There is never a lot of reserves for the winter, any housewife will tell you about this. Therefore, you need to think in advance about preparing drying, from which you can make delicious compotes for kids. Drying pears at home and its features will be discussed in today's article. Let's also talk about how it happens in the sun.

Drying pears: which one to choose?

First of all, it is worth knowing that the pears that you have selected for drying should not be stored longer than 48 hours. Since we are talking about cultivated pear varieties, it is best to use for drying those that have a minimum of "stony" cells ", dense pulp and small seed chambers. Such varieties are Talgar beauty, Forest beauty, Fragrant, etc.

Never take overripe pears for drying. Best of all to prepare delicious jam or jam.

Why is drying pears in the sun better?

You can dry pears not only in the oven. They are often dried in the sun, in ovens, or even in microwave ovens. It is impossible to say that oven-dried pears will be worse than oven-dried pears. Both those and others, with the right approachwill be good.

Another thing is that the sun is a force of nature. And dried fruits, dried in the sun, retain a part of it. However, today is not about the lyrics.

Sliced \u200b\u200bpears must be exposed to the sun immediately. There they must "languish" for about three days. It is advisable to choose the time so that sunny days are not replaced by rains. Next, the drying is placed in the shade, where there is good ventilation, and already there it is dried.

Drying pears in the oven is a delicate matter ...

When pears are dried in the oven, there are rules. The temperature in the chamber should be between 85 - 90 degrees Celsius. Please note that the final drying temperature should not exceed 55 degrees. The temperature regime is also true if pears are dried in an electric oven.

As for the duration of drying at home, it will all depend on whether you are drying whole pears, or sliced \u200b\u200bones. After all, sliced \u200b\u200bfruits need to be dried for about 20 hours, while it will take 24 hours to dry whole fruits.

Drying pears for the winter: technology tricks

If you want to get better quality drying, then regular pear slicing is not enough. First, you need to peel the pears, and then remove all the seed chambers and fumigate the fruits.

To improve appearance future drying as well as to speed up the process itself, it is recommended to carry out preliminary heat treatment.

So, first we sort the pears by ripeness. Next, they must be rinsed well. The washed fruits are dipped in boiling water and boiled for 15 minutes. Note that ripe fruits need to be boiled less than green ones until they are tender. The processed pears are harvested using a scoop or sieve, and the next batch is loaded in their place, until all the prepared pears have been processed.

For added sweetness, it is recommended to add a little sugar to the water in which pears are processed.

When all the raw materials have passed heat treatment, you must let it cool completely. Then they are cut into slices and laid out on a container in which they are going to dry directly.

By the way, the water in which the pears were boiled can be safely used to prepare a wide variety of delicacies: jam, kvass, syrup, jelly or compote.

Often pears for drying are processed in a different way. Also, as in the first case, they are washed well and then cut into slices. Then these slices are blanched for 7 minutes in boiling water to give them softness. So that the fruit does not darken, the slices are pre-soaked in a 1% solution of either lemon or tartaric acid.

How is wild pear dried at home?

With wild pears, the drying process looks a little different. First of all, the main difference is that wild pears do not need to be plucked from the tree. It is necessary to wait until they fall off by themselves. The harvested pears can be put in either a bucket or a basin and wait until the skin turns brown and the pears themselves darken.

This is done so that pears acquire a sweetish and aromatic taste, instead of tart and bitter. Now they need to be washed, cut into halves and dried in the same way as cultivars of pears.

Now you know that darkened fruits wild pears Is not a spoiled product. In addition, when drying wild pears, seed boxes do not need to be removed from them, and they do not need blanching and fumigation.

If done correctly, the pears you dried should be soft and resilient and not break when bent or squeezed. Their color ranges from light brown to dark brown, they have sweet taste and a pleasant aroma.

Drying is one way. It should be noted right away that not all varieties of fruit are suitable for this. It is best if the selected fruits are sweet, juicy and firm at the same time. The following varieties fall under these characteristics:

• Zaporizhzhya;
• Forest beauty;
• Lemon;
• Victoria.

