How to dry apples in the oven?

Drying vegetables and fruits is one of the ancient ways to preserve them, which is still popular. If, for example, you know how to dry apples in the oven so that all vitamins and useful minerals remain in them, then you can make homemade preparations for the winter. This treat is a storehouse of vitamins; it can be a useful substitute for sweets. Such dried fruits can be used to make aromatic compotes and jelly, and they will also serve as a filling for home baking. In this case, you can dry the apples in the microwave, using the oven or a special electric dryer, as well as the "grandmother" method, decomposing in the sun. It all depends on your capabilities and the amount of raw materials.

We choose the fruits for the preparation of dried fruits

Before you start drying, you need to choose the right fruit. Apples differ from each other not only in color and taste, but also in density. So, for harvesting, medium fruits with a dense and hard flesh are suitable. Also, summer varieties should not be chosen for drying, since they are more tender and loose, therefore they can crumble. Very sweet fruits will not work either - they will lose their taste after drying and will be too fresh.

To make dried apples tasty and aromatic, when choosing them, you must be guided by the following:

• for drying, sour or sweet and sour autumn varieties are well suited, for example, “Antonovka” or “aport”
• the fruits must be ripe, whole and without rot;
• if the fruit is slightly damaged, do not throw it away - such a place can be cut out, and the rest should be sent for drying;
• it is advisable to choose apples of the same size, then the slices will be the same, they are easier to dry;
• more juicy fruits will be softer as a result, as much water evaporates during drying, and they will be stored longer.

Of course, at home you can dry any apples, especially if you have a good harvest, which should be preserved. In this case, they should be divided into varieties and dried separately due to the fact that the cooking time may vary.

We prepare raw materials for further drying

After choosing suitable fruits, they must be properly prepared for further processing. First, leaves and stalks are removed, and then the fruits need to be washed well. If the apples are very dirty, then it is better to soak them for a while in the water. After that, they should be thoroughly washed in running cold water, and then let them dry or wipe dry with a clean towel.

For drying, apples can be cut in two ways.

• Method 1

Cut them into slices. To do this, cut the apple in half, and then chop it into slices. The thickness of the pieces should be the same, then they will dry evenly. Harvested in this way, they will last longer and are suitable for compotes or filling baking.

• Method 2

Slices are another option for slicing fruits - they look more beautiful and can be used as an independent fruit dessert. To get even and thin plates, you need to remove the core with a special tool or a round metal tube. After that, we cut the apple with “bagels” with a sharp knife and send it to dry.

Sliced ​​apples darken very quickly, as they are rich in iron, which oxidizes in the air. To avoid this, the fruit slices are soaked for 10 minutes in a saline solution prepared at the rate of 1 tablespoon per liter of water.To avoid the formation of “rust”, slices can be sprinkled with lemon juice or dipped in water with the addition of citric acid.

You can cook at home white dessert dried fruits, which will be a great alternative to sweets. To do this, chopped fruits are soaked for a day in sugar syrup, and then dried in the oven at a temperature of about 60 degrees for 6 hours. If the slices are large, the cooking time should be increased. This method is also suitable for very sour apples, only then the syrup should not be too saturated. They are obtained white, soft with a candied crust, but compared with ordinary dried fruits are not stored for long.

Tip

Drying is not the most economical way of harvesting - from one kilogram of feedstock, you get up to one hundred and fifty grams of the finished product. However, if there are a lot of fruits, then this conservation option is perhaps the only one. From prolonged storage, apples not only deteriorate, but also lose their usefulness.

Dried fruits from the oven, or how to dry apples?

To properly dry apples in the oven, patience is required, since such a process takes a lot of time. For this, both an electric stove and a gas oven are suitable. However, everything happens faster in the control cabinet, especially if it is equipped with a convection function. In addition, many gas stoves cannot be controlled by temperature, and they are heated unevenly, which will complicate the procedure for preparing dried fruits at home.

In whatever oven dried fruits are cooked, one should adhere to certain rules and observe the temperature regime so that they do not turn out to be overdried and brittle.

1. First you need to turn on the oven to the lowest temperature and warm it up. We turn on the gas oven up to fifty degrees, for an electric oven, a temperature of 60 degrees is suitable.
2. While the oven is heating, we lay the prepared fruit on a baking sheet covered with parchment. Do not put them tightly to a friend, otherwise they may stick together. You can dry apples at two levels at the same time, but then in the process of cooking they will need to be interchanged several times. It should be remembered that the thinner the sliced ​​pieces, the faster they cook, but there is a high probability of strong drying, which will lead to brittleness. Therefore, the ideal thickness of the segments can be considered five millimeters.
3. Instead of a baking sheet, you can use a wire rack, then cooking dried fruits will take less time and will be more even. It should be prepared in the same way as in another case, covered with paper.
4. We put the apples in the oven and dry them from 5 to 8 hours, while the oven door should be kept slightly open. This is necessary so that excess moisture evaporates, and does not settle again on the fruit. If the oven is ventilated, the drying process will be reduced by half, and there is no need to open the oven.
5. While dried fruits are being cooked, they are periodically shaken and mixed to avoid sticking and burning. So, on the upper level, the slices prepare quickly, because there is more heat.
6. You can check the readiness of the fruit as follows: if the apple slices do not stick to the hands, are elastic and bend well, then they can be removed from the oven. Some housewives prefer drier slices, then the cooking time should be extended.

When the dried fruits are cooked, they should be cooled and then laid out in dry glass jars. The best packaging for storage would be paper bags, wooden boxes, or linen bags. You need to remove them in a dark and cool, but not damp place. Thus, dried apples cooked at home can be stored for up to two years.

How to dry apples in a microwave and a special dryer?

You can reduce the cooking time and dry the apples in the microwave. This process takes only a few minutes, but less vitamins are stored in them.To make dried fruits in the microwave, they are prepared in the same way as for drying in the oven, after which they are laid out on a plate covered with one edge of the towel. The fruit is covered on the other side of the fabric and placed in the oven. There they are dried for about 4 minutes, setting a power of 200 watts. This method is suitable for harvesting a small amount of products.

The most modern option for drying at home is the use of a special electric dryer. Such a device is inexpensive, but will allow you to process a lot of raw materials without hassle and reduce drying time. The biggest advantage of such an electrical assistant is simplicity - she will do everything herself, you just need to set the desired program. The whole process will take about five hours, but at the same time, fruit slices do not need to be turned over or shaken, and besides, they will not burn and will be of the required degree of drying. However, many housewives believe that the use of such a device significantly increases energy consumption.

In order to save money and time, you can dry apples in the sun by spreading it on a tray. This method is the most inexpensive, but at the same time requires a lot of time and attention. So, insects must be driven away from dryers, apples must be protected from excess moisture and dust.

Whatever method of preparation you choose, the main requirement is compliance with the cooking technology. Then dried fruits, cooked at home, will be tasty, aromatic, and most importantly - a very useful treat for the household.