Dried fruits - excellent workpiece for the winter. Firstly, such dryers do not have a shelf life, they can be safely used after two years, and after five, of course, provided they are properly stored. Secondly, this method is suitable for most sweet fruits. Thirdly, they do not contain additional sugars, but they retain vitamins. And fourth, it's simple tasty treat... Pears and apples are especially good for this. Here's how to dry pears, and we'll figure it out.

We select the best

Before drying pears, you need to determine which fruits are suitable for this, and which ones are best left for something else. For the preparation of dried fruits, you should choose varieties small amount juice, the so-called dry. Their flesh is usually firm, firm, and the seed chamber takes up little space. You cannot use overripe, soft or tart pears for such a harvest, and you should also not take fruits that were picked more than two days ago. If the pears are too hard or unsweetened, you can boil them in syrup. The selected fruits must be washed and wiped thoroughly.

Drying pears

How to dry pears: slices or whole? It depends on their size. Small specimens are quite suitable for drying in their original form, but this will take a longer time. In this case, you should remove their tails. If you prefer slices, then remember that the optimal thickness of each slice is 1 cm. It is with this cutting that future drying will receive correct ratio meatiness and taste and will be stored for a long time.

Oven or sun

How to dry pears better: in the oven or on summer sun? It largely depends on the weather. For residents of the south, the natural method is quite applicable. To do this, the fruit should be cut into pieces, placed on trays or other support and placed in a place that will be as sunny as possible throughout the day. To prevent flies from landing on the sweetness, you can cover them with clean gauze. At night, the trays will have to be brought into the house so that the moisture does not saturate the slices that have dried up during the day. Complete drying time pear slices will be about a couple of days and the same amount will be required to fully reach the condition in the shade. After that, they can be packaged in clean linen bags and sent for storage.

For those who live in less sunny regions, a different way of drying pears will be more convenient. In the oven, this procedure takes about a day. The fruits or their slices should be spread out on a baking sheet in one layer and dried over low heat, turning frequently. For those who are used to focusing on a thermometer, the optimal mark is 70-90 degrees. Ready drying should be viscous on the teeth, and not release moisture when bent. Of course, whole pears will take longer to cook than chopped ones.

It is not enough to know how to dry pears for the winter, you still need to save your work. Best of all, any dried fruit is stored in fabric pouches, you can also put them in glass jars or plastic containers with a tight lid. But plastic bags can be attacked by insects or rodents. Such a workpiece does not tolerate moisture well and easily absorbs other people's odors. Store preferred small portions, since if a pest starts in one of them, the rest may not be affected. Check stocks regularly to find and remove spoiled food in time.

Preparation of food for the winter - necessary stage preparation for the cold season for each housewife. This topic is especially relevant for those who have their own vegetable garden. Some products are frozen, others are canned, from the third they make jam or compote, and the fourth is dried. And in order to harvested crop pleased the whole winter, you need to take a responsible approach to the process of preparing food. How to properly dry pears will be discussed below.

There are several simple rules, following which you will get a delicious result.

• Summer pear varieties are better suited for drying. It is not recommended to dry late fruits, as well as fruits with an astringent taste.
• Choose whole, slightly unripe fruit. They should be firm, firm and not too juicy.
• Small to medium sized fruits are suitable in size. It is desirable that there are as few seeds as possible.
• Do not try to dry out overripe, rotten, wormy pears.
• If the fruit meets all the requirements, but is slightly damaged, simply remove it in preparation for drying.

Preparing fruit for drying

First, select unripe fruits and rinse them with water. Dry the washed fruit, remove the stem and "tail". Dip the pears in boiling water and cook for about 10 minutes. If you want to sweeten it a little, add a little sugar.

After the specified time has elapsed, drain the water and cool the fruit. At this stage, they get over again: the spoiled places need to be cut out, and the fruits unsuitable for drying must be removed altogether. Next, cut the pears: small fruits into 2 or 4 parts, large ones - into pieces on average 1-1.5 centimeters. Remove the seeds.

