When at the end of summer the abundance of fruit is overwhelming, the question arises of what to do with all this wealth. In addition to marinades, jams and other canned food, you can make homemade dried fruits. Then the fragrant compote cooked from these dried fruits will remind you of a hot summer on cold winter evenings.
It is necessary
-
- apples;
- pears;
- raspberries;
- strawberries;
- clean paper;
- newspapers;
- thick cotton thread;
- needle.
Instructions
Step 1
Rinse apples and pears. Core the fruit and cut into slices five millimeters thick. Sort the berries, remove the spoiled ones.
Step 2
String the fruit slices on a thick thread, leaving small gaps between them, or spread them in a thin layer on sheets of plain paper. Spread the berries in a thin layer on a piece of Whatman paper, placing a stack of newspapers under it. Newspapers are needed to absorb moisture.
Step 3
Place fruits and berries in the sun for four days. You can place them under a roof in a well-ventilated place: on a balcony or an open veranda. Drying in the shade will take much longer.
Step 4
Stir drying berries every four hours and change wet newspapers to dry ones. Stir the fruits laid out on paper.
Step 5
To prevent dew from getting dried in the open air, take them indoors at night.
Step 6
It will take four days to two weeks for the fruit to dry completely. Finished dried fruits should be soft and elastic. Dried apple fruits are ideally creamy. Properly dried berries, if squeezed, should not stick together. In addition, berries dried in this way retain their medicinal properties longer.
Step 7
Store the finished dried fruits. Ideally, they should be stored in paper or cloth bags hanging in a dark, dry, well-ventilated room at a temperature not exceeding 8-10 ° C. It is clear that it is rather difficult to comply with such storage conditions in a city apartment. Therefore, place homemade dried fruits in an airtight container and store in a dark place. There they will be protected from foreign odors and moisture.
Step 8
Check stored dried fruit from time to time. If mold develops on them, you will have to throw them away.
