How to dry pears in the oven and electric dryer? Rules for choosing pears for drying and their further storage. How to store and dry pears at home

Who doesn't like to eat vitamin preparations of summer fruits in winter? A pear is very well suited for the role of a fruit that can be dried and stored for a long time. In this article, we will consider how to properly prepare this fruit for the process, what methods can be used to dry pears and how to do it correctly.

REFERENCE: It is advisable not to take viscous-tasting fruits and it is better to give preference to sweet varieties that ripen in summer.

Pears drying

For drying pears choose the following fruits:

Not overripe;
Not juicy;
With dense pulp;
Fruit size - medium;
With few seeds.

Harvested fruits are not stored for more than two days, otherwise they will become soft and not suitable for drying.

Suitable varieties for such a workpiece:

Fragrant;
Ilyinka;
Bergamot;
Forest beauty;
lemon;
Victoria.

Drying pears:

Dried pear: ways

There are several methods on how to dry this fruit for the winter:

In an electric dryer;
In the oven;
in the microwave;
On open air.

Preliminary processing

Whatever drying method is chosen, the pears must be prepared for it. The process of processing the fetus consists of the following actions:

The fruits are washed;
Wipe thoroughly;
If rotten or overripe, very soft specimens come across, they are removed, they are not suitable for drying;
Dip the fruits in boiling water for 10-15 minutes. Sugar can be added if desired;
Allow fruit to cool
After that, the pears are cut, the bones are removed from them, the spoiled places are cut off;
So that the workpiece does not darken during the procedure, it must be dipped in 1% tartaric or citric acid;

ATTENTION: Frozen, overripe, rotten fruits are not suitable for drying!

As for how to cut pears, it depends on the size of the fruit. Not large fruits can be cut in half or slices, large ones are cut into pieces, but at least 1 cm thick (with this size, the pear will retain the proportions of aroma and taste). It is also possible to dry small fruits as a whole (for this you need to remember to remove the stalk).

natural technique

This method is longer than the others, but it retains the maximum amount of useful substances.

Suitable for owners of private yards, cottages, etc. But in the apartment you can also dry it in this way, for example, in the kitchen or on the balcony. The main thing for this method is a clean, not dusty, well-ventilated place, which has access to sunlight.
This technique is not complicated and includes the following steps:

Put the pears on a baking sheet, newspaper, parchment;
Put them in the chosen place;
At night, cover with gauze and bring into the room;
Once every few days, the pears must be turned over to the other side so that they dry evenly;
After three days, put to dry in the shade;

IMPORTANT: To protect fruits from insects, you can cover with a thin layer of gauze.

If this method is not suitable, then a natural drying option would be if you stretch a thread through the pieces of pears and hang to dry on it in a suitable place.

Using the oven

This method is good for its speed and convenience; after it, dried fruits have a wonderful taste and aroma, but the amount of vitamins and other substances decreases. It also helps out well in adverse weather conditions for drying.

The essence of this method:

Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment;
Put pears on it;
Preheat the oven to a temperature of 50 degrees;
Put a baking sheet with fruits in it and dry them for about two hours, periodically opening the door to release the moisture released by the fruits and checking if they burn;
To completely evaporate excess moisture, you need to raise the temperature of the oven to 80 degrees and leave the door ajar. Don't forget to check the condition of the fruit. Drying at this temperature should be done for at least 4 hours, but it all depends on the variety and size of the pieces, so it may take 8-10 hours;
When the required amount of time passes and the pear decreases in size, the temperature is reduced to 55 degrees and the fetus is sterilized for another 40 minutes;
Lay out on a cloth and let cool.

Dry in the oven:

Using an electric dryer and microwave

The easiest way to dry pears is with an electric dryer, because they do not even need to be turned over in this special device.

The algorithm of actions when drying in an electric dryer:

Put fruits in one layer on special trays and place them in the device;
Turn on the kitchen appliance at 70 degrees and wait 30-40 minutes.

Dried fruits acquire a brownish tint, become elastic and do not crumble when bent.

Drying in an electric dryer:

The fastest method is microwave drying., but its disadvantages are the ability to overdry fruits and is not convenient for large volumes of raw materials. You also need to take into account the harm of microwave radiation. But if this drying method is chosen, then you need to perform the following actions:

Put a pear on a surface covered with cotton cloth;
Set the power to 200W and leave for 2.5 minutes. If the fruits are not dry, repeat the procedure.

Whole fruit drying

If you decide to dry the whole pears, then there are no special rules in this. In this form, pears are dried in the open air for 8-10 days, and in the oven for about a day.