However, this procedure does not apply to all types of pears. If you decide to dry the wild, then the fruits must first be collected from the ground and allowed to lie down until the skin darkens. After that, they also need to be washed and cut into slices. The stage of blanching and seed removal is skipped. Many people prefer to dry whole fruits.

Drying pears at home

There is different variants drying pears. When making a choice in favor of one of them, rely on such factors as home conditions (for example, not everyone is suitable for drying fruit on the street), the availability of kitchen devices and the simplicity of the process for you personally.

In the oven

This method is suitable for almost everyone, since few of the housewives have oven... Put the prepared fruit in one layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment. You need to start drying the fruits at a temperature not higher than 60 degrees. After 2 hours of such simmering, increase the oven heating to 80 degrees, and when the pieces decrease in size, reduce to 55 degrees and simmer until tender. It is easy to check: if, when pressing, the pears do not release juice, then they are ready.

Do not forget to periodically change the position of the fruits, turn them over so that the drying is more even. In time, the process will take 12-15 hours if you have chopped fruits, and up to a day if you dry whole pears.

Special requirements for technical specifications there is no oven: both an electric and a gas stove will do. The main thing is to regulate the temperature. It is better to place the baking sheet on the middle level. The disadvantage of this drying method is the loss of some vitamins during the cooking process.

In the microwave

This is perhaps the most quick way dry the pears. But you need to carefully control everything in order to do it right. In the microwave, there is a great chance of getting charcoal instead of dried fruit.

Put the prepared fruits on a flat dish covered with parchment. As in the previous case, lay them out in one layer. Set the microwave oven to 200 watts and let the pears dry for 2.5 minutes. If time is short, continue the process by checking the fruit for readiness every 30 seconds.

Thus, one serving is not more than 5 minutes. Do not leave the process of cooking dried fruits unattended so that you do not have to throw away spoiled fruits.

In an electric dryer

Arrange the fruit in one layer on trays with a small distance between the pieces. Set the temperature of the device to 70 degrees.

Replace the trays periodically to ensure even drying of the fruit.

On average, the process of preparing pears using electric dryer will take 12 hours. The exact time depends on the specific model and whether you dry the fruit whole or not, as well as the size of the pieces (if the pears are chopped). It is not necessary to turn the fruits themselves with this cooking method.

Air drying

If space and time permits, you can air dry the pears. This process is long, but this is how it will be preserved in fruits. maximum amount vitamins. You will need a tight thread (ideally nylon). Just run it through the pieces of fruit and hang it in a convenient place, like a garland.

Make sure that the fruits do not touch each other.

The room where pears will be dried in this way must be dry and ventilated. It's good if the sun's rays get there. The term for turning into dried fruits in the air is at least a week. More exact time depends on the thickness of the slices - the thicker, the longer. When the pears slightly change color and spring when pressed, you can remove them.

In a drying cabinet

This drying method practically does not differ from drying pears in an electric dryer. True, you do not need to turn the fruits over, do something with them until they are completely dry. Unlike an electric dryer, where air is supplied mainly from the bottom, in the drying cabinet its flow goes vertically, which allows you to evenly dry all the pallets.

The drying time of the fruit directly depends on the size of the fruit, generally it takes from 10 to 15 hours.

In the sun

Owners of a private house can dry pears in a natural way... Place the prepared fruit on a tray and place it in a place where the sun's rays fall as long as possible throughout the day. Cover the fruit with any thin cloth at night and bring it indoors if possible. Some housewives cover the fruit with gauze during the day to protect it from dirt and insects. Be sure to turn the pieces over during the day.

When you notice that the pears are dry, place them in a dry, well-ventilated area and continue drying there for a few more days. On average, this may take another 3 days.

