Dried carrot recipe. Rules for successful harvesting: how to dry carrots

Late autumn is the time for the last preparations for the winter. Cabbage, carrots, potatoes, beets, onions and other vegetables are in abundance at autumn fairs, which make up an important and significant part of the diet of every person.

Last year (at the end of winter - beginning of spring) I encountered a lack of normal (not frozen and not rotting) carrots in the nearest stores. It is hard to imagine the preparation of the first courses without this root crop, it is noticeably lacking for the second, to say nothing of my love for carrot juice .. It was very unusual and extremely unpleasant. I had to buy dried mixtures with carrots for dressing soups, and this turned out to be not a very pleasant burden for the family budget.

That is why this fall, dried carrots have become one of the important preparations. It was necessary, but the anticipation of the process was bleak .. but in vain! - drying carrots for the winter was not difficult and not long. And, of course, the quality of the resulting product is much higher than what you buy in small bags in the store.

So, how to dry carrots at home?

We go to the autumn fair, where we buy carrots so nicely packed in small nets. We will harvest in parts, fortunately, raw carrots are stored well, especially if there is a cool room (in our case, a basement).

Carrot wash and clean from the peel. Using a vegetable peeler (a special knife for peeling vegetables) greatly simplifies and speeds up this process, especially if the carrots are large and even - then in general there is a lot of pleasure and satisfaction from simplicity and speed.

Next, carrots blanch, otherwise carrots will quickly lose not only taste, but also their beneficial properties. To do this, bring the water to a boil, put the carrots in boiling water and cook for 10-15 minutes, depending on the size of the carrot.
Carrots are dried in the oven, for example, without preliminary blanching, but this is a possible, but not the best option for drying carrots.

I gave carrots cool down independently (of course, draining the water, and pulling it out of the pan to increase the cooling rate), although I read that it must be quickly cooled under cold running water.

After the carrots have cooled down, rub it on a coarse grater. You can also cut into circles up to 3 mm thick or into sticks - try to make them the same so that drying goes more evenly.

We spread the grated carrots on all levels of the dryer (at first I tried to spread it in a rather thin layer and at intervals for air, but then I simply spread the entire volume obtained into grates, i.e. all the carrots that fit during the cooking process in a 3-liter saucepan were stacked on 5 dryer levels).

There was a fear that due to the density of the layers of grated carrots on the pallets, the drying would not be uniform, but no - the drying went well and took only 2 days.
No, no, don't worry, it's not a full 2 ​​days. In total it turned out 6-7 hours at a temperature of 50-60 degrees. The first day I dried the carrots for 3-4 hours, changing the levels every hour, since the bottom of the product dries faster than at the top levels. And also removing drops of moisture from the inside of the dryer lid. On the second day, I dried the carrots for 3 hours, also rearranging the levels and stirring the already dried carrots a little.

When the consistency of the carrots became suitable (the carrots should become dry, but not crumbling into powder), I turned off the dryer, let the carrots cool for about half an hour and transferred everything to an 800 gram jar. It turned out "bit".

What a joyful orange color a dried carrot has! But do not rush to close it with a lid - let it stand for another day in a dry, warm place (covering it with gauze instead of a lid), so the carrots will probably dry out and will be stored even better.

Total: I won’t say by weight (next time I’ll definitely weigh it too (it turned out to be 1.5 kg)), but in terms of volume, an 800 gram jar of dried product came out of a 3-liter pot with large carrots.

How to store dried carrots?

Dried carrots keep for a very long time.
Store dried carrots in a dry, dark place in a hermetically sealed container. You can use both glass containers and paper or plastic bags.

Carrots washed and peeled.

From 10 kg it turned out:
9 kg (90%) - purified product
1 kg (10%) - waste.

With the help of a meat grinder and a shredder nozzle, they grated carrots. A mesh or pallet was put into each tray and carrots were laid out on them. 9 kg were placed on 20 trays of 450 grams per tray. Carrots were dried for 17 hours at temperatures of +55-60 °C and room temperature of +5 °C. The Ezidri Ultra dryer consumed 13 kW in 17 hours.

From 9 kg of peeled carrots, 930 grams of dried product was obtained.
Drying out 10 times.

Dried carrots are added to stews, cereals, soups, borscht, when baking bread. It is also harvested for hiking, as in dried form it weighs 10 times lighter.

Dried carrots are one of the ingredients for cooking.

