For home-preparation of prunes, plum varieties of “Hungarian” are suitable - Hungarian Italian, Azhanskaya, purple. This large plums, easily separated from the stone, contain a lot of pulp and little juice, sweet in taste. Prunes are essentially dried plums. By eating them, you can improve digestion, normalize blood pressure, strengthen the nervous system.

Preparation of 1 kg of prunes requires 4-4.5 kg of plums.

We take ripe, large fruits, but not soft. The larger they are, the tastier the prunes.

We sort the plums, wash them, tear off the stalks.

You can dry with bones, or you can remove them.

To dry the plums faster, lower them for half a minute in boiling water with baking soda. For the solution we take 1 liter of water and 1 tbsp. a spoonful of soda.

Dip the blanched plums in cold water and rinse. If we do everything correctly, then the appearance of the drains should be cracked, so moisture will evaporate faster.

How to dry plums for the winter.

After the done manipulations, the fruits are dried a little in the air, laid out in one layer on a flat surface and taken out in the sun. We choose a place without shade so that the sun bakes as long as possible. We dry the plums in the sun for 5 days, stir every day so that they do not get moldy.

After the plums have dried, place them in the shade and dry for another 3-4 days.

Plums can also be dried in the oven, electric dryer, Russian stove. In this way, they dry faster - 12 hours and the prunes are ready.

The readiness of dried plums is determined visually. It should not be dry, but soft and supple.

How to store prunes at home.

You need to store prunes in a dry, ventilated area in tightly sealed jars or tin boxes in a pantry or even on a balcony if rain does not get there.

Prunes give food unique taste haze. It goes well with meat stuffed chicken and duck, it is added to salads. Desserts, ice cream, pies, too, cannot do without dried plums. I look forward to hearing about your experience with drying prunes.

Dried prunes are delicious and healthy dried fruit which is sold in shops all year round. The cost, and the quality of the goods is not always satisfied with the buyer. Therefore, there is great news for prunes lovers - plums can be prepared in advance and then used to prepare various dishes.

How to dry prunes - which plums are suitable

To get very tasty and healthy prunes, it is necessary to choose the right plum for drying. Namely, a ripe “Hungarian” is suitable, the variety can be called “Hungarian” or “Italian Hungarian”. This variety of plum has a very thick skin and pulp. Just what you need for drying. In addition, "Hungarian" has more sugar than other varieties of plums and not as much acid. An ideal variety not only for drying, but also for harvesting for the winter, because the stone is easy to separate without damage. By the way, any variety of "Hungarian" is suitable for drying. If you come across a variety of "Hungarian purple" or "Azhanskaya", feel free to proceed to the blanks.

How to dry prunes - preparing plums

It is known that elastic, mature and intact fruits are suitable for harvesting for the winter. The plum will have to be plucked from the branches, and not to coward the tree, in order to then collect the plums that have fallen to the ground. If no other option is provided, then you can shake the branch somewhere in the afternoon. Overripe plums (they can be used for jams and preserves), rotten ones (will have to be thrown away) and unripe plums will fall to the ground. In the morning, just a favorable period begins for the collection of ripe fruits.

Collected plums should be put in a basket with holes, left in a well-ventilated area for 3 days.

Sorting: ripe and undamaged plums are selected, crushed, rotten and spoiled are thrown away. Leaves and stalks must be removed, bones - carefully removed. Divide the plums by size so that the halves are approximately the same size.

How to dry prunes

You can dry the plum both in the oven and in a special oven. electric dryer. Not every housewife has such a device, but an oven is installed in every apartment or house. Therefore, it is easiest to learn how to dry plums in the oven.

How to do it right:

• to get 1 kg of dry finished product, you will need to prepare approximately 4.5 fresh sorted plums;
• to speed up the drying process, plums can be pre-blanched: dip in boiling water with the addition of soda (15 g per 1 liter of liquid) for literally 30 seconds, quickly remove, immediately rinse well in cold water. To do this, prepare a pot with cold water and put next to the stove;
• if you did everything right, then the result of the work will appear immediately: the skin of the plums will become a fine mesh. Just what you need in order to get rid of excess moisture during drying;
• if the first pancake turned out to be a lump and large cracks appeared on the surface of the plums or “the skin peeled off” altogether, this means that it is necessary to reduce the blanching time and instead of 30 seconds, hold the plums in boiling water for 20 seconds;
• after the blanching is done, the plums can be dried. This can be done as follows: prepare baking sheets for drying in the oven, lay baking paper, spread the plums in 1 layer so that the plum “looks” with the cut up;
• drying temperature 45 degrees, duration - 3 hours. You will notice that the skin will begin to wrinkle gradually. Just after 3-4 hours of drying the drain, you can increase the temperature and set the timer oven at around 80 degrees (this is the maximum), dry for 10 minutes. Then the oven must be turned off and the plums left for 5 hours, until completely cooled;
• then repeat the steps again and so on for 3 days. Final stage drying - exposure 2-3 minutes in the oven at maximum (temperature 100 degrees). This is necessary in order for the sugar to stand out and caramelize at a high temperature.