Storage of dried fruits

It is not enough just to dry the fruit; you also need to store it properly. A dry, dark room is best suited for this. Place dried fruits in bags of natural fabric or in glass jar, be sure to close it with a sealed lid. The shelf life should not exceed 1 year. Do not store dried fruits near heating appliances or a battery, as this can ruin them. And be sure to periodically check the pieces for mold, midges and other troubles.

But, despite their rich taste and the presence of a large amount of vitamins and minerals, their somewhat problematic dry at home.

"Home" dried fruits are most often made from pears, the preparation of which at home is not difficult for both experienced and novice housewives. About drying pears in the oven and will be discussed in this article.

general information

Can pears be dried in the oven? Before going to basic rules drying pears in the oven, it is necessary to find out the following: are pears generally susceptible to drying in a gas and electric stove?

Of course, pears can be dried in the oven, either on a gas or electric stove. The method of preparing dried fruits in this way will take much less time than. The only thing to consider some features drying pears in the oven, which will be discussed below.

Of course, in our time when modern world is replenished every day with new and new technological innovations, evolution household appliances also does not stand still.

Over the past twenty years, kitchen appliances have been replenished with such innovations as: airfryer, sandwich maker, waffle maker, yoghurt maker, multicooker, double boiler, pressure cooker, toaster, electric dryer for vegetables and fruits and much more. On our website you can see the order.

Naturally, along with this, such traditional way drying fruits like oven drying somewhat outdated... Every modern housewife strives to have more and more in her kitchen new products kitchen appliances , which greatly facilitates and saves time when preparing food.

Therefore, more and more housewives are turning to more modern way, how . But since not everyone can afford to acquire all these rather expensive items small household kitchen appliances, you have to be content with the method that has been established for centuries, drying pears in the oven.

Fundamental rules

How to dry pears in the oven? First of all, you should pay attention to the pears that you plan to dry in the future.

For a successful drying procedure, fruit should be picked with firm pulp without pronounced sour taste a. Of course, the fruit should be well ripe and sweet.

For the drying procedure, it is best to select such varieties of pears as: "Forest Beauty", "Favorite Klappa", "Limonka", "Zaporizhzhya" and "Victoria".

Put pears on a baking sheet only on the previously laid parchment paper... This is necessary so that the juice flowing from pears languishing in the oven does not drain and does not come into contact with the baking sheet material.

Pears can be either peeled or left “in clothes”. It only depends on highly individualtaste... If you come across pears hard varieties, you must first throw them into boiling water and boil for 5 minutes. This is very important in order not to spoil the overall drying result.

Step-by-step instruction

Now we will try to describe in more detail the procedure for drying pears in the oven for the winter.

How to properly chop pears, at what temperature should pears be dried, how to determine the readiness of dried pears, and much more, you will learn by reading the information below.

How long (hours) does it take to dry pears in the oven? Drying time pears directly depends on the form in which the fruits are dried in the oven. If whole pears flaunt on your baking sheet, then it will take 18-24 hours for them to completely "dry".

If you prefer to cut the pear into slices before sending it to dry, then the result obtained can be expected. in 12-16 hours... In both cases, the pear drying procedure is not a very lengthy and time-consuming process. And most often it takes less than a day.

At what temperature should pears be dried in the oven? The heat temperature during the pear drying procedure is changed three times. Therefore, we denote the drying process three stages:

1. First stage. For the first time, sending pears to the oven, you should set the temperature to the appropriate 55 ° C ... 60 ° C and keep them in the oven at least 2 hours.
2. Second phase. After the set time has elapsed, the pears should be stirred and the temperature increased. up to 80 ° С.
3. Stage three. After the pears begin to decrease in size, they should be mixed again and again reduce the temperature to 55 ° C ... 60 ° C... This will be the final indicator at which the drying process ends.

How to determine readiness? When the deadline for the pear drying process comes to an end, you need to arm yourself with an ordinary fork, which will help us determine readiness our fruits.

