PyratePrincess
Deceased
Bump (since we'll be coming on flu season again). On the line of "waste not"....anyone use what's left of the menstruum for something like..elderberry wine...jam, etc??
Simpler Elderberry Syrup Recipe
- Thread starter summerthyme
- Start date
Masterchief117
I'm all about the doom
I buy mine pre-made at the health food store. It sure did help, along with prayer, back in late January/early February when I got the flu. It was a mild case and I got over it in 5 days. Worse symptoms were the chills and body aches that Tylenol took care of. I was up and going during those 5 days, doing things around the house. Highest my fever ever got was around 101. Took the elderberry extract about 4 times every day. Did have some chest congestion that lingered for about 2 weeks afterward.
Do you mean the solids that are left after pressing the juice out? I figure by the time I'm done with it, there isn't a whole lot left in it! If I were making a batch of some sort of farmhouse wine (basic fruit wine from whatever's available) I might consider tossing it into the batch- it would add color, tannins and probably a hint of a unique berry flavor.
I usually just toss it to the chickens, or in the compost. It all comes back to us sooner or later!
Summerthyme
PyratePrincess
Deceased
That's exactly what I mean
Not quite ready to gift to the chicks...but may try something edible with it. If I don't like it THEN the chics can have...
Tundra Gypsy
Veteran Member
I used your recipe from years ago and let me tell you; it is still GOOD. I used Everclear instead of vodka and it is holding up really well. I just took some the other day, when I felt like I was coming down with something. Good stuff; and I slept well too.
rhughe13
Heart of Dixie
ainitfunny
Saved, to glorify God.
OUTSTANDING explanation, should be clear to anyone.
Even better than I could have explained my understanding of all the .gov and .edu, and .org research reports I have read.
Good job Summerthyme.
ainitfunny
Saved, to glorify God.
Grandma sez-
iF you HAVE blueberries, elderberries, huckleberries or other small berries growing close enough to go pick them THEN Please listen and....
GO BUY THIS NOW (online) before picking season starts and they are ALL “out of stock”
You will pick a hundred times more berries than you can pick without it, in just a few minutes you will have all you need!
Or, you could spend all day, get sunburned, insect/snake bit, and then accidentally dump all the tiny berries you picked one by one into deep grass. Your choice. You can ALSO share the picker, loaning it out to relatives and friends when you are done picking!
$17.95+ free shipping
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Jonas-Berr...398331?hash=item1c96c244fb:g:WGYAAOSwjZJZ-vc~
iF you HAVE blueberries, elderberries, huckleberries or other small berries growing close enough to go pick them THEN Please listen and....
GO BUY THIS NOW (online) before picking season starts and they are ALL “out of stock”
You will pick a hundred times more berries than you can pick without it, in just a few minutes you will have all you need!
Or, you could spend all day, get sunburned, insect/snake bit, and then accidentally dump all the tiny berries you picked one by one into deep grass. Your choice. You can ALSO share the picker, loaning it out to relatives and friends when you are done picking!
$17.95+ free shipping
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Jonas-Berr...398331?hash=item1c96c244fb:g:WGYAAOSwjZJZ-vc~
Attachments
ainitfunny
Saved, to glorify God.
dupe/delete please. -sorry.
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Martinhouse
Deceased
Oh, wow! Do I wish I had one of those berry pickers! It reminds me of the comb my sister used to use for harvesting chamomile flowers.
I don't use credit cards and there's fat chance our finding something like that in this small town. Wonder if I'd be able to rig something myself, maybe with heavy hairpins and a metal dustpan? Not that I've ever found hairpins in this town, for that matter.
I don't use credit cards and there's fat chance our finding something like that in this small town. Wonder if I'd be able to rig something myself, maybe with heavy hairpins and a metal dustpan? Not that I've ever found hairpins in this town, for that matter.
ainitfunny
Saved, to glorify God.
You can use your BANK (debit card) to pay for ebay items too.
ebay tells how here: https://ocsnext.ebay.com/ocs/sr
BTW- These pickers are sturdy & made in Sweden.
