In your garden, a ripe harvest of apples has ripened, and you do not know what to do with them? Try to cook from these summer fruits, useful dried fruits, which you will use to make original dishes. Our article will tell you how to properly prepare apples for drying, as well as introduce the most popular ways of harvesting this product for the winter. At what temperature and how much to dry the apples?
Approximately at the end of July, it's time to harvest apples. If the harvest of these fruits in your garden exceeds all the expected quantities, you can afford not only to boil jam and jam, but also to dry them for the winter.
- Drying apples is considered the simplest and most affordable way to prepare this product. The most pleasant is that in this case you do not have to spend extra on sugar and stand for hours at the stove. To bring apples to the desired consistency, a certain temperature will help you, and it will do it practically without your participation.
- The fruits, prepared in this way, retain almost all vitamins and trace elements in their composition, and unlike jam and jam do not contain a lot of not very usefulSahara. All these useful substances will help your body survive the cold winter, and in the spring they will save you from the vitamin
- . In addition, dried fruit is a product with which you can cook a lot of tasty and fragrant dishes. Properly dried fruits can become a perfect filling for a pie, an addition to a sweet pilaf, an interesting component of winter salads and even a fragrant tea brewing
At what temperature and how much to dry apples?
Optimal for drying apples is considered to be a temperature of 50-70 degrees. - Some landladies want to speed up the process of drying apples and therefore use extreme temperatures for this. In principle, they speed up the drying process, but with the liquid from the fruit, their useful substances also leave
- . Therefore, if you are striving to get a really useful product, then make sure that the temperature in the oven or electric dryer does not exceed 70 degrees. And then such a temperature can be set only at the initial stage, for that period while the fruits will lose their moisture
- . After they are at least halved in size, the temperature should be reduced to 40-50 degrees. Such temperature indicators are as close to natural as possible, which means that you can save not only vitamins and trace elements, but also natural flavor qualities of the finished product
- . But remember, even a low temperature can dry the apple, so it is extremely important not to forget every two hours accuratelyturn them over. So you can achieve uniform drying and the ideal consistency of dried fruits
- If you do not do this, the finished product will dry out so much that it will lose almost all its taste qualities. And you can use such apples except for making compotes and kissels. Depending on the chosen method of harvesting apples for the winter, drying can last from several hours to 10-14 days.
How to prepare apples for drying?
Preparing apples for drying - We all know that apples are almost 90% composed of ordinary water, which during drying, evaporates under the influence of high temperature, leaving us only useful food fibers and vitamins. But it is understandable that in order to obtain the ideal drying, it is necessary to use the best quality fruits
- Therefore, whenever possible, try to use fruits for your winter harvesting from your garden. If you do not have it, then try to find in the market or in the store the apples grown in our country. Since they do not need to travel for a very long time and are stored, they will not be treated with substances that prolong the life of the imported fruit.
- After the fruits are delivered home, be sure to thoroughly wash them under running water and sort them by size. Thanks to this in the process of cutting you will get almost the same pieces, which means that the fruit will be dried as evenly as possible.
- Also, look very carefully if there are any beaten and rotten apples among the purchased products. If you find such fruits, then just set them aside. Since the process of fermentation is usually fast enough in the places of damage, it is strictly forbidden to use such fruits for drying.
- Such fruits, after exposure to heat, will not have a completely normal taste and that the most unpleasant will be worse stored. After sorting, you can proceed to remove the core of apples and cut them into thin slices
- . If we talk about the thickness of the lobules, it can range from 3-7 mm. After slicing, the fruit is best for a few seconds lowered into boiling water or soaked in salt water. This will allow the apples to retain their natural color and will not oxidize even before drying
Drying apples for the winter in the oven on the baking sheet
Drying apples in the oven on a baking sheet - Dried apples are the most popular dried fruits in our country. People love this product for its useful properties, and, of course, for the fact that each person is able to prepare these fragrant fruits for the winter. One of the most affordable methods of harvesting apples is drying in the oven on the
- baking tray. And for this business, both gas and electric cookers are equally suitable. The only thing that you should consider, if you use an electric oven for this purpose, then at the initial stage the temperature indicators can be raised to 80 degrees.
