Dried apples are extremely practical. Firstly, they are convenient to store. And if you observe the storage conditions, then they will lie for a very long time. Secondly, they are very simple to do: you do not need to cook for a long time, spend kilograms of sugar or sterilize jars. It is enough to cut and put in the sun. The main thing is to cut and put it correctly. We are talking about this:

Which apples to choose?

The seed box should be small, the skin thin, and the taste bright, best sweet and sour. And, of course, aroma. Otherwise, why start all this? Both summer and autumn varieties are well suited for drying: Antonovka, Pepin-Saffron, Cinnamon.

How to prepare apples for drying?

Before drying, apples should be washed, remove all bruises and wormholes, remove the seed box. There is a special device in the form of a metal tube that takes out a seed box from a whole apple. If it is not, then we act in the usual way, cut the fruit into quarters, cut the box and then cut into slices.

Photo: Shutterstock.com

If you managed to remove the core from a whole apple, then you can cut the fruits for drying in circles.

The thickness of the pieces should be about 5 mm.

To prevent apples from oxidizing and darkening during the drying process, you can act in two ways:

• blanch the apples cut for drying, that is, lower them for several seconds in boiling water;
• lower in a 1.5% saline solution, that is, 20 g of salt will be needed per liter (this is a tablespoon with a slide).

In a salt solution, you need to lower the apples, if you are going to dry them in the sun, in the open air. Salt will scare away flies and other insects.

How to dry?

In the oven. Sprinkle a thin layer of apples on a baking sheet. Set to a temperature of 50 degrees. Within an hour, apples will dry. Then the temperature needs to be increased to 70 degrees - the apples will dry and give away the liquid. And finally, at the end of drying, the temperature must be increased to 80 degrees so that the apples are sterilized. The process will take 6-7 hours. Every hour, apples need to be mixed.

In the sun. You can arrange the fruit on baking sheets, on the nets. String them and hang them in a ventilated, very sunny place. Every day, apples need to be turned over. When they have faded and halved in size, you can pour the contents of two baking sheets into one - they will not stick together. In the hot sun, the process takes 3-4 days.

Over the stove. Apples are strung on a string and suspended above the stove. And turn it on. Only a gas stove will do, apples will not dry over an electric burner, and you will go broke on electricity. Such drying is quick, it takes 3-4 hours, depending on the thickness of the cut.

In the electric dryer. A very convenient thing for those who do a lot of workpieces. Slices need to be distributed over drying, set the required temperature (usually it is indicated in the instructions) and wait a couple of hours. Constant attention is not required.

How to determine if apples are ready?

Apples should be greatly reduced in size. Properly dried fruits do not break, they are elastic, not sticky. Apples can be light or dark, it does not depend on the quality of drying, but only on which variety you choose.

How to store?

In cloth or paper bags, in a dark, cool, ventilated place. You can’t pack apples in bags and plastic containers; they must grow moldy.

What to cook?

The most common is a compote of dried fruits or just dried apples. But the possibilities of dried fruit are not limited to this. From them you can make salads, sauces, bake pies. You can make dried apple cakes for fritters, add them to the soup, even cook jam.

Salad with Dried Apples

• 1 handful of dried apples
• 100 g prunes
• 2 tbsp. l honey
• 30 g chopped walnuts.

Step 1. Soak apples and prunes.

Step 2. Cut in small pieces. To mix.

Step 3. Chop nuts, add honey and nuts to the fruit.

Dried Apple Charlotte

Photo: Shutterstock.com

Step 1. Soak the apples, then boil (the broth can be used as the basis for compote).

Step 2. Separate the yolks from the proteins. Salt and leave the proteins, and grind the yolks with sugar until white.

Step 3. Add room temperature oil to the yolks and beat.

Step 4. Add flour with baking powder. Stir everything so that there are no lumps.

Step 5. Beat the whites until cool foam and inject sugar. Put in the dough and mix gently.

