Huckleberry Preserves Recipe - Food.com (2024)

FAQs

How do you preserve huckleberries? ›

These berries freeze marvelously. Before freezing, put them in a bag with a little air space then put in your freezer. In about 3-4 hours, remove from the freezer and squeeze the bag a little to break up the berries as they freeze. You don't want them to freeze as a solid mass.

Combine pulp, huckleberries, and sugar in large (8 quart) kettle, mixing well. Heat to full, rolling boil; boil hard 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; stir in pectin; skim off foam. Pour jelly into hot, sterilized half-pint or pint jars to 1/4 inch of top.

Huckleberries are famous for their role in unique and tasty pies, jams, pancakes, milkshakes and muffins. But these berries shouldn't sit in your fridge for too long – they need to be eaten or used quickly or they'll go bad.

One of the reasons huckleberries have been so difficult to domesticate is because they are finicky about their growing environment, preferring acidic soils and partial shade.

Huckleberry anything (jam, ice cream, candy) is pretty popular in Idaho, as it grows wild in many Idaho wilderness areas, can't be grown commercially, and has to be hand-picked in difficult to-get-to, often kept secret, mountainous terrain. So it's considered to be an uncommon and precious specialty.

The bushes cannot be transplanted and therefore the only way to enjoy hucks is to pick them, or purchase from someone who has. For this reason, huckleberries are more expensive than other berries, but trust us when we say that it is worth it.

Huckleberries are usually described as a cross between a raspberry and a blueberry with a more intense taste but similar look to a blueberry. Huckleberries can add that extra punch of flavor to seltzers, cakes, co*cktails, hard candy, ice cream, and most baked goods.

Huckleberries should be stored covered in the refrigerator and will keep up to one week. Arrange dry, fresh huckleberries in one layer on a cookie sheet and place in the freezer. When frozen, transfer berries to freezer bags or containers. Prop- erly frozen, huckleberries will last up to two years.

Wash them well in cool running water and then dry and drain well. Get as much of the water droplets off the berries as possible. The extra water will form large ice crystals and soften the berries even more. Freeze whole berries by placing them on a cookie sheet and placing the cookie sheet in the freezer.

Blueberries or Huckleberries

Washing results in a tougher skinned product. Pack berries into containers, leaving headspace (page 3). Berries can also be frozen first on a tray and then packed into containers as soon as they are frozen. Seal and freeze.

Can huckleberries be dried? ›

Red huckleberries are quite tart, so some people prefer the blue huckleberry (Vaccinium ovatum). The berries can be dried, mashed, or pressed for juice. The leaves can be used fresh or dried to make tea.