One of the oldest ways to preserve carrots is drying. Dried carrots were considered a gourmet dish during the reign of Charlemagne and were a delicacy. In Rus', carrots were dried in a shady place, in a draft. In the 17th century in Europe, dried carrots were used in soups. Now, dried carrots are used by housewives in many countries, because this product is a component of a variety of dishes, so it is important that the root crop is always “at hand”.

We choose the right root crop and prepare it for drying

1. For drying, select fresh, medium-sized root crops, early and mid-season varieties are better suited. It is desirable to choose a bright orange color, which indicates a high content of carotene in carrots. The core should not be rough and small. It is better to choose carrots of the same size. The tops and neck are removed. Do not rush to throw away the tops, it contains a large amount of vitamin C. It can also be dried and later used as a seasoning for dishes. Root crops are cleaned and washed thoroughly, while damaged areas are removed.
2. The prepared product is laid out on a baking sheet and dried. Now the drying process can be facilitated by housewives with a modern dryer for vegetables and fruits, since the drying process is faster and nutrients and taste are preserved much better.
3. The finished dried fruit is elastic and slightly fragile, it is better to store it in a cloth bag or glass jar.

Dried carrots are a source of vitamins and minerals.

Many dried vegetables do not lose their beneficial properties for the human body. The same applies to carrots. It is a very valuable winter food. When the root crop is dried, carotene practically does not disappear. In addition, dried carrots contain potassium, iron, phosphorus, nickel, calcium, iodine and many other minerals beneficial to health. Carrots contain many vitamins: A, groups B, C, E, K. Carrots do not lose calories, 100 grams contain 221 kcal. Carrots contain a large amount of dietary fiber. The fresh root crop has a specific smell - this is the merit of essential oils. If you want to keep them in full, it is better not to use an oven for drying, but to use the well-proven Ezidri electric dryer.

Useful properties of dried carrots

The constant use of carrots has a beneficial effect on the functioning of the human body. Its chemical and mineral composition can help overcome many diseases.
It is recommended to introduce into the diet of people with rapid fatigue, weak immunity. It has long been known that eating carrots in sufficient quantities has a positive effect on visual acuity. Carrots give this magical property thanks to vitamin A, which our eyes love so much. Dried root vegetable is recommended to use to lower blood pressure, stroke, varicose veins. The high fiber content improves digestion. With caution, dried carrots should be used for people with an ulcer, especially in the acute period of the disease. Carrots have a beneficial effect on kidney and liver cells, have a diuretic and choleretic effect.
In addition, carrots are often used for cosmetic procedures, as a means for skin rejuvenation.

Where can dried carrots be used?

Dried carrots are added to almost all first and second courses. It gives the dishes a taste and a specific golden color. It is more often used when cooking broths, both vegetable and meat, aspic. So that the vitamins and minerals that carrots are rich in do not disappear, it should be added 15 minutes before the dish is ready.

Dried carrots are often used as camping food. This is a great alternative to fresh carrots if you are going to nature. On a hike, dried carrots will save you from cleaning and washing root crops, and will lighten the weight during transportation. Also, for such needs, you can prepare a mixture of several dried vegetables, for example, carrots, cabbage, onions, sweet peppers, parsley, dill, etc. And already, being in the fresh air, you can easily cook soup from dry vegetables on a fire.

Dried carrots are used in bread baking. When kneading standard bread dough, 2 tablespoons of product are added. In this case, the amount of water must be increased by 20 ml. You will get healthy carrot bread.
Drinks are also prepared from dried carrots: tea, kvass and coffee. Carrot tea can be consumed daily; in terms of taste, this drink is no worse than black tea. To prepare tea from dried carrots, pour 1-2 tablespoons of carrots with boiling water in a 250 ml cup and let it brew for 15-20 minutes, then add sugar to taste.

Carrots are a useful and indispensable product in the kitchen, which is used to prepare many dishes. But it is not always possible to buy a fresh root crop, in this case, carrots dried by you can be an excellent alternative. It is always at hand and is not inferior to either the taste or useful qualities of fresh.

Carrots are among the products that a good housewife should always have on hand, because she is an essential component of most first and second courses. There are times when this useful root crop is not in the refrigerator, and there is no time to go to the store for it, or the weather is “not flying” on the street. In such cases, dried carrots harvested for future use will help out.

Moreover, during the drying process, valuable vitamin A and the pigment that gives this root an orange color are preserved almost in full. For drying, fresh, medium-sized root crops with a not coarsened, weakly expressed core are most suitable. It is advisable to use early and mid-season varieties.