Pear Lemon for drying

To dry pears, choose the right fruit: they must be ripe, but not overripe. It doesn't matter if you bought the fruit or removed it from the tree, they cannot be stored for more than two days - after that the pears become soft, unsuitable for drying. Also, do not use damaged or frostbitten fruits. Getting started next step... To begin with, boil water, adding a little sugar, if the fruits are unsweetened. After that, we sort the pears according to their degree of maturity, cut off the damaged areas, rinse thoroughly and finally dry them with a towel.

Dip the pears into boiling water and boil for about 10 minutes, unripe fruits can be boiled for more, but no more than 15 minutes. As a result, the fruit should become soft. Allow the fruits to cool, then cut them into wedges and place them in a bowl to dry. Preparation of large fruits looks a little different. They need to be cut into pieces about 1 cm thick, the fruits are slightly smaller cut into several pieces. So that they do not darken, they must be dipped in a solution of tartaric acid (1%). Then the slices are blanched in water for five minutes. Now you can start drying itself.

In the warm season, fruits are much more convenient to dry naturally, that is, in the open air. Place the pears on a baking sheet and place them in a quiet, well-lit place free from wind and dust. Also try to tilt the wedge tray slightly to give the fruit the longest possible light. For residents of private houses good option there will be a roof of the house, where there are all conditions for high-quality drying.

Dried pear slices

Drying should last about two days, but at the same time, it is better to take future dried fruits into the house at night, covered with film. Then we transfer the tray with pieces of fruit to the shade and dry it for about three more days. In order for the pears to dry evenly, they need to be turned over sometimes. Some housewives press half-dried slices, squeezing them with boards. After that, they are strung on a thread and dried in this way, which is also considered a very good option. By the way, so that the slices do not darken, you can sprinkle them lemon juice... This little trick will help preserve the natural color of the dried fruit.

Since weather conditions do not always allow natural drying, you can use other devices that can replace sunlight - an oven, a microwave oven and an electric dryer. If you decide to dry the fruits in the oven, you need to arrange the pears cut into slices on a baking sheet in one layer. First dry the fruit at a temperature of about + 60 ° C to avoid cracking and peeling of the skin. After two hours, the temperature should be raised to + 80 ° C. Watch the oven - after the slices begin to shrink in volume, the temperature should be reduced to + 55 ° C.

Drying pears in the oven

Now it only remains to dry the pear, while the time depends on the size of the fruit:

• to dry whole fruits, you need to keep them in the oven for 20-24 hours;
• the dried wedges are ready after a maximum of 15 hours.

You can use an electronic dryer. Due to the fact that it consists of several layers, several portions of the fruit can be loaded at one time. Place the wedges inside the appliance and turn on the appliance. At the same time, you do not need to turn the fruit - the device will do everything for you. But the fastest way to dry is in a microwave oven, but it is also the most difficult, since it is important to always be on guard and not allow the fruit to dry out. We wash the fruit, cut it, remove the core, and lay it out on a cloth lined plate. Put them inside for 2.5 minutes at 200 watts. If the pears have not reached a little, you can put them in the microwave for another 30 seconds.

The slices should not break when compressed, they should be elastic and soft, "springy". But if the fruit turned out to be tough, then you did something wrong.

Save slices - useful life hacks

Now you know how to dry pears, and we will tell you how to preserve dried fruits so that they do not spoil. For this, glass jars or wooden containers, a linen bag are ideal. It is best if you store everything in a dry place. At the same time, you should not forget about your reserves, since they can damp or rot. Often, various bugs attack dried fruits, which will happily eat the prepared treat. To prevent this from happening, you should inspect your supplies once a month.

It will not be superfluous to dry dried fruits at least once a season: just put them on a baking sheet and put them in the oven for an hour at a temperature of +50 ° C. As a result long-term storage dried pears may harden. To soften the fruits, before use, they must be sent to the oven along with a container of water, holding in " steam bath"Within 15-20 minutes. If you decide to use pears in cosmetic purposes, they should be ground in a coffee grinder, poured into a jar and stored in a dark place. And so that, just take dried fruits and act according to the recipe.

