ᐉ How to dry chestnuts so they don’t wrinkle

How to dry chestnuts correctly

November 8, 2018
Crafts
Irina Voloshina

Chestnuts have long been widely used.
They are used in cooking, medicine, for various children's crafts or for decorative compositions in the interior. If chestnuts need to be used immediately, then there is no problem. But is it possible to preserve their original appearance for a longer time? You just need to know how to dry chestnuts so they don't shrivel.

Preserved flowers in glycerin

Many of you have seen a souvenir in the form of a transparent jar or bottle, inside of which fresh flowers, petals and herbs are intricately arranged. Today we will tell you how to make such beauty with your own hands. You'll be surprised how easy it is.

Even children can handle this master class. By the way, in art schools they often learn this technique. And this is understandable: simple, harmless components and an absolutely amazing result.

Those who love flowers, care about them and always have a hard time parting with gift bouquets will especially like our tips. Now you have a chance to preserve the flowers dear to your heart for a very, very long time. Not in their original form, of course, but it’s still better than throwing the plants in the trash.

What do we need?

clean transparent container (preferably glass - it’s more impressive)
hot water
glycerin (you can find this in craft departments or even at the pharmacy)
petals, flowers, herbs
wooden skewer
water-soluble dyes (optional)

How to preserve flowers in glycerin?

The bottle needs to be thoroughly washed and dried. If the plants have stems, the ends should be split in half by a few centimeters (or millimeters if they are short). This is necessary so that the solution penetrates better into the flowers.

Tip: Do not use plants with damaged leaves. Also, do not take petals that are too thin, almost transparent.

In a separate container, mix water with glycerin in a 2:1 ratio (two parts boiling water, one part glycerin). Let the mixture cool to room temperature and pour it into our transparent container.

We immerse petals, herbs and flowers into the bottle. Using a wooden skewer, we “seat” them the way you like.

If you want to give the accessory some color, you can tint the water in advance using a natural dye (necessarily natural, since flowers do not tolerate chemicals). If uniformity of coloring is not important, but, on the contrary, you want a kind of fancy pattern, add the dye after you have mixed water with glycerin and poured the solution into a container.

Close the craft with a lid. In this form, it will be stored for at least a month (if there are only herbs and dried flowers inside - much longer). The solution will then become cloudy and will need to be replaced. To do this, simply pour the contents of the container into a bowl and carefully separate the plants from the liquid. Prepare a new solution, fill it, and you can leave the flowers the same.

Ready! Now you know how to preserve flowers. This means you can keep your home summer all year round! In addition, such an accessory would be great to give to someone. Do this creativity with your children, they will also love it!
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Why is chestnut dried?

It is necessary to dry chestnuts because the fresh fruit does not last long: about 3-4 days, or about a week in the refrigerator. After this, they begin to deteriorate and mold may appear.

It may also happen that part of the crop does not deteriorate, but simply dries out. But at the same time, chestnuts, as a rule, wrinkle and become ugly.

In order to prevent rotting or to prevent the fruits from simply drying out, the correct conditions for drying them should be created.

Hunt for cones!

So, you decided to collect natural materials for creativity... And that's great! After all, creating small and large masterpieces from materials that Mother Nature herself gives us is a great pleasure! Carefully collected with your own hands, they keep the warmth of sunny days.

To do this, we should arm ourselves with bags, pruning shears and a good mood.

You can find materials not only in the forest or field, but also in the park or on your own plot. It is at this time that bushes and trees are pruned in autumn.

There is no need to collect too much; be careful not to fill the whole apartment with these gifts of nature. Because I know from myself – “just start”!

Keep in mind that everything you collect will have to be processed immediately. That is, package it in boxes, in books, cover something with semolina or sand. In general, this process can be compared to picking mushrooms - it’s fun to pick, but they need to be processed afterwards, otherwise all the work is in vain. Remember, everything needs a place in the apartment.

Let's say you put all the materials in a large box, then you shouldn't hide it too far. Because there is a chance that you will never use what is stored in it.

One year, I stored all the materials on the balcony, and I really didn’t want to go out there every time in the cold to get some kind of lump, I avoided it in every possible way. Materials should be at hand, but also not get in the way, much less fall on your head when opening the cabinet door :)

Think about where you will put them?

Cones. So you brought home a whole bag of pine cones! You should not leave the pine cones in the bag, they may become moldy. You need to spread the newspaper on the floor or windowsill and scatter them in one layer. From the warmth of home, the cones will definitely open and dry out in a few days. Then they can be put away in a box for further storage.

You can collect all kinds of cones: spruce, pine, cypress, alder, juniper, etc.

