How to prepare dried cabbage and where to use such a preparation

Dried cabbage is not the most familiar way blanks preservation for the winter, but it is simple and suitable for a variety of varieties.

In this article we will tell you how to dry cabbage at home and where to apply it later.

Is it possible to dry cabbage

Drying has a different effect on different types of cabbage. Below we will analyze them in detail.

White-headed

There are no obstacles to drying white and red cabbage. For a person, 100 g of freeze-dried (that is, dried) white cabbage is equivalent to eating 1 kg of fresh.

Red cabbage is superior to white varieties in the amount of vitamin C and carotene, therefore it brings much more benefits. The dried vegetable can be eaten alone or used as an ingredient in cooking.

Colored

When dried, cauliflower loses most of its nutrients. The best way for her storage not drying, but freezing.

However, if desired, you can dry and colored. At the same time, its taste will deteriorate - but not so much that it becomes a significant problem.

Broccoli

If you maintain the temperature correctly, avoiding overheating above + 50 ° C, then dried broccoli will turn out to be a surprisingly tasty and healthy product.

Important! A properly dried vegetable has no expiration date. After the sublimation of moisture, dried workpieces can be eaten not only after a year, but also 5-10 years after drying.

Marine

From a biological point of view, seaweed, or kelp algae, is not a relative of any kind of garden cabbage. However, drying is fine for her.

Dried seaweed with kimchi sauce or any other spice is one of the traditional dishes of Japanese and Korean cuisine. Dried spicy kelp under the brand 緑 - "Midori" (translated from Japanese - "light green, the color of the first spring greens") is one of the most popular products in Russian stores, an excellent appetizer before main courses.

The advantages and disadvantages of this procurement method

Drying benefits:

1. Almost unlimited shelf life of workpieces. If the vegetable has not grown moldy and all moisture has been removed from it, it can be stored for years.
2. No problem with disease. All affected heads of cabbage are selected and disposed of at the preparation stage. In the future, there is no need to monitor the workpieces - just observe the temperature and humidity regime.

However, there are also problems:

• the dried product requires special technical devices for the preparation;
• drying needs to be soaked before use;
• there are losses in the mineral and vitamin composition of the vegetable.

Preservation of useful properties

When dried, cabbage completely retains its calorie content. However, there are losses in the chemical composition: some of the proteins and vitamins decompose when excessively heated. Therefore, as a means of fighting avitaminosis, a dried vegetable is not suitable: no matter what variety is used, the losses are too great.

In addition, the loss of taste and consistency is significant. Even after soaking, dried raw cabbage is not suitable for salads and can only be used as a dressing for cabbage soup or borscht.

Council. Dried cabbage is the perfect preparation for cabbage chips. If you plan to cook this dish, then the raw materials are not soaked, but the pieces of leaves are immediately fried in boiling oil.

Drying methods

Now let's look at ways to dry cabbage.

Any type of crop contains a lot of moisture. Therefore, after drying, the output of the finished raw material will be no more than 1 to 10 of the total mass of cabbage. With proper drying, the loss of biologically active substances will be minimal.

In the oven

The easiest way to dry kale for long-term storage is to use the oven.

The technology is as follows:

1. The cabbage head is washed and disassembled into leaves with rejection of infected, rotten and damaged leaves.
2. The baking sheet on which the raw materials will be dried is greased with vegetable (olive, sunflower, in extreme cases - linseed) or animal (butter) oil. Instead of butter, you can use baking paper or silicone molds.
3. The finely chopped vegetable is placed in an even layer on a baking sheet.
4. Drying is carried out for 1.5-2 hours. Temperature - about 80 ° C.
5. The leaves are checked for readiness. Completely dried ones are sent for storage, slightly dried ones are completely dried.

Signs of readiness:

• inflorescences have decreased almost three times;
• when squeezed with fingers, no juice is released.

Finished broccoli inflorescences take on a yellowish tint.

Attention! If, when pressed, the raw material breaks and crumbles into powder, overdrying has occurred. There is no point in storing such a vegetable: there are no useful elements in it, and over time, the powder will pick up extraneous odors.