- The higher the temperature should not rise the way it can cause the fruit to simply stew inits juice
Apples dried in the oven Rules for drying apples in the oven on a baking sheet:
- Turn on the oven and heat it to 50 degrees. Take care that the temperature does not exceed these values very much. If they are very high, the apple slices will be covered with a crust that will not allow them to dry properly.
- While the oven warms up, rinse the apple and remove the core from them. Cut the lobes into one layer on a baking sheet pre-coated with baking paper
- Put the apples in the oven and gently open the door. This will make it possible to circulate the air and evaporate the liquid correctly, which is in the fruit of the
- . After about two hours, stir the apples and leave them in the oven for an hour and a half. When you see that they have decreased considerably in size, tightly close the oven, raise the temperature to 70 degrees and wait for another 1 hour.
- The field again reduces the temperature to 50 degrees, open the oven door and leave the fruit in this position for about 3 more hours. As soon as you see that the apple slices have become slightly brownish and elastic to the touch, take the baking tray from the oven and allow the dried fruits to cool
- Fully cooled apples are poured into glass containers with a hermetically sealed lid and put in the kitchen cabinet for storage.
. How to dry apples for the winter in the sun?
Dry the apples in the sun - If you want to try drying apples in the sun, then choose for this an optimally warm period of time. Ideally, the ambient temperature should exceed 30 degrees for at least 4-5 consecutive days
- In principle, they can be a little less, but then for the preparation of dried apples will take at least 7 days. Therefore, if possible, check the forecast and if the next week is given the sunny and cloudless weather, start preparing for drying apples under the sun's rays
So:
- Find a place in the garden area that is in the direct sunlight
- Set the table thereand cover it first with polyethylene and then with clean paper
- Rinse and cut apples and soak for 5-10 minutes in acidified water
- Drain and transfer the fruit to a colander. Leave them in this position until they completely get rid of the water.
- . Then transfer them to a paper towel and allow to dry at room temperature.
- When the apples are slightly tied, transfer them to a prepared table and carefully cover with gauze
- . Be sure to cover the apple, otherwise they will sit downwasps, flies and other insects
- Try at least 2-3 times a day to mix fruit slices
- If you want the process of drying apples in the sun was minimally short, then be sure to take them onnight in the house
- After 5-7 days they will become dark brown and they can be transferred to cans for further storage.
How to dry apples on a string?
Sushi apples on a string - Another popular way of heading dried fruits for the winter is drying fruit on a string. In this case, you do not need to wait when the weather is stable on the street, because you can bring apples to the desired consistency on the open terrace, balcony and even attic
- . The main condition for this drying is a large open space and, of course, the most sterile conditions. With this method of drying from 10 kg of fresh fruit, approximately 1 kg of quality product is obtained.
Recommendations for the prune drying of apples:
- Take your favorite apples, rinse them under running water, remove the core and slice slightly thickly lobed
- If their thickness is very small, they will simply break down and you will not be able to thread them on a thread
- Make sure that the finished slices have the same thickness. This will help to properly and evenly dry
- Cut apples on a thick thread, leaving a little space between the slices
- Place some kind of garlands in the attic or terrace, and if there is a need to cover them with gauze
- If you spend drying in an enclosed space, at leastin the daytime arrange a small draft in it
- Air circulation will promote faster and more uniform drying of the fruit
- After about 10-14 days, your drying will be ready and inHow to dry apples for the winter in an electric dryer?
