How to dry carrots in the oven, preserving its vitamins? How to dry carrots for the winter at home: all the ways to harvest dried carrots.

Dried carrots are very convenient, especially if there are no special places for storing fresh root crops in the house. Of course, vegetables can be frozen, but the volume of freezers for many is not very large. In dry form, carrots retain all their useful and gustatory qualities, and they do not take up much storage space. We will talk about how to dry carrots for the winter at home in this article.

First of all, root crops must be thoroughly washed, it is advisable to use a stiff brush for this. The leaves need to be dried separately, so cut them off the roots and wash them too.

The next step is cleaning. If you plan to dry an impressive amount of the crop, then it is best to use a special vegetable peeler for this. Things will go much faster for her. It is also necessary to cut off the upper green part of the root crop.

Cleaned carrots before drying are advised to blanch in boiling water for 15-20 minutes. The time, in this case, depends on the size of the carrot. You can check the readiness of the product with a thin wooden skewer or a toothpick. It should enter the vegetable with little difficulty. The finished product is cooled under running cold water and dried with towels.

You can also dry untreated, raw carrots. Carrot tops are also not subjected to heat treatment.

• on a coarse grater;
• wheels;
• semicircles or quarters;
• cubes;
• straws;
• cubes.

Carrot tops are finely chopped with a knife. It is allowed to dry the tops in bunches.

How to dry carrots for the winter

In the sun

Shredded carrots are laid out on a tray or net, and exposed to the sun. Carrot tops are placed in a ventilated place, in the shade.

At night, vegetables must be brought into the room, and in the morning, after the dew has disappeared, put back. This must be done so that the carrots do not puff. If drying takes place on pallets, then the vegetables need to be mixed periodically so that the process runs more evenly.

Natural drying in sunlight is undoubtedly the most energy-efficient way, but also the longest in time. Drying takes approximately 10 to 14 days.

Watch the video from the Olga Cozy Corner channel - Drying parsley and carrot tops by hand. How to dry herbs.

in the microwave

Shredded root crops or tops are placed on a flat plate suitable for microwave ovens. The process takes place in two stages.

First, the unit is set to full power and the carrots are dried in this mode for 3 minutes.

Then the power is reduced by half and drying is continued for 3-5 minutes. In order not to miss the readiness of the product, you should look into the oven every 40 - 60 seconds.

In the oven

Oven drying is the most affordable way to harvest carrots for most people.

On a baking sheet covered with waxed paper, carrot slices are laid out with a layer of no more than 1 centimeter.

The oven is heated to a temperature of 65 - 70 degrees and a container with carrots is placed in it. For the best air circulation, the oven door should be kept slightly ajar. Drying takes approximately 6 to 8 hours. It depends on the method of cutting root crops. Green mass dries much faster.

For the entire time the vegetables are in the oven, they need to be taken out several times, mixed and cooled to room temperature.

Watch the video from the Wild Tourist channel - Dried vegetables on a hike. Sublimation at home

In an electric dryer

Sliced ​​carrots are laid out on pallets in one layer, and grated - with a layer of no more than 5 millimeters. On the electric dryer set the temperature regime of 60 - 70 degrees.

Drying time depends on the way the vegetables are cut and their quantity, but on average it takes from 6 to 12 hours. If the volume of vegetables is large, then it should be dried in several stages. To make drying more uniform, do not forget to periodically change the pallets in places.

Watch the video from the Ezidri Master channel - How to dry carrots in an electric dryer? Dried vegetables. Food for the hike

How to store dried carrots

After drying, carrots should be kept for a couple of days in one common container so that the moisture remaining in the product is evenly distributed.

After that, the vegetables are transferred to sealed glass or tin containers or cotton bags. Store carrots in this form for 1 year.

Dried carrots and tops are used for cooking first and second courses, as well as for brewing delicious and healthy tea. Tea can be brewed from both dried leaves and roots.

Calories, kcal:

Proteins, g:

Carbohydrates, g:

Carrots are rightfully considered one of the most consumed plant products, which mankind has known since the dawn of its formation. Carrot (Daucus) is a biennial plant from the Apiaceae family. At the moment, carrots are grown in fields and gardens almost all over the planet. A bright orange vegetable is cultivated in America and Europe, Africa and Asia, Australia and even New Zealand. In addition to eating fresh, carrots are suitable for all types of cooking. It can be fried, boiled, frozen and dried. Dried is widely used in the food, canning industry, as well as for obtaining. It is also widely used in medicine.

In the food industry, there are several varieties of dried carrots that differ from each other in variety and appearance. Dried carrots can be of the highest and first grade, in addition, the product is made in the form of cubes or straws (kalorizator). There are red or yellow dried carrots. It is worth noting that dried carrots are not only a very useful, but also a practical food product that every modern housewife simply must have at hand.

dried carrots calories

The calorie content of dried carrots is 221 kcal per 100 grams of product.

