With the first summer harvests comes the hassle of harvesting them for the winter. During the period of colds and frosts, I would like to remember the sun and make up for the lack of vitamins, supporting the immune system. Drying is one way to preserve food until the cold weather sets in. These are herbal teas, fruits and berries, mushrooms and spices.
3 ways of drying
1. A special device capable of drying your fruit and vegetable preparations is called dehydrator… It maintains a constant temperature and dries up everything from apples to mushrooms.
2. The most proven way is drying in the sun on a hot dry day. You should monitor the humidity so that the products do not rot, drive away pests and midges. Cut peaches and apricots can be sun-dried for 5 days, grapes for up to 9 days, apples for 3-4 days.
3. Take advantage of oven… True, with its help, its own rules will apply to drying certain products. For instance:
- carrot straws are dried for 5 hours at a temperature of 70 degrees;
- halves of apricots and peaches – 12 hours at a temperature of 60-70 degrees;
- apple slices – 5-6 hours at 85 degrees;
- pear slices for 12 hours at a temperature of 75 degrees;
- plums are dried in 2 stages with 5-hour rest. Stage 1 – 4 hours at 50 degrees, after a break, stage 2 – 12 hours at 60 degrees;
- the berries get rid of moisture at a temperature of 60 degrees for 2-4 hours.
In order for all the moisture from the product to evaporate, the pieces should be laid out in an even and thin layer. As soon as the fruit or berries are shriveled, this is already the middle of the drying process. Give them some more time and then place the dried fruit in glass, cans, or paper bags.
Dry the herbs
If you are planting yourself or figuring out what wild herbs you can eat, take a moment and dry the leaves of mint, St. John’s wort, oregano, lemon balm, thyme. The herbs should be dried in bunches; hang them outside on a hot day. Fragile dry leaves can be poured into a glass jar and sealed to prevent the fragrance from escaping. And can be stored in bundles, wrapped in cloth or also closed in a large jar. In winter, it will be possible to make collections against colds or simply dilute the tea with the aroma from the fields.
Dry the mushrooms
The mushrooms can be strung on a string and hung to dry. You can, like fruits, cut them into slices and dry them in the oven or in a dehydrator, spreading them out in the sun. Before drying, you cannot wash the mushrooms, you should wipe them from dirt and sand with a cloth, separate the caps, cut the legs along. The temperature for drying mushrooms in the oven is 60-70 degrees.
Delicious blanks for you!