Ready prunes are soft and elastic, and if you press it down, then the juice should not stand out.

Thanks to good taste and aroma, prunes are widely demanded in cooking. In addition, dried fruit in winter serves as a source of vitamins, dietary fiber and organic acids, the deficiency of which is experienced by everyone in this period. Find out how prunes are harvested from the recipes presented in the article.

Natural drying of prunes

As a feedstock for the production of prunes, it is recommended to choose plum varieties with large dark-colored fruits, a sweet taste and an easily separated stone, for example, Ugorka, Tragedy, Vangeim's Hungarian or Azhanskaya Hungarian.

To prepare 1 kg of prunes, you will need to take 4.5 kg of fully ripened dense fruits. The process of harvesting prunes is carried out in several ways - in vivo, in the oven and in the electric dryer. Harvesting prunes by a natural method will take 8-10 days. The process itself includes several stages:

• Training. Before laying out for drying, the stalks are removed from the plums selected for harvesting, then they are washed, divided into halves. Lay out on wooden trays in one layer, cut up, at some distance from each other.
• Drying in the sun. To carry it out, trays with plums are taken out into the air and set in the sun. Covered with gauze from insects, soak for about 5 days. To prevent mold from forming on them during this time, the fruits must be turned several times daily.
• Drying in the shade. Already dried plums should be transferred to a shaded place and kept there for about 3-4 days.

Advice. Dried prunes will go faster if the fruits are pre-blanched by dipping for a minute in boiling water with soda - 1 tbsp. soda per 1 liter of water, and then, removing it, rinse with cold water. The cracks formed on the plum skin will allow the pulp to dry faster.

How to dry prunes in the oven

This method allows you to harvest prunes much faster than when drying naturally. As in the previous recipe, the plums selected for harvesting must be washed and blanched in a soda solution for up to 2 minutes, then rinsed with water and air-dried for an hour.

Advice! In order for prunes to turn out to be of high quality and tasty, it is recommended to dry them together with the seeds.

Heating the oven to t ° 60 ° C, it is necessary to place prepared plums in it and keep them at this temperature for 5 hours. After taking it out, let it rest for another 5 hours just in the air. The next stage of drying in the oven is carried out at t ° 70 ° C and lasts 6 hours, after which the product is again allowed to settle for some time. At the final stage, prunes are dried until ready at t ° 80 ° C.

It is important when drying prunes in the oven, do not overdry it. The fact that he is completely ready can be judged by appearance- the fruits, while retaining a soft texture, do not secrete juice. It is necessary to store such a product in jars, tightly closing the lid. The best place is a pantry or a balcony.

Prunes in an electric dryer

Before laying the fruits in an electric dryer, they are prepared similarly to the previous recipes, that is, they are sorted out and washed. If the plum is dried whole, then the fruits should definitely be blanched in a soda solution, but if they are divided into halves and the seeds removed, you can do without blanching. Preparing prunes:

• at the first stage, the plums are dried in an electric dryer at t ° 50 ° C for 3-4 hours, after which they must be cooled. If fruits divided into halves can be processed, they are laid out with slices up;
• the second stage - drying the fruits in an electric dryer at t ° 60 ° C for another 5 hours, after which the fruits must be cooled again;
• the third stage is drying at t ° 80 ° C for 6 hours.

Attention! In order for the drying of the fruits to take place evenly, it is necessary to periodically change the pallets in places.

Prunes prepared in this way should also be stored in jars, in ventilated areas. Use finished product It can be used in cooking other dishes or as an independent delicacy.

The original recipe for sweet prunes

To prepare several jars of this delicacy, you need a kilogram of plums, a pound of sugar and 2 stacks. water.