Martinhouse
Deceased
I don't have a debit card, either, not an ATM card. I use checks for utilities and for Allstate, and cash for everything else.
I'll check the link and see if they have an order form that I can mail with a check like we used to do for all mail orders.
I'll check the link and see if they have an order form that I can mail with a check like we used to do for all mail orders.
Martinhouse
Deceased
Hmmm. Ebay.
Oh, well.
Oh, well.
Hve you used this on elderberries? It look like the space in the tines is a little big for both elderberries and low bush wild blueberries. Can you measure the spave on yours? I would like to compare it to my blueberry rake that I use. Having a couple smaller ones for the kids would be handy.
I'm not so sure it would work well on elderberries. They aren't something you generally pick individually, anyway. They form in large "umbrels"... flattish clusters very much like an upside down umbrella... at least, they end up upside down when they're heavy and ripe.
I pick them by snipping the stem of the cluster, and put the whole thing into a bucket or Rubbermaid tote. Then I strip the berries by hand (I find that to be the easiest... some people prefer to use a fork) while sitting comfortably in the shade on the front porch.
I think the biggest drawback to using any mechanical means to separate the berries is that the ring stems are very fragile and brittle. And while a few stems aren't a problem (although they can make a rather "high fiber" pie! LOL!), all the parts of the plant *except* the berries themselves are toxic... like some other fruits (cherries, especially) they contain cyanide compounds.
So, while you don't have to get panicked about including a few small stems in your berries, you don't want a lot of them, especially if you aren't going to just cold press the berries.
I have a "chamomile rake", which works really well when picking chamomile. I don't like it for my domestic Highbush blueberries, though, because they don't all ripen at the same time. So I'd waste gallons of berries if I didn't pick them individually. I'm thinking that the wild lowbush blueberries might be different, in which case it would really be useful, and a real back saver.
Summerthyme
I pick them by snipping the stem of the cluster, and put the whole thing into a bucket or Rubbermaid tote. Then I strip the berries by hand (I find that to be the easiest... some people prefer to use a fork) while sitting comfortably in the shade on the front porch.
I think the biggest drawback to using any mechanical means to separate the berries is that the ring stems are very fragile and brittle. And while a few stems aren't a problem (although they can make a rather "high fiber" pie! LOL!), all the parts of the plant *except* the berries themselves are toxic... like some other fruits (cherries, especially) they contain cyanide compounds.
So, while you don't have to get panicked about including a few small stems in your berries, you don't want a lot of them, especially if you aren't going to just cold press the berries.
I have a "chamomile rake", which works really well when picking chamomile. I don't like it for my domestic Highbush blueberries, though, because they don't all ripen at the same time. So I'd waste gallons of berries if I didn't pick them individually. I'm thinking that the wild lowbush blueberries might be different, in which case it would really be useful, and a real back saver.
Summerthyme
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ainitfunny
Saved, to glorify God.
When they first begin getting ripe, I pick the early, ripe tiny black huckleberries by hand until all on the bush except about about 5-10% are ripe, then I use this berry comb.
I don't think elderberries are smaller than huckleberries.
Where I live there are SO SO many huckleberry bushes everywhere you look that I don't worry about leaving any for the "later pickers". As it is now, I'd bet that over 99.5% of the available wild Huckleberries around here are NOT picked by humans.
I have watched many neighbors TEAR OUT wild huckleberry shrubs from their suburban lots to plant grass or other shrubs! Most do not know WHAT the bush is, or do not know that the berries are edible or good for you. I probably have 30-50 huckleberry bushes just on my (1/3?) 1/2 acre lot. Every road in the subdivision is lined with them. Every forested area is full of them. The bushes line the short mile long rural road to my house nonstop except where some people have torn them out. They line all the rural roads in this area. And, in my 40 years living here in WA STATE I have only seen other people picking them a lot less than 10 times!!
I don't think elderberries are smaller than huckleberries.
Where I live there are SO SO many huckleberry bushes everywhere you look that I don't worry about leaving any for the "later pickers". As it is now, I'd bet that over 99.5% of the available wild Huckleberries around here are NOT picked by humans.
