Energy value and composition of birch sap. Useful properties and contraindications to its use. How is it harvested and what can be prepared from it? Recipes for drinks and dishes. It is also recommended to drink birch sap for gout, pancreatitis, rheumatism, radiculitis, arthritis and varicose veins. It has a prophylactic effect on cancer. In addition, this drink has an anthelmintic effect and will help get rid of heartburn. Unlike fruit and berry juices, which are rich in acids, birch does not harm the tooth enamel.
Fresh birch sap is useful for expectant mothers at all stages of pregnancy, as it can improve placental blood circulation, weaken the manifestations of toxicosis, and prevent puffiness. Remember that in an "interesting position" you can consume no more than 100-250 ml of birch sap per day.
Outwardly, birch sap is used for diseases such as furunculosis and eczema, ulcers, acne, pigmentation and increased dry skin. It can help treat hair loss, dandruff and non-healing wounds.
Contraindications and harm to birch sap
Despite the large list of useful properties, birch sap can also bring harm. We must not forget about the allergic pollen of the plant that gives such a healing drink. In addition to this, for some ailments, it is not at all advised to use it.
Who needs to refuse the introduction of birch sap into the diet:
- People with individual intolerance or allergies … Birch pollen is something that can provoke an unhealthy reaction in our body when consuming this drink. 15-20% of all seasonal allergies in the northern parts of the world are associated with it.
- Suffering from urolithiasis … In the presence of such health problems, you should drink birch sap, especially fresh, with caution, as it can cause the movement of stones in the kidneys and organs of the genitourinary system, as well as drive the sand out of them.
- Patients with gastric and duodenal ulcers … For these diseases, diet food and the same drinks are recommended, but juices are not, therefore, this product should be taken with caution.
Important to remember! One glass of the drink (150-350 ml) per day will only benefit the body, so you need to drink it in moderation. However, do not forget that only homemade birch sap is characterized by beneficial biological stimulation, without various chemical additives and preservatives.
When and how to collect birch sap?
It is difficult to say exactly when is the best time to collect birch sap, as it depends on the weather conditions. Birch sap can flow after the March thaw, but the process will stop if frosts suddenly hit. In general, the "useful water" from birch begins to collect in the spring with the melting of the sap, when the buds swell on the tree, from March to April, and sometimes to May, and stop when the leaves bloom.
To collect birch sap, you should choose trees that grow away from highways and large enterprises, otherwise the sap will contain the entire table of chemical elements and will not be useful. A birch with a thick trunk is best suited (the larger the diameter, the better), growing in an area where the sun shines well.
A hole (5-8 cm) is made on the tree trunk with the help of a drill or brace at a distance of 20-25 cm from the ground. Next, a prepared tube is inserted into the incision and a container is placed under it for collecting juice, which tastes like spring water. It flows best from noon to 5 pm.
Important! The "wound" on the tree must be covered with wax, or it can be hammered in with a peg.
Birch sap drink recipes
Birch sap has a pleasant aroma and excellent taste, moreover, it also contains many useful substances, but it does not stay fresh for a long time. After three days, it already has a sour taste and begins to ferment. Therefore, it is important to know how to close the birch sap.
Delicious drink recipes:
- Birch sap kvass with raisins … First of all, we filter 20 liters of juice; gauze folded in several layers is well suited for this. After that, add 1 kg of sugar and 100 g of raisins and leave to infuse for 3 days. Then we filter the kvass, pour it into bottles and put it in storage in a cold place.
- Birch kvass with barley … We filter 3 liters of birch sap and put in a cool place for a couple of days. In a dry skillet, fry 100 g of barley until golden brown. Add it to the juice and leave for 4 days. The drink is ready! It will perfectly quench your thirst in hot weather.
- Birch sap kvass with bread … First, pour the strained juice (5 l) into a saucepan, then add 150 g of sugar and bring to a boil, but do not boil. Simultaneously cut 400 g of bread into slices and dry in the microwave or oven. We put them in a saucepan with juice, cover with a lid and leave to infuse for 2 days. The drink is ready. We bottle it and refrigerate it before use.
- Kvass from birch sap with dried fruits … We wash with 150 g of dried fruits (it is best to take pears and prunes in the same quantity). Put them in a jar with a capacity of 3 liters and pour 2.5 liters of birch sap. We close the container with gauze folded in several layers, or with a special nylon lid with holes. We put in a warm place for 10-14 days. Warmer in the room - the drink will be ready faster. We bottle the finished product.
- Birch sap kvass with honey … We filter 5 liters of juice. In a bowl, dilute 50 g of yeast in 50 ml of warm water. Take 1 lemon and squeeze the juice out of it. Pour birch sap into a container, add lemon juice, 100 g of honey, diluted yeast and 10 g of raisins. We insist the drink in a cool place for 2-4 days.
- Carbonated kvass … In a large bowl, pour a bottle of 20 liters of birch sap, add 0.5 liters of dried fruit, a handful of raisins and 1 glass of fried barley (instead of cereals, you can take a crust of black bread, after drying it in the oven). Insist this drink for 1 month in the cold.
- Kvass from birch sap for the winter … The drink prepared according to this recipe can be stored in the cellar for the whole winter. First of all, pour the juice into a bottle. Then we put the crusts of rye bread in a linen bag and place it in a container with future kvass for 2 days. After this period, we pull it out. Add oak bark (natural preservative), cherry leaves, various berries and dill. And we insist for another 2 weeks.
- Berezovik drink … We need 10 liters of birch sap. We pour it into a large container and put it in a cool dark room for 3 days. Now add 60 g of rye bread crumbs and roasted barley to taste. And we still insist 1 day.