Dry the apples in the electric dryer - If you want to dry apples as quickly and as qualitatively as possible, then do not regret money and get yourself a high-quality electric dryer. Such a kitchen assistant will prepare for you tasty and useful dried fruits that you will use with great pleasure to prepare vitaminized dishes
- . The only thing you should pay special attention in this case is the thickness of apple slices. If it is larger than the thickness of the kitchen appliance pallets, the warm air inside the electric dryer will not be distributed evenly, and this may result in one part of the apples being completely ready and the other still in the semi-ready stage.
. Drying rules for apples in the electric dryer:
- Cut the pre-washed apples into slices of the correct thickness
- Carefully fold them into pallets
- Set all pallets in the electric dryer and switch the appliance on
- Make sure that the temperature sensor does not exceed 55 degrees
- Leave the appliance to dry for at least 7 hours
- After this time, disconnect the appliance from the mains and check the readiness of the dried apples
- If they are dry to the touch and when pressed do not emit the juice, then safely shift them into the glass containers
- In case of eIf you notice a minimal moisture release, leave them to dry for another 2-3 hours.
How to dry apples in a microwave oven?
Sushi apples in the microwave - Now practically in every kitchen you can see a microwave oven. This kitchen assistant of the modern housewife maximally facilitates the everyday cares of an eternally busy woman. A lot of housewives with great pleasure cook in the microwave oven meat, bake pies and cook porridges
- But if you know how to use this miracle of modern technology, then with it you can dry the apple well enough. The most pleasant thing is that you will take literally 5-7 minutes to dry one portion
So :
- Cut the apples into slices or circles and spread them in one layer on a flat plate
- Set the power timer to 200-300 W and turn on the microwave
- After 2minutes turn off the oven and turn the apples over to the other side
- Close the microwave door and wait for another 2-3 minutes
- If your apples were cut into very thin pieces, then this time it will be enough to dry them
- In case,this time they are still tacky to the touch, start the timer for another 1-2 minutes
How to dry apples in Aerogrill?
Dry the apples in the aerogrill - If your kitchen has an aerogrill, then this miracle device can also be used to dry apples for the winter. In the case of aerogrl, you can even try to cook an off-the-shelf drying. If before turning on the appliance, sprinkle the prepared apples with cinnamon, vanillin or ginger, then you will get a wonderful flavored filling for the winter pies of
- . And if you make the slices a little thicker than usual, then the finished product can be used as a light and tasty snack that does notwill overload the stomach if you want, whatever it is yummy late at night
Drying apples in aerogrill:
- Wash the apple, remove the core from them and cut in circles with a thickness of 5-8 ml
- Boil water, pcreate a couple of tablespoons of salt in it and dip it into the resulting apple liquid.
- . After just a couple of seconds, drain the water and allow the apple circles to drain in a colander.
- Remove the moisture residues from the apples with a paper towel or cotton towel
- Put the fruit in one layer on the aerogril mesh, sprinkle themcinnamon and turn on the device
- Adjust the timer to a low airflow at a temperature of 100 degrees
- After 50-60 minutes turn off the aerogrill and check the availability of apples
- If they are slightly sticky, then prodlie them to dry for another 20-30 minutes
Can I dry the green, unripe apples, white pouring?
- In principle, it is perfectly permissible to dry a slightly immature apple. Simply by using such a product, you should be prepared for the fact that you will have to add a little more sugar or honey to the pies and cakes.
- But if apples are completely green, then it is forbidden to use them for making useful dried fruits. And the point here is not that they will give a very strong sourness. A very green apple does not have any taste qualities of ripe fruit, so it will not bring you any special benefit in the dried up form. You simply spend your time and money, and in return receive a tasteless and sour product that is unlikely to be used for food.
- . If we talk about white pouring, then it's also better not to use it for making dried fruits for the winter. This apple in the ripe form has a rather loose structure, which after drying turns into a practically tasteless product. For the preparation of drying is better to use more dense and juicy varieties, which are drew closer to the fall and have a sweet and sour taste. It is from such apples that you get the most delicious and aromatic winter dried fruits that help to diversify the same winter dishes
Video: Harvesting apples for the winter. Drying the apples in the
dryer