I have watched many neighbors TEAR OUT wild huckleberry shrubs from their suburban lots to plant grass or other shrubs! Most do not know WHAT the bush is, or do not know that the berries are edible or good for you. I probably have 30-50 huckleberry bushes just on my (1/3?) 1/2 acre lot. Every road in the subdivision is lined with them. Every forested area is full of them. The bushes line the short mile long rural road to my house nonstop except where some people have torn them out. They line all the rural roads in this area. And, in my 40 years living here in WA STATE I have only seen other people picking them a lot less than 10 times!!
Weft and Warp
Senior Member
Summerthyme, I have a question for you.
Looking over this thread (page 1), I noticed someone asked if "bottled" elderberry juice can be used and you said you couldn't see why not.
Looking through my pantry, I found some elderberry jelly I made a couple years ago---would it be reasonable to think that it too, might be used? (The basic ingredients for that jelly is the juice, sugar, and pectin.)
Looking over this thread (page 1), I noticed someone asked if "bottled" elderberry juice can be used and you said you couldn't see why not.
Looking through my pantry, I found some elderberry jelly I made a couple years ago---would it be reasonable to think that it too, might be used? (The basic ingredients for that jelly is the juice, sugar, and pectin.)
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My main concern is with the heat necessary to make jelly. When I can (or bottle) juice, it's essentially a pasteurization process... boiling the juice isn't necessary. Unfortunately, I've never been able to track down definitive studies on how much heat degrades the medicinal properties of the elderberry, but there have been plenty of "hints" that it's not a good idea.
That's why I barely bring the syrup to a low simmer if necessary (if you're using honey, it's not) to dissolve the sugar, and then seal it in sterile bottles.
Summerthyme
Weft and Warp
Senior Member
I wouldn't want to use a berry picker with elderberries. I've found that a pair of scissors or a knife works best and berry clusters should be cut with a bag underneath them to catch any that fall off the clusters. ( Since by the time I pick them, the berries tend to fall off of the clusters easily).
Old Gray Mare
TB Fanatic
I am not a health care professional and am not giving medical advice. Go to an appropriate licensed health care professional for medical advice, diagnose and treatment.
My understanding is: the idea behind not giving Sambucol during a flu with symptoms of a severe immune overreaction also known as a “cytokine storm” is that elderberry ramps up the immune system. If the flu is causing an overreaction of the immune system resulting in death or other physical or mental damage you probably don't want to be taking some that ramps up the immune system even further.
This is why it is so important to do your own research!
SageRock
Veteran Member
In my experience, it is useful to take elderberry at the very first signs of symptoms, or even earlier, if exposed to the flu. Once the flu is hitting its stride with full-blown symptoms, it's too late for elderberry, and other remedies are then preferable. I've sometimes had good luck with olive tincture when elderberry fails to work.
Absolutely agree with this. It's important to understand that elderberry is NOT virucidal... it's "virustatic". IOW, it doesn't kill off the virus... it does stop it from reproducing. Viral load (how much virus you have in your system) pretty well equates to symptom severity... the more virus floating around in your body, the worse you feel (and sicker you are). (FWIW, TamiFlu and other Rx antivirals work in the same way, which is why they don't even recommend you take them if your symptoms started more than 48 hours earlier.
EARLY AND OFTEN is the key to using elderberry successfully.
That said... cytokine storm/immune stimulation. ElderBERRY doesn't have the potent immune boosting effects that the ElderFLOWER has... I've seen some combination products (which would likely be useful for other viral problems, such as the common cold) that contain both berry juice and elderflower extract. These absolutely should be avoided in a severe flu season. However, the cytokine storm, to a great degree, is also related to viral load. If you start elderberry early in the course of the illness, and take it every 4 hours (around the clock if at all possible), you won't give the virus a chance to build up large numbers in your body, and your risk of a cytokine storm is much reduced. As OGM says, it's important to do your own research!
