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How to dry prunes at home
The well-known prunes can be prepared on their own, while the cost of the product and its health benefits perfectly compensate for the time spent. In addition, if desired, you can choose the option with or without pits, a greater or lesser degree of dehydration, a certain taste of the fruit, depending on the variety.
How to dry prunes at home?
For the actual drying process, three options are used:
- natural drying in the fresh air, in the shade, at a sufficiently high ambient temperature and low humidity;
- using an airfryer or electric dryer;
- oven application.
How to dry prunes at home: the best harvesting methods
Each of the methods has its own subtleties of the drying process. So, for the natural version, a longer cooking period is required, in addition, it is necessary to regularly turn the fruits over to evenly remove moisture.
The oven significantly speeds up the process, but here it is important to clearly monitor the temperature – 45-50 degrees for the first 3-4 hours of the process and about 80 degrees for the final drying. It is also necessary to give the product “rest”: to arrange four to five hour breaks for the plums to cool completely. The easiest drying method for a culinary specialist is to use a special dryer. Thanks to uniform ventilation, it is not necessary to turn the fruit and constantly monitor the heating of the containers.
How to dry prunes: preparing plums for processing
Regardless of how the hostess plans to dry prunes, certain rules should be followed for the selection and preparation of fruits for the drying process.
So, it is unacceptable to use rotten, frozen or wormy fruits.
If the fruits are large enough, it is better to remove the stone from them either by an incision or using a special device.
Especially large plums should be dried in separate pieces. Fleshy varieties are selected for drying.
To speed up the process, you can pre-blanch the fruits in a boiling soda solution – 15 g per liter of water for 20-30 seconds, after which the plums are immediately washed with cold water. The result will be a fine network of cracks, through which moisture will evaporate faster during drying. The fruit must be dried before unfolding to dry.
Little subtleties: how to dry prunes in the oven until they shine
If by the end of drying the temperature in the oven is raised to over 100 degrees Celsius for a few minutes, the plums will release sugar. Its caramelization will give the surface of the dried fruit a shiny appearance and improve the further preservation of the product. This operation requires careful control: prolonging the strong heating will damage the fruit.