If a beautiful cedar grows in your region, then its cones can also be useful. You can use empty, dehulled cones for crafts.

Sometimes for crafts you need unopened pine cones. I deal with it this way: I throw the cones into wood glue or PVA glue and forget about them for a couple of hours, then I mix them and forget about them again for a couple of hours. Then I come up, and the cones are all closed.

I take them out of the glue, wipe them with a cloth and put them on napkins, the glue flows out of them for a while, I transfer the cones to a dry place and wipe them.

When they dry completely, they no longer fluff up. Then, if desired, they can be varnished.

Moss. Now let's talk about moss! It should be immediately removed to a dark, dry place. Away from light, the moss will dry out and remain green.

One day, unknowingly, I dried the moss in the sun, it turned brown and not beautiful.

Moss should be stored in a box, as once it dries, it will become very fragile and brittle (especially reindeer moss).

Needles. Green pine needles need to be laid out on a sheet of paper and dried, but also away from the sun, otherwise it may change color.

Yellow larch needles can be dried on the windowsill and put in a box.

Leaves. The easiest drying method, which I have liked since childhood, is to dry the leaves between the pages of an old thick book. The leaves dry out in about two weeks and still retain their color.

The second method, if you urgently need dry tree leaves (for example, for a herbarium for a child for school), you can put them between two sheets of white paper and iron them with an iron, but not too hot. If you immediately fry them with a hot iron, the leaves will turn out toasted, not dried, fragile and change their original color. You need to dry tree leaves in this way by applying the iron on top (through paper, of course) and removing it for a while. There is no need to move the iron back and forth. Drying the leaves this way will take about 20 minutes.

How to dry chestnuts correctly

The process is not particularly difficult. If appropriate storage conditions are observed, the fruits will remain smooth and shiny for a long time.

So, how to dry chestnuts so that they do not wrinkle:

First of all, it is necessary to remove all excess moisture. For example, if the fruits were collected after rain or were washed with water to remove dirt and dust. It is enough to dry with a cloth or paper towel.
Place the chestnuts on a rack or wooden box with space for ventilation. They need to be laid out in one layer so that there is air access from all sides.

Sometimes chestnuts are hung at a high altitude, and a fire is lit below to make the air flow warmer. But in such conditions you should be careful not to dry them out.

During the drying process, the nut shrinks. For this reason, free space is formed inside the peel and you can hear the nut knocking if you shake the chestnut. This indicates that the process is complete.

We prepare materials for crafts

Who, if not mothers, knows that our children like to remember at 21-22 pm that tomorrow they need to bring a craft made from natural materials, a bouquet of dried leaves and flowers, a herbarium, and so on. So what should I do? We get ready and go with a flashlight to collect “reserves”, and then spend the whole night sculpting, gluing, painting, most often without the child. And sometimes in the garden they give you a task, it seems like it’s still light, but it’s raining outside. How to collect the necessary material? In order to at least partially protect myself from this (it won’t be possible completely, unfortunately), I began to collect a “collection” of natural materials, selecting for this a small shoe box and various smaller boxes and boxes, which I put in this same shoe box. shoes Well, plus various books help. So what can we prepare?

1. Dry various leaves. On the way home, you pick up several leaves from different trees. You can also have different colors, whatever you come across: yellow, green, red... The main thing is to select the most beautiful ones, and not try to get more. After all, we still have many fine days ahead and we will have time to collect quite a large number of leaves. But let them be the most, most beautiful.

At home, we review the “loot” again; if there are spoiled ones (we accidentally didn’t finish checking them) or you simply don’t like them, feel free to throw them in the trash. We rinse the rest under running water, place it on a surface covered with paper or cloth (I cover it with disposable rags from a roll), let the moisture dry and then put it in a book, and the book can be put back on the shelf. Or you can lay it out between sheets of plain paper and press it down with something heavy. And let them dry, they will come in handy later.

By the way, if you need to dry the leaves very urgently, then place them between two sheets of white paper and iron them several times with a hot iron.

2. “Airplanes” or “pinwheels” from maple. On the way home after the maple seeds ripen, my child and I cut off a few clusters. At home, we carefully remove them from the branches, leaving them in pairs, sort them out, and remove the spoiled ones. Then we wash and dry for several days on any surface covered with paper: on a table, on a windowsill, on the floor. As soon as they are dry, pour them into a box and place them in a large box or cabinet with craft materials.

3. Chestnuts and acorns. Perhaps the most popular material for crafts. And they are not always found on trees growing near the house. Therefore, it’s better to stock up on them in advance; you don’t need a lot, but a dozen or two won’t hurt. By the way, I sometimes find acorns without caps and caps separately. I also collect this, sometimes I need caps, then acorns, and sometimes whole acorns with caps.