A few points worth paying attention to:

The fruits should not be large;
Remove sepals and ponytails;
The skin is not removed;

Such drying is time consuming.

Wild pears: features of drying wild wild

Features of drying wild game:

These types of fruits are not harvested, but wait until they themselves fall;
They are allowed to rest until the skin darkens;
Wash, dry and cut fruits;
Do not cut out the seed nest;
Do not blanch in boiling water.

Dried pears will have a brownish tint, pleasant aroma and sweet taste. They should also become elastic and not crumble when bent.

Dried pear for decoration:

There is nothing difficult when drying pears for the winter. To do this, you need to choose the right fruits, prepare them correctly, and then choose a convenient way, based on the capabilities and availability of kitchen appliances, and just follow the recommendations. And then this delicious summer beauty will saturate your body with vitamins all year round.

A very tasty and healthy fruit that can be consumed not only in its natural form or in the form of preserves, jams, marmalades, compotes, etc., but also as an ingredient that gives a completely new taste to both desserts and salads, soups and main dishes from meat and fish.

Some varieties of pears can be well stored until the very cold weather, however, the question of how to properly harvest pears for the winter remains relevant for many housewives.

Benefits of dried pears

The use of a pear as a dried fruit allows you to save the main vitamins contained in it, as well as pectin and minerals that a pear is rich in - iron, zinc, iodine, potassium, calcium, copper, carotene, etc.

Dried pears improve heart function, they are also good for the lungs, liver and kidneys. The benefits of dried pears are also manifested in its ability to calm the nervous system, minimize the effects of stress and depression, tone up and improve overall well-being.

This dried fruit removes toxins from the body, due to which it is used for colds. Dried pear compote has diuretic, antiseptic and even analgesic properties.

Dried pears are one of the rare types of dried fruits that are not contraindicated in pancreatitis.

Did you know? Pear - both fresh and dried - is an excellent component in various diets aimed at getting rid of excess weight. This fruit not only contains little sugar in itself, but is also able to lower the level of sugar in human blood, in this regard, dried pear is a favorite product for people with diabetes.

The fact that the dried pear is called the queen among fruits will be best appreciated by men, since this product has been used for prostatitis since ancient times.

A good wife adds slices of dried pears to her husband’s tea in winter, especially if he is over forty, to prevent this unpleasant disease, and Ukrainian compote without pear drying is generally impossible to imagine.

How to dry pears for the winter

Not yet fully ripened, but not quite green, medium-sized pears are best suited for drying. It is preferable to use summer varieties.

Such pears as "Bergamot", "Forest Beauty", "Fragrant" are good in dried form. It is important that the pear has a dense, but not rough flesh.

Important! Overripe fruits are not suitable for drying. However, they can be successfully used in other blanks - compotes, jams or jams.

Drying pears at home can be done in two ways - with or without preliminary heat treatment.

In the first case, the fruits do not darken directly during drying, but the second allows you to save more vitamins and nutrients in the finished product.

Regardless of the method chosen, pears plucked from a tree no more than two days ago should be washed under running water.

If the method with preliminary temperature treatment is chosen, the pears are blanched in boiling water for several minutes (depending on the sweetness of the pears, a little sugar or citric acid can be added to the water).

As soon as the pears become soft, they are thrown into a colander, the water is allowed to drain, and the pears are completely dry.

The next steps are the same for both methods. Pears are cleaned from the core and cut into plates or slices about a centimeter thick. If the pear is very small, you can not cut it.

The preparatory work is completed, we proceed to the drying procedure.

Pears can be dried naturally - outdoors, on a balcony, terrace, etc., or in an accelerated mode - in an oven, electric dryer, grill or microwave. Each of these methods has its own advantages and disadvantages.

This is the cheapest and most natural drying method. However, it requires much more time and space - a well-lit area. It is optimal for those who have a summer house, their own house or at least a spacious sunny balcony.

When choosing this method, weather conditions must also be taken into account: if the fruits are dried in the open air, they should not get wet in unexpected rain - at the first sign of precipitation, the pears should be immediately moved under a canopy, otherwise the whole procedure can be considered failed.

Evenly sliced pears are neatly laid out on a flat surface with the juicy side up. From above, the fruit should be covered with gauze to protect it from insects (when drying on a closed balcony, this precaution is unnecessary) and left for several days.

The drying process must be constantly monitored, if necessary, pieces of fruit should be turned over for uniform drying. Depending on the temperature and amount of sunlight, drying can take from two to seven days, after which the fruit is removed from the light in a more shaded place and left for another two days.

Properly dried pear should not crumble and break. Most of the moisture comes out of the fruit, but the pieces should remain soft and elastic.