Ingredients:

Fresh root vegetables of carrots.

How to dry carrots in a dryer

At the preparatory stage, the root crops are cleaned from the top layer, which is convenient to do with a special vegetable peeler. You should also clean the damaged areas, cut off the remaining tops and green neck.

Carrots for drying in an electric dryer can be cut into circles (halves of circles, if the diameter of the carrot is large) 2-3 mm thick or chopped on a carrot grater “in Korean”.

Sliced ​​carrots are laid out on drying trays at a small distance from each other, and chopped root crops are laid out in a thin layer.

If it is possible to regulate the temperature in the dryer, set the thermostat to 65 degrees.

Carrots dry fairly quickly. In 5-6 hours it will be ready. In the process of drying, it is advisable to rearrange the trays several times, achieving a more uniform drying of the carrots.

Dried carrots are stored in a hermetically sealed container in a dark, dry, cool place.

Carrots can be dried in the oven. Why are root crops of the same size selected. They should also be washed and cleaned. Before drying, carrots are blanched in boiling water. Small root crops are blanched for 12 - 15 minutes, larger ones (diameter more than 4.5 cm) - 15-20 minutes. To determine the readiness of carrots during blanching, it is necessary to make a puncture in it with a match. If it is pierced with little effort, then the blanching process should be stopped. Overcooked root crops are pierced without any effort. Under-blanched carrots will not pierce. After blanching, the carrots are cooled with a stream of cold water, after which they are crushed into circles or straws (thickness 3 mm). The crushed product is laid out in a thin layer on a baking sheet. The main drying of carrots in the oven is carried out at a temperature of 75-80 degrees, and the root crop is dried at a temperature of 60-65 degrees.

Dried carrots are elastic and slightly brittle. Before using dried root vegetables, cooks are advised to fill with water and soak for 2-3 hours to swell. To add to the main dishes, swollen root crops are fried in fats. If soup is being prepared, then dried carrots are boiled until tender in the water in which they swelled. But practice shows that such a preparation can be put directly into the dish, carrots are well prepared. Dried carrots are also used in baking. Bon appetit!

Carrots are one of the most common vegetables. It is grown by gardeners and harvested in large quantities. It is worth noting that not only the root of the plant is eaten, but also its tops.

Which surpasses the first in terms of the number of useful substances. Most often, carrots for storage are laid in the cellar, where they are stored all winter. But often there are situations in which there is nowhere to store a large number of vegetables. In this case, drying carrots will help out. The method allows not only to save a large amount of the crop, but also to do this without losing the taste and benefits of the plant. Information on how to dry carrots at home will be useful to every housewife.

Preparing vegetables

Before you start drying, carrots need to be properly prepared. First of all, you need to sort through the vegetables and choose strong, non-perishable specimens. They should be thoroughly washed and dried well.

The leaves must be dried separately from the root, so at this stage you should separate them and put the tops aside. Carrot roots need to be peeled, cut off the green part at the junction with the tops. Remove all lesions. If you come across especially large carrots, you need to cut them in half or several parts as needed.

Peeled and processed carrots should be placed in a pot of boiling water. Blanch vegetables for 12-20 minutes depending on size. The result should be soft, but not boiled carrots. To check for readiness and not overcook carrots, you need to try to pierce it with a toothpick. A sharp stick should pierce the fruit with little effort, in which case you can complete the process.

After that, it is necessary to cool the root crop in cold water and proceed to cutting. How exactly to cut carrots depends on the preferences of the hostess. You can just rub it on a coarse grater, or you can cut it into cubes, straws, rings, and so on. It is important not to make pieces thicker than three millimeters, this will prevent the vegetable from completely drying out. And also when slicing carrots for drying, you need to take into account that the vegetable will significantly decrease in size, but will later return to its original size during the cooking process.

We dry the root crop

How to dry carrots for the winter? There are several options for drying a vegetable. One of them is drying in a natural way, when the root crop gradually dries in the air. In addition, you can dry much faster using an oven or even a microwave.

Natural drying

Naturally dried carrots retain the maximum amount of all useful substances, as well as the traditional taste and aroma. This method is appropriate if it is possible to place the vegetable in a sunny space that is not exposed to harmful factors. It dries the root crop in this way best in a country house or cottage, away from roads and dust.

A place for drying should be arranged so that the sun's rays heat the vegetable for as long as possible. It is best to place the root crop on a sieve, so the necessary ventilation will be created and there will be no need to move the product. If there is no sieve, then it is worth laying out the pieces on trays in one layer, after laying it with parchment paper. In this case, the carrots need to be stirred periodically to ensure uniform drying.

