How to dry prunes to preserve its beneficial properties?

It's no secret that one of the most useful dried fruits is prunes. It can be called a natural medicine with excellent taste qualities. It includes pectin, fiber, a large number of vitamins and minerals. Another positive quality is that even in the dried form it remains very useful and does not lose its properties. Let's talk about how to properly dry prunes.

Fossil of useful substances

Prunes need to be eaten with anemia and vitamin deficiency because of the large amount of iron in its composition. It is an indispensable assistant in diseases of the intestines. Everyone knows that prunes are a good laxative. It can be used as an antibacterial agent. Among other things, it establishes metabolism and is a good tonic product. But that all these qualities are preserved, you need to know how to drain prunes.

Preserve all vitamins

For drying, any fruit will do. You can take even ransacked or damaged. They should be washed and removed stems. Then put a large pot on the fire, pour water into it and add citric acid (5 grams per liter). We need it to boil. After that, put prunes in a colander and dip it into boiling water for 20 seconds. Then immediately shift it into cold water. If there are a lot of fruits, then we do this operation several times, dividing them into parts. Then prunes must be dried. Now we proceed to the main process.

Before drying prunes, you need to decide how to do it. There are several options. The first is drying naturally, in the sun. It's a long process and time-consuming. You can dry it in the oven, but it has its own subtleties. It is necessary to ensure uniform drying at a low temperature. It is also necessary that there is sufficient ventilation and evaporation of moisture. It is very difficult to provide when drying in the oven. In addition, you can not overdry this product.

Since dried prunes quickly and efficiently? In a special dryer. We put fruits in it and dry for 5 days, setting the temperature at 40 degrees. During this time, his skin must wrinkle. Then take the fruits and leave them to air in the air. Now they must get moisture. After five hours, we send it back to the dryer for the same time, but with a temperature of 75 degrees. After 5 hours, we pull it to cool. Then we put it back in the dryer for 5 hours. The temperature is 70 degrees. To readiness it is adjusted at a temperature of 60 degrees. Here's how to prune the prunes. The result is a quality product. Dried prunes should be rather hard and not too soft. If it is squeezed, then cracks should not appear. Well-dried prunes do not release juice when squeezed.

How to store

You need to know not only how to dry the prunes, but also how they store it. To keep it for a long time, it is necessary immediately after drying to lower it into syrup (liter of water and a kilogram of sugar). After 5 minutes of cooking, turn off the fire and leave the prunes in the syrup. The next day they boil again, washed and dried. Then prunes are placed in cans and sterilized.