Dried apricots are healthy dried fruits. It is recommended to take them with anemia, cardiovascular diseases or lesions of the gastrointestinal tract. Dried apricots should be consumed daily. However, it is not cheap, and not everyone can afford such a purchase. Therefore, many housewives are wondering about how to make dried apricots at home.
What is dried apricots? Destination
Dried apricots - a storehouse of vitamins and minerals (A1, B1, B2, C, PP, potassium, magnesium, iron, phosphorus, sodium, etc.). This fruit is made from apricots. Just do not confuse with apricot and kaisa. They are made from whole apricots, with or without seeds. These are also healthy dried fruits. And yet, we can say that dried apricots are dried apricots.
It is made from seedless fruit. However, you must know the variety from which this product is made. For example, wild apricot with small fruits is not suitable.
Doctors recommend eating dried apricots daily in an amount of about 5 pcs. If you regularly eat dried fruits, you can protect yourself from a heart attack or stroke. Dried apricots are used when dieting, as well as used in cosmetology - they make masks for both face and hair.
There are more minerals in dried fruits than vitamins. It is their consumption that keeps the body in good shape. If you do not like dried apricots in pure form, then you can add to dessert. They add piquancy and unique taste to the dish.
Choose apricot variety for dried apricots
For the preparation of dried fruits, it is important to choose the right fruit. If you take wild apricots, dried apricots will not work. It will be bitter and tasteless, and maybe too sour. Therefore, it is necessary to take large varieties. It can be a red-cheeked apricot. The weight of one fruit is 40-50 grams. The bone does not adhere very well to the pulp; separate it without any problems. The color of the apricot is yellow with ruddy sides. Therefore, dried apricots will turn out not only delicious, but also beautiful.
The weight of Melitopol apricot is up to 40 gr. The color is bright orange. These fruits are also suitable for drying dried apricots. Dried fruits will turn out delicious, as the fruits are juicy and sweet. The color of dried apricots will turn orange.
Still for the production of dried fruits, varieties are suitable: Polesye large-fruited apricot, Kuibyshev jubilee, pineapple, etc. Dried apricots can be made from all these species. It will turn out delicious, juicy and beautiful. Colors can be from yellow to orange. Next, you will learn how to make dried apricots at home.
Recipe
As a rule, dried fruits are expensive, so not every buyer has the opportunity to purchase them. Moreover, independent cooking gives a guarantee of a quality product. You can be sure that in dried fruits there are no chemicals harmful to the body. Once you know what dried apricots are, the recipe for cooking is simple.
You will need:
- Fresh, ripe apricots - 2.5 kg.
- Sugar - 1 kg.
- Lemon acid.
Rinse the apricots thoroughly, divide them into two halves and carefully remove the seeds. So that the color does not fade or burn out, dip the fruit for 5 minutes in boiling sweet water. If you want dried apricots with sourness, add citric acid to boiling water, but this is not necessary.
After 5 minutes, remove the halves of the fruit from the water and place it on a paper towel to free them from excess moisture and liquid.
After that, you can do the cooking. You will learn how to dry apricots in three ways:
1. This method came to us from grandmothers. Place apricots under a scorching sun on a clean cloth. This drying takes about two weeks. However, every evening it is necessary to clean them, because nightly moisture and morning dew do not allow apricots to dry. They only get wet.
If drying on the street, it is necessary to cover the fruits with dense gauze. Because of this, they dry longer.
2. Apricots can also be dried in the oven. The temperature should be approximately 50-60 degrees, and the fruits should be left for 8-11 hours. In the oven, foods are often overdried, so you need to follow the cooking.
3. A dryer is the best way. The device is designed just for this. Apricots in an electric dryer will cook better than in other ways. As a rule, for 2 hours they put the fruits to languish at 50 degrees. Do not approach the device yet. The remaining 8 hours are set at 45˚.
So dried apricots are made - the recipe is quite simple. Dried fruits can make any hostess. Of 2.5 kg, approximately half a kilogram remains.
How to keep the color of dried apricots?
Home-made dried fruits are much darker than store-bought ones. How to keep a beautiful and bright color? There are two methods:
1. Put the apricot halves in boiling water for 5 minutes. The fruits will fix the color, and boiling water will disinfect the product. Perhaps the microbes will not completely disappear, but will cease to multiply.
2. A special solution will help preserve the color of the fruit. To do this, you need 1 liter of water and citric acid (8 tsp.). Hold the apricots in this syrup for about 10 minutes.
These are two proven methods. Citric acid and boiling water retain the color of the fruit for a long time. But try not to overdo it.
We determine the willingness
Now you know how to make dried apricots at home. However, you must correctly determine its readiness. After all, if it is half-finished, it will quickly deteriorate. In order to find out if dried apricots are ready, you must use one of three methods:
1. Pressing down. Squeeze one dried apricot in your hand, it should be no more than 10% liquid. The fruits are dry, elastic to the touch. When you tap on a hard surface, they make a dull sound.
2. Dipping in hot water. Dried apricots swells. This is a sign of good quality. Dip in water for 5-10 minutes.
3. Color is a sure indicator of quality. If apricots were dipped in boiling water or in citric acid before drying, then an almost natural color is preserved.
Bright orange fruits become slightly duller, like yellow ones. There was no attempt to preserve the color - then the dried apricots will be dark in color. If it has not changed much, then the fruit should be dried so that it does not deteriorate.
Storage of dried apricots
Many people like to eat dried apricots in the winter. Some use it in a variety of dishes, others prepare compotes, others just like to eat. However, it is important not only to know how to make dried apricots at home, but also to understand how to properly store it.
Plastic bags are the first enemy of dried fruits, so you can not keep products in them. They only deteriorate there and become fresh, they begin to bloom. A box or a small box made of wood is best. Cloth bags have been used since ancient times for food storage. You can also keep dried fruits in glass jars, only make small holes in the lid.