Zucchini are very tasty and healthy vegetables and there are many ways to prepare them. If you want to preserve them for the winter, now we'll tell you how.
Zucchini has a small amount of calories, as well as a large amount of vitamins and minerals. In general, you can also buy zucchini in the winter, but all the vegetables that are grown in the right season for them, differ significantly in taste and nutrient content than if grown in the winter.
There are two ways to preserve vegetables, including zucchini - drying and freezing. In this adivce we will talk specifically about how to dry zucchini for the winter.
Processing zucchini before drying
Before drying the zucchini, they should be thoroughly washed with soap and the edges removed on both sides. Young zucchini should be used where the seeds have not yet appeared. These zucchini do not need to be peeled, because they are very tender. If you still decide to use older zucchini, then you need to remove the rough skin, then cut the zucchini in half and remove the seeds. The easiest way to do this is with a spoon.
The next thing you need to do is decide how you want to cut the zucchini. It depends on how you cook the zucchini after you dry them. Small zucchini can be cut into slices 0.4″ (1 cm) thick slices and larger ones can be cut into cubes or large strips.
There are people who pre-blanch the zucchini rings in boiling water for 1-2 minutes before drying them. Once blanched, they are placed in cold ice water.
Then place them on paper towels to dry them. The other way is to leave the sliced and salted zucchini in a colander to drain, then put them on paper to dry. You can skip processing them and dry them directly. And here are three ways this can be done:
1. Drying zucchini in the sun
Drying zucchini in the sun is the longest process of drying zucchini, which lasts from 2 to 3 weeks. The zucchini that you cut are placed on grids or sieves in one layer and you need to put them at a distance from each other. The grids or sieves are placed in the sun and they are left to dry completely. You need to turn the zucchini, so that they can dry on all sides. You should not dry the zucchini onto baking paper, because the air circulation of air from the bottom will be disrupted, which means that the zucchini will rot instead of drying out. If you do not have a sieve or grid, you can string the zucchini on a fishing line or thick thread and hang them somewhere in a ventilated room.
2. Drying zucchini in the oven
When you decide to dry the zucchini in the oven, you need to put the sliced zucchini in a baking tray. You need to leave a space between each zucchini. The oven should be preheated between 110°F (45°C) and 120°F (50°C), then add the zucchini. In order for moisture to escape from the oven, it must remain slightly open. You need to turn the zucchini from time to time. The baking paper should be moved, so that the further pieces should be closer to the oven door and the closer ones should be further away. The drying time in the oven is between 8 and 10 hours.
3. In an electric dryer
The method of drying in this dryer is similar to that in the oven. The difference is that instead of baking grids, wire racks are used and instead of an oven, an electric dryer is used. If you have one, you need to heat it to 120°F (50°C) and the zucchini wire racks should be arranged in several rows. In order to dry all of the zucchini evenly, the wire racks must be rearranged every hour and thirty minutes. The drying time in this appliance is from 7 to 10 hours.
And to enjoy the taste of zucchini, choose something delicious to cook tonight. Here are our suggestions:
