enzymes, calcium, magnesium, iron salts, and microelements necessary for the body. It is recommended for beriberi, diseases of the blood, joints, skin, as well as for tonsillitis, bronchitis, pneumonia and other respiratory diseases. The use of birch sap promotes the breakdown of stones in the bladder and kidneys, cleanses the blood, enhances metabolic processes, removes harmful substances from the body in case of infectious diseases. It is useful to drink juice for stomach ulcers, diseases of the liver, duodenum, gallbladder, low acidity, sciatica, rheumatism, arthritis, bronchitis, tuberculosis, scurvy, headache and sexually transmitted diseases.

Birch sap also helps to quickly cleanse the body of harmful substances and dissolve urinary stones phosphate and carbonate origin.

It is also useful to wash your hair with dandruff with birch sap, to enhance their growth and the appearance of shine and softness (an infusion of birch leaves has the same property). Birch sap is a good remedy for impotence. Birch "tears" have a very good effect on people during menopause, if you drink at least a glass of juice a day, then drowsiness, fatigue, irritability and other accompanying menopause phenomena will disappear.

With chronic rhinitis, fresh birch sap is drunk every morning, 1 glass. For coughs and colds - take it warm, diluted with milk and adding a small amount of flour or starch.

When to extract birch sap

Juice production begins in the spring with the first thaws and continues until the buds open. The exact period of release of birch sap is difficult to establish, because it depends on weather conditions. For example, if during the March thaw the juice has already begun to flow and frost suddenly hits here, then it may stop flowing for some time.

The most intensive sap flow through the tree occurs in the light half of the day, so it is better to start collecting in the morning, at night the juice “falls asleep”. The best time to collect the juice will be between 10.00 and 18.00, when it flows most strongly. The number of holes that are recommended to be made depends on the diameter of the tree, if 20-25 cm - then only one, with a volume of 25-35 cm - two, with 35-40 - three, and if the diameter is more than 40 cm - it is quite possible to make four holes.

Due to the fact that birch roots go far into the ground, it does not absorb poisons from the surface layer of the soil. Therefore, all places where birch grows are equally good for collecting sap, but it is still better to collect sap only in ecologically clean forests, because the tree itself is able to absorb harmful substances and exhaust gases.

Rules for collecting birch sap

There are certain rules for harvesting juice that will save the tree from death or decay, and also make the extraction of juice the most efficient:

- You can’t “pump up” the first birch that comes across by chopping it with an ax and leaving an open wound on the trunk.

- In no case should a young tree be used for harvesting juice.

- It is advisable to make a hole on the north side, since there is usually much more juice there.

- When starting to collect, you can make a shallow incision on the tree, but it is best to drill a hole with a gimlet to a depth of several centimeters and insert a groove or tube into it, through which the juice will drain into the prepared dishes.

- You can use other, more in a simple way. Reaching for one of the birch branches, cut off part of the branch with a sharpened knife, and wrap the cut with a thick thread. Lower the end of the thread into the prepared dish, where the juice will drain.

- After collecting the juice, do not forget to tightly cover the hole or incision with plasticine, wax, cork, laundry soap, or fill it with moss. This will protect the tree from the penetration of bacteria and various fungi into it, which can cause decay in the area of damage and, possibly, lead to subsequent death.

How to extract birch sap

Juice is usually obtained by cutting, cutting or drilling the bark of a tree, the diameter of which is not less than 20 cm, with a well-developed crown. It is better to make a slot or a hole in the trunk from the north side of the tree, where the sap flow is more active, at a distance of 40-50 cm from the ground, downward (the movement of your knife should be from the bottom up), the depth of the hole is 2-3 cm to penetrate under the dead bark, and if the birch is very thick, then even deeper. An aluminum, plastic groove, birch bark tray or other semicircular device is inserted into the slot, through which the juice flows into the container. Sometimes the juice is extracted by cutting off small branches and attaching a plastic bag to the place of the cut.

