After the grandparents were driven out of paradise, and they had to take care of their own food, they hardly forgot about the fruits for which they were punished. Any prohibition simply stimulates the desire to violate it.
Apple trees are now growing all over the planet, far from the heavenly places. They are not forbidden to eat, even there are holidays in which they are sanctified before eating, and in our gardens they grow so much that every year we must have time to harvest and process the entire crop.
Which of the summer residents on the site does not grow, at least, one apple tree? If there are such sites, they are few. The fastest, easiest, and cheapest way to process them is to harvest dried apples at home. Let's try to summarize the experience of gardeners, housewives and professional technologists on the issue of harvesting dried fruits.
Drying apples at home - the season of harvesting without problems
If we consider that from one apple tree, on average, you can collect up to 70 kg of apples, then the amount spent on the purchase of sugar, which in the season of blanks, as a rule, costs slightly more than in winter, immediately dampens the enthusiasm aimed at cooking the jam. The effect of concern is enhanced by the thought that sugar should be purchased immediately - the crop will not wait on the branches until the next salary. You buy sugar in the summer, expensive; you seal it in banks, you store; and by the next season, not having had time to eat all the carbohydrates, you think what to do with this good - and so it continues from year to year.
Next concern - jars, lids, sterilization, heat in the kitchen; yet - unsuccessfully closed cans begin to “shoot”, splashing the contents of the room and hinting at unscheduled general cleaning or even redecoration. To this can be added a large area occupied by banks. Already, and the jam is not so much desirable - waiting for the onset of cold weather, to rest from this “apple madness”.
But, after all, no one bothers to choose a method of preparation, which will help save money, effort, time, nerves and health.
Dried fruits do not need sugar, jars, lids and sterilization. The whole harvesting process consists of collecting and sorting apples, cutting and drying them. Of course, if you wish, you should not deny yourself the pleasure of tinkering with jam, jam or jam, for a change, but the volume of this work will not look so terrifying already, and therefore it will give pleasure. In addition, it is pleasant to think that drying will not have to be disposed of, like jam, due to the end of storage periods, before harvesting a new crop. Under certain light conditions, unused dried fruits are stored much longer than jam.
How to dry apples at home to maintain their maximum benefit?
Any food should contain a maximum of useful properties in order to make sense to use it. The benefits of apples are in the vitamin and mineral composition, in the content of the complex of essential acids involved in metabolic processes.
Jam is undoubtedly the best delicacy, but when you look at the “battery” of cans with canned sugar on the pantry shelves, then from just contemplating sweet stocks, it becomes cloying, and you ask yourself whether this ratio of sugar and vitamins in the banks is wasted power and money ? Do not throw the same apples? In no case, but from canning sugar in unlimited quantities should refrain.
The main advantage of dried fruits, from the point of view of preserving the benefits, is that only water is removed from them, because it is in a humid environment that microorganisms develop that cause spoilage of products.
“Eureka,” as one of the great ones said, can protect fruits from the laws of nature not only with sugar, but also with dehydration.
Firstly, when drying, the fruits are not subjected to heat treatment, this is already good. Only pre-apples need to be cut, so that dehydration is faster and more efficient, and in the finished drying no more than 20% of moisture remains - this is a necessary condition for long-term storage. 80% of the dry matter of each apple is almost absolute benefit.
Water and sugar can easily be added in the winter as you like. To eat a piece of dried apple, instead of the most expensive vitamin pill, is much more useful and more pleasant.
Oatmeal or rice with dried apples for breakfast is very satisfying and tasty. Where to those imported waxy fruits from the supermarket, as if fresh, to the aroma of dried apples at home! Any dietician will confirm this.
Drying apples at home: the right ways of harvesting dried fruit
Apples are harvested. What to do next? Do not hesitate to wash or not to wash, because millions of microorganisms live around us. It is impossible to get rid of them cardinally, but for a short time their stormy activities must be suspended. If you start cutting unwashed apples, then yeast, acetic bacteria will be especially grateful for helping them to get under the peel and start multiplying, and the apples will start to rot and mold, and before they dry. The difficulty arises in the matter of preserving some vitamins. The cuts on the apples are almost instantly covered with a reddish bloom - this is due to the interaction of the juice with the air, and at that moment losses start - vitamin C disappears from the apple - one of the most essential vitamins, especially in winter.
To prevent this from happening, before you start cutting, prepare a solution in which you will immediately place each sliced apple slice. There are two options: the usual solution of salt - 10 g per liter of cold boiled water, and treatment with sulfur dioxide - this method is used in industry for the preparation of dried fruit. This substance is also very soluble in water, according to the instructions on the package.
With salt everything is clear. It will protect not only from oxidation of the cuts, but also make the slices of apples tasteless for bacteria and insects. Low salt concentration will not affect the taste, and will remain only on the surface, and before use, drying is sufficient to wash to remove the salty taste - to wash, because, in any case. There is one more, additional advantage in the treatment with saline - salt draws water, which will speed up the process of drying apples at home.
Sulfur dioxide - additive E220. It is very widely used in the food industry. Its use allows not only to protect the drying from damage and significantly increase the shelf life, but also maintains the beautiful appearance of the finished dried fruit. According to the official control services, in small quantities the use of this additive is harmless to health. You can buy it - allowed for sale in specialized departments or stores. Also, as well as after soaking in saline solution, apples of their sulfur must be washed before use.