Step 6. Grease the mold and sprinkle with flour. Put the apples in the dough, stir, pour everything into a mold.

Step 7. Bake at 180 g for about 50 minutes.

Growing a rich apple crop is only half the battle. It is necessary to keep it tasty for the winter, and without loss of beneficial properties and vitamins. Drying is perfect for this purpose. This method allows you to store apples for a long time. Dried apples can be cooked in a conventional oven.

   For drying, you need to choose acidic or sweet-sour varieties. Do not choose sweet apples. When cooking compote or other heat treatment, they lose part of their taste. If the apples do not have time to fully ripen, then they are unsuitable for drying. The most successful are the varieties: Simerenko, Antonovka, Aport, Orleans, Renet.
  For drying, cut apples into slices or slices. Remove core and peel, if desired, but this is optional. The thinner the cut, the shorter the cooking time. Immediately after slicing, dip the apples in a solution of citric acid for a while. Take 1 gram of acid in 1 liter of water. This is necessary so that the apples retain their color and do not darken. Do not cut slices thicker than 1 centimeter.


   After soaking, (3-5 minutes) air-dry the apples. You can dry with a napkin or towel. Then place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Try to put everything in one layer. Place the pan in a warm oven. Not more than 70 degrees.


  The first 2-3 hours, dry the apples at a temperature of 70 degrees. During this time, the pieces will dry out a little. Next, lower the oven temperature to 50 degrees. Stir or flip apples every two hours. This will help speed up the drying process.


   Bend the slice in half to determine readiness. It should be flexible and easy to bend. The color of dried apples should be yellow-orange.


   It is better to store prepared dried apples in a cool, dark room in paper bags or boxes. Clean, dry wood crates may come up. If there are few apples, you can wrap them in parchment paper and store in a dark place.

Fans who cook fresh stewed fruit in the winter or make baked goods with dried fruits know that they need to deal with the preparation of sushi in the summer. The most affordable and healthy fruit for this is an apple. This tree in our climate grows beautifully and bears fruit. Therefore, almost everyone has the opportunity to collect or buy homemade apples.

Apples are composed mainly of water, and as a result of drying, they lose almost all the liquid, but at the same time, all useful trace elements and vitamins are preserved. Therefore, do not doubt the benefits of dried fruits.

And also keep in mind that there will be no more than 10 percent of the mass of fresh apples at the exit. It is very simple to prepare dried fruits, and if you use modern kitchen appliances - in general, it is a pleasure.

The benefits of dried apples:

1. Keep useful properties;
2. High palatability;
3. Compact and long storage;
4. Easy preparation.

Which fruits to choose

Sweet and sour or sour apple varieties are ideal for drying. Sweet apples do not retain much taste. To get a greater yield, it is worth choosing fruits with a thinner peel and fewer grains.

Apple Preparation:

How to avoid the oxidation of apples:

Now that the fruits are ready for further processing, it is necessary to determine the method of drying them. There are many options. It all depends on the technique that you have or its absence.

Drying apples using home appliances

At home, apples can be dried using a dryer, oven, microwave, air grill and, ultimately, just in the sun.

In an electric oven

An electric oven is perfect for high-quality drying of fruits. To do this, you must:

During this time (6-8 hours), the fruits should be dried to the necessary condition. To become plastic, not breaking and not oozing light brown dryers.

In an electric convection oven

An electric oven with convection function solves the issue of creating artificial air circulation by not closing the door and significantly speeds up the process.

A convector is a fan built into the oven that provides an even flow of hot air. Consider the drying process with convection in stages:

1. Preheat the oven to 40-50 degrees;
2. Set baking sheets with chopped apples in it;
3. After 1–1.5 hours, turn the slices over and increase the temperature to 70–80 degrees for more intensive evaporation of moisture;
4. When the water has practically evaporated, reduce the temperature to its original value and leave for another two hours.