1. Prepare the fruits by removing the seeds from them and dividing them into halves.
2. Prepare the syrup, put the plums in it, bring to a boil.
3. Take out the fruits, let the syrup drain, spread the plums on a baking sheet and sprinkle with sugar.
4. Place in an oven preheated to t° 50°C. Dry at this temperature in 3 stages. The duration of each stage is 12 hours. + 12-hour breaks between them.
5. Put the finished product in jars and use as independent dish or as a component in the preparation of desserts or drinks.

Having prepared plums according to the presented recipes, you can diversify the winter diet and enjoy the prunes taste by adding dried or dried home product in familiar meals.

How to cook prunes: video

Prunes on display grocery stores, looks nice and shiny. But often there is no naturalness behind this brilliance. To give dried fruits a similar look, an unscrupulous manufacturer treats them with sulfur or liquid smoke, covers them with a thin layer of wax or glycerin. There is little benefit from such a product, besides, it is not cheap. Therefore, good housewives have long learned to cook prunes on their own. Indeed, in the summer in the harvest year, plums can be bought very cheaply. Cooking does not take much time and effort. Therefore, with a little effort, you can provide yourself and your family with useful and delicious product for the whole winter.

Prunes are very useful for the human body. It is actively used in the fight against constipation and other diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Prunes cleanse the intestines effectively, but gently. In addition, after drying, prunes retain all useful material and vitamins that were contained in the plum. But how to prepare the product so that it remains useful, safe, and also preserved until spring?

Recipe for natural prunes

There is nothing superfluous in this recipe, only plums. Such prunes are suitable for people who adhere to the rules healthy eating. Let's start cooking natural treats.

1. It is best to dry prunes from the Hungarian plum variety. In this case, you will receive a product that is as close as possible in appearance to the store. Although, in fact, prunes can be prepared from any plum, even a round one.
2. Fruit for drying should be ripe, but moderately hard and fleshy. If you buy a plum, pay attention to the fact that the pulp is easily separated from the stone. For drying, choose only strong fruits without wormholes. Sluggish and shriveled plums are best set aside.
3. Some are trying to get rid of the whitish coating on the surface of the fruit. In order for the plum to last for a long time, it really should be washed off. However, this is not easy to do, so we will soak the fruits in alkaline water. Dissolve a little soda in a basin (a teaspoon per three liters of water) and dip the plum into the solution. After a while, it will be easy to clean and rinse under running water.
4. Fruits are best dried without pits. small plums can be left with a bone, but in winter you will have to be very careful not to spoil the tooth on an unnoticed bone.
5. After removing the seeds, the fruits must be cut in half. In the form of halves, it is much easier to dry them.
6. The next step is blanching. Put a pot of water on the fire and bring it to a boil. Dip the halves of the plums into the water and wait 5-10 minutes. After that, remove the plums and immediately transfer them to cold (possibly ice) water. Remember, the fruits should be soft, but elastic and not cooked.
7. After that, lay the halves on a baking sheet in one layer and dry for 2-3 hours at a temperature of 60-80 degrees. At the same time, open the oven slightly so as not to overdry the product. Turn the plum halves over several times throughout the entire time.
8. When you get the plums, leave them for another day in a ventilated place - on the windowsill or on the balcony. Cover fruit with cheesecloth to keep insects out. After a day, the plum can be removed for storage.

This is a simple recipe natural plum. But there is another one that is sure to please the sweet tooth.

This is a sweet prunes recipe that kids will love.

1. We select and prepare the fruits, as in the previous recipe. IN this recipe we remove the stone, but do not cut the plum in half. Let it stay whole.
2. We fall asleep plum with sugar in a ratio of 3: 1. That is, for three kilograms of fruit you need one kilogram of sugar.
3. Plum, unlike other fruits and berries, does not give juice well, so you will have to wait for valuable syrup. Leave the plum with sugar under a slight oppression for a day and stir the mass regularly. Be careful not to damage the fruit while doing this.
4. When the syrup appears, put the pan on the fire and bring to a boil. It is very important that as soon as the plum begins to boil, it should be turned off so that the fruits do not boil. Thoroughly stir the plums to make sure all the fruits are coated in the sugar syrup.
5. After that, the mass should cool down - at this time, the fruits are even more actively saturated with sugar composition. After cooling, fold the mass into a colander and let the plum drain. Then lay the halves of the fruit on parchment and put in the oven. It is necessary to dry the plum at a minimum temperature of about 3-4 hours. Heat will speed up the process, but the fruits will lose vitamins and become useless.
6. After drying, let the cream dry completely at room temperature.
7. By the way, sugar syrup no need to pour. It is very fragrant and tasty. It can be used for liqueurs, the syrup can be diluted with water and drunk as compote or used as a filling for pancakes.
8. Ready prunes should be dried, but quite elastic.