Composition of dried carrots

Dried carrots contain: sugar (up to 15%), fatty oil (0.1-0.7%), nitrogenous substances, mineral salts, asparagine, umbelliferone, flavonoids (up to 0.3%), a number of enzymes (amylase, invertase, protease, lipase, peroxidase, catalase), pigments - various, phytoene, phytofluene, lycopene and various vitamins - (6.25 mg%), (0.12-0.16 mg%), (up to 0.05 mg%) , (up to 0.5 mg%), (up to 0.15 mg%), (0.1 mg%), (0.4 mg%).

The benefits and harms of dried carrots

Dried carrots do not lose the beneficial properties of a fresh vegetable. dried contains, which improves lung function. is the predecessor. Getting into the human body turns into, which is most useful for young women. Also, the healing properties of dried are associated with strengthening the retina. For people suffering from myopia, conjunctivitis, blepharitis, night blindness and fatigue, eating this product is highly desirable.

Dried carrots are very useful for vision, as they have a strengthening effect on the retina, help with myopia and fatigue of the eyes, nervous and digestive systems (calorizator). With regular use, the vitamins and minerals contained in fresh water increase vitality, strengthen immunity, and stimulate regeneration processes in the body.

Considering how many useful properties dried carrots have, it should be bought at a pharmacy.

dried carrots for cooking

In cooking, dried carrots are not just a valuable food product, but also very practical, which has been appreciated by more than one housewife. Dried carrots can greatly change the taste of a dish for the better. Moreover, unlike fresh vegetables, which can deteriorate and become moldy if stored improperly, the dried product retains its original consumer and quality characteristics for a very long time. Dried carrots are added to soups, meat and fish dishes, as well as poultry dishes.

Carrots have a rich chemical composition, due to which they can have a regulatory effect on the metabolism in the human body. Carrots contain proteins and carbohydrates. The content of carbohydrates increases depending on the degree of ripening of the root crop. This vegetable contains little cellulose, so carrots can be used in dietary nutrition. The vegetable is rich in vitamins (B1, B2, B6, C) and minerals (potassium, sodium, calcium, phosphorus, iodine, iron, etc.). It contains a lot of carotene, which is converted into vitamin A in the body.

Supplying the body with nutrients contained in carrots prevents the occurrence of various diseases. Carotene is the most important of these. Especially valuable is the use of carrots in winter. Therefore, there is a storage problem. The storage process negatively affects many useful substances of carrots, which decompose to maintain oxidative respiration processes. You can store this root crop frozen or canned. However, the opinion that frozen vegetables retain vitamins and minerals does not fully correspond to reality. The best option for preserving vitamins is drying technology. Drying will help prevent or slow down the physicochemical, biochemical and other processes that lead to a decrease in the nutritional value of carrots.

Drying carrots at home can occur both naturally - in the open air, and artificially - using dryers. The advantage of artificial drying of carrots, in comparison with natural drying in the open air, is a much shorter cycle of the entire process. The drying process is the removal of moisture by converting it from a liquid to a vapor state using heat.

Most actual way artificial drying of carrots is the use of infrared radiation. The penetration depth of infrared rays will reach 6-12 mm, they can have a stronger effect on products due to a significant penetration depth and due to the impact on the molecular structure. Applying this method to drying carrots is the best way to preserve carotene.

The higher the quality of the prepared raw material, the better the quality of the dried product. Dried carrots made from unripe fruits will be worse than those made from ripe ones. However, at the same time, overripe fruits are not suitable for drying. Therefore, the fruits must be in a state of maturity. Medium-sized bright orange carrots are suitable for drying. The preparation of raw materials begins with sorting and sorting and fruits. Rotten, damaged, ugly vegetables are rejected, in addition, they are sorted by size in order to dry separately. Prepared fruits are washed thoroughly. To wash off the remnants of pesticides from the surface of the carrot, it is washed in water with soda - dilute a teaspoon per liter of water or with the addition of vinegar - a tablespoon of vinegar per liter of water. After that, the skin is cleansed.

Before drying carrots in the oven, it must be blanched - cook in boiling water for 20 minutes and cool in cold water. You can dry carrots at home without blanching, but such carrots will quickly lose their taste and useful qualities. After blanching, the carrots are cooled and cut into circles of 3 mm thick, into cubes or rubbed on a coarse grater. Carrots prepared in this way are poured onto a baking sheet in a thin layer and dried at 60-80? C for 4-6 hours. Properly dried carrots should have a bright orange color. Store it in a dry and dark place in an airtight container.

Many housewives are wondering: how to dry carrots at home and will its benefits be lost with this method of harvesting? To answer this question, you need to talk more about such a useful root crop.

Carrots have a rich chemical composition, due to which it has a regulatory effect on the metabolism in the human body. Carrots are rich in proteins and carbohydrates. The concentration of carbohydrates increases with time and depends on the degree of ripeness of the carrots.

The composition of the root crop is poor in cellulose, which allows it to be used while dieting. The composition of carrots is replete with useful vitamins (B1, B2, B6, C) and a whole group of important minerals (potassium, sodium, calcium, phosphorus, iodine, iron and others). The root vegetable is especially rich in carotene, which is processed by the body into vitamin A.

