One of the most reasonable and convenient ways to preserve the harvest of apples and their harvest for the winter is drying. It can be carried out in the sun on warm summer days. But it’s easy to dry apples in the oven - gas or electric. This drying method is ideal in urban environments.
Dried fruits will no doubt be a great addition to the menu. Sweet compotes and other dried apple dishes will delight you with a bright taste and aroma. Dried fruits are useful in the preparation of salads, sauces, baking pies. They will make an excellent bake for pancakes and pancakes, an addition to soup and even jam.
Dishes made from dried apples will supplant autumn boredom and fill the winter cold with pleasant summer memories.
It’s easy to store dried fruits, they take up a minimum of space. Labor costs for the preparation of dried apples are insignificant, especially if you use modern kitchen appliances and appliances.
Dried apples in the oven - general cooking principles
All varieties of apples are suitable for drying, without exception. But when the choice is large, it is better to give preference to fruits with a small seed box and thin skin. On the palate, apples should be sweet and sour and fragrant.
Before drying, the fruits are washed and dried. Wormholes and bruises are removed.
The apples are cut into quarters, the core is cut. Fruits are cut into slices about a half centimeter thick.
If there is a special device, then with its help the core is removed from the whole apple. Then the fruits are cut into rings of the thickness indicated above.
When dried fruits are prepared exclusively for compote, the core can be left.
Apples are scattered in one layer on a baking sheet. It should be covered with baking paper.
The baking sheet is loaded into the oven for an hour (60 degrees). During this time, the apples will slightly dry.
Then the temperature increases to 70, and at the very end of the drying - up to 80-100.
The oven door can be left slightly ajar.
The process takes from 6 to 12 hours. Every 50 minutes, the apple slices are mixed.
To diversify the taste of dried fruits, you can add cinnamon, cardamom, citric acid and regular sugar.
When the apples reach the desired condition, their size will greatly decrease. The cooled dried fruits are laid out in cloth or paper bags. Chocolate boxes are also suitable.
Dried apples are stored in a dark and cool cabinet, which is periodically aired.
Recipe 1. Dried Apples in the Dessert Oven
Ingredients:
• two kg of apples;
• one and a half liters of water;
• a glass of sugar (more or less is possible, depending on the level of love for sweets).
Cooking method:
Cooking sugar syrup: boil water and add sugar to your liking. Set it aside to cool.
The washed fruits are placed in a deep bowl and in each fruit we remove the core and seeds. To do this simply, you need to stock up on a special device. With it, apples can not be cut.
We cut each fruit into thin rings. We try to make them approximately the same thickness.
Put the apple circles in a saucepan and pour cool sugar syrup into it. It should completely cover the pieces of fruit.
Cover the saucepan and take it for a day to a cool place.
The next day, we lay the apple slices on a paper towel and leave for half an hour so that they dry out.
Cover the baking sheet with baking paper. We spread apple circles on it.
We load in the oven, preheated to 60 degrees. A little later, the temperature can be increased to 100. Fruits should be in the oven for six to eight hours.
Turn the slices periodically.
By evening, apples turn into dried fruits. We take them out of the oven and put them in bags.
Recipe 2. Dried apples in an electric oven
Ingredients:
• apple fruits - 2.5 kg.
Cooking method:
Wash apples under the tap. Cut in half and remove the core with a knife.
Cut into slices and place on a baking sheet.
Put it in the oven.
Turn on the modes of upper and lower heating and the fan. Set the temperature to 50 degrees.
We dry apples for 12 hours. We periodically check their condition.
We store the finished product in a sealed glass jar to prevent moisture from entering.
Recipe 3. Dried Apples in the Dry Jam Oven
Ingredients:
• one kg of fruit;
• 0.300 kg of sugar;
• one teaspoon citric acid;
• one tsp cinnamon.
Cooking method:
We clear the fruits of the seeds and cut into large slices.
We lay out on a baking sheet vertically peeled up. The slices should fit snugly together.
In a deep plate, mix the sweet ingredient, citric acid and cinnamon.
Sprinkle the apple slices with the mixture.
We send to the oven for three hours (70 degrees).
We take out the apples and lay them on parchment, cover with gauze. Leave for 48 hours at room temperature.