Pierce any pear with it and if after that you notice that from the pear juice flowed or any other liquid, it is necessary to leave the pears to dry in the oven, from time to time checking their readiness with a fork.

Nuances

How to dry large pears? Large pears should be cut into wedges. 1 cm thick... Medium-sized fruits are cut in half or quarters. In order to avoid oxidation and browning of pears after contact with environment, pears must be washed with a solution citric acid .

If you come across hard fruits, then before sending them to the oven, you need to dip in boiling water and boil for 4-5 minutes.

How to dry whole pears in the oven? Can be dried whole wild pears... Common pear varieties differ somewhat from wild pears in the way they are dried.

Wild pears are harvested when ripe fruits begin to fall to the ground. After that, it is folded into a box and left to be stored. in a dark, cool place until the peel of the fruit darkens.

Darkening of the skin of the fruit indicates that the fruit has become sweet, juicy and aromatic. Unlike large pears, the game is dried whole fruits without cutting it. It is also not recommended to peel and cut the core. It is believed that the fruits of the wild pear have a brighter and more pronounced taste.

How to properly dry pears in the oven? You will learn how to cook dried pears using the oven according to all the rules from this video:

Electric stove

How to dry pears in the oven electric stove? Drying pears in an electric oven practically no different from the procedure for drying pears in the oven of a gas stove. All basic rules and actions remain unchanged.

The only nice feature and plus of an electric oven is that its design provides for the presence two types of heating: bottom and top.

In a gas stove, the oven has only one type of heating - the lower one. Therefore, based on these considerations, the drying process will be more convenient if using an electric oven.

Convection mode

How to dry pears in a convection oven? As with electric oven, the preparatory process and the procedure for drying pears in a convection oven will be no different from the procedure for drying pears in conventional oven gas stove. Simply, the convection mode will facilitate and make the drying process lighter and less stressful.

After all, you no longer need to worry that pears can burn or stick to the baking sheet.

The presence of convection mode (fan) in the oven ensures even distribution temperature to all areas of the future dish.

Therefore, as in the case of baking, which in convection mode baked evenly, so the pears will be evenly dried, thanks to this mode.

Recipes

Oven-dried pears and apples in sugar syrup

Ingredients:

• pears - 1 kg;
• apples - 1 kg;
• sugar - 150-250 g;
• citric acid 2-4 g;
• 1 liter of water.

Cooking method: First you need to select fruits that match the taste and structure of the fruit, which must be subjected to the drying process. Information about what pears and apples should be in terms of consistency and ripeness can be found by going up with the arrow.

Above, we have already described in detail which fruits should be selected for drying. Next, we thoroughly rinse the fruits and put them on paper towels, leaving them in this position for as long as possible.

Very important to keep the pears and apples as dry as possible before going into the oven.

After our fruits have cooled down, they should be cut according to their sizes... Large and large fruits are cut into slices, smaller and medium-sized fruits are cut into halves or quarters.

Then you should put the chopped fruit for a few minutes in cold water, having previously added to it citric acid... After our apples and pears have absorbed a little citric acid, you need to boil them for a few minutes in sugar solution... Cover the baking sheet with baking parchment and spread the sliced ​​fruit in a thin layer on the parchment.

After such, quite simple shenanigans, we send our fruits to the oven, after setting temperature in 80 ° С ... 85 ° С, and after drying, the temperature follows reduce to 50 ° С ... 60 ° С and at this temperature we leave our pears to dry to the end.

Due to the fact that before sending our pears and apples to dry in the oven, we boiled them for several minutes in a sugar solution, pears are obtained very tasty and sweet! You can find out about that on our website.

The process of drying pears in the oven is not so energy consuming and time consuming process, as it might seem at first glance.

Drying pears at home in the oven will not take you much time and effort, but on the contrary will give enthusiasm and cheerfulness... After all, it is so nice to please your loved ones and relatives, giving them delicious emotions and health.

