Autumn is a great time to harvest and prepare for winter. It is in the fall that the most delicious and healthy apples, because they are homemade. You can keep the smell and wonderful taste of apples until summer
There is a very simple and understandable way of harvesting apples, which was used by our grandmothers, pro-grandmothers and pro-pro-grandmothers in the villages. You can't find a Russian stove anymore, but almost everyone has an electric oven in a house or apartment. There is absolutely nothing difficult about drying apples. We will analyze step by step how to dry apples in an electric
oven.
Preparing apples
Any variety of homemade apples is suitable for drying apples in an electric oven. You can use different varieties of apples, when the apples are mixed, the taste of the apples will be more intense and interesting, sweet with a slight sourness. The number of apples depends on the capacity of your oven and the number of wire racks.
First of all, the apples must be thoroughly rinsed, allowed to drain, or the apples must be rubbed dry. Excess moisture will increase the drying time. Remove the core and cut the apples into small slices, no more than 5 mm thick. Thus, it will be possible to use dried fruits both in cooking and as chips, in dry form. Due to the lower sugar content, apple chips are suitable even for diabetics and people who lead a healthy lifestyle.
You will need a wire rack for drying. On it, the apples will dry more evenly and will not burn, and the moisture can easily evaporate. Cover the baking sheet with cooking paper (parchment paper) so that the apples do not burn and do not stick. Next, lay out the apples in even rows. We try not to overlap the slices.
Drying apples
So, we need an ordinary electric oven. Before placing apples in the oven, you need to preheat the oven to 45-50 degrees. This will leave more nutrients in the apples. When the oven warms up, place a baking sheet with apples. First, the apples should sweat a little, after an hour we begin to increase the temperature to 70-90 degrees. When the temperature reaches 80 degrees, you need to slightly open the oven door so that the excess moisture is gone. We dry apples in this mode for three hours. You can sometimes turn the apples over and swap the baking sheets. After three hours, gradually reduce the temperature to 40-60 degrees and then dry the apples at this temperature until tender. If the oven is very powerful, you can repeat the process of gradually decreasing the temperature and increasing it again.
You can also use convention mode. At a temperature of 45-50 degrees, dry on a convention mode until the apples are fully cooked.
The cooking time for apples depends on the variety of apples and the power of the oven and can take from six to nine hours.
Determining the readiness of apples is very simple. The apples will change their color and will be a delicate beige with a brownish tint. When bending, the lobules should remain elastic, but even if some of them break, the taste and health benefits will remain excellent.
Storing dried apples
First you need to remove the baking sheet with apples from the oven and let the apple slices cool completely. The easiest way to store apples is to store them in a cotton bag or in a regular cardboard box. You can add a little clove, cinnamon and mint to the bag or box. This will give the apples their original scent. Mandatory storage condition: a bag of apples or a box must be kept in a dark and dry place. Thus, apples can be stored for more than two seasons, they will not lose their taste, smell and nutritional properties.
Recipes using dried apples
There are a lot of recipes using dried apples. You can add dried apples to oatmeal, pearl barley, semolina, millet porridge. A very tasty apple tea can be prepared by putting a couple of lemon slices, a little mint, a spoonful of honey, and dried apple slices in a teapot, if you wish, you can add a little ginger root. Dried apples can be used for filling in the preparation of pies, and for adding to yoghurts and ice cream. Light desserts, mousses, and applesauce can be made from dried apples. To do this, put the apple slices in boiling water, and then grind them in a blender. And in order to make apple jam, just pour boiling water over the apple slices, add a couple of tablespoons of sugar or honey and put in the microwave for 30 seconds. This apple jam can be served with a pancake.
Good day. 100,000 RUB For 3 nights including New Year's. Bath, barbecue, etc. is included in the price of chicks, pancakes, ice cream and used as an independent dessert. And, of course, the classic dried fruit compote, familiar to everyone from childhood. Children are very fond of eating just dried slices, instead of chips. This delicacy has a lower calorie content and higher energy value.
Apples contain a lot of carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, which we lack so much in winter. The fiber contained in apples is of particular value. It improves the functioning of the entire digestive system and stabilizes the intestines.
Other fruits and berries, such as pears, apricots, peaches, oranges, lemons, cherries, and even plums, can be dried in the same simple way. Different fruits and berries should be dried separately, because they have different drying times and when some fruits are not quite ready yet, others may already burn quite a bit.