Dried pears can be cooked quite quickly in the oven. The whole procedure will take approximately 12-14 hours.

Sliced pears should be laid out on a baking sheet so that they do not overlap each other, and placed in an oven heated to 50-55 degrees. It is better to leave the door in the oven ajar so that the pears are provided with sufficient ventilation.

The process must be constantly monitored, adjusting the temperature depending on the condition of the fruit.

Approximately in the middle of the procedure, when the pears have already dried up, but are not yet completely ready, you can add a little temperature to speed up the process, but you need to complete the drying again at the minimum temperature.

Important! If the pears in the oven begin to darken - this means that the temperature is too high, you must immediately reduce the heat and, if necessary, cool and turn the pieces on the other side!

After complete drying (it is determined in the same way as when drying in the sun), the oven is turned off, the pears are removed and left to dry for two days at room temperature, after which they are laid out in clean jars or paper bags for storage in a place protected from moisture until winter.

Drying in the oven is not suitable for whole fruits, as it will take too long - sometimes more than a day.

This is the most convenient way to prepare dried fruits. Its only drawback is the need to purchase a special electric dryer and spend a certain amount of money to pay for electricity.

Prepared pieces of fruit are laid out on a tray of an electric dryer and dried at a temperature of 70 degrees with occasional stirring. Drying pears in an electric dryer takes 15-20 hours, depending on the type of pear and the size of the pieces.

As with drying in the oven, do not leave the pears unattended so that they do not dry out - the slices may turn brown, but should not darken too much and start to break.

Drying pears in the microwave

Pears can be dried in the microwave quite quickly - in just a few minutes. The pieces laid out on a flat plate are placed in the oven. The mode depends on household appliances.

If the stove is powerful, it is better to set the weakest mode, for a less powerful one - medium. Using a high level will not shorten the drying time, it will just burn the fruit.

After 2-3 minutes, the pear should be ready, but if you see that the pieces are still too wet, you need to restart the oven for half a minute and check the result again.

You can also dry pears in the microwave using the "defrost" mode. This is a more gentle option, it allows you to stretch the procedure for 30 minutes and does not require such careful monitoring of the process.

However, it is still better to check the pears 2-3 times for readiness in order to prevent overdrying.

How to store dried pears

In order for the pear to retain all its useful properties, it must not only be properly dried, but also properly preserved.

Dried fruits are well stored in an airtight form so that moisture does not get into them. Tin or glass vessels with tight lids, as well as special plastic bags equipped with fasteners, are suitable for this.

If there is no cellar, you should try to find a cool dark place for dried pears. If possible, they should be isolated from spices, spices and other aromatic products, since drying has the property of absorbing odors.

Dried fruits should be periodically ventilated and checked for the presence of fungal formations. The first signs of mold are a direct command to throw away the product without regret.

Under all conditions, the dried pear can be stored until next spring.

Candied pear

Candied fruits are a less dietary product than dried fruits, however, they are less high in calories and, accordingly, more useful than other sweets.

Just like dried pears, candied fruits from this fruit are rich in fiber and retain vitamins, minerals and trace elements.

According to the method of preparation, candied fruits are pieces of fruit boiled in concentrated sugar syrup and subsequently dried.

Pears, ideally not fully ripened, are washed, peeled and cut into fairly large slices, dipped in sugar syrup (the amount of sugar should correspond to the mass of chopped pears) and simmered over low heat until the syrup is almost completely evaporated.

Ready pears are laid out on parchment, sprinkled with sugar and dried in the sun or in the oven at minimum heat.

You need to store candied fruits in the same way as dried fruits.

Dried Pears Recipe

Drying, like drying, involves the separation of the pulp from the juice under prolonged exposure to air and a relatively low temperature. In fact, drying – it is a type of cold drying.

The pear for drying is selected and processed in the same way as for drying, but the slices can be made somewhat thicker.

The prepared pieces are placed in an enamel bowl and covered with sugar (in the ratio of about 1 part sugar to three parts of a pear). In this form, the pear should be left for 2.5 days at room temperature.

The real pears are thrown into a colander, letting the syrup with juice drain, then put into boiling 50% sugar syrup (0.7 ml of syrup per 1 kg of pears), mix and remove from heat without covering with a lid. After 8-10 minutes, the pears are discarded again and allowed to drain completely within an hour.

Then the fruits are laid out in one layer on a grid and left for a week in a well-ventilated place (as the pears dry, you need to turn them over several times) or, to speed up the process, they are placed in an oven heated to 60 ° C for 40 minutes, after which they cool and repeat the procedure again, sometimes up to three times. You can also dry the pear in an electric dryer.

Dried pears should be dense and elastic.