Such prunes can be used as a dessert or filling for pies. sweet prunes can be added to marinades for meat - it gives dishes a delicate sour taste and fruity aroma. Leave the prunes in a bowl on the table, and the children will gladly eat them instead of sweets.

If the prunes are dry enough, they can be stored in a linen bag in a kitchen drawer. If you doubt whether the prunes are well dried and assume it long storage, freeze dried fruits in the freezer. It is better to pre-decompose the prunes into portions to make it easier to defrost.

Summer is the time for preparations, drying, jams and marinades. Good hostess not only provide for the family natural products, but also save the family budget. After all, the cost homemade prunes it turns out 10 times cheaper than the dubious product that we meet on store shelves. Dry prunes, make preparations - and the winter will pass for you without monetary and vitamin losses!

Video: how to cook prunes at home

Many people like prunes, which can be bought at the market all year round. He is very useful product and has been used in cooking for centuries. Unfortunately, not everyone decides to cook it at home, but this method makes it even more filled with vitamins.

When for the first time a person came up with the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bdrying a finished plum in the sun, no one can reliably say, but the fact that this was done many years ago is a fact. The characteristics of prunes are indicated in historical documents, and they are dated back to the 6th century BC.

Everyone knows that sweet plums are used to make prunes. To do this, it is washed and dried in the sun. If weather conditions cannot ensure a normal process, this can also be done in the oven or oven. When the oven is used, prunes become especially tasty, with the best flavor, largely due to smoldering wood.

Much to the regret of consumers, not all manufacturers adhere to right technology prunes preparation. Today it is possible to achieve the maximum possible result with the help of liquid smoke and others chemical substances. That is why it is recommended fresh product cook at home so that you can eat prunes of your own production all year round.

Delicious prunes are always obtained from good ripe fruits. It is believed that there is a special sweetness and fleshiness in those fruits that are the last to ripen. Among the most common varieties, it is worth highlighting Hungarian, Cromagne, Naroch, Stanley and others.

The useful qualities of this product are in its content:

• Potassium;
• Pectin;
• Vitamins A, C, B, P;
• Calcium;
• Phosphorus;
• Iron;
• Sucrose, fructose and glucose;
• Citric, salicylic and malic acid.

All of them have a positive effect on human health and general state.

First you need to prepare the plum, so that you end up with a quality product. Choose the right one fresh fruits very important - they must be ripe, you can even overripe.

They require thorough washing and pitting. Although they can not be removed (after all, even on the market you can buy prunes with or without pits). It is believed that their preservation in the plum leaves all the useful substances in it.

Already peeled fruits are blanched in a soda solution (temperature - 90 degrees) for about half a minute. At the same time, 100 grams of soda account for 10 liters of water. When blanching is completed, the plum is washed well and dried. This should take place in the oven, however, the process requires special supervision so that the prunes turn out to be tasty and all the useful properties remain in it.

For getting quality product, each stage of preparation should be carefully disassembled:

• The washed plums are decomposed on a baking sheet and sent to the oven for 4 hours at a temperature of 50 degrees;
• After the plums are pulled out, they must be gently mixed so that they do not deteriorate, as they are very hot. When they have cooled, they again need to be dried in the oven for 5 hours. The temperature should already be at 70 degrees;
• The plums are cooled again and dried in the oven already at 90-degree temperature for about 4 hours.

In order for prunes to have a smooth glossy surface, no additional chemicals need to be applied. To do this, shortly before the end of cooking, make the temperature in the oven 120 degrees. This leads to caramelization of the fruit, which makes the peel glossy.

For long-term storage dried fruits are packaged in paper bags and wooden boxes. If there is only glass container prunes must be completely dry. Sometimes applied Bay leaf in banks for the same result.

If the plum is large enough, then it is better to remove the bones. If it is small or medium in size, it is recommended to get rid of them.

The output of prunes in 1 kg is obtained after drying 4.5 kg of fresh fruit.

On a baking sheet, it is better to spread the plums with the cut side up.

The drying process usually takes about 12 hours, and between each stage you need to take a break of 5 hours.

The resulting product is soft and elastic at the same time, so that pressing does not cause juice to be released.

Although it takes a lot of time to cook prunes at home, the result is worth it. After all, the hostess is sure that it does not contain chemistry, is of high quality and will not harm a person.