elderberry FAQ: what they are, what they’re good for

[Amy Boyd]

I've answered a few of the more common questions here, but feel free to jump in with more info if you have it!

What’s an elderberry?
Elderberries are small, dark berries that grow in clusters on elder trees (also called elderberry bushes). Elderberry bushes are a hardy plant growing native in many climates, often in the moist soil along roadsides and streams. They’re fast-growing and typically grow quite large and full, with compound leaves and tightly clustered bunches of tiny white flowers in late spring, followed by clusters of berries in late summer. The berries are a favorite of wildlife (especially birds) and are said to have many health benefits for humans too.

You can find a page of good photos here.

What are the different kinds of elderberry?
There are many different varieties of elderberry bushes, but I’ll focus here on the most common.

The European Elder, or Sambucus nigra (also called Black Elder or Common Elder), is found throughout warmer parts of Europe and North America. The berries are black to dark blue, and it’s the type of elderberry most frequently used in recipes and retail extracts and syrups.

The American Elder, or Sambucus canadensis (also called Sweet Elder), is also used in recipes and said to be slightly sweeter than the Sambucus nigra variety. It’s found in many climates, including most of North America east of the Rocky Mountains. Depending on who you ask, the canadensis is technically a sub-set of the nigra variety, but nurseries tend to list them as a separate species, so best to think of it as its own species for the purposes of choosing which types to plant together.

The red-berried elder, or Sambucus racemosa, grows throughout the cooler parts of North America, but the berries, when ripe, are a bright red color. According to some sources, it is poisonous unless carefully seeded and cooked, but I’ve seen many more accounts that say the red elderberry contains toxins regardless of what’s done with it. So without being a horticulturalist or a doctor, my advice for anyone just starting would be to stick with blue, black or dark purple elderberries, and leave the reds alone.

What parts of the plant can I use?
The white flowers of the elderberry bush have been used in many things; pressed into tonics, brewed into wines and champagne, lightly battered and fried into fritters, or stirred into muffin or sponge cake mix for a light, sweet flavor.

The ripe berries, cleaned and cooked, can be made into many things: extracts, syrups, pies, jams, or used as garnish, dye or flavoring. The leaves, twigs, stems, roots and unripe berries of all elderberry plants are not edible, and contain toxins that can make a person quite sick. Ripe berries and flowers only!

Do elderberries have seeds?
Elderberries have tiny seeds that tend to stay crunchy even after cooking. These seeds can result in a slightly gritty taste when whole berries are used in recipes, but they are edible and don’t need to be removed before cooking or eating. (For this reason, many people like to cook elderberries in conjunction with other fruits, like apples or pears, to produce a milder flavor and smoother texture).

Can I eat the berries raw?
Some say that as long as they’re ripe you can eat them uncooked in small quantities, but most sources maintain that berries need to be cooked to fully remove all the toxins. (In addition, elderberries are really quite bitter until they’ve been sweetened with sugar or honey.) Again, as the non-doctor giving advice, I’d err on the side of caution and make sure your elderberries are washed and cooked. On the plus side, I’m collecting quite a few elderberry recipes here, so there should be no shortage of ways to cook them.

Are elderberries good for you?
Science answers this with a hesitant “we think so,” but traditional use and plenty of newer studies on this say a resounding YES! Elderberries contain potassium and large amounts of vitamin C, and have been proven in quite a few recent studies to shorten the duration of cold and flu symptoms, as well as strengthen the immune system.

Elderberries are also a good source of anthocyanins, powerful antioxidants which are responsible for giving many red and purple fruits their color.

[chris fatherheart]

The Elderberries i pick start off green then red then Black and when really ripe they sag down from the stem. I pick them in Aug through October. Do they have a pit or not?


k pick said:

No they do not have pits, but the chokecherries do. at what time of the summer do the berries you have ripen? are they black or dark red? chokecherries are red when ripe and grow in bunches hanging from one stem, elderberries have many little stems from a little bit bigger stems then from a bit bigger stem.

[Cracked Cork]

k pick said:

those are elderberries, wild is always better then home grown, but I have a large bush that produces loads year in and year out.

Why do you think wild ones are better than homegrown berries? Crackedcork

[k pick]

Cracked Cork said:

k pick said:

those are elderberries, wild is always better then home grown, but I have a large bush that produces loads year in and year out.

Why do you think wild ones are better than homegrown berries? Crackedcork

because they are alot larger and sweeter you can eat them right from the bushes in the hills around here in Utah.