In cloudy weather and at night, until the dew has completely disappeared, carrots should be removed indoors and placed in a dark place with good ventilation. Drying naturally takes a long time. Full drying requires at least two weeks. After drying, it is worth reviewing the product and removing not dried and dirty pieces.

Advice! After the carrots have dried, they need to be kept in a common container for some time so that the residual moisture is evenly distributed throughout the workpiece. Only after that it can be packaged and sent for storage.

Drying in the oven

Drying carrots in the oven is much faster than naturally. It is important to ensure that the kitchen is ventilated, as the oven will be continuously turned on for 6-8 hours, which is exactly how long it takes to dry one batch. If the volume of stocks is large, then the process will have to be repeated.

Prepared carrots are placed on a baking sheet in one layer. If the carrots are grated, then the layer should not be more than 5-10 millimeters. The oven is preheated to 70 degrees and the root crop is placed in it. If the oven does not have a convection function, then the cabinet door must be kept ajar to allow evaporated moisture to escape.

The carrot itself needs to be periodically mixed and turned over. This will promote even drying. You need to get a baking sheet with ready-made dried carrots and, after cooling down, transfer it to a storage container.

Dry in the microwave and electric dryer

An electric dryer can greatly simplify the process. To dry carrots in it, you need to place it on the grates and set the temperature to 70 degrees. Thanks to internal ventilation, the product can not be mixed, but it is worth swapping the order of the grids. This is due to the fact that the bottom layer will dry out faster than the top. Dried carrots will be ready in 6-12 hours, depending on the capabilities of the appliance and the size of the pieces. A large number of carrots need to be dried in batches in several approaches.

Drying a root vegetable in the microwave is the fastest, but due to the small capacity, the process can take a lot of time. The root crop should be placed on a flat plate for the microwave, having previously spread it with a paper towel, and on top should be covered with another towel. In addition to a plate of carrots, you need to put a glass of water in the microwave and make sure that it does not boil away.

Switch the device to maximum power and put carrots in it for three minutes. If this time is not enough, then you need to dry the root crop in short stages with an interval of 30-40 seconds.

You need to store dried carrots in the same way as spices in a dry, dark place. A large spice jar can be used as a storage container.

We dry the tops

How to dry carrots figured out. And how to dry her tops, because it contains more nutrients, and it deserves no less attention.

Washed and dried greens should be cut and dried. You can also dry it naturally. But unlike the root crop, it is necessary to dry the tops not in the sun, but in the shade, providing a good supply of fresh air. During the drying process, it is important to periodically mix the greens. It will dry much faster, three days is enough for natural drying.

You can also dry the tops in the oven. The oven must be heated to 40-50 degrees and place a baking sheet with evenly spread tops in it. Dry also with the door ajar until completely dry. You can check this by kneading a piece in your hands, if it freely turns into dust, the process is completed.

You can harvest in this way not only carrots, but also other vegetables, while you can store them together creating mixes. It is important to remember that when creating mixes of vegetables, drying of each ingredient must be carried out separately. Only storage can be shared.

Carrots are a versatile vegetable that we are happy to add to any dish and even bake pies from it! Nor is not about them now. Dried carrots are the most necessary seasoning that every self-respecting culinary specialist must have in the house! Believe me, in those very vegetable seasonings that you buy in stores to give your dishes an incomparable flavor, carrots proudly walk at number one on the list of ingredients!

In carrots, not only the color of the product is important, but also its useful qualities. That is why, during the harvest season, this orange vegetable should be dried for a year in advance, because you never know how much a vegetable basket will rise this year.

Ingredients

For 20 g of seasoning you will need:

• 2 large carrots

How to dry carrots in the oven

1. Seasoning is prepared only from carrots, but if you really want to combine a few more products with it, then add any onion: onion, green, red and greens. Peel the carrots and rinse well in water.

2. Grate each vegetable on a fine grater - this way chopped carrots will dry faster.

3. Line a baking sheet with baking paper and spread the grated carrots in an even layer on it. Make sure that everywhere the layer is minimal. Place the tray in the oven for 40-50 minutes at 80-100C and be sure to leave the oven door slightly ajar.

4. The finished seasoning will be two to three times less than fresh carrot mass. Check the density of the dried carrots with your hands and carefully separate it from the paper, pouring it onto a sheet of clean paper or into a dry container.