Among other things, dried apples are tasty as an independent dish and are an excellent component for preparing various dishes and drinks, including compotes, jelly and even candies. So, you simply need to have them in your home pantry, especially since they are stored for quite a long time , and you can prepare them at home. How to dry apples in the oven for the winter?
general information
several ways to dry apples for your own consumption . These include:
- Drying outdoors, under the sun.
- In the microwave.
- In an air fryer.
- In the oven.
Each of these methods has its own advantages and disadvantages .
For example, the fastest drying times are in the microwave and air fryer.
But with their help you can dry a small amount of fruit at a time, so they are not very suitable in cases where you need to process several tens of kilograms of apples taken from your favorite garden at your summer cottage. In such a situation, it is better to use the oven. However, many housewives are concerned with questions: is it possible to dry apples in a gas oven and how to properly dry apples in the oven?
The answer is simple: of course you can. Moreover, fruits prepared in this way turn out less “rubbery” and soak better when preparing fillings for pies and compotes. That is, they taste better than apples dried “naturally” in the open air.
The only drawback of this option for drying apples and pears is that the air in the kitchen becomes heavy due to prolonged operation of the gas appliance, so it is not very pleasant to be in it. But this drawback can be corrected by regular high-quality ventilation.
How to dry apples in the oven for the winter?
Dried fruits have accompanied humans for centuries. It is assumed that this was one of the first products of our distant ancestors. Apricots and apples that fell from the tree, fruits that were crushed and not picked in time dried out in the sun, became weathered, lost excess moisture and turned into a real delicacy. It is noteworthy that such a delicacy could be stored for a long time. Hundreds, maybe even thousands of years have passed. The harvesting technology has remained virtually unchanged. Today, many people love dried fruits and dishes prepared from them. And even novice housewives know how to dry apples in the oven.
Drying rules
How to dry apples at home in the oven? In order for dried apple fruits to be aromatic, tasty and crispy and have an attractive appearance, proper preparation of apples before drying is of great importance. In this case, you should follow a few simple rules.
Winter, sour and sweet and sour varieties of apples that do not have a tart taste are best suited for drying Their flesh should be quite dense, not watery, with a light yellow or white tint.
Optimal options : “Antonovka”, “Anise”, “Pepin saffron”, “Papirovka”, “Aport”, etc. Sweet apples are not very suitable for this purpose, as they become tasteless after drying.
Before drying, the apples are sorted, sorted, and then washed under running water.
Each fruit is peeled and cored . It is better to dry summer apples with their skins.
To prevent darkening of the pulp , peeled apples should be placed in water acidified with citric acid or vinegar.
blanch them before drying apples . However, after such processing, the amount of nutrients and vitamins in such dried fruits is significantly reduced.
After thorough washing and cleaning, the fruits are cut into circles or slices with a thickness of 5 to 7 mm.
Selecting fruits for making dried fruits
Before you start drying, you need to choose the right fruits. Apples differ from each other not only in color and taste, but also in density. So, medium-sized fruits with dense and hard pulp are suitable for harvesting. Also, you should not choose summer varieties for drying, since they are more delicate and loose, and therefore can crumble. Very sweet fruits are also not suitable - after drying, they will lose their taste and will be too bland.
To make dried apples tasty and aromatic, when choosing them you should be guided by the following:
- sour or sweet and sour autumn varieties are well suited for drying, for example “Antonovka” or “Aport”;
- the fruits must be ripe, whole and without rot;
- if the fruit is slightly damaged, do not throw it away - such a place can be cut out and the rest sent for drying;
- It is advisable to choose apples of the same size, then the slices will be the same and it will be easier to dry them;
- juicier fruits will ultimately be softer, since a lot of water evaporates during drying, and they will be stored longer.
Of course, you can dry any apples at home, especially if you have had a good harvest that should be preserved. In this case, they should be separated by grade and dried separately due to the fact that cooking times may vary.
Step-by-step instruction
How to dry apples in the oven for the winter? After preliminary preparation of apples, you can start drying them.
Select the optimal mode . At what temperature should you dry apples in the oven? At the initial stage, the oven should be turned on at 50-55 degrees. If you set a higher temperature, in the best case, the apples will quickly become covered with a crust, which will interfere with further evaporation of the liquid from them, and in the worst case, they will simply burn, turning into black coals.
We decide on the drying time . How long can you dry apples in the oven? The total drying time is from 6 to 8 hours. In this case, two hours after the start of the procedure, the apples must be carefully mixed, making sure that they remain on the baking sheet in an even layer.
Helpful tip : in order for the liquid to drain faster, at the initial stage of drying the oven door should be slightly open. Thanks to air circulation, dried fruits will not burn and will reach the desired state much faster.
We monitor the condition of the apples . What mode should I use to dry apples in the oven? After the first stirring, the temperature in the oven should be raised to 70 degrees. Close the door completely. After the number of fruits on the baking sheet has halved in volume, reduce the temperature again to 50 degrees.