[k pick]

No they do not have pits. I dry them whole for making teas during winter, there are no pits.

[chris fatherheart]

This is what i want to know: How do you dry elderberries? I have a lot in the freezer but i wonder if i can just dry them and use them for tea instead of cooking them up and putting them thru a muslin cloth to produce a cordial.
I am not sure whether i need to get rid of all the stems when i cook them up or just leave them in with the elderberries?


k pick said:

No they do not have pits. I dry them whole for making teas during winter, there are no pits.

[Cracked Cork]

Are your wild ones the Blue Elderberry Sambucus cerulea and your homegrown ones Sambucus canadensis the black elderberry? The cultivated ones we grow, the s. canadensis like the York, Johns, Adams, Wyldewoods are much larger than the wild ones I see growing beside the roads.

Crackedcork in WV

[Cracked Cork]

Drying elderberries is easy in a dehydrator, just dont pile them on top of each other or they will stick together. Your frozen ones cant really be dried as they juice will just run out of them when they thaw. We always pick, sort and wash or berries to get as many stems as possible out and put them in a single layer in a dehydrator. When they are done they stick to the drying sheet so we let them cool a little while and then curl it into a bucket and scrape the dried berries off with our hands and then vacuum pack them. Crackedcork in WV

[chris fatherheart]

They are wild but sound like they are the Sambucus Canadensis type (see pictures i posted)


Cracked Cork said:

Are your wild ones the Blue Elderberry Sambucus cerulea and your homegrown ones Sambucus canadensis the black elderberry? The cultivated ones we grow, the s. canadensis like the York, Johns, Adams, Wyldewoods are much larger than the wild ones I see growing beside the roads.

Crackedcork in WV

[chris fatherheart]

Thanks for the reply about drying the elderberries, Have you a link to a dehydrator?
I will continue to make cordial out of the Eldeberries i have. i do not normally take out all the stems when i cook them but i do cut the stems as short as possible. Is this OK as read reports that the stems contain something dodgy?
Will it introduce some toxins into the mixture or will it be OK as it is being cooked to the boil and then the toxins will disappear?


Cracked Cork said:

Drying elderberries is easy in a dehydrator, just dont pile them on top of each other or they will stick together. Your frozen ones cant really be dried as they juice will just run out of them when they thaw. We always pick, sort and wash or berries to get as many stems as possible out and put them in a single layer in a dehydrator. When they are done they stick to the drying sheet so we let them cool a little while and then curl it into a bucket and scrape the dried berries off with our hands and then vacuum pack them. Crackedcork in WV

[keith clark]

I have been picking elderberries for years always from hedgegrows remote from main roads to aviod exhaust fume condamination,    I strip and wash them then place with a tiny amout of water in a lightly covered plastic bowl ,and microwave them in their own juice till soft  then rub the pulp through a metal seive till only the seeds are left . place the creamy juice in bags and freeze useing  them when ever I cook or stew fresh fruit for breakfast, usualy unpeeled pears, the pips go to the chickens mixed with meal which they love

[Rkw]

This is my first year of making anything with elderberries. The tips & info here are SO helpful- thank you:)

So far I have tried making pie from fresh berries...way too crunchy-seedy, no one would eat it:(

I have had success at making syrup and canning it, one batch with honey and the other with sugar.

I also dehydrated a big brown bag full by layering them on cookie sheets and setting in the oven on lowest setting for a couple hours, then cracking door open and leaving themin there several days...it did not smell very nice-sour, like rasiny or fermenting fruit...but now they are dry and in mason jars ready to make tea.

I also layered bunches inside my outdoor covered gas grill and left them there to dry...worked very well.

 

[keith clark]

Elderberries are said to have one of the highest ammounts of vitamins of all fruits,plus being completly free of chemicials The way I do it is strip the berries with a fork wash and place them in a large plastic bowl with a couple of tablespoonfull of water, cover and place in the microwave for about 15 mins on full power stir and replace for a further five mins on full then trasfer to a large saucpan and mash with a potato masher then bring to the boil and simmer till all the berries have burst ,get another sausepan and a fine wire sieve ladle the pulp in one ladle full at a time and rub it round the sieve with the back of the ladle till all the juice has gone through, do the whole batch and chuck the pips away, cool it down place it in bags and freeze, I use it in place of water when stewing fruit or you can place a tbp full of Semolinia in it follow the instructions on the packet (without any more milk or water,sweeten to taste)and use it in pies and tarts the semolina makes it set  and stay in place when the tart is cut