All about the proper drying of pumpkin seeds

At first glance, drying vegetables, fruits, nuts or seeds at home is a difficult and troublesome business. In fact, it’s enough to follow a few simple rules, and you can either dry pumpkin seeds yourself, or store them for a long time. Delight yourself and your family with a delicious product!

Culinary and consumer information

Pumpkin seeds are tasty and healthy. They are used as raw materials for pumpkin seed oil, in “beauty recipes”, and in cooking - in salads, pastries, and vegetarian dishes.

Pumpkin seeds are rich in minerals, trace elements, natural protein compounds, natural carbohydrates. Of particular value is the high content of tocopherol - vitamin E. This group of substances positively affects the human reproductive system. Maybe that's why the Ukrainian girls, deciding to refuse the potential groom, during the matchmaking gave the matchmakers a pumpkin? As they say, looked at the root!

Important!

Pumpkin seeds are high in calories. 100 grams of dry product contains about 550 kcal. If you supplement the delicacy with salt, oil and spices, then - beware, figure!

You can not eat pumpkin in the following cases:

• individual intolerance;
• some diseases of the stomach and intestines, liver;

Pregnancy and lactation, children's age are not contraindications.

Raw pumpkin seeds are not used, as they are difficult to peel. Although the maximum of nutrients is found in the raw product! In addition, they contain a large amount of moisture, quickly deteriorate, mold. Therefore, before laying for storage or for use in culinary purposes, the seeds should be dried.

Dry pumpkin seeds: how not to spoil the product?

Any kind of pumpkin is suitable for harvesting seeds - both food culinary, and fodder and wild varieties of this crop. Bought, grown, cut, pulp used, seeds collected. There will be no trouble with the harvesting - the desired useful product is in the seed chamber, and not scattered throughout the pulp, as in a watermelon.

There are several drying methods.

Naturally at home

This method is suitable for all pumpkin lovers. The main thing is free areas and warm sunny weather.

• Seeds to clear of the remains of pulp.
• Rinse with clean water.
• Spread the seeds in 1 layer on a horizontal surface covered with baking paper. It can be a baking sheet, any metal sheet. It is better not to use the wooden surfaces of the house as a substrate, since the seeds are rich in moisture, and the tree will draw moisture and deform.
• Forget for a few days. But keep an eye on weather conditions, since the drying process does not occur in the rain.
• The criterion for properly dried seeds is the fragility of the shell.

Drying in the oven or dryer for fruit at home

The sequence of operations is slightly different.

• Rinse pumpkin seeds.
• Read the instructions for the electric dryer. It describes the modes and optimal temperatures for drying vegetables, fruits, seeds.
• Lay out the raw materials on pallets in 1 layer, set the correct mode and forget about the seeds for a while.
• For the oven, the drying temperature is not more than 100 degrees. Time is determined empirically, but the whole process will take several hours. The shell must be dry and brittle.

Fast drying in the oven

This method is suitable for those pumpkin lovers who can not wait even a few hours. It is important not to leave the oven, as drying takes place at high temperatures and there is a risk of getting a burnt product.

Methods of working with seeds:

• prepare the raw materials - remove the pulp, rinse with water;
• oven temperature - 180 degrees;
• spread the seeds on a baking sheet in 1 layer;
• put in the oven for 20 minutes;
• gently try a seed - the shell should be dry and brittle;
• transfer the finished product to a cold baking sheet, so the seeds quickly cool and do not burn.

In the microwave

It’s more like frying than drying. Therefore, prepare a small portion for 1 time. The sequence of operations is similar to the previous recipes. Microwave drying time is 2 minutes at full power.

Storing Dried Pumpkin Seeds

Only fully and correctly dried seeds can be stored at home. Fried - not stored, but immediately consumed as they are easily damp.

Observe the basic storage rules.

1. Dry place - it may be a cotton bag in a suspended state in a ventilated area.
2. Glass or ceramic container with a tight-fitting lid. The main thing is to prevent the penetration of moisture.
3. Cardboard box in a dry room.
4. Peeled pumpkin seeds are not stored for a long time. They come in contact with air, pumpkin oil oxidizes and deteriorates. Therefore, make a rule - cleaned and immediately used for its intended purpose!
5. If you buy ready-made seeds, not pumpkin, be sure to smell the product. If you feel a sharp unpleasant oily smell, then refuse the purchase. Seeds are hopelessly gone, and their use is dangerous to health.

Do not buy factory-made pumpkin seeds. Most often they are seasoned with salt, preservatives, flavor enhancers and various E and almost the entire table of D. I. Mendeleev. Make a tasty and healthy product at home. It's easy - just stick to the rules of drying and storage!

We advise you to read an article about how to dry crackers in the oven