Determine the readiness of dried fruits . In about 3-4 hours the apples will be completely ready.
To verify this, you can bend one slice by holding it in your hands. If it bends and your hands remain clean, it means that the dried fruit from apples has “reached the desired condition.”
If the slice breaks, the apples are overdried. However, you shouldn’t be too upset about this. Such fruits can be used for compotes.
You can determine the readiness of dried apples visually. They should have a light brown tint, but still retain their flexibility and elasticity.
Preparing raw materials for further drying
Once suitable fruits have been selected, they must be properly prepared for further processing. First, the leaves and stalks are removed, and then the fruits must be washed well. If the apples are very dirty, it is better to soak them in water for a while. After this, they should be rinsed thoroughly in running cold water, and then allowed to dry or wiped dry with a clean towel.
For drying, apples can be cut in two ways.
- Method 1
Cut them into slices. To do this, cut the apple in half and then chop it into slices. The thickness of the pieces should be the same, then they will dry evenly. Prepared in this way, they will last longer and are suitable for compotes or filling baked goods.
- Method 2
Another option for cutting fruits would be circles - they look more beautiful and can be used as an independent fruit dessert. To get smooth and thin plates, you need to remove the core with a special tool or a round metal tube. After this, use a sharp knife to cut the apple into “bagels” and send it to dry.
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Sliced apples darken very quickly, as they are rich in iron, which oxidizes in air. To avoid this, pieces of fruit are soaked for 10 minutes in a saline solution prepared at the rate of 1 tablespoon per liter of water. To avoid the formation of “rust”, the slices can be sprinkled with lemon juice or dipped in water with the addition of citric acid.
You can prepare white dessert dried fruits at home, which will be an excellent alternative to sweets. To do this, the chopped fruits are soaked in sugar syrup for a day, after which they are dried in the oven at a temperature of about 60 degrees for 6 hours. If the slices are large, the cooking time should be increased. This method is also suitable for very sour apples, only then the syrup should not be too rich. They turn out white, soft with a candied crust, but compared to ordinary dried fruits they do not last long.
Advice
Drying is not the most economical method of preparation - from one kilogram of raw materials you can get up to one hundred and fifty grams of the finished product. However, if there is a lot of fruit, then this preservation option is perhaps the only one. Long-term storage not only spoils apples, but also loses their usefulness.
Methods
How to dry apples in the oven: on a baking sheet or on a wire rack ? Drying apples in the oven of a gas stove can be done in two ways.
On a baking sheet
How to dry apples in the oven on a baking sheet? To do this, you need to cover a baking sheet with parchment paper and carefully place the fruits, cut accordingly, on it.
shake them periodically . When using several baking sheets, they need to be swapped from time to time.
On the grid
How to dry apples in the oven on a wire rack? This method has several advantages over the previous one:
- firstly, when drying on a wire rack, the apple slices will dry more evenly on both sides;
- secondly, the process itself will take less time .
paper with this drying method.
Drying apples in the oven at home
This is not a labor-intensive process, but it takes time. The fruits must be washed, if desired, peeled, cut into slices or circles, after removing the core, and placed on a baking sheet covered with paper. You need to constantly monitor the process; you can close the door at the end, when the moisture has evaporated. The pieces should be turned over every 40-50 minutes to dry evenly so that they do not thin out to a crust or burn. The temperature should be low; as the water evaporates, you can increase it to 80 °C.
Drying apples in an electric oven with convection
An electric oven is a convenient device for the home drying process, especially if it has a function such as additional circulation of hot air. It is carried out using a convector - a special fan inside the oven. This cooking method guarantees a uniform, powerful flow of hot air without having to close the door. A fan will speed up the drying of apples in an electric oven with convection - making it about a third more efficient. Recipes with photos will show you how this happens.
Dried fruits must retain all the beneficial substances. Then they will become a serious competitor to store-bought sweets, an excellent base for aromatic compotes and jelly, and a wonderful filling for homemade pies. If you want to get a sweeter product, you can pour the chopped fruits with sugar syrup in advance for about a day, and then dry them on the rack of a convection oven at 60 degrees for at least 6 hours. Dried fruits turn out softer, more tender, they cannot be stored for a long time, but this is not required, because they are tasty and eaten quickly.
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With fan
How to dry fruits in an electric stove oven, what might an apple delicacy look like? First of all, the slices must be plastic. Their fragility means they are too dry. If the fruit has not been given enough time, it will remain moist. This will lead to rapid spoilage of the product. The degree of readiness is also determined by color: the most successful ones, suitable for storage, are light brown. If they are light, it is better to keep them a little longer in a little heat with the door half open.
If it is possible to dry apples in the oven of an electric stove equipped with a fan, then they will turn out light, beautiful, and smooth. We study photo recipes on how to prepare dried fruits:
- Preheat the oven, place baking sheets with slices.