The main thing is not to be lazy, and if you have never tried drying pears in the oven in your life, then be sure to do it! Dried pears in the oven are obtained very tasty and sweet... Pamper yourself with sweets without harm to your figure and with health benefits!

Foreword

If several kilograms of juicy ripe fruits have fallen into your hands or you are lucky enough to grow these gifts in the garden, prepare them for the winter using the method for pears familiar to all housewives - drying. The dried fruits you cook retain the maximum amount of vitamins. Of course, you can buy dried fruits on the market, but to be sure of the quality, it is better to do the drying yourself. How to dry pears at home, let's find out together!

Correctly selected varieties can play an important role in obtaining quality dried fruits... Experts claim that the best options in this case, the fruits that contain minimal amount stony cells, with a small number of seed chambers and moderate firmness of the pulp, without a strong astringent taste, sweet and ripe. These varieties, of course, include everyone's favorite Forest beauty, Favorite Klapp, Limonka, Talgar beauty, Bergamot, Williams summer as well as varieties Zaporizhzhya and Victoria.

Pear variety Forest beauty

Remember, the fruits you have selected for drying for the winter should not be stored longer than 48 hours; they must be washed immediately and dried thoroughly. Otherwise, they may lose their dignity. Rough overripe fruits are absolutely not suitable for drying. They are best reserved for cooking, marmalade, or jam. Wild pears do not need to be picked from the tree, wait until they fall by themselves. The fruits collected after falling to the ground should be given a little time for the peel to darken and acquire a brown tint. This is necessary in order for the pears to become aromatic and sweet. If you do not follow these conditions, you run the risk of getting tart and bitter fruits that are absolutely not suitable for cooking. delicious compote for the winter.

Now you know that such dark pears are not rot or spoilage, but a means for obtaining high-quality dried fruits. In the future, the game is prepared for drying, like all other fruits. They are cut into small slices, about 1 cm thick, and dried in any convenient way. You don't even need to remove the core of the fruit with seeds, peel it, or blanch it in water. If everything was done correctly, at the end of the process you should have elastic and soft dried fruits that should not break when bent and squeezed. Performing drying wild pears in the sun, do not forget to pre-dip the chopped slices in a 1% solution of citric or tartaric acid.

Today there are many ways to dry pears at home. However, drying in the sun remains the most popular and customary for most housewives. This method is especially ideal. suitable for those who live in private houses or have their own summer cottage, although this method will also work on a sunny balcony with good ventilation. Cut the pears into medium slices and lay them out on parchment, newspaper or a baking sheet in an even layer. To prevent flies and other insects from settling on sweet fruits, cover everything with thin gauze. It remains only to make sure that the sun constantly falls on the pears, not forgetting to periodically turn them from one side to the other, so that they dry evenly.

Drying pears outside

If you do not have the opportunity to put pears outside to dry, or the sun's rays rarely break through the clouds, then use another method - drying on strings. This is done quite simply - the prepared slices are strung on a sewing thread, preferably tight enough so that it does not break off, and hung in the form of a garland of fruits from both sides on nails or cabinet handles in the kitchen or attic. However, remember that the room for drying fruits for the winter must always be warm and well-ventilated. Tip - do not press the pear slices too tightly to each other, because they can stick.

As for the time it will take you to achieve the final result, at least 7-10 days should pass. For those who don't have that much time, alternative, faster drying methods for the winter, such as an oven, microwave, or electric dryer, can be used.

Compared to the previous method, drying fruits in the oven takes significantly less time. Housewives claim that this method allows you to make pears tasty and aromatic at home. In addition, oven-dried pears have a longer shelf life. They can be prepared in any home environment, both in a private house and in an apartment. To do this, you need to cover a baking sheet. parchment paper or foil and lay out the pears in a thin, even layer, after cutting them along in small slices, no more than 1 cm thick.

