Dry properly and tastefully!

You think that in order to dry fruits, vegetables, herbs or mushrooms in a dryer, aero grill or an oven designed for this purpose, it is enough just to put them inside, select the mode and press the button? And no, you need to know some rules of food processing before the responsible procedure of drying.

Drying in confidence

It’s a pity, but not every manual for the dryer gives advice on this topic, forcing housewives to learn simple truths the hard way by experience. Hence, most of the frustrations of using such an old tried-and-true method of preserving food as drying. The most common complaints are that the product is too dry, too dark, tasteless.

Proper pre-processing helps to preserve and even intensify the natural flavour, color and aroma of fruits, vegetables, berries and other produce. If your manual or rather, not entirely conscientious manufacturer did not see fit to share the secrets of how you can avoid embarrassing blunders, we will try to compensate for this.

Red apple bathing

Fruit and berries should be bathed before drying. Cut up large fruits, and dip them into the fruit juice mixture for two or three minutes apple – apple juice, strawberry – strawberry juice, etc. . d. and water. The proportion is about a glass of juice to 1.5-2 liters of water.

The juice is of course best taken freshly squeezed, but from a bag will do. Always good lemon juice, but you need to take even less – half a cup. By the way, lemon juice perfectly helps to prevent the darkening of apple slices, mushrooms and other foods that quickly lose “face”.

Water procedures are also indicated for nuts: peeled kernels must be washed before drying, and after drying we will make an exception and tell you how important it is – freeze to avoid rancidity of fats, which are contained in large quantities in nuts.

Bring it to the bath!

Pre-steaming helps some hard vegetables to become pliable fiber structure necessary for drying.

Broccoli and cauliflower really need to be steamed for a few minutes, but root vegetables sliced carrots, beets, turnips, potatoes should be blanched, that is, held in boiling water for a few minutes, until soft.

The same applies to green beans and asparagus, for them the criterion of readiness – translucency, as well as spinach – it should darken, “wilt”.

Zucchinis, zucchini, pumpkins, eggplants, onions, sweet peppers, celery stalks and mushrooms do not need to be steamed, blanched or soaked. They are washed, sliced, and dried, just like that.

Please leave

Seeds, seeds, pips, cores, stalks and core should be removed. The latter are just a treasure trove of nitrates, and pips often contain a strong poison, hydrocyanic acid.

Exceptions are made for cherries, peaches, plums, and nectarines. These fruits can be very juicy, and taking the pips out of them means parting with half the juice and deforming the produce.

It is allowed to dry them with their seeds until they are half-ready. And it is better to remove pips from half-dried fruits, even from small cherries. Now it is much easier to do!

As for the skin of fruits – personal taste is important here. As a rule, it contains a lot of aromatic substances, minerals, vitamins, and together with it we remove a part of usefulness and taste.

True, doctors recommend not sparing the skin of peaches and pears – it is rough, especially for children and people with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. The same goes for the skin of tomatoes and peppers: they can easily be removed “in a stocking” by first cutting and scalding them with boiling water.

Professionals never dry bread with the crust: it should be cut off, as it dries more slowly than the porous and less dense crumb. As a result, the crumb may burn and the crust is not yet ready. From herbs and often dried medicinal plants yellowed, rotted, darkened or discolored stems and leaves must be carefully removed in general any “substandard” is forbidden !

Fine organization

Perhaps only bananas and rhubarb require a special thickness of slices: they have a starchy structure, which dries better in slices of 3-4 mm thick. Other fruits, vegetables, mushrooms can be cut into halves, circles, slices and slices of any size and thickness.

Herbs, on the other hand, don’t need to be cut. They are washed, over-peeled, shaken to make the bunches loose, and dried. It will be a mistake to tear the leaves off the stems.

Any mincing is permitted only after drying, so herbs retain more healthful properties and flavor. Do not cut berries, grapes, apricots they are divided into halves , and hot peppers. Separate broccoli and cauliflower into florets.

A favorite subject is mushrooms

Preparing mushrooms for drying is the key to success like with no other product. Mushrooms should be sorted by variety and size we assume that you are experienced mushroom growers, so we will not talk here about edible and inedible, this is a matter for other publications .

The main principle is to use only very fresh, strong and undrawn mushrooms. They are not washed, as they absorb huge amounts of water, but cleaned of the woody debris adhering with hands and wiped with a clean, damp cloth.

Cap should be separated from the legs, cut into slices and dried at a temperature not lower than 60 and not higher than 70 º C until airy and brittle. When dried properly, up to 90% of the weight of the original product “disappears”.

Meat is a separate topic

I personally have not met, at least in our country, people who would dry meat, poultry or fish at home.

But if you want to be one of these originals, remember the basic principle: poultry, meat and fish should be cooked, boiled, fried or baked, and the meat should be marinated with plenty of natural preservatives: vinegar, salt, mustard, etc. d.

Salt, by the way, is strictly necessary: it removes excess water from the product. And remember that fatty meat is not suitable for drying.

Ready #1

Different foods take on different characteristics when they are ready, and they need their own time for this. The latter is determined by the thickness of the slices and by the texture and readiness – here’s a hint.