After collecting acorns and chestnuts, I wash them well under running water, then dry them for several days in a cool, well-ventilated room (for me this is usually a small barn). After the fruits have dried, I put them in a box, always placing them with crumpled paper (you can also store them in bulk, but with paper they dry out and “shrink” less). Then I put them in a box with the rest of the natural materials.

4. Cones. The principle is the same as with acorns: I collect, wash, dry. Except for some nuances. More often I collect still closed cones, they are easier to wash. And they open later, during the drying process, from the heat. Then I remove some of them in this form, and bleach some of them. They don't turn out perfect whites, of course, but they do lighten up. I do not bleach in bleach, under any circumstances! (For some reason there is a lot of information on the Internet about bleaching in bleach, I tried it, the “petals” of the pine cone changed their structure and became soft). How I bleach: wash well, dry. Then I put it in “mole” or similar products for a while. I take it out, wash it and dry it until the cones open (they close when wet), wash it again and dry it again. Then I place it in a special solution for bleaching wood (I buy it in hardware stores), periodically drying it if the lump is closed. After a few days I take it out, wash it, dry it, wash it again and dry it. That's all. They say that solutions containing acidity also bleach well. But I haven’t tried it, so I can’t say for sure.

5. Various twigs and sticks . Completely “different sizes”: both in length and thickness, even and not so even. They are also a must in my box of natural materials. Well washed and dried.

6. If you can get it, be sure to put a bag of hay or straw . Might come in handy too.

What else is in the box : rose hips, dried flowers, reeds, some dried flowers, pumpkin seeds, nuts, sunflower seeds. And, of course, interesting pebbles, including flat pebbles. She is so fun to color. And you can add anything you find interesting to the box; the larger the supply, the easier it is to make crafts!

Unfortunately, I can’t show you my box yet, last year’s supplies have run out, and this year’s supplies have just begun to be collected.

Drying chestnuts at home

There are also instructions for drying at home. How to dry chestnuts so they don't wrinkle?

The principles remain the same: provide ventilation and warm air flows.
Chestnuts are usually harvested in the fall and the weather is not always suitable for outdoor drying.
In such cases, use an oven. Chestnuts also need to be placed on a wire rack and removed from moisture at low temperatures.
In this case, more attention will be required. They need to be turned over periodically.
Some fruits may dry out earlier and need to be removed from the oven.

If the temperature change is too sharp, the surface of the fruit may become deformed. Therefore, it is recommended to follow the rules and adhere to recommendations on how to dry chestnuts so that they do not wrinkle.

The high moisture content in chestnut fruits and a number of other specific features characteristic of fresh fruits (rapid susceptibility to microorganisms, most often molds), necessitate their canning.

However, the issues of edible chestnut technology are not scientifically substantiated and are completely insufficiently studied. One of the most accessible and fairly effective ways to preserve chestnut fruits is to dry them.

Chestnut fruits, freed from the plush and sorted, are placed under sheds for ventilation and drying. But short-term (within 1-2 days) drying does not ensure their long-term storage. If the weather permits, prepare a well-lit area and lay out the chestnut fruits in a thin layer on wooden trays or other material and dry them in the sun at low relative humidity.

The duration of solar drying (depending on weather conditions) is from 3-4 to 7 days.

After drying, chestnut fruits should not contain more than 14% moisture.

But the conditions of the Black Sea coast do not always allow for solar drying of chestnut fruits. In this case, you should use fruit and vegetable dryers of various systems, not excluding primitive ones.

The most optimal temperature for drying chestnuts, as our experiments have shown, is 56-57°. Drying time is from 10 to 15 hours.

The temperature during fire drying should increase gradually. High temperatures negatively affect the quality of chestnut fruits and, above all, their taste.

How to store natural materials for crafts. How to save acorns for crafts

How to store crafts made from acorns and chestnuts – Parent’s Library – Early child development

ACORN

Acorns come in different sizes and shapes. On one side they are surrounded by a plus - a greatly expanded cup. Acorns begin to ripen in September - October. It is better to collect them when they are already ripe and fallen. Only clean, healthy acorns are suitable for crafts. Along with them, it is advisable to collect pluses, which can be useful for various crafts.

Fresh acorns are easier to work with and last longer. Dried acorns easily split when processed.

Acorns collected for crafts are best stored in a cool and humid place.

From acorns you can make figurines of funny people, various parts for other crafts, etc. For example, from oblong acorns you can make a giraffe, donkey, horse, etc.

When making funny little people, pluses can be used as hats.

