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During the harvest, each mistress wants to stock up on fruit for the future. The most popular billet is drying, which is subjected to pears. Later, when the cold comes, you can prepare compotes and various delicacies on the basis of dried fruits. Therefore, the drying should be carried out correctly, in violation of the technology pears lose most of the nutrients. Today we look at the basic methods of procurement.
Preparation of pears for drying
- Fruits should be hard, and their skin - moderately thick. For drying, do not choose too soft or overripe pears. Pay attention to the number of seeds, the smaller, the better.
- With regard to varieties that are suitable for heat treatment, there are many. Give preference to "Forest Beauty", "Victoria", "Limonka", "Aromatnaya", "Ilyinka", "Bergamot", "Zaporozhskaya".
- It is strictly not recommended to dry frozen, damaged, wormy, rotten fruit. When drying, the main thing is the integrity and density of the fruit.
- If the pear seems to be suitable for drying, but has some bruises, cut them. After sorting and discarding excess, rinse and dry the raw materials thoroughly.
- If pears are of relatively small size, they can be dried whole or cut into 2 parts. Larger specimens are better to chop into 1 cm slices. Do not forget to remove the seeds.
- Some housewives brought for themselves an effective method of preparing pears for drying. Dip the fruit in boiling water for a couple of minutes, cool, then cut and clean the seeds. So in the fruit remains a maximum of vitamins.
Method number 1. Natural way
- First, select a place that will meet the requirements for drying pears. It is important to carry out the procedure in sunlight, the absence of dust and wind, midges, insects.
- Prepare pears as described above. Then put the fruit pieces on the grid, a plastic tray or baking sheet.Put the contents in a place that is best lit during the day.
- First, hold the fruit in the sun for several days. Cover the contents with gauze for the night and bring them into the house. In the morning, again expose a tray of pears for further drying.
- When the fruits dry out a little, bring them into a room with dry air and bring to readiness. In this state, the pears should dry for another 3-4 days.
- To dry the pieces evenly, periodically turn them from one side to the other. Before removing storage contents, make sure that all pears are completely dry. Otherwise, mold will develop.
- If the procedure on the tray does not suit you, pierce the pieces of pears with a needle and thread the thread. Hang out of reach of insects. Dry until ready. Then put in linen bags or glass jars.
Method number 2. Oven
- Due to modern technology, many housewives have switched from drying by a natural method to the use of an oven. The procedure will take less time and give an excellent result. In addition, weather conditions do not always allow to dry pears on the loggia or the roof of the house.
- First, heat the oven to 55-60 degrees, then lay out the pieces of pears on the baking sheet. Send to the oven, wait 2 hours. After this period, increase the power to 80 degrees. Wait for the pears to shrink in size.
- After that, again reduce the power of the oven to 55 degrees, continue to languish. Next, note the time. If you dry pears with slices, wait 13-15 hours. When processing whole specimens, it takes about 20-22 hours. Allow the fruit to cool completely before sorting for prolonged storage.
Method number 3. Microwave
- This method is considered the fastest. If you do not want to wait, use the microwave. With this device, a portion of pears will dry in 3-5 minutes.
- However, despite the speed, not all housewives love this method of drying. Because if you do not watch, you risk getting hard "embers" instead of beautiful dried fruits.
- Take a flat dish that is suitable for use in the microwave. Line it with cotton cloth or parchment paper. Spread out the washed and prepared pieces of fruit on a dish.
- Set the microwave to 200-250 W, note the time.You need 2.5 minutes to get started. If this is not enough, increase the duration a little later. So send the pears to dry.
- After the allotted time, check the fruit. When pressed, they should spring up, this indicates the elasticity of pears. If the fruits are hard, this indicates that they are not ripe.
Method number 4. Convection oven
- If you have a convection oven, it makes sense to use it. Prepare the device, lay the fruit pieces on pallets in one row. Set the temperature to 65 degrees, turn on the fan to the maximum.
- Drying is carried out in 2-3 stages for 25-30 minutes. Between treatments, leave the fruit to cool, then restart the device. Do not forget to shift and turn the pears for even processing.
- In total for the day you need to do 6 approaches in 3 stages. After about 28-30 hours, the pears will be completely dried. You just have to cool them and put them in storage.
Method number 5. Electric drier
- Electrodryer is designed specifically for the preparation of dried fruit for the winter. Assemble the device, spread on its trays the pieces of fruit in one layer.Turn on the temperature of 70 degrees, click "Start".
- Periodically billet need to be turned for uniform heat treatment. The drying time in the device is approximately 17-19 hours.
- Do not leave the electric dryer unattended so that the pears do not dry out. Turn the device off when the fruit has a beautiful brownish color.
- Properly dried pears do not crumble. They have elasticity and density. After all manipulations, leave the slices to cool at room temperature.
The subtleties of drying wild pears
- Not only pears grown in summer cottages can be subjected to heat treatment. If you have the opportunity to collect a wild game, use it. The result will be tasty and healthy dried fruits.
- You need to know that wild pears do not need to be plucked from the trees. Carrion suitable for drying. After harvesting, place the fruit in a box or box, wait for the fruit to darken.
- When the pears lie down, wash them and chop them. You can chop the fruit into 2 parts, proceed according to personal preferences. It is not necessary to cut the seeds, you should also not blanch the pears.
- After preparation, use one of the above methods of drying pears. In the end, you should get not firm, but elastic and dense dried fruit.
How to store dried pears
- After drying, it is necessary to choose the method of proper storage. After all, in case of violation of the conditions of preservation, dried fruits can become covered with mold or harden.
- Duration of storage of dried fruit does not exceed 12 months. After the allotted time from the dried fruit, you need to get rid of and prepare a new batch.
- Choose a place that is dark and dry. A dry glass jar with an airtight lid, as well as linen (cotton) bags is suitable as a storage vessel.
- Do not keep the pears near radiators, gas or electric stoves. Otherwise, condensation may occur in the container with pears, which will lead to damage.
- To be sure of the integrity and usefulness of the fruit, periodically open the jars with the contents and check the dried fruits for the absence of mold, bugs, insect larvae, fruit moths.
- It is worth remembering that too long storage makes pears hard and dark.So try to eat the fruit as early as possible. If you have stiffness, heat the dried fruits on the baking sheet in the oven. Place a container of water at the bottom to generate steam.
- Experienced housewives have found the use of even too hard dry pears. Therefore, do not rush to get rid of them. Grind the fruit in a blender or coffee grinder, mix with sour cream and make a body scrub / face.
If you have decided to provide your family with dried fruits for the winter, take a responsible approach to the choice and proper preparation of pears for further drying. Choose a heat treatment option based on the devices that are on hand.
Video: how to dry apples and pears
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