Content
- Wash blueberries properly before eating
- The fox tapeworm and other risks
- Washing as an alternative to heating
- Wash and dry blueberries gently
- Tips & Tricks
Wash blueberries properly before eating
In the midsummer months, from the beginning of July to the beginning of September, blue-black bilberries lure in the forest as a fruity refreshment from nature. These should not be consumed unwashed due to the risk of infection with the fox tapeworm.
The fox tapeworm and other risks
Basically, the risk of fox tapeworm usually affects only forest blueberries, as their fruits are usually harvested in the wild and at a height of less than 40 centimeters. Although the risk of infection with the Fuchsbandwurmergerger by the consumption of wild fruits is vanishingly small, so sometimes leading to the death leading disease justifies a diligent handling of the wild waking blueberries. The washing of the fruits not only rinses off the invisible small eggs of the fox tapeworm, but also any existing spraying and fertilizers from purchased or self-picked culture blueberries.
Washing as an alternative to heating
The pathogens of the fox tapeworm could also be killed by heating the blueberries to a temperature of over 60 degrees Celsius. In this respect, it would not really be necessary to wash with water before boiling blueberries. However, the washing of fresh berries does not hurt either, if the following products are made from the collected and heated blueberries:
Wash and dry blueberries gently
For a particularly gentle washing, the relatively delicate blueberries are placed in a sieve and so dipped in a second bowl full of water. Sometimes, the wetness of the berries may be undesirable when used for freezing or drying. In this case, the blueberries are distributed after the water bath on a layer of kitchen paper and gently blotted with a second layer of kitchen paper from above. You can also prevent the frozen fruits from forming into an inseparable lump.
Tips & Tricks
If you do not want to forego fresh blueberries while collecting in the forest, you can take a bottle of water with you into the forest to quickly wash off the fruits on the spot.
WK