Pears are useful in any form, but the most convenient option for harvesting them for the winter with the ability to use both pure form, and for the preparation of compotes, fillings for pies, mashed potatoes and other things - drying. Now you will learn how to dry pears at home and how to store them properly after.

How to dry pears: preparing the product for processing

The easiest way, of course, is to dry the raw fruit. However, this option is only suitable for subsequent use in compotes and fruit teas... A delicacy more refined and varied in terms of further use can be obtained by drying cooked fruits. In both cases:

• fruits are sorted out, removing rotten, frozen, damaged by pests;
• wash fruits thoroughly, better brushed, and dried;
• cut large pears into slices no more than 1 cm thick without removing the seed capsule and skin;
• for a more delicate product, the seeds and skin are removed, cutting is done into quarters or eights.

How to dry pears at home?

Next, the fruits prepared for drying in their raw form are laid out on a baking sheet: a tray, a rack of the dryer and the drying process begins. Those pears that require additional processing, - too hard, slightly sweet - boil until soft in water or weak syrup, the amount of sugar depends on the desired sweetness of drying, after which it is also laid out on a plane.

How to dry pears: in the air, in the oven, dryer or in the microwave

When dried in the fresh air, the fruit is placed in the sun. At night, the product is removed indoors, after two days of such drying, pears ripen in the shade. Using the oven involves keeping the sliced \u200b\u200bfruit at a temperature of 55-60 degrees Celsius in a slightly open oven with a minimum fire for two hours. After that, for an hour or two until the lobules or whole fruits decrease in volume, the temperature rises to 80 degrees, then decreases again to the initial level and is maintained up to full readiness drying.

As for microwave oven, it dries as quickly as possible, but the loaded portions are small. For cooking, fruits are laid out on a oven dish in one layer on top of a linen or cotton cloth. It takes 2-3 minutes at full power for the juicy fruits to turn into drying, the time is selected individually.

Proper storage dried pears

Having figured out how to dry pears in the oven, other devices, or naturally, it is also important to find out the right way storage. The best option - a tight package of high quality natural fabricbetter than flax, stored in a dry and ventilated place. It is also permissible to keep dried fruits tightly closed. glass jars and containers. Periodic inspection, drying or sorting of the harvested product will avoid damage to mold or fruit moths.

And to give them a marketable appearance, additional (and not always healthy) processing is performed, and even tinted.

One of the oldest proven ways to prepare winter fruit supplies is by drying. This is a simple matter, quite accessible to everyone.

You can dry pears outdoors in the sun, in a gas or electric oven, electric dryer and even in a microwave oven.

At the same time, in order to obtain a quality result, it is necessary to carry out all the stages of drying correctly.

The most suitable drying pears are firm and slightly unripe. Their flesh should be firm, not very juicy, it is good if there are "stony cells" in it, ie. solid blotches.

It is better if there are few seeds in the pear, and the seed chamber itself takes up little space. It is not recommended to dry fruits that are viscous in taste, you will not like their taste.

Sweet summer or early autumn varieties with medium-sized fruits are preferable. Although, to obtain a sweet drying process, sugar may be added during its preparation.

Pear varieties such as “Lyubimitsa Klappa”, “Limonka”, “Forest Beauty”, “Victoria”, “Zaporozhskaya”, “Ilyinka”, “Bergamot”, “Aromatic” are very suitable for cooking dried fruits.

Pretreating pears before drying

If you decide to dry pears, try to do it without shelving. Harvested pears should not be stored for more than two days, because they gradually soften and become unsuitable for drying.

The process of preparing pears for drying is the same, regardless of the chosen drying method (open air, oven, electric oven with airfryer, etc.).

First, boil water in a saucepan or bowl. If the pears are unsweetened, add some sugar to the water.

Sort the fruits according to the degree of ripeness, remove damaged areas, rinse them with running water.

Rotten fruits, frozen or damaged by diseases or pests, are not suitable for drying, so reject them resolutely.

Immerse clean and dried fruits in boiling water and cook for 10-15 minutes, depending on whether they are ripe or green, but only until they are soft.

Let the pears cool completely. Then cut them into slices and place them on the container in which they will be dried.

