Flavor of blueberries?

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Both. The skins provide the main color, and a bit of acidity. The flesh of the tame berries is sour when the berry first turns blue. After about 2 more weeks. Sugars develop, giving us the ripe, complex nleberry flavor. With wild low bush blueberries, as found in Michigan, and Main, as soon as the berries turn blue, or almost black, the are sweet and good. There should be no red, or green in the wild berries. Blueberries like well drained, acidic, sandy soil. If they are really plump, as just after a rain, the can swell with water, which dilutes the flavor. And the blue color comes from a naturally occuring mildew that grows on the blueberry skin. It is flavorless, and harmless. Isoflavanoids also color the skin, and are responsible for the high nutritional value of blueberries.

Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
 
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We eat blueberries every day. Our best price AND best taste are the wild blueberries in the freezer section. $12/3 lbs on sale for $9/3 lbs. We've found two brands of wild blueberries and both are excellent. Wild are smaller, tastier, than the regular ones that are usually fresh.
 
We eat blueberries every day. Our best price AND best taste are the wild blueberries in the freezer section. $12/3 lbs on sale for $9/3 lbs. We've found two brands of wild blueberries and both are excellent. Wild are smaller, tastier, than the regular ones that are usually fresh.


The fresh ones are picked too early, to keep them from spoiling before they're sold. I found this out after growing my ow, The berries were bright blue, and plump, but sour. I left them ripen on the plant for 2 more weeks, and they were very tasty, sweet, juicy, with wonderful flavor.

Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
 
The fresh ones are picked too early, to keep them from spoiling before they're sold. I found this out after growing my ow, The berries were bright blue, and plump, but sour. I left them ripen on the plant for 2 more weeks, and they were very tasty, sweet, juicy, with wonderful flavor.

Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North


YEP, growing your own is the best way, if you can. You have the investment, the responsibility, the control, to get the absolute best product. You get to fight the birds for them too. For the rest of us, we have to do our best with fresh/frozen/canned/dehydrated that we can buy.


I've also had good luck buying dehydrated blueberries. Those are expensive, they run around $10/lb, and they are very concentrated in flavor and delicious, if you can afford them.
 
I ask because I am making blueberry muffins and wasn't sure if I should crush them before mixing them in and draining excess juice. They aren't as watery since this is basically blueberry season.
 
Cooking4fun, I don't know......I do know I don't like my pancakes or muffins to be completely blue, so I put them in frozen (or dehydrated), and hope they don't leak too much when mixing them in. They do burst once baked, leaving a small area around the berries, very blue, that's what I want.
 
I ask because I am making blueberry muffins and wasn't sure if I should crush them before mixing them in and draining excess juice. They aren't as watery since this is basically blueberry season.
When I make muffins with fresh blueberries, I fold them into the batter very gently so that they stay whole. I also take about a tablespoon of the dry ingredients and toss with the berries. It helps them stay distributed more evenly rather than all sinking to the bottom. I'm even more careful if I make raspberry muffins. I alternate layers of batter and berries so that the berries don't break.
 
About frozen berries, they are often the best ones, if you are buying them. For example, I find that raspberries start losing flavour as soon as you pick them. A couple of hours later, they are still good, but they have lost that really wonderful, fresh off the bush flavour. When I buy frozen raspberries, they still have that super fresh flavour. I think they must freeze them very quickly and very near to where and when they are harvested.
 
Blueberries are the major crop where I live - BC produces over 95% of Canada's blueberries, and Canada and US are world's biggest blueberry producers worldwide. Later in the summer, roadside stands will be everywhere selling fresh blueberries. Everything around the house will be stained blue.

As you can imagine, I've had more than my share of blueberries.

By Chief's description, the variety from Michigan/Eastern Canada is different from the blueberries grown here, different in colour and flavour. Our blueberries are big, blue (never black) sweet, and often frozen in big boxes fresh from the fields. Delish, and perfect to throw into smoothies, pancakes, granola, yogurt, muffins, whatever, straight from the freezer.

Add them to your baking frozen, don't thaw or crush.

When I make blueberry jam, I often add some lemon rind or a few minced leaves from my makrut lime bush, just to cut down on the sweetness of the berry. I like the mix of blueberry and citrus, or red currants. That's also a good combo.
Blueberry skins have the blue colour, the sweetness comes from the berry inside the skin. I have never experienced sour blueberries, though I imagine they're sour when they're still green, as are most fruits.
 
Here's something interesting about blueberries that I found on the web --


"The blueberry is one of the only foods that is truly naturally blue in colour. The pigment that gives blueberries their distinctive colour—called anthocyanin—is the same compound that provides the blueberry's amazing health benefits."
 
I live in Quebec. I have had local farmed blueberries and I have picked wild blueberries. First off, blueberries aren't blue. They are purple. The wild ones had more and better flavour and they were much smaller than the farmed ones. Either way, they are not a favourite and I never buy either kind. I much prefer raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, gooseberries (I have only had those in Denmark), black currants, and even red currants.
 
I live in Quebec. I have had local farmed blueberries and I have picked wild blueberries. First off, blueberries aren't blue. They are purple. The wild ones had more and better flavour and they were much smaller than the farmed ones. Either way, they are not a favourite and I never buy either kind. I much prefer raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, gooseberries (I have only had those in Denmark), black currants, and even red currants.


The variety in eastern Canada (and US) is different than what we grow here in BC.



Our temperate climate is very different, our blueberries varieties wouldn't survive your eastern winters.



Most of our blueberries are exported to other parts of the world, you may not have tried what we grow here. And, our blueberries are blue. Blueberry juice is blue. Not purple.
 
Here's something interesting about blueberries that I found on the web --


"The blueberry is one of the only foods that is truly naturally blue in colour. The pigment that gives blueberries their distinctive colour—called anthocyanin—is the same compound that provides the blueberry's amazing health benefits."


Cool.

This is a chart of anthocyanins in different foods. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Anthocyanin-contents-in-foods-of-plant-origin_tbl2_44609005


These are the general health benefits of flavinoids: https://health.clevelandclinic.org/anthocyanins/


I couldn't stop thinking of blueberries last night so I made some whole wheat yeast blueberry pancakes for a late snack. The leftovers won't last long, thanks for the inspiration cooking4fun!
 
Cool.

This is a chart of anthocyanins in different foods. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Anthocyanin-contents-in-foods-of-plant-origin_tbl2_44609005


These are the general health benefits of flavinoids: https://health.clevelandclinic.org/anthocyanins/


I couldn't stop thinking of blueberries last night so I made some whole wheat yeast blueberry pancakes for a late snack. The leftovers won't last long, thanks for the inspiration cooking4fun!
This is great! Thanks, blissful!

Enjoy those pancakes, tasty AND healthy!
 
I checked that list of blue foods. Are there many blue vegetables? I would love to make a blue and yellow pizza for Ukraine. Lol.
 
I checked that list of blue foods. Are there many blue vegetables? I would love to make a blue and yellow pizza for Ukraine. Lol.

There are blue potatoes, blue corn, filus blue pepper, blue tomatoes., blue carrots, blue pumpkins, blue pansy flowers, and other edible flowers. I'm sure a Google search would hive you more blue beggies.

Hope that helps.

Seeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North
 
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