In an oven equipped with such a function, the entire drying process will take from 3 to 6 hours.

On the gas stove

Apples can also be dried on a gas stove, if for some reason you cannot or do not want to use the oven. There are some difficulties with choosing the intensity of the fire and the height of the pan, but this is quickly eliminated by trial and experiment.

Thus, the drying process is reduced to 3-4 hours, but requires constant attention.

other methods

if you have air grill, then it’s possible to dry apples perfectly in it, the principle will be approximately the same as in a convection oven, but only the process will take only an hour. In this case, the device must choose a circulation mode with a low speed, set the temperature in the limit of 100 degrees. Lay slices loosely to each other, for maximum airflow.

Dryer- A specially designed device for drying any fruits and berries. The device is equipped with all the necessary containers, grids, tiers so that you turn it on for a certain time and forget about it - it will turn itself off when it performs its function.

It is necessary to distribute the prepared apples on the racks (for this there are a lot of them in the device), set the desired temperature and after a few hours you will get perfect drying.

In the microwaveapples can also be dried. The process will take about 5 minutes. The main thing is to choose the necessary temperature and power to get drying, not coal. Because the microwave also quickly burns the fruit, as it dries.

To do this, you need to evenly and in one layer lay out the slices on a dish and set the mode to microwave. Power - 250 W, turn on for 30-40 seconds. Then turn over the half-dried apples, increase the power to 300 W and turn on the timer for 3 minutes. Get ready-made drying.

You can use the old method of drying apples - in the sun.But this option is suitable, first of all, for owners of private houses living in a hot climate. Since the harvesting of apples goes mainly in late summer - early autumn, and during this period the sun is not so hot and it often rains.

Prepared apples are threaded and hung or laid out on baking sheets and exposed in the open sun, not forgetting to periodically turn them over.

At the same time, care must be taken to ensure that insects do not have access to the fruits - for example, cover them with double gauze. At night, when the humidity rises, drying must be removed in a closed but ventilated space. The drying process will take 6-7 days.

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Signs of Ready-Made Sushi

Regardless of the drying method, the degree and characteristics of the finished dried apples are the same:

1. Drying should not break or crunch, it is plastic;
2. The release of moisture when squeezing it is unacceptable;
3. The color may be light brown, but not light yellow or dark.

If at least one of these signs does not match or you suspect that the apples are not ready, it is better to dry them a little more to avoid spoilage.

Long-term storage

After proper drying, apples can be stored for a long time. How to store dried apples? Cotton bags or pillowcases are great for this. And you can also use paper, wooden or cardboard boxes, glass jars. But in no case are plastic bags or plastic containers - drying chokes in them.

Store dried apples at room temperature in a dry, well-ventilated, dark place. Do not forget to periodically review the dryers for damage so that they do not show signs of mold or decay.

Drying apples - a finished product for consumption. But also they are used in the preparation of compotes, jelly, all kinds of baking. Before this, it’s better to soak the apples for several hours in water, strong tea, even in cognac or liquor. Some other mothers twist the drying through a meat grinder with nuts and sculpt candy for their children. In general, the use of this useful product in food is a free flight of fantasy.

In conclusion, I would like to give a comparative table of the advantages and disadvantages of different processes of drying apples, depending on the devices used:

Drying device	Benefits	disadvantages	Process time
Electric oven	- almost everyone has a device	- swap baking sheets; Ajar door	6-8 hours
Convection Oven	- acceleration of the drying process; Uniform fruit blowing	- not everyone has this function	3–6 hours
Gas panel	- present at all	- energy costs; Duration Constant monitoring	3-4 hours
Air grill	- hot air circulation	- not everyone has this device	About 1 hour
Dryer	- the device is specifically designed for this process	- lack of it in your kitchen	3-4 hours
Microwave	- the shortest process time	- apples can burn quickly	5 minutes
The sun	- does not require other devices	- duration; Necessarily hot weather; Protect from insects	6-7 days

September is the right time for harvesting for the winter of apples. On the one hand, everyone has already eaten plenty of fresh apples. On the other hand, there are still many. On the market, they reach their price minimum, but after a couple of months, prices for fresh apples will not be so pleasing. Therefore, we begin to dry apples right now.

