
Turn Wild Elderberries into a Tasty Syrup
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Can I use dried elderberries?
I would wait until the elderberry liquid has cooled before adding the honey. You don’t want to destroy the beneficial enzymes the honey has. I have made this every year for several years and it works wonders!
From the article, "unripe berries . . . contain mildly toxic amounts of cyanide compounds."
When the berries ripen, the cyanide disappears? How does that work?
Hi, georgis,
Thank you for your question. We have revised the paragraph. Some sources do suggest that unripe berries may have more of the cyanogenic glycosides than ripe berries, but most indicate that all berries should be cooked (or fermented) before eating to avoid possible poisoning. To be on the safe side, we recommend selecting only ripe berries, which may possibly have the least amount of these compounds, and then cooking the berries before eating them. It is our understanding that the cooking process will destroy any cyanogenic glycosides that might be present in the seeds/berries to the point where they would not be of concern. American elderberry has less cyanogenic glycosides than European black elderberry.
Is it safe to use American elder sambucus canadensis to make syrup instead of the sambucus nigra?
Absolutely!
Seems if you're color "blind" (deficient) red-green as millions are, take a "normal" friend with you to avoid red berries. Hard to see wild strawberries or cultivated raspberries. There's an island in the Pacific where the inhabitants are total color blind, black and white, in breeding .So I'm blessed. But if the colors are intense, I do see some red. Tell people that at a traffic light, I go when others go to see the reactions.
LOL- If color blind people made the color charts (that we see) "normal" people would be color blind. I don't know what I miss for colors nor care. See yellow & blues OK, nice blueberries seen from a distance quite well. The rainbow is yellow and blue. Have experienced using the color corrected glasses $300, not worth it. Nice sunsets though.
In the Air Force, scored tests high in electronics and rocket propulsion. no careers there, so was on a ground crew for B-52's and KC-135 refuelers. Got to fly a lot during the Cold War with Russia. Good duty.
Why must you not use upward facing clusters?
I use this same recipe taught to me by John Gallagher of Learning Herbs. I haven't been sick for quite awhile. I get my Elderberries from Mountain Rose Herbs since there are no Elderberries growing around here. I wonder how will the use of Elderberry Syrup work with Covid-19?
This is the recipe I use too. I prefer this syrup concoction to any I've purchased at the stores. It's much cheaper to make it at home too. I buy my berries from the health food store I shop at.
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