To dry apricots for the winter, you should choose ones that are well ripened. Also, the fruit should not be injured or spoiled.
Apricots are washed, dried and cut in half. Their pits are removed.
The following syrup is prepared from about 2-2.5 kilograms of apricots.
The syrup is prepared from one liter of water and one kilogram of sugar. Then cut halves of apricots are added into the syrup. Leave them on the stove, until the mixture boils. Then remove the pot of syrup and apricots from the heat and set it aside to cool.
After 24 hours, strain the syrup, pour it back into the pot and place it on the stove to heat. Once heated, it is poured hot on the apricots. Leave them again for 24 hours.
After these 24 hours, the apricots, along with the syrup, are placed back on the stove to boil the syrup. Then remove them from the heat and separate the syrup.
Apricots are removed and arranged on a flat surface, by spreading them out, so that they are not on top of each other. After they dry a bit, line them up onto baking paper.
They are placed in the oven. The oven should not be strong. The heat should be about 30-40°C. Dry them this way for several hours.
Optionally, you can sprinkle or roll the dried apricots in sugar. Dried apricots are stored in boxes, which are tightly closed.
Apricots can be dried in the sun or in the oven. Apricots should be well ripened again and not spoiled. They are washed, dried and cut into halves or slices. The pits are removed.
If you are drying them in the sun, line them up on paper, by leaving space between them. You can wrap them with cheesecloth on top, so that they are not attacked by insects. For the first few hours, the sliced apricots are kept in the shade, only then they are taken out in the sun. This type of drying takes several days, usually about 4-5 days.
When drying in the sun, you can dry a large amount of apricots at the same time.
If you prefer to dry them in the oven, arrange them on a wire rack. Again, there must be a distance between them. The oven is set to 70°C. Stir the chopped apricots periodically.
With this method of drying, you must ensure proper ventilation of the oven. It is good to leave it slightly open. This type of drying takes about 12-14 hours.
When drying in the oven, less fruit can be dried at the same time and it can consume a lot of electricity. Also, if you have a dehydrator, you can dry them in it. It is specially designed for drying fruit. Arrange the sliced fruit in it and they are ready in a few hours.
Dried fruit are very healthy. They have a higher concentration of vitamins.
If you have apricots available, we recommend trying some of our recipes for apricot cakes or fruit creams.
