Content of the article:
Compote refers to those drinks that love absolutely everything, without exception, and any hostess involved in procurement of provisions, made compotes for the winter. Assorted recipes are good because they are distinguished by their diversity. You can combine any fruits and berries: maybe you want to impress your imagination with an unusual compote with the addition of sweet pepper, or put what is at hand in the jar - the choice is endless.
General cooking rules
Regardless of which fruit and berries you prefer, there is something like a general guide to their processing and preparation.
Standard cooking proportions: fruits and berries take up about half a can, sugar and water are taken in a ratio of 200 g per liter. As for adding water to the jars, the fruit is usually poured over with it( the third is the last) and only then goes to conservation.
The most popular “kompotny” fruit - an apple - is better to clear if we are talking about purchased fruits. If you are one hundred percent sure of the harmlessness of the peel, then it can not be removed, but the core of any apples must be removed.
Pear is a capricious lady. Even if there is a slight darkening on the surface, it is absolutely impossible to put it in compote. Choose strong and fresh fruit.
It is not bad to add lemon juice or add an aspirin pill to pear compotes - this does not affect the taste, but definitely does not affect safety.
Berries with bitterness( such as chokeberry) need to be sent to the freezer for a while before adding to the compote: this will get rid of the bitterness that will ruin the whole taste of the compote.
Compote from grapes is a separate topic. If you choose too sweet variety, then instead of the desired result you will get almost nectar. Grapes can be put in a jar as a whole bunch, after washing it thoroughly.
Compote recipes for assorted
Compote of assorted berries resembles the taste of childhood, and therefore is so popular. The most common berry mix is a combination of strawberries, cherries and raspberries, a real range of flavors. For it, you only need to thoroughly wash the berries, put them in sterilized jars, and then pour the berries with boiling water for 15-20 minutes in two steps. After that, sugar is poured into the water, boiled for a couple of minutes and can be preserved.
Compote of fruit for winter is also often prepared. Recipes are usually quite traditional: apple-cinnamon, apple-pear, but the option of adding orange to apple compote may seem rather unusual. An important nuance: the orange in this recipe is not considered to be a full-fledged “partner” of the apple, but only complements the aroma and taste. There is practically no difference between the preparation of apple-orange compote and ordinary apple, except that two or three slices of orange are put in the jar. Do not overdo it! Otherwise it will be bitter.
Fruit-berry compotes for the winter are also quite often made. Recipes assorted in this category are headed plum-apricot compote with the addition of raspberries, currants. Please note that apricots and plums need to be punctured several times with a toothpick before putting into jars.
Video compote compote of berries
Can you do without sterilization?
Search engines helpfully offer recipe compote-assorted variants for the winter without and with sterilization.
Fact one: most of the homemade canned products not only deteriorate easily, but also explode. Fermented compote can still be put into action, but it is better to abandon experiments with exploded ones for security reasons. Poisoning is not the worst thing that can happen: small fragments in the drink will bring more substantial harm.
With fermented compotes, it is not necessary to say goodbye forever. This drink comes out excellent home-made wine.
Fact Two: There is no universal answer to the question “Why did compote ferment or explode?”It all depends on the particular fruit or berry. For example, the plum may not be sterilized in a large-scale sense, but the compote may be spoiled due to a single stale berry or not very thorough cooking. But canned drinks, in which there is a pear, are distinguished by their special tenderness: the fact is that this fruit contains very little acid, which is necessary for preparations. 
Compotes for the winter, the assorted recipes of which do not imply sterilization, have a number of rules, but much simpler:
- banks are always sterilized, regardless of the recipe, the lids are also sterilized;
- as a rule, compote is poured into the can in such a way that the liquid will flow a little - there should not be any air inside;
- to cool the compote should gradually, so the banks after twisting tightly wrapped in a blanket and only then leave to cool.
Video recipe compote from cherry, strawberry and gooseberry
Choose the option at its discretion, and know: if the winter compote seems too time-consuming process - cook the usual and drink it on summer days. And then you probably want to repeat this taste on December evening.