Pieces of pears after drying

To prevent pears from turning into burnt inedible pieces, they are dried at a minimum temperature in three main stages: withering, moisture evaporation and sterilization. To begin with, set the temperature in the oven at around 50-60 degrees. At this temperature, pears need to stay in the oven for at least 1 hour. Do not forget to open the oven several times to release excess steam.

This completes the first stage, move on to the second. If initially the oven door was opened only a few times during the entire time, now it should be open constantly, and raise the temperature to 75 degrees. In such conditions, pears will begin to actively lose water, which will come out in the form of steam. Do not forget to check the condition of your pears so that they do not burn, and for reliability, turn them regularly. The time required to complete this step will depend on the variety you choose and the size of the fruit cut. On average, it can last up to 4-5 hours, but there are exceptions where it will take 8-10 hours to achieve the desired result.

The last stage (sterilization) is the shortest, it will take a maximum of 35-45 minutes. Raise the oven temperature again to 80-90 degrees and close the oven door. During this process, the pears will finally dry out and become similar to the dried fruits we are used to. Home cooked dried pears spread on a cotton towel and let cool.

We answered the question of how to dry pears in the oven, now it remains to analyze the pros and cons of this method. The undoubted advantage is enough fast time cooking, compared to the natural method of drying for the winter, and this is important for modern housewives, as well as the preservation of the taste of the fruit. On the other hand, there are also disadvantages. Relatively heat reduces the content of vitamins, most of which are simply evaporated to the last stage... In addition, high temperatures can compromise the integrity of the fruit, as a result of which they lose their marketable condition and become unfit for human consumption.

Let's start with how to dry pears in an electric dryer. If you have such a device at home, then there is nothing easier - proceed according to our instructions. Immerse the cut thin slices in boiling water for a few seconds, and then quickly cool them. This is to avoid browning the fruit during winter drying. We lay out the slices on a baking sheet and let them dry slightly, after which we put them on the grid of the electric dryer. This device has several grates, this makes it possible to dry at the same time a large number of pears. Using this method, you do not even have to turn the wedges over, as an even supply of warm air is created in the tray.

Using an Electric Pear Dryer

The cooking temperature should not exceed 70-80 degrees at a low blowing speed. Adjust the cooking time yourself, it usually takes from 30 minutes to an hour. It all depends on the model and the one you choose temperature regime... Eventually, the pears should acquire a pleasant brown hue, be flexible enough and not break when bent. However, if this method is also time consuming for you, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the simplest and fastest method - how to dry pears in the microwave. Although this drying did not deserve a flurry of positive criticism, it still has a right to exist.

The entire drying process in the microwave will take you a maximum of 5 minutes, but the main thing is not to overdry by choosing the required power. Otherwise, you run the risk of getting overdried, little mouth-watering fruits... Lay the chopped pears in an even layer on a dish and send them to dry in the microwave, setting the power to no more than 200-300 W for a couple of minutes. When the timer beeps, turn the fruit over and continue drying at the same power for another 2-3 minutes. If you notice that at the end of this period of time your fruit is not dry enough, leave it in the microwave for a few more minutes, not forgetting to turn it over. Ready-made pears are elastic and resilient. If they turn out to be tough, then you have dried them out or used unripe fruits.

In order to make it suitable for the preparation of vitaminizing drinks for the winter and other culinary dishes, it is necessary to choose the optimal place and container for them. Ideal option for storage at home, wooden or glass containers or cloth bags will become. Moreover, it is necessary to compact the dried fruits in a container for storage rather tightly. As for the room, it must be absolutely dry, with good ventilation, so that the pears do not become moldy and damp.

Storing dried fruits in a jar

Inspect regularly dried fruits for bugs and other insects. And as a preventive measure, you can dry pears in the oven or microwave at a temperature of no more than 50 degrees or 200-300 W. If you find that your fruit, later long time, became too hard and began to dry, this problem can also be easily eliminated by heating in the oven or microwave, placing an additional container of water in them, or just hold the dried fruits for a short time over a saucepan of boiling water. The steam will make them elastic, soft and tasty again.