How about drying fruit at home, providing sweet moments and mouth-watering ingredients for your fruit cakes and raw candies?
Basically, you can dry any fruit in the oven in just a few hours. Popular dried fruit options include apricots, cherries, cranberries, apples, bananas, and even tomatoes, but you can also try drying mangoes, citrus fruits, peaches, kiwis, pineapples—you name it.
Preparation of homemade dried fruit is carried out by 2 main methods:
Fruit drying in the open air
This technique is suitable for those who live in an area where the percentage of humidity is relatively low.
To dry fruit outdoors, wash and cut the fruit, place them in a large tray lined with absorbent paper. The mold is placed in as ventilated a room as possible (not air-conditioned) and every day the absorbent paper is changed and the slices are turned.
Note that the air drying process takes between 10 and 14 days.
Drying fruits in an oven at home
Easiest thing in the world. Heat the oven to 60°C in "Turbo" mode. During the time it takes for the oven to heat up, cut the fruit into thin slices and arrange them on a heavy baking rack. The fruits can be seasoned a little with cinnamon or cloves (ground, of course) and mixed well.
Note that each fruit requires a different drying time, but the minimum duration is 6 hours - minimum.
Check the oven from time to time and make sure that they don't burn.
How to store dried fruit?
The best way to store dried fruit would be in a cool, dry place when in an airtight container, it is better to choose a vacuum sealed container to ensure as little as possible oxygen penetration into the container.
Of course, glass containers are preferred, and if you want to keep dried fruits for a long time, you should store them in the refrigerator.
Dried fruits are stored in a glass jar with a closed lid.
That way we can enjoy them even 3 months ahead.
Therefore, homemade dried fruits are very good energy providers and can be used as a supplement in:
- fruit cakes;
- raw desserts;