It is necessary to quickly remove water remaining on the surface after soaking in saline solution from the apple slices in order not to delay the drying process at all. Spread the apple slices on a sheet in a thin layer and dry in a slightly opened oven heated to 40 ° C. It would be nice, at the same temperature, to additionally direct the flow of air. In the absence of a special dryer for vegetables and fruits, you can use a fan heater installed under the grill, on which a thin layer of apples are laid. The old-fashioned way of drying apples in the air requires some revision. Great-grandmothers dried apples under the scorching direct rays of the sun, because then they did not suspect anything about the destructive, destructive vitamins, ultraviolet radiation. It is possible and necessary to dry in the open air when the volumes are large and there is not enough space in the room. Immediately you need to think about where to hide the apples at night, or - in case of rain. Before the morning dew always appears, and this for drying is a very bad factor. The last obstacle is dust and insects. It would be nice to make special frames at the dacha, with a side covered with gauze or a nylon mesh that can be easily washed - then the problem with insects, dust, air circulation, between the rows of laid fruit, and the volume of the occupied space will be solved while the apple trees are blooming.
1. How to dry apples at home - jam from drying
Composition of products:
- Drying apples from 0.5 kg
- Sugar 350g
- Water 500 - 550 ml
- Cinnamon, ground - to taste
Cooking:
If in the winter you want apple jam, and in the closet - only cans of dried apples - it does not matter.
Boil a glass of water in a large saucepan (3-4 liters). The pan should be non-sticky, because jam will be cooked in it.
Put the washed dryer into the boiling water, cover with a lid. It is desirable to wrap the pot, so that the drying is steaming. In another pot, boil another 500 ml of water and add as much sugar. Cook a thin syrup. Add cinnamon to taste. Combine the cooked syrup with apples and bring to a boil over low heat. Leave the pan to cool. Posta boil for 5 minutes a couple more times.
2. Drying apples at home - sponge cake with dried fruits
Composition:
- Eggs 4 pcs.
- Sugar 100 g
- Oil 150 g
- Vanilla (or Cinnamon)
- Sugar powder 50 g
- Apples, dried 150 g (slices)
- Flour 140 g
Cooking:
Biscuit dough with juicy filling oven is difficult, but with drying such work turns into pleasure. Wash dried fruit, and slightly tomso them on the pan in butter. Sprinkle with cinnamon or vanilla. Beat the chilled whites and yolks separately. In whipped whites, add sugar, vanilla. Add one spoon of whipped yolks, and then - sifted flour, gently stirring the mass with a spatula, from top to bottom. Pour the dough into the prepared form, and bake at 220 ° C until a steady crust appears. Remove the biscuit for a minute, put the dried fruit on top and return to the oven for another 5-7 minutes. Cool in shape and put on a parchment-lined dish. Sprinkle on top of the powder, through a sieve.
3. How to dry apples at home - rice with dried fruits
Products:
- A set of dried fruits: figs, apples, raisins, dried apricots, cherries, prunes - 300 g
- White, long rice 500 g
- Ghee 200 g
- Saffron 2 g
- Salt
- Sugar 100 g
- Roasted Nuts (to taste)
Cooking:
Rice should be well washed in cold running water and pre-wet - it is desirable to do this overnight. Container with rice, put in the refrigerator, especially if the kitchen is very warm.
The next day, put the roaster on the stove, heat the melted butter in it and place the washed dried fruits. Zaparivat their boiling water is not necessary - just slightly spit them in the oil. Brew saffron in a glass of boiling water. Boil another 1.3 liters of water, dissolve in it sugar and salt to taste. Drain the dishes from the rice and place it in the roaster. Smooth the surface. Top with saffron and cooked water. Spoon make a few grooves so that the water is leaked to the bottom. Rice should be covered with it 3-4 cm above the level. Place the broiler without a lid in a preheated oven and simmer until the water has evaporated. After turn off the stove, cover the roaster with a lid and let stand for 20 minutes. Remove the lid, cover the dish and turn the roaster over. Sprinkle the dish with roasted pistachios, sesame seeds.
Drying apples at home - how to preserve dried fruits?
- Prepare dry and sterile jars. Place dried fruits tightly in them, making sure that they are sufficiently dry (when squeezed, no juice should be released from the fruit). Close the lid tightly. Store in a closet, without light, at room temperature.
- Place a gauze bag of salt in the drying jar and close the lid. In the event of a violation of the moisture regime, during storage, salt will draw off excess moisture to itself.
- Dried fruits can be stored in the refrigerator, in a linen bag, wrapped in a plastic bag.
- If there is a smokehouse at the dacha, then it is advisable to smoke dried fruit with sawdust before putting it in storage — one hour of smoking is enough. Just before putting the jars in the jars, you need to make sure that the dried fruits have completely cooled down and no condensation will form in the jar.
- If you like the smoked smell of drying, and there are no conditions for smoking, you can put a piece of fresh wood ash in each jar - just burn a branch of a cherry or apple on a campfire. In a closed jar, drying gradually absorbs the smell of smoke, and you can cook duck with dried apples in the oven, hunting.