How to freeze pears for the winter

Freezing a pear is an ideal way to not only preserve all the nutrients in it, but also get a product that can be used in cooking in the same way as a fresh pear.

Before freezing, the pears should be washed and thoroughly dried with a paper towel.

Did you know? The amount of vitamins in a properly frozen pear is almost the same as in a fresh one, provided that the fruit was frozen at a temperature not higher than -16°С , and was stored at a temperature not higher than -8°С . It is impossible to re-freeze defrosted pears!

Properly frozen pears can last up to a year.

Freezing slices or pieces

Pears are peeled, cut into slices or pieces of the desired size. To prevent the pear from darkening, it can be lightly sprinkled with lemon juice.

Pieces are stacked on a flat surface covered with cling film or foil and placed in the freezer for a day.

After complete freezing, the pears are laid out in specially designed plastic bags (they must be vented and tightly tied) or in containers and placed in the freezer for later storage.

You can recommend the article to your friends!

Stocks for the winter are never enough, any housewife will tell you about it. Therefore, it is necessary to think in advance about the preparation of drying, from which in winter you can make delicious compotes for children. In today's article, drying pears at home and its features will be considered. We will also talk about how it happens in the sun.

Drying pears: which one to choose?

First of all, you should know that the pears that you selected for drying should not be stored for more than 48 hours. Since we are talking about pear cultivars, it is best to use for drying those that have a minimum of "stony" cells, dense pulp and small seed chambers. Such varieties are, Talgar beauty, Forest beauty, Fragrant, etc.

In no case do not take overripe pear fruits for drying. Of these, it is best to make delicious jam or marmalade.

Why drying pears in the sun is better?

You can dry pears not only in the oven. Often they are dried in the sun, in ovens or even in microwave ovens. It is impossible to say that pears dried in the oven will be worse than those dried in the oven. Both those and others, with the right approach, will be good.

Another thing is that the sun is a force of nature. And dried fruits, dried in the sun, retain a piece of it. However, today is not about lyrics.

Sliced pears must be immediately exposed to the sun. There they should “languish” for about three days. It is advisable to choose the time so that sunny days are not replaced by rains. Next, the drying is placed in the shade, where there is good ventilation, and already dried there.

Drying pears in the oven is a delicate matter ...

When pears are dried in the oven, there are rules here. The temperature in the chamber should be between 85 - 90 degrees Celsius. Please note that the final drying temperature should not exceed 55 degrees. This temperature regime is also valid if pears are dried in an electric oven.

As for the duration of drying at home, everything will depend on whether you are drying whole pears or sliced ones. After all, sliced \u200b\u200bfruits need to be dried for about 20 hours, while drying whole fruits will take as much as 24 hours.

Drying pears for the winter: technology tricks

If you want to get better drying, then simply slicing pears is not enough. To begin with, it is necessary to peel the pears from the skin, and then remove all the seed chambers and fumigate the fruits.

To improve the appearance of future drying and also speed up the process itself, it is recommended to carry out a preliminary heat treatment.

So, first we sort the pears according to the degree of maturity. Next, they must be washed well. Washed fruits are dipped in boiling water and boiled for 15 minutes. Note that mature fruits need to be cooked less than green ones until they become soft. The processed pears are caught with a scoop or sieve, and the next batch is loaded in their place until all the prepared pears have been processed.

To add extra sweetness, it is recommended to add a little sugar to the water in which the pears are processed.

When all the raw materials have undergone heat treatment, it is necessary to allow it to cool completely. Then they are cut into slices and laid out on a container in which they are going to be dried directly.

By the way, the water in which pears were boiled can be safely used to prepare a wide variety of goodies: jam, kvass, syrup, jelly or compote.

Often, pears for drying are processed in a different way. Also, as in the first case, they are washed well, and then cut into slices. Next, these slices are blanched for 7 minutes in boiling water to make them soft. So that the fruit does not darken, the slices are pre-soaked in a 1% solution of either citric or tartaric acid.

How is the drying of wild pears at home?

With wild pears, the drying process looks a little different. First of all, the main difference is that wild pears do not need to be picked from the tree. You have to wait until they fall off on their own. The collected pears can be put either in a bucket or in a basin and wait until the skin turns brown and the pears themselves darken.

This is done so that the pears acquire a sweetish and aromatic taste, instead of tart and bitter. Now they need to be washed, cut into halves and dried in the same way as cultivars of pears.

Now you know that the darkened fruits of wild pears are not a spoiled product. In addition, when drying wild pears, seed boxes do not need to be removed from them and they do not need blanching and fumigation.