In the microwave

Drying in the microwave is almost the same as drying in the oven. The difference is that it is necessary to dry in 3-4 doses, regularly mixing the raw materials and turning the cup in which the sliced ​​vegetable is laid for drying. This is due to the fact that the microwave oven magnetron cannot evenly heat the entire workpiece: even the best microwave ovens have “dead zones” where radiation practically does not work.

Therefore, cabbage is dried in the microwave, either by stirring regularly, or using models with a special mode for drying, where the tray rotates and provides uniform irradiation.

In an electric dryer

Using electric drying devices is not much different from drying in an oven.

Modern models of electric dryers are tuned for maximum preservation of the quality of raw materials. However, this does not negate the need for manual adjustment of the electric dryer: the temperature is set to 55 ° C and the raw materials are dried from 2 to 6 hours.

In the airfryer

In the airfryer, cabbage is prepared as follows:

1. The raw materials are sorted out and cut into small pieces. The greater the degree of grinding, the better.
2. The finished mass is poured with boiling water to destroy putrefactive bacteria.
3. The mass is laid out on the grill of the airfryer and the device is turned on. A small portion is dried for 15-20 minutes, a large portion - 1.5-2 hours.

How to check readiness

Dried cabbage has the following properties:

• turns pale due to the cleavage of the enzyme - this is especially noticeable in red-headed varieties;
• it becomes moderately dry to the touch, but elastic - if the cabbage crumbles into dust, it is overdried and has lost its beneficial properties.

How to store

Dried cabbage is stored subject to the following conditions:

• isolation from extraneous odors.
• insulation from moisture.
• isolation from other products.

The best option is to put the dried vegetable in a glass jar with a tight lid and store it that way. Thick cotton pouches and plastic food containers are also suitable. Dried cabbage does not need sterilization and sealing. If the drying is done correctly, it is enough to isolate it from moisture and odors.

Interesting! Some chefs specifically try to flavor dried raw materials with bay leaves, pepper, and other pungent-flavored additions.

Where and how to apply

You can use dry cabbage in the same ways as fresh, except for making salads. In most cases, letting the dried product absorb enough water is sufficient and can be used in the same way as raw cabbage.

But keep the following in mind:

1. Dried seaweed is not soaked. It is eaten dry like chips.This is a snack, not an ingredient for preparing another dish. An exception is situations when kelp is dried without adding spices: then it is culinary raw material.
2. When cooking cabbage soup or borscht, an extra 150-200 ml of liquid (water or broth) is added to a portion of dried cabbage. Otherwise, there is a risk that instead of soup you get a thick porridge.
3. For other dishes, dried cabbage is soaked in clean drinking water for 1-2 hours.

Soaking time depends on the dryness of the raw material. The more thoroughly the cabbage is dried, the better it is stored, but also the longer it needs to be soaked before using it for food.

Reviews

Here is what experienced gardeners and housewives write about dried cabbage.

Anna, Berezov: «I tried drying cabbage. A lot of work, but the effect is scanty. It is easier, as usual, to lay the heads of cabbage for storage - then, at least, you get the usual cabbage, and not drying, with which you don't know what to do. "

Igor, Tula: “I dried cabbage. It is more convenient to store than fresh heads of cabbage - especially since colored cabbage and broccoli are not kept fresh at all. Convenient, but then you need to use other recipes - in particular, add more water. But all the same - until spring we ate delicious cabbage dishes ”.

Gulnara, Kislovodsk: “We tried to dry the cabbage for the winter. Perhaps it would be better if we froze it. It is more convenient to store, but the labor intensity is many times greater - although there is no waste at all, because everything was carefully sorted out before harvesting. There is no difference in the soup, but we didn’t try to stew or fry ”.

It is interesting:

How to make the best cabbage blanks at home.

How tasty and simple it is to pickle cabbage for the winter with quarters of cabbage.

How to cook sauerkraut with horseradish and carrots is tasty and simple.

Conclusion

Dried cabbage is not the most common type of preservation, but it helps preserve even those types of vegetables that quickly deteriorate as a whole until spring. If the technology is applied correctly, then cabbage drying is a convenient culinary raw material.