Just finished 3 days of processing 71 lbs of cleaned, raw elderberries to make Elderberry Syrup. I used a steam juicer to extract the juice from the cleaned berries. Works great! First we froze the berries, then picked them off the stems using an old fashion hair pick comb. Tedious, but works fairly well. End result contained almost no stems and absolutely no leaves. [Note: when we glean the berries from the bushes, we try just to cut the berry clumps off so as not to end up with many leaves!].
Then I put approx. 10 Lbs of cleaned berries in the steamer juicer and within an hour, 1 1/2 hrs at most, all the juice has been extracted. I then add cinnamon, ginger, cloves and let simmer on VERY low heat until all the powdered spices are dissolved [Note: I use a tea strainer for the cloves, making it easy to get the flavor without have to pick out or strain out the cloves themselves.]. Once the juice is ready, I add the honey. Stir it in well and then fill Quart mason Jars. I finish by doing a short water bath for the jars. Enough so they seal well. Done this way, the syrup can be stored in a pantry and seems to last for a couple years. When I open a jar, I refrigerate it afterwards.
Question I have is about the Elderberry pulp left over after steaming them. Most years I just put them in the trash. However, this year, my husband put them out on the compost pile. I noticed the next day that the deer had been by and eaten most of the pulp. SURE HOPING we haven't poisoned our deer!! I'm hoping the steaming process neutralized the cyanogenic glycosides! Does anyone know?? Also, if it is safe, what is there anything you can make with the pulp??? Thanks!