We hide the dried apples in boxes from under the sweets.
Recipe 4. Dried apples in a cherry smoke oven
Ingredients:
• two kg of apples;
• a small armful of cherry branches (without leaves).
Cooking method:
Free the fruit from the core and cut into thin slices.
We lay apple slices on a baking sheet.
We place the cherry branches on another baking sheet and put it on the bottom of the oven.
Put the apple slices on the top shelf.
We set 50 degrees on the electric oven panel. We start the upper heating and lower heating modes. The fan is also included in the work. He blows the smoke that comes from the warming cherry branches.
After six hours, we place the dried apples, saturated with the aroma of berries, on the surface of the table. Hiding after they cool.
Recipe 5. Dried apples in the oven with cinnamon and cloves
Ingredients:
• a kilogram of sour apples;
• two tablespoons of ground cloves and cinnamon.
• four tablespoons of sugar.
Cooking method:
Cut whole apples into thin slices. The core and seeds are not removed.
We spread the slices on a baking sheet so that there is a small distance between them.
Mix cloves, cinnamon and sugar in a separate bowl. Sprinkle apple slices.
Sent to the oven for ten minutes (180 degrees).
Turn over, lower the temperature to 100 and cook another seven minutes.
Turn off the oven. We can’t take out the apples.
When the oven has cooled down, heat it up to 100 degrees, leave it for 10 minutes and turn it off again.
So repeat several times over six hours.
We lay out the dried apples on paper bags.
Recipe 6. Dried apples in the oven with cardamom
Ingredients:
• two kg of apples;
• half a lemon;
• 1500 ml of water;
• one article a spoonful of ground cinnamon and cardamom.
Cooking method:
Pour water into a container with a depth of one and a half or two centimeters. Squeeze the juice of half a lemon into it. Stir.
Free the fruits from the core.
Cut apple peel as thin as possible.
We cut the fruit into rings five or six centimeters thick.
We load in a container with lemon water. After a minute, we transfer the apple slices to a colander.
We lay out the rings of fruit on a baking sheet.
Mix cinnamon and cardamom. Put in a strainer and sprinkle with a thin and even layer the upper part of the apple circles.
We send fruit to the oven for 8-10 hours (70 degrees).
The peel on the apples can be left. Then the dried edges of the fruit will be harder and curly.
Recipe 7. Dried apples in the oven without skin
Ingredients:
• kilogram of apples;
• 10 gr. salts;
• four cups of water.
Cooking method:
We prepare a saline solution: pour salt into water and stir.
Wash apples thoroughly and shake water.
We remove the core, cut the skin.
Cut the apples into longitudinal slices five or six millimeters thick.
Pour them into saline. We stand the fruit for about five minutes.
We drain the water and move the apple slices on a baking sheet.
Sent to the oven and dried in the standard way.
Recipe 8. Dried apples in the oven with a core
Ingredients:
• kilogram of apples;
• water - two liters.
Cooking method:
We prepare two pots with the same amount of water.
In one container, bring the liquid to a boil.
Pure apples are cut into four parts, then into slices three to four mm thick.
We load the slices in boiling water for half a minute, then in cold at the same time.
We take out the fruit and lightly dry it with a paper towel.
We lay the apples on the prepared pan so that each piece lies separately
Dry in the oven in the usual way.
Dried Apples in the Oven - Tips and Tricks
Apple fruits should be processed portionwise. It is wise to do so, so that the cut pieces do not have time to oxidize and darken. A serving can be considered half a bucket of fruit.
To avoid darkening, apples should be held in saline (liter of water + tablespoon of salt) or in lemon water (liter of water + juice of half a lemon). Ten seconds will be enough.
Apples are more convenient to dry in an electric oven. If the gas stove does not turn off for several hours, then the kitchen becomes nothing to breathe. True, good ventilation saves the situation.
It is advantageous to dry in the beginning of autumn, when cool days come. The heat of the oven will not only do the main job, but also warm the room warmly.
It is forbidden to pack dried fruits in plastic bags or containers, because there they “suffocate” and cover with mold.
Properly dried apples should not be sticky, brown, or burnt. Fruit slices should be resilient and not brittle.
A well-organized workplace will speed up and simplify the process. All necessary equipment, including the bin, must be kept at hand.