There is also such a way of extracting juice from birch or maple, which is useful in nature when traveling, when there are no tubes at hand, and it is not very convenient to fiddle with pegs:

1. A bunch of grass, dry last year, is collected, cleared of leaves, etc. Any thread is tied together, and along the edge, everything unnecessary is cut off.

2. A hole is made in the birch, closer to the root, if any, 4-5 centimeters deep. We insert a bunch of straws there and press it on top with a small cap made of wood.
The whole thing takes 5 minutes.

Important! It is important to know that, basically, the juice goes in the surface layer between the bark and the wood, so there is no need to make a deep hole at all.

No need to strive to "drain" all the juice from one tree, it compensates for part of it, but if you bleed the tree completely, it can dry out. It is better to take a liter of juice per day from 5-10 trees than to take 5 liters from one, dooming it to death. After the collection of birch sap is over, it is necessary to take care of the tree itself and tightly close the holes made with wax, cork or moss so that bacteria do not get into the trunk, which can seriously threaten the life of the tree. After birch trees are cut, sap collection can be organized from stumps.

Some types of devices for extracting birch sap

How to store birch sap

If you do not want to drink the juice right away, but want to keep it longer, pour it into a glass jar and refrigerate. So the drink will be less oxidized, that is, spoil. However, it is better not to store the juice for longer than 2-3 days, otherwise it will ferment and turn from healing nectar into poison. But if you preserve the juice, then it will stand for a few more months.

A few recipes:

Kvass can be prepared in a different way. To 10 liters of birch sap add the juice of 4 lemons, 50 g of yeast, 30 g of honey or sugar, raisins at the rate of 2-3 pieces per bottle. Pour into bottles and keep 1-2 weeks in a dark cool place. Kvass can be ready already in 5 days, but the fact that it stays longer will not spoil the drink, it can be stored for the whole summer.

Another kvass recipe. A bag with burnt crusts of rye bread is lowered on a rope into a barrel with birch sap. After two days, yeast will pass from the crusts into the juice and fermentation will begin. Then a bucket of oak bark is poured into the barrel as a preservative and tanning agent, and for aroma - cherries (berries or leaves) and dill stalks. After two weeks, kvass is ready, it can be stored all winter.

Our ancestors drank birch sap fermented in barrels without added sugar - it was a traditional low-alcohol drink at Russian feasts. Birch juice itself is a pleasant, refreshing and body-strengthening drink, but you can add juice of chokeberry, lingonberry, blueberry to it or insist on various herbs (thyme, chamomile, cumin, linden flowers, rose hips) in a jar covered with gauze for about 2 weeks . You can add to it infusions of St. John's wort, mint, lemon balm, pine needles, cherry juice, apples, currants.

Birch sap can be evaporated to a syrup containing 60% sugar. This syrup has a lemon-white color and the density of honey.

Birch cosmetics

Nourishing mask for dry skin: 1 tbsp. l. sour cream mixed with 2 tbsp. l. birch sap, add 1 tsp. honey. Mix thoroughly and apply the mixture on the skin for 10-15 minutes. Wash off with cool water. The skin after it will acquire a beautiful matte shade.

Lotion for oily skin. Rub dry birch buds and fill them with vodka (1:5). Infuse for a week in a tightly closed container. Drain, squeeze and drain. Wipe face with lotion before applying nourishing cream.

With acne and eczema, they wash and wipe the skin with birch sap.

For dandruff, wash your head with birch sap.

For hair loss: 1 tbsp. l. birch leaves pour a glass of boiling water, boil for 15-20 minutes, strain, share boiled water to the original volume. Rinse your head with this decoction after washing.

Birch sap analogues

Sap flow in spring occurs in all trees, but the sap of American (ash-leaved) maple (Acer negundo) and sugar maple (Acer saccharum) has practical application, except for birch.

In Russia, maple sap is rarely extracted, the volume of preparations is incomparable with birch. This is because sugar maple is most common in North America, and other types of maple are not as fast growing and therefore not as productive in juice.

In the southeast of Canada and the northeast of the USA (especially in the state of Vermont), on the contrary, maple sap is widely used, mainly for making sweet syrup.