If everything is done correctly, then the pears you dried should be soft and elastic, and not break when bent or squeezed. Their color is from light brown to dark brown, they have a sweet taste and pleasant aroma.

Drying is one way. It is worth mentioning right away that not all varieties of fruit are suitable for this. It is best if the selected fruits are both sweet, juicy and dense. The following varieties fall under these characteristics:

Zaporozhye;
Forest beauty;
lemon;
Victoria.

Pear Lemonka for drying

To dry pears, choose the right fruits: they must be ripe, but not overripe. It doesn’t matter if you bought fruits or removed them from a tree, they cannot be stored for more than two days - after that the pears become soft, unsuitable for drying. Also, do not use damaged or frostbitten fruits. Let's move on to the next step. First, boil water, adding a little sugar if the fruits are unsweetened. After that, sort the pears according to the degree of maturity, cut off the damaged areas, rinse thoroughly and finally dry with a towel.

Dip the pears in boiling water and boil for about 10 minutes, unripe fruits can be boiled more, but not more than 15 minutes. As a result, the fruit should become soft. Let the fruits cool, then cut them into slices and arrange them in a bowl where the fruits will dry. Preparing large fruits looks a little different. They need to be cut into pieces about 1 cm thick, slightly smaller fruits are cut into several pieces. So that they do not darken, they must be lowered into a solution of tartaric acid (1%). Then the slices are blanched in water for five minutes. Now you can start drying.

In the warm season, fruits are much more convenient to dry naturally, that is, in the open air. After placing the pears on a baking sheet, put the dishes in a quiet and well-lit place, where there is no wind and dust. Also try to place the tray with the wedges at a slight angle to give the fruit as much light as possible. For residents of private houses, a good option would be the roof of the house, where there are all conditions for high-quality drying.

Dried pear pieces

Drying should last about two days, but at the same time, it is better to take future dried fruits into the house at night, covering them with a film. After that, we transfer the tray with pieces of fruit to the shade and dry for about three more days. In order for the pears to dry evenly, they need to be turned over occasionally. Some housewives press half-dried slices, squeezing them with boards. After that, they are strung on a thread and dried already so that it is also considered quite a good option. By the way, so that the slices do not darken, you can sprinkle them with lemon juice. Such a little trick will help preserve the natural color of dried fruits.

Since weather conditions do not always allow natural drying, you can use other devices that can replace sunlight - an oven, a microwave oven, and an electric dryer. If you decide to dry the fruits in the oven, you need to spread the pears cut into slices on a baking sheet in one layer. First, dry the fruit at a temperature of about +60 ° C, which will avoid cracking and peeling of the peel. After two hours, the temperature must be raised to +80 °C. Keep an eye on the oven - after the slices begin to decrease in volume, the temperature should be reduced to +55 ° C.

Drying pears in the oven

Now it remains only to dry the pear, while the time depends on the size of the fruit:

to dry whole fruits, you need to keep them in the oven for 20-24 hours;
dried slices will be ready after a maximum of 15 hours.

You can use an electronic dryer. Due to the fact that it consists of several layers, several servings of fruits can be loaded at a time. Spread the slices inside the device and turn on the device. At the same time, you do not need to turn the fruit over - the device will do everything for you. But the fastest drying method is in a microwave oven, but it is also the most difficult, since it is important to always be on guard and prevent overdrying of fruits. We wash the fruit, cut it, remove the core, lay it out on a plate covered with a cloth. Put them inside for 2.5 minutes at a power of 200 watts. If the pears have not reached a little, you can put them in the microwave for another 30 seconds.

The slices should not break when compressed, they should be elastic and soft, “spring”. But if the fruit turned out to be tough, then you did something wrong.

Saving slices - useful life hacks

Now you know how to dry pears, and we will tell you how to save dried fruits so that they do not deteriorate. For this, glass jars or wooden containers, a linen bag are ideal. It's best if you store everything in a dry place. At the same time, you should not forget about your stocks, as they can become damp or rot. Often, various bugs attack dried fruits, which will gladly eat the cooked delicacy. To prevent this from happening, you should inspect your supplies once a month.

It would be useful to dry dried fruits at least once a season: just put them on a baking sheet and put them in the oven for an hour at a temperature of +50 ° C. Dried pears may harden as a result of prolonged storage. To soften the fruits, before use, they must be sent to the oven along with a container of water, holding in a "steam bath" for 15-20 minutes. If you decide to use pears for cosmetic purposes, they should be ground in a coffee grinder, poured into a jar and stored in a dark place. And to, just take dried fruits and act according to the recipe.

How to dry pears in the oven and electric dryer? Rules for choosing pears for drying and their further storage. How to store and dry pears at home

Pears drying