Large pears and wild game have their own nuances in cooking

Large-sized fruits are usually cut into slices about 1 cm thick, medium-sized ones are cut in half or into four parts. To on open air they did not darken, they were immersed in a 1% solution of citric or tartaric acid. The slices are blanched in boiling water for 5-7 minutes.

Wildlife is harvested when it falls from the trees, put in a box or bucket and wait for the fruits to darken, and their skin acquires brown color... In this case, the pears become sweeter and more aromatic, their some astringency and bitterness disappears.

The skins of pears are usually not peeled (except for a particularly hard cover) and the core is not removed. These pears are believed to have a more interesting flavor. But if you plan to use the fruits as cosmetic productlike a scrub or mask for the face and body, they must be peeled and removed.

Natural drying of pears

A baking sheet, a tray with pear wedges or a sieve should be placed in a quiet, windless place, well lit by the sun, away from roads and dust.

Try to tilt the bowl of pears so that they can be illuminated as long as possible. A good way out for residents of the private sector is the roofs of houses.

Pears should be dried in the sun within two days. At night, the "semi-finished product" is removed into the house, previously covered with plastic wrap.

After two days, the fruits are transferred to the shade and dried for another 2-3 days. For even drying, pears should be turned over periodically.

Some owners press half-dried pear slices into a thin layer, squeezing them with two boards. Then strung on a thread and dried in this form.

To dried product had a good color and was better stored, sometimes a solution of sulfurous acid or fumigation with sulfur dioxide is used in the drying process. But this requires special rooms and safety precautions, because you cannot inhale this gas.

How to dry pears in the oven

Because the weather does not always allow fruit to be dried in the fresh air, sunlight can be successfully replaced with the units available on each modern kitchen, whether it be an oven, electric dryer or microwave oven.

In the oven, pears are dried on a baking sheet, in one layer, first at a temperature of 55-60 degrees.

This avoids cracking of the slices and peeling of the peel. After two hours, the temperature is brought to 80 degrees.

Then, when the fruit begins to shrink in volume, the temperature is again reduced to 55. This is the final drying temperature.

The time of this procedure depends on the size of the starting material: it takes 18-24 hours to dry whole pears, and the slices are ready after 12-16 hours.

How to dry pears in an electric dryer and microwave

In an electric dryer, which consists of several grid layers, it is possible to dry a large portion of pears overnight.

In this case, the fruits or pieces do not even need to be turned over, everything is provided for by the technology: the trays are evenly blown with warm air.

Drying pears in the microwave is one of the most quick ways their preparation. But not approved by everyone. This process takes no more than two to three minutes per serving.

The main thing here is to prevent the fruits from drying out or even turning them into unsuitable coals. Place the washed and diced pears, without a core, on a plate previously covered with a piece of cotton or linen.

Program the microwave for 2.5 minutes and 200 watts. If you find that during this time the pears are not completely dry, put them in the microwave for another half a minute.

Properly dried fruit does not break when bent or squeezed; they are soft and elastic, springy when pressed with a finger. Pears are tough only in one case: if you dried completely unripe fruits or carrion.

Until the next harvest ...

You can store dried fruits in a glass or wooden container tightly tamped and closed, or you can pour it into a linen bag and put it in a dry cabinet. Of course, you shouldn't forget about winter supplies: they can get damp, moldy or even rot.

There is also the danger of bugs or fruit moth larvae that can spoil the tasty treat.

To prevent this from happening, inspect the drying at least once a month, it will not be superfluous to shake it out on a baking sheet someday and dry it again in the oven at 50 degrees.

When stored for a long time, pears dry and harden. Before use, put them in a heated oven saturated with steam (you can put a container with water) or hold them on a steam bath for a while. The dried fruit will steam and become soft and tasty again.

For cosmetic purposes, dried fruits are ground in a coffee grinder and stored in a dry, dark place. Pear "powder" with sugar and cinnamon is used to add to porridge or pie fillings.

You can dry pears in different ways, the main thing is to decide and choose the most acceptable way for yourself. And if you do it, adhering to the above tips, the result will be worth the effort. Your winter table will be much richer, tastier and healthier, and the body will survive the harsh time much easier.