I've mentioned before that curcumin is very valuable in influenza... when we had H1N1, it was the *only* thing that helped the severe joint and muscle pain. (And when hubby and I somehow contracted viral meningitis, it was the only thing that touched the severe headache and nerve pain... even prescription pain meds didn't touch it, but curcumin knocked it down very well). Since the cytokine storm is an inflammatory reaction, I suspect that curcumin might well be useful in reducing the risks or effects.
Summerthyme
medic38572
TB Fanatic
Bump, just because I am making a batch. And I know someone is sure to ask soon as it is past the stat of flu season! 
How we make ours and it has worked wonderful for the last 4 years. No one has gotten the flu and my wife cannot take the flu shot as she is allergic to them.(hives and wheezing). She works in an ER as an RN.
Ingredients
1. 1 heaping full cup of dryed elderberries
2. 2 cups of blue berries fresh
3. 4-5 cinnimon sticks
4. good pinch of cloves
5. teaspoon of nutmeg
6. 2/3 cup raw honey we buy it from a local keeper.
7. 8 cups of cold water
We do not use vodka as we drink it usually before it will spoil.
How we make it.
8 cups cold water in a small crock pot add the above ingredients except honey
place crock pot on high till it comes to a boil stirring occasioanally.
we then turn it down to low heat and let it go till it is half evapoarated out usually over night.
We let it cool, we pull the cinnimon sticks out. We then strain into a descent sized mixing bowl using a strainer underneath a cheese cloth that we pour the remaining ingredients through. I then squeeze the crap out of it to get the remaining juice out of it. I may heat the bowl for 30 seconds in the microwave to just put a warm edge to the juice in order to help dissapate the honey when I stir it in. You do not want the juice hot or even real warm at 107 degrees the good bacteria in the honey will die and it will no longer have its good properties.
We each take a shot glass per day and 2 if we start feeling icky.
we average 2 quarts a month September through the end of April.
We buy our elderberrys online in advance as usually they have run out in the past and we have had to search for other suppliers.
We pick our own blueberries and had 55 lbs we freeze dryed or frozen.
We have thought about buying a supply of rose hips and adding it as well to the concoction. But ours serves us well.
How we make ours and it has worked wonderful for the last 4 years. No one has gotten the flu and my wife cannot take the flu shot as she is allergic to them.(hives and wheezing). She works in an ER as an RN.
Ingredients
1. 1 heaping full cup of dryed elderberries
2. 2 cups of blue berries fresh
3. 4-5 cinnimon sticks
4. good pinch of cloves
5. teaspoon of nutmeg
6. 2/3 cup raw honey we buy it from a local keeper.
7. 8 cups of cold water
We do not use vodka as we drink it usually before it will spoil.
How we make it.
8 cups cold water in a small crock pot add the above ingredients except honey
place crock pot on high till it comes to a boil stirring occasioanally.
we then turn it down to low heat and let it go till it is half evapoarated out usually over night.
We let it cool, we pull the cinnimon sticks out. We then strain into a descent sized mixing bowl using a strainer underneath a cheese cloth that we pour the remaining ingredients through. I then squeeze the crap out of it to get the remaining juice out of it. I may heat the bowl for 30 seconds in the microwave to just put a warm edge to the juice in order to help dissapate the honey when I stir it in. You do not want the juice hot or even real warm at 107 degrees the good bacteria in the honey will die and it will no longer have its good properties.
We each take a shot glass per day and 2 if we start feeling icky.
we average 2 quarts a month September through the end of April.
We buy our elderberrys online in advance as usually they have run out in the past and we have had to search for other suppliers.
We pick our own blueberries and had 55 lbs we freeze dryed or frozen.
We have thought about buying a supply of rose hips and adding it as well to the concoction. But ours serves us well.
WildOliveShoot
Contributing Member
Perfect! I picked and dehydrated a bunch of elderberries. Now I have a recipe.
WildOliveShoot
Contributing Member
Question? I haven’t read all the posts, but can I ask, can I throw a couple tablespoons of frozen elderberries in a smoothie or do they need to be cooked?