Blackberries

moneypanicker

i've just done the school run and the path that i go down has loads of blackberries. Would these be safe to eat and what can I use them for? Any ideas or recipes gratefully received.

Pink.

Hi moneypanicer,

They should be safe to eat. My favourites are blackberry jam and blackberry and apple pie.

There's a recent thread on blackberries that should help so I've merged your thread with it to keep all the suggestions together.

Pink

quietheart

I know the folklore about the devil spitting/weeing on them on 10/10 but they look ok to me. Was picking some today and a dog walker said they may have lots of worms in them this late in the season. Just did a google and read a mould that grows on them could be toxic.
Do i stew them with apple or compost them?!

thriftlady_2

I've picked some from my cultivated blackberry today (been picking since July), they looked fine to me, I've shoved them in the freezer -that should put an end to any worms.....I hope :eek:

quietheart

good idea, might do that for now!
cheers

liney

Soak in water with a pinch of salt to draw out and kill worms. If they will be cooked, use boiling water; it's quicker.

meanmarie

Common belief in this part of the world is that the devil urinates on blackberries after Halloween, so if you take care there is no problem for a while!! Blackberries that are over ripe or worm infested are very easy to detect, so keep picking but check them before you take them home.

I am absolutely convinced that the above is true....this year we have had very late blackberries and I have not yet made the blackberry and apple jam which DS3 informed me last night is what I should have been doing instead of wasting my time making crab jelly!

Marie

ollyk

I am convinced that most blackberries have worms in them right from the very start.. I was picking about a month ago with my daughter and a grub wiggled out of a fresh looking blackberry, needless to say she got that one
My nana use to religously soak all freshly picked fruits before jamming and there use to be quite a few wrigglers!

Mrs_Thrify

Hello to you cooks, I am thinging of picking blackberries from our garden to freeze on open trays. then transfering to a pot or freezer bag. Would this be ok.I thought I would wash the blackberries before freezing. We are eating them at the moment but some will fall and go to waste.
Thank you for any advice.

thriftlady_2

Absolutely fine to do that Julie. I do it every year but I don't bother washing them;) You can freeze all berries the same way.

Sometimes I don't bother freezing them on the tray first, I just put a 'crumble' or 'pie' amount in a bag and sling it in the freezer.

You can cook them from frozen. The open frozen berries are great added to a muffin recipe;)