How to dry prunes at home: in the dryer, oven, in the sun, storage

There are several ways to quickly and easily dry prunes at home. To preserve the taste and all the benefits of the product, you need to follow certain rules. You should first select high-quality fruits. The preparatory stage involves performing a series of sequential actions. If the conditions are created, dried fruits can be stored for a long time.

Content

Features of drying plums for the winter
Selection and preparation of plums for the winter
Methods for drying plums
In the sun
In the oven
In an electric dryer
In the microwave
In a convection oven
How to tell if dried fruit is ready
Storing prunes

Features of drying plums for the winter

Dried fruits contain almost the same composition of useful components as fresh berries. The main thing is to carry out the procedure, following all the rules and recommendations:

Be sure to sort through all the collected or purchased plums;
choose the appropriate drying method;
follow all the steps indicated in the instructions;
Ready-made dried fruits are stored under certain conditions.

Prunes are good for human health. The product improves the functioning of the digestive tract and cardiac system. It is enough to eat 5-6 pieces daily.

Selection and preparation of plums for the winter

Fully ripe large and dense fruits with fleshy pulp are suitable for drying. There should be no dents, stains or other signs of damage on the surface of the berries:

Selected fruits should be washed in cool water, then the stalks are removed and dried, spread on a paper towel.
The fruits are cut into two parts and the pit is removed. It is permissible to dry fruits with a seed inside, but then the process will be long and labor-intensive.
To remove the wax layer from the surface of the plum, blanching is carried out. Baking soda is dissolved in a liter of boiling water and the fruit is immersed in the resulting solution for 24 seconds. It is the whole fruits that need to be blanched. During the procedure, cracks appear through which excess fluid comes out.
Wash the fruits again under cold running water and dry with paper towels.

Methods for drying plums

To properly dry plums, you need to follow all the tips and recommendations that are prescribed in the selected drying option.

In the sun

The easiest way to dry plums is outside, in direct sunlight. The berries must be cut in half, since it will not be possible to dry the fruit as a whole:

The fruit, cut in half, is placed in a single layer on a drying rack, rack or cardboard sheet and left in direct sunlight.
In the evening the product is brought home, turned over and taken outside again in the morning. In rainy weather, the product is also brought under a canopy.
The steps are repeated for 5 days. Periodically, the slices are turned over with different sides.
Then the prunes continue to dry for 4 days in the shade.

In the oven

Drying plums is easy in the oven. The work process looks like this:

The baking sheet is covered with baking paper;
lay the plum in one layer;
first, the baking sheet with berries is placed in the oven, preheated to +55 degrees for 5.5 hours;
then you should preheat the oven to +75 degrees and leave the product for 6.5 hours;
at a temperature of +82 degrees, prunes are left until fully cooked.

After each stage of being in the oven, the plum slices are turned over and left to cool, only after that they are placed in the oven at an even higher temperature.

In an electric dryer

An electric dryer will help dry plums:

Place plum slices on the trays of the device in one layer.
First you need to dry the product at a temperature of +52 degrees for 4.5 hours.
The slices are turned over and continued to dry for 4.5 hours at a temperature of +61 degrees.
The pieces are mixed again and dried at a temperature of +78 degrees for 5.5 hours.

In the microwave

Only dense fruits are suitable for drying in the microwave:

Place a paper towel on a flat container.
Spread the prepared plum in one layer.
Cover the top of the fruit slices with another layer of paper napkin.
Turn on the microwave for 3 minutes at medium power.
After 3 minutes, remove the napkin and turn on the microwave again for 3 minutes.
At the last stage, you need to turn on the device for 1 minute, setting the full power.

In a convection oven

You can prepare sweet and tasty prunes using an air fryer:

They begin to dry the plum at a temperature of +62 degrees for 43 minutes. Then the product is left to cool.
The first stage must be repeated two more times.
Then leave the product for 12 hours. Dry the plums again in the air fryer for 42 minutes at intervals of one hour. The procedure is repeated three times.
The prunes are laid out on a paper napkin and left to drip.