Dried apples

I mainly dry apples in the oven. In winter, I cook compotes from them, use them as a filling for pies and just as a treat. I strongly advise parents of young children to dry more apples: in the winter, healthy dried fruits will replace not very healthy sweets and chocolates.

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How to dry apples

Wash and dry the apples. Cut each apple into quarters and remove the core with a knife.
  Cut the quarters into thin slices. The thinner they are, the faster the apples dry. Some housewives cut apples into slices rather than slices. But in the second case, the apples will dry more slowly, so I do not advise.
  Good apples with a high iron content in the air quickly darken, so I recommend that you first cut all the necessary apples into quarters, and only then quickly cut into slices and put on a baking sheet.

Apples before drying

For drying apples in the oven, the best temperature is 75-80 degrees. At this temperature, the apples will dry in 8-10 hours. My oven has a ventilation mode, so I can cope with drying in 4 hours.

Properly dried apples should be light cream in color, soft and elastic to the touch and not break when squeezed in the hand.

Dried apples should not be stored in tied plastic bags or in the refrigerator. To prevent apples from becoming damp and saturated with extraneous odors, I store them on a shelf with flour and cereals in a regular three-liter jar, which I DO NOT cover with a lid.

How to dry apples in the oven - this question is of interest to many city dwellers, because not everyone has a balcony or a loggia for drying fruits in the fresh air. Sometimes auxiliary rooms are simply littered with trash or simply very cramped and difficult to use for drying clothes. In this case, it is better to consider alternative methods of harvesting apples. For example, dry them in the oven.

Is it possible to dry apples in the oven

Not only possible, but necessary! It is best to use a convection oven.

Convection is an additional blowing with hot air with the help of fans. It allows the heat to be evenly distributed over the entire volume of the oven, so you do not have to swap the baking sheets, open the door during drying and put up the heat coming from the hot oven for 10 hours (namely, it takes so much time to dry the apples in a conventional oven) .

By the way, almost all modern ovens are equipped with a convection mode. Read the instructions for your oven carefully and find out how to enable this mode, if any.

How to prepare apples for drying and what varieties to use

Ripe apples of sweet and sour varieties are suitable for drying in the oven. If possible, take fruits with dense pulp, preferably autumn ripening. Summer juicy apples are usually too tender to dry. Please note: drying is one of the most disadvantageous methods of harvesting fruits. From 1 kilogram of fresh apples, only 100-110 grams of dried fruits are obtained!

Preparing apples for drying is very simple. Sort them out, discard the rotten and cracked ones, and wash the fruits of good quality, wipe them dry with a clean towel and cut. There are 2 ways of slicing:

1. Conventional slices - divide the apples in half, chop each half, discard the core.

2. Round plates - remove the core with a special device, then cut the whole apple into thin plates.

What to do next

Take a regular baking sheet, cover it with baking paper, put the apple slices in 1 layer and put in the oven. Drying time depends on the variety of apples and the thickness of the slices, as well as on the type of oven. In an electric oven, the fruits are dried at a temperature of 80-100 degrees for 5-6 hours. In the gas - 50-70 degrees, always with the door ajar. Periodically turn off the gas oven. Be sure to turn the slices of apples during the drying process!

An alternative drying method is on a wire rack. In this case, preheat the oven by no more than 50 degrees, dry the apples for 12-14 hours with the door ajar. In this case, the fruits will dry better.

Oven-dried apples retain their qualities perfectly - taste and aroma - and do not deteriorate for 2 years if they are folded in a dry glass jar, closed with a nylon cover and put in a cool place.