Drying is the easiest and cheapest way to preserve fruits and vegetables. In this form, they are well preserved, without requiring special storage conditions, and take up little space.
Preparing fruits and vegetables for drying
To get quality dried vegetables and fruits, use good raw materials. Unripe and overripe fruits should not be taken for drying. Prepare vegetables and fruits before drying. For this, sorting and bulkhead should be done. Throw away vegetables and fruits that begin to rot. Wash the rest of the fruits thoroughly in running water. If they were grown using pesticides, dilute 5-6 g of soda or 1 tbsp in 1 liter of water. spoon of vinegar and wash the fruits with this solution, then rinse in running water.
Remove inedible parts. Peel the skin of the root vegetables, remove the cabbage and outer leaves from the onion, remove the remnants of flowers and stalks from the berries. The stem and receptacle are not removed from the wild rose, but the berries are dried along with them. Cut the fruits: into circles, strips or columns, so they dry faster.
To prevent vegetables and fruits from darkening during the drying process, blanch them in a citric acid solution (10 g per 1 liter of water).
How to dry vegetables and fruits
Place prepared vegetables and fruits on baking trays or metal sieves, spread them out in a thin layer to ensure good air access. Place them in a well-ventilated, sunny area. Dry the herbs by hanging them in bunches away from the sun and wind. You can chop it finely, put it on sheets of paper, and cover it with gauze on top. Hot red pepper is strung with a needle on a thread. The threads should be hung in a dry, warm place; it is advisable to dry the pepper in direct sunlight. Dry vegetables and fruits continuously for several weeks.
Artificial drying can be carried out in a special dryer, oven or oven. To dry in the oven, place the trays inside 1-1.5 hours after heating. At home, vegetables and fruits are dried using a conventional oven. Preheat the oven to 60-70 ° C, put the baking sheets in it, the oven door needs to be slightly opened. The duration of artificial drying can be from 5 to 12 hours.
Different varieties of vegetables and fruits are dried separately from each other.
Ready-made dried vegetables contain 10-14% moisture, fruits - 18-22%. Qualitatively dried apples are light cream in color, elastic, but when bent, they do not emit juice. Dried pears are soft; when squeezed, they do not release liquid. The finished prune should be black with a bluish tinge, the pulp should be elastic, when the dried plum is twisted in the hand, the bone is separated from the pulp. When squeezed, cherries do not release juice and do not stick together. Dried carrots keep their color and smell fresh, while cabbage turns dark green with a yellow tint.
Storage of dried vegetables and fruits
Store only well-dried foods; undried fruit will become a hotbed of mold. Inspect vegetables and fruits before packing and remove any wet pieces. Pour the same foods, dried on different days, into a common container and leave for 1-2 days to even out the moisture. Store packed fruits in airtight packaging or in fabric bags, cardboard boxes in a cool dry place. Dried fruits and vegetables easily absorb various aromas, so you should not keep foods with a strong smell next to them.