CHESTNUTS

Chestnut fruits are an excellent material for simple crafts.

They have a beautiful shiny bright brown surface. The shell of a fresh chestnut is easily pierced with an awl. From whole fruits you can make a head and torso for dolls. To ensure that chestnut fruits do not lose their quality for as long as possible, it is best to store them in a cool place.

After the figurine is made, measures must be taken to prevent it from collapsing. To do this, the figurine and its parts, made from fresh acorns or chestnuts, are coated with liquid carpentry or synthetic glue in the places where the shell is drilled and cut, as well as in those places where the shell is cracked. When dry, the glue will hold the shell together. As the acorns and chestnuts dry, this sizing is repeated. Glue that gets on the smooth surface of the acorn shell will gradually fall behind and fall off, and the glue that gets into the cracks and connecting holes will hold the craft together well. Working with dry acorns and chestnuts is more difficult. In this case, it is very difficult to drill holes with an awl, so it is better to drill holes in them using a drill. When working with dry acorns and chestnuts, you must be especially careful with their fragile, brittle skin. The knife and drill must be sharp, and you must work with them without strong pressure. Each part, when inserted into a drilled acorn, must be immediately placed on glue, i.e., its end should be smeared with glue. When the work dries (3-5 days after production), it can be coated with artistic, as well as oil, furniture or alcohol varnish . The varnish emphasizes and sets off the natural colors of acorn and chestnut peels.

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Chestnuts acorns for crafts

The shape and color of both chestnuts and acorns are very good for crafts; it’s not for nothing that all children collect them every autumn. These are ready-made animal heads, human bodies, and they make crafts with them in gardens and schools.

There are several varieties of acorns in our country. There are large and small, thin oblong and short thick. Some acorns have small cups (cups), others have flat, wide cups, and others have large, deep cups with a shaggy surface. Acorns are found a lot in the south and central zone of our country.

Chestnuts come in both forest (edible) and decorative varieties. Forest chestnuts grow in forests on the Black Sea coast, decorative ones grow freely along streets and avenues, in parks and squares of many cities in Ukraine, the Baltic states, etc. Here we have decorative chestnuts, you can’t eat them, but you can do crafts as much as you like!

It is necessary to prepare acorns and chestnuts for work of all sizes and any shape that comes along, and it is better to take not only the acorns and chestnuts themselves, but the cups - the so-called plus.

Acorns and chestnuts should be stored in a dry, not very warm room, preferably scattered in a thin layer. Fresh acorns and chestnuts are easy to cut and drill, but when they dry, their cotyledons become very hard, and the peel wrinkles and becomes brittle and brittle. It is almost impossible to cut the cotyledons of dried chestnuts and acorns with a knife or pierce them with an awl. To work with them you will need a jigsaw with files and a jewelry vise with a set of thin drills.

Fresh acorns and chestnuts with raw pulp do not stick together well. If you need to glue them firmly, you need to wait until they dry. The peel of fresh acorns and chestnuts can be easily cut with a knife, but when dry, if cut or drilled carelessly, it will crack and be destroyed.

It is possible to make dried chestnuts and acorns easy to cut, drill (even with an ordinary awl) and glue. To do this, pour dry chestnuts and acorns into a saucepan or basin, add cold water and leave in the water for a day. Then remove from the water and put in a cool place for another day, during which their skin will become soft, elastic, not brittle, and the cotyledons will acquire the properties of fresh ones and will begin to drill, erupt and stick together well.

BUT: chestnuts and acorns softened in this way will dry out again in a few days and become hard and unyielding to process, so you only need to soak the number of acorns and chestnuts that will be needed in the coming days to work on crafts.

It is necessary to protect acorns and chestnuts from unnecessary cuts, breakages and other damage, since the damaged peel of chestnuts and acorns cracks and falls apart when dry, spoiling the entire craft. To avoid this, immediately after finishing work, cover the craft in the places of cuts with glue. This way the strength of the peel will be maintained.

In order for the skin of these materials to remain undamaged when cutting and drilling holes in it, it is necessary that the knife, awl, and drill be sharpened.

When cutting and drilling holes in fresh chestnuts and acorns, a tool that has difficulty cutting or drilling through the tough skin may unexpectedly slip into the soft cotyledons and, if pressed, may make a cut too wide in the skin and break it. The product will then be ruined. In addition, if you press hard on the tool, it can slip off the glossy hard surface of the peel and injure the hand of the worker. Therefore, you need to work with these materials very carefully.

To preserve the natural beauty of the chestnut and acorn in a craft, you need to cover it with colorless nitro varnish, which will not only add brightness to the appearance, but also protect the craft from rapid destruction.

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