- Recipe with birch juice cocktail for children … With a mixer, mix 2 cups of birch sap, 4 tablespoons of canned fruit syrup and 100 g of ice cream. Before serving, you still need to add the same amount of ice cream to the cocktail.
- Birch sap moonshine … We need 15 liters of birch sap, 3 kg of sugar, 100 g of yeast, currant and cherry leaves at our discretion and taste. We heat the juice a little, add yeast, sugar and leaves to it. We send our dishes with components for a week to a warm place. After this period, we filter the mixture and now we work with a moonshine still.
- Birch wine … For this recipe, fresh juice, only harvested, is suitable. Bring 30 liters to a boil, remove the foam. Add 7.5 kg of sugar and 9 g of lemon peel. We cool, pour into a bottle and make an air seal. After 2 weeks, we bottle the wine and put it in the cellar.
- Canned birch sap … Pour 7 liters of birch sap into a saucepan, put 3 dry sprigs of mint, 0.5 teaspoon of citric acid and 10 tablespoons of sugar. Before rolling the birch sap, bring the liquid and components to a boil and boil for 5 minutes, while removing the reddish foam. Pour into sterilized jars and seal. Of course, many vitamins are destroyed, but some of the minerals are still preserved. In addition, such a drink is both very tasty and healthier from store-bought sweet water.
- Orange Storm drink … Put 5 liters of birch sap on the fire, bring to a boil, remove the foam, add sugar (1-1.5 cups) and add 25 g of citric acid. At the same time, we prepare the jars: we sterilize and put 3-4 orange slices in each (we need 3 pieces). Pour the finished drink into a prepared container, cork and wrap it up.
- Lemon Breeze drink … For this recipe, we need the following components: juice, sugar and lemons (you can take citric acid). For a 3-liter jar of birch "liquid" take 1 cup of sugar and 1/3 of a large lemon (or 1 teaspoon of citric acid). So, bring the juice to a boil and pour sugar into it. Then we pour it into the prepared one, i.e. sterilized, jar with sliced lemon wedges. Cork and wrap.
Note! Birch sap can be frozen fresh in the freezer, while all its useful substances are preserved.
Birch sap recipes
3-4 days after collection, birch sap acquires a pleasant sour taste, which makes it the basis for a popular cold dish - okroshka.
What and how to cook with birch sap:
- Urban okroshka … We need the following products: 300 g of boiled sausage, 3-4 cucumbers, a bunch of green onions, 4 eggs, mayonnaise and salt to taste. You need to take such an amount of birch sap so that the dish turns out in density, like soup. First of all, boil the eggs, cool and clean. Then we wash the onion, chop it, salt and mix well (this will help remove the bitterness from this greens). After that we cut cucumbers, sausages and eggs. Add these ingredients to the onion and season with mayonnaise. Fill with juice and mix well. Our dish is ready. You can add dill or parsley. You need to eat chilled. A piquant taste will add 1 tablespoon of non-dry mustard, diluted right on the plate.
- Rural okroshka … We wash the green onions and dill and chop finely. Add a little salt and crush these ingredients with a pusher or potato press. Chop 1 cucumber and 2 boiled but peeled potatoes finely and add to the herbs. We cut 200 g of doctor's sausage into cubes and send it to a saucepan with already prepared products. Boil 2 eggs, separate the whites from the yolks. Grind the first component and add to the pan. Now we make a dressing for the dish: grind the yolks with 1 teaspoon of mustard, 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise and dilute this mass with a small amount of birch sap. We spread this mixture into okroshka, mix and pour in 300 ml of juice, mix well again. Garnish with tomato wedges and dill. Serve chilled.
Interesting facts about birch sap
During the existence of the USSR, in the middle of the 20th century, birch sap was one of the cheapest drinks. One glass cost 8 kopecks. They sold it in 3-liter cans. The largest number of "birch tears" was collected in Belarus, in the north of Ukraine and in the middle regions of Russia. The Chernobyl accident and the collapse of the Soviet Union - these two factors influenced the decrease in the production of the drink we are considering. There is an enterprise "Festival of birch sap" in the Leningrad region, which sells frozen products.
In Russia, 70 00 tons of fresh drink are collected every year, but the latent potential is 875 505 000 liters. The cost of 1 liter is 50 rubles, and in Japan it will be 60 dollars! Every year a festival is held in Russia in the Leningrad region. It is used for tasting the product, demonstrating the operation of a juice pipeline connecting approximately 40 trees, with a collection rate of 7 liters per hour. In addition, event participants and guests can watch the process of evaporation of birch syrup. In the world, this product is produced in a volume of 5000 liters. To get 1 liter, you need 100 liters of juice. Hence its high cost: 1 liter costs $ 90.
The Belarusian cities of Molodechno and Bykhov produce fresh juice, as well as drinks with oregano, rose hips, St. John's wort and thyme.
Aseptic containers that retain the beneficial properties of juice for a long time are the business card of the Borisov cannery.
In the United States and Great Britain, the popular coconut water drink has been replaced by birch sap.
How birch sap is harvested - watch the video:
So, birch sap is a wonderful drink that has many useful elements necessary for our body. It is a wonderful thirst-quenching drink and an excellent healing agent. Due to its taste and aroma, it is a component of many drinks, including alcoholic ones. A cold dish okroshka is prepared in plain or mineral water with the addition of citric acid, but it will be tastier if you use birch sap. The product can be bought at the supermarket, but home-cooked will be healthier, since it does not contain harmful chemical additives.