- After an hour and a half, turn the fruit pieces over. Set the temperature at 70-80 °C.
- Reduce heat when excess water has evaporated. Keep in this mode (50 degrees) for 2 hours.
- Cooking takes 3-6 hours, depending on the initial moisture content of the fruit.
How to reduce time?
Despite the fact that cooking dried fruits from apples in the oven, at first glance, may seem like a very simple procedure, this method has several serious disadvantages .
These include:
- The need for careful monitoring of the condition of the fruit throughout the entire drying period.
- The duration of this process.
For this reason, many housewives are thinking about how to reduce the time it takes to dry apples in the oven. How to dry apples at home in the oven quickly ? There is such a way. To do this, peeled and cut apples into slices are boiled in boiling water for 5-7 minutes, after which they are cooled under running cold water. After this, you can dry them in the oven.
The second option: keep the prepared apples in a sieve or colander over steam for 10 minutes and then cool them in cold water.
How to dry apples in a slow cooker: important nuances and methods
Paper bags or cardboard boxes are also good for storing dried fruits. To keep apple slices longer, be sure to place them in a dry room - if the packages become damp, this will have a detrimental effect on the product. The shelf life of dried apples is about three years. During this period, be sure to carry out drying checks regularly. If signs of spoilage appear, sort out the unusable particles and re-dry the remaining ones.
If summer varieties were used to prepare dry fruits, some of them have a short shelf life. It is recommended to store them separately and use them first for preparing food or drinks.
At the beginning
It often happens that if dried fruits are not stored properly, insects infest them, which in a short time can destroy or spoil the entire stock. If pests have infested dried fruits during storage, place the dried fruit in the freezer for half an hour, during which time all the bugs and larvae will die. Also, one of the options for pest control would be to warm up the pre-drying in the oven at 60 C for 30 minutes.
Dried fruits can also be used as a filling for pies, but before doing this, the dried fruits should be poured with boiling water for half an hour. After this procedure, the fruits will become soft and tender.
Now you can begin the drying process, the technology is very simple, all the liquid will evaporate from the apples quite quickly and you will have a tasty and healthy preparation for the winter. First you need to prepare the fruit for the subsequent drying process. To do this, rinse the fruits thoroughly under running water and place in a bowl or other food container. Wash the apples and wipe them dry with a clean cloth - excess moisture will prolong drying.
Peeling is not necessary, especially if you want to make dried fruit for compote. The peel adds flavor to the dryings and also contains a lot of fiber and vitamins. But some people like to remove the peel before drying because they are drying for food and don't like the texture of the dried peel. Do as you please. You can dry any apples, but preferably hard, sweet and sour varieties - Pepin, Aport, Antonovka for compote and sweet ones - such as Golden, Fuji - for food.
Dried apples in a slow cooker - recipe
Choose varieties with thin skin and a small seed pod - they are easier to peel and cut. Remove the cores and any spoiled or wormy parts from the fruit. Hardware stores sell special round crown knives that can be used to easily and efficiently remove the core from the fruit.
If you don't have one, simply cut the apple in half and remove the seed by hand. Then place the half cut side down and use a sharp knife to cut into thin slices. If you plan to use the dryers for decoration, or you like your food to look as beautiful as possible, cut each fruit into rings, removing the core with a round knife.
In any case, the thinner the slices, the easier it will be to dry them. To prevent apple flesh from browning, dip the slices in a solution of water, lemon juice and pineapple juice. Pineapple juice is optional, but it adds a sweetness to the solution that counteracts the acidity of the lemon juice.
How to dry apples in the oven
Pre-treating the fruit this way will help it retain more of its vitamin A and vitamin C, as well as provide a better texture to the final product. Mix 1 cup ml lemon juice with 1 liter of water. Let the sliced apples sit for no more than 10 minutes, then drain and pat the fruit dry.
Soak the apple slices in a brine solution of 2 teaspoons of salt per 1 liter of water for 10 minutes. Drain the liquid and dry the fruit with napkins. Soak apple slices in ascorbic acid, the result will be 6 times more effective than lemon juice. Mix 1 tablespoon of crystalline ascorbic acid with 1 liter of cold water.
Convection function
How to dry apples in a gas stove oven with convection (fan)? If you use modern gas ovens equipped with a convection function , the process of drying apples becomes simpler and more productive. In this case, cooking dried fruits takes less time .
In order to start drying, the prepared apples need to be laid out on a wire rack or baking sheet and placed on the middle level in the oven with the convection mode (blowing hot air) turned on, setting the temperature to 40 degrees . After an hour and a half, it can be increased to 75-80 degrees , and then, when the volume of apples has approximately halved, lowered again to 40 degrees.
The oven door should be slightly open .
Total process duration: 6 to 7 hours . Apples can be dried continuously, for example, by leaving them overnight, but it is preferable, to obtain a higher quality product, every three hours for better evaporation of moisture.