The consumption of useful substances contained in the root crop helps to resist the development of various diseases. The most important among these substances is considered to be carotene. Therefore, the consumption of carrots in winter is of great value for human nutrition.

And here comes the problem of its storage. Storage of the root crop in winter has a negative effect on a number of useful components from the composition of carrots, and they are broken down as a result of the oxidative respiration process. One of the common ways to store a healthy root crop is deep freezing and preservation. The common belief that deep-frozen vegetables retain their nutritional content is not entirely true. In the manufacture of this type of product, quick freezing is used.

Drying is the best way to store carrots for the winter. Drying makes it possible to prevent or suspend those processes of destruction of the nutritional composition that lead to a decrease in the nutritional value of the orange root crop.

Natural drying of carrots

When asked how to properly dry carrots, nutritionists have a clear answer.

The harvesting process can be carried out in two different ways: using the natural heat provided by the sun, and using the heat obtained from electrical appliances.

The indisputable advantage of the second method, in comparison with the first, is a significantly shorter drying cycle. At home, the harvesting process consists in removing the liquid contained in it from the raw material by evaporating it using natural or artificial heat.

If the hostess decided to prepare carrots using drying in the sun, then she needs to know a number of rules. Most often, an open, well-blown and accessible platform for this, protected from possible harmful factors of human activity, is chosen for this.

Well for harvesting at home, a summer cottage or a veranda of a garden house is suitable. It is advisable to choose the south side for this. The selected site should be free of dust. It will be useful to have a canopy next to the drying zone so that the dried carrots do not suffer from rain. During the drying process, carrots must be stirred to check readiness.

The finished product is packed in wooden or tin containers (cotton bags are also suitable) and stored in a dark room. Tea containers are well suited for storing carrots.

Artificial drying

Another affordable and quick way to harvest carrots in winter is drying in an electric dryer. In this method, infrared radiation is widely used. It has the ability to penetrate into the depth of the dried raw materials by 6-12 millimeters, which is enough to produce carrots at home, in which carotene, which is so useful in winter, is not split.

Carrots for drying should be used clean. To do this, the raw materials must be washed and peeled and cut or grated as the hostess wishes. You can grate it on a coarse grater, or you can cut it into cubes. Dried carrots are worth their weight in gold for our diet. This is due initially to the fact that it is rich in the substance carotene.

How to dry carrots in an electric dryer is usually indicated in the instruction manual for this appliance. Carrots dry for a long time due to the presence of a large amount of moisture in it.

The root crop is dried at a temperature of about 60-70 degrees for about 6 hours. It may take several cycles to dry completely. Their number is selected individually during electric drying, so the process requires constant supervision.

Dried carrots can be used in the household, cooking various soups, pies and other preparations, and even when making tea. It can be used for food at any time of the year with strict observance of storage conditions.

Dried carrots are very convenient. It can be used for first courses, desserts, pastries and much more. Depending on what the preparation is planned for, it is prepared in various ways. This review is devoted to carrots, shredded with thin straws.
Recipe content:

Carrots are an indispensable vegetable for normalizing digestion, preventing SARS, an excellent antiseptic, reduces the risk of oncology and premature skin aging. The vegetable contains almost all the substances that our body needs. Therefore, to the question “to stock up on it for the winter or not to stock up”, the answer is obvious - definitely “yes”. The root crop can be prepared in several ways: freeze, preserve and dry. In this review, we will learn how to prepare it using the last method.

Properly dried carrot roots retain both color and fresh smell. If you have a jar of dried carrots on your shelf, then the preparatory work for performing culinary masterpieces is significantly reduced. Getting into the soup, meat stew, dough, etc., the carrot sticks straighten and take on their original form. Dried carrot chips or rings can be considered as diet chips that can be eaten just like that. In addition, all vitamins and minerals are preserved in dried vegetables, and fresh root crops lose part of their “strategic reserve” by spring. Another pleasant moment is that the calorie content of dry carrot slices is much lower than that of a fresh vegetable, while the taste is quite pleasant.

• Calorie content per 100 g - 219 kcal.
• Servings - 100 g
• Cooking time - 15 minutes for prep work, 2 hours for drying

Ingredients:

• Carrots - 2 pcs. (big size)

How to cook dried carrots:

1. Wash the carrots well under running water and dry with a paper towel.

2. Clean the root crop with a special vegetable peeler. Such a knife allows you to minimally cut the peel, leaving more pulp of the vegetable.

3. Grate carrots. To make the straws beautiful, thin and long, use a food processor or Korean carrot grater.

4. Put the carrot shavings on a baking sheet in an even layer. Heat the oven to 80 degrees and send the root crop to dry. At the same time, keep the chamber door slightly ajar so that air can circulate. Also, the vegetable can be dried naturally, left in an apartment in a dry place, and after 1-2 days it will dry. Well, of course, you can take advantage of the rays of the sun.