Healthy snacks at home: how to dry pumpkin in an electric dryer correctly and with what you can eat it
Pumpkin is rich in vitamins, fiber, trace elements and is also low in calories. The juicy orange pulp is used to make many delicious and nutritious dishes. It is boiled, fried, baked and stuffed. However, not everyone knows that pumpkin pulp is also dried. Dried and dried slices are a wonderful vitamin addition to the diet, and children also enjoy eating them.
We will tell you how to dry a pumpkin in an electric dryer correctly and how to create decorative items from an orange beauty.
The content of the article
Preparing pumpkin for drying
The taste of the finished product largely depends on the correct choice of pumpkins and the preparation of the fruit for drying.
Drying varieties
For drying, select intact pumpkins without signs of rot. It is important that the fruits are fully ripe. First of all, preference is given to table and nutmeg, rather than feed varieties of pumpkin.
Hard pumpkins are considered the best option for drying., ripening later than everyone else.
Important! For blanks, those pumpkins are selected that have a stalk after harvesting. Such fruits are protected from the ingress of harmful microorganisms.
Of late-ripening varieties, such as The dining room is sweet Winter sweet, Buttercup, Blue Hubbard. Of the ornamental varieties, Legendaria and Cucurbita are dried. Early ripening varieties are also dried and dried, but the moisture content in them is higher, respectively, and they dry longer than the late ones.
Selection stages
Selection of pumpkins is carried out in two stages... First, the appearance of the fruit is examined. Only ripe, whole pumpkins are selected, without dents and damage. The crust should be free of suspicious plaque and stains.
Then the fruits are cut and the pulp is carefully examined. Pumpkins with evenly colored, dense flesh produce a tasty and healthy starting product that is also stored for a long time.
Preliminary processing
Selected copies wash thoroughly, peel and separate seeds from pulp.
Council. When carving pumpkins, do not throw away the seeds. They are very helpful.
Pumpkin pulp cut into pieces 3-4 cm thick... The slices are not made too small, because when dried, the pumpkin greatly decreases in size.
Blanks laid out in a container in a thin layer... The slices are sprinkled with sugar at the rate of 200 g per 1 kg of pulp. A press is placed on top and the pumpkin is removed to a cool place for 12-15 hours. Then the juice is drained, the pieces are again poured with sugar and again put in a cool place for 12-15 hours.
The drained juice is mixed with a small amount of sugar and brought to a boil... When the juice has cooled slightly, the prepared pumpkin pieces are immersed in it for 15 minutes. After that, the slices are removed from the liquid and dried.
It can be useful:
Drying pumpkin in an electric dryer
It is preferable to dry the pumpkin using an electric dryer or oven... This significantly shortens the drying time and reduces the likelihood of product spoilage during the process. In addition, the dryer greatly facilitates the process, since almost no human intervention is required.
The prepared slices are laid out on grates at a short distance from each other. The temperature is set at least 55-60 ° C. To prevent the slices from sticking to the gratings, they are periodically turned over.
The total cooking time of the treat depends on the size of the pumpkin pieces and the moisture content of the pulp... On average, the drying process lasts from 12 to 20 hours.
Candied fruit
For making candied fruits use small pieces of pulp... First, they are boiled several times in sweet syrup, and then laid out on grates and sent to the dryer or oven.
Can cook candied fruits with different tastes. To do this, add lemon or orange juice, cinnamon, ginger, honey to the sugar syrup.
Pumpkin chips
For making unusual chips the pulp is pre-baked in the oven for 30-40 minutes and mashed from it... The resulting mass is spread in a thin layer on a baking sheet. Then the puree is dried in an oven or electric dryer until brittle.
Pumpkin powder
Another unusual option for cooking dried pumpkin. Pumpkin powder is made from dried pureeby grinding it with a coffee grinder to a uniform consistency.
The crushed mass is stored in jars or paper bags in a dry, dark place... Pumpkin powder gives a beautiful color to baked goods, complements soups, side dishes and dessert dishes well. When mixed with warm water, you get a healthy pumpkin puree.
Drying pumpkin for decor and crafts
For crafts or interior decoration, the pumpkin is dried whole... This is done in two ways: using the oven or in the fresh air. Drying such a large vegetable entirely is not an easy task. So that the pumpkins dry well and do not deteriorate during drying, choose not too large specimens.
The selected fruits are washed and the seeds are removed. The oven is heated to 55-60 ° C and the workpiece is placed there. For even drying, the pumpkin is periodically turned over. The drying process takes two to eight hours depending on the size of the vegetable and the juiciness of the pulp.
If it becomes necessary to dry a large fruit, this can be done by leaving the prepared pumpkin in a dry, dark place. With natural drying, the workpieces are periodically checked in order to notice signs of spoilage in time. Under natural conditions, pumpkin is dried for two to three months.
Sunflower seeds
When cutting pumpkin fruits seed often thrown away. And in vain - this is a valuable source of zinc, vitamin E and other useful substances. Pumpkin seeds must also be dried.
Before drying, the seeds are thoroughly washed in warm water, freeing them from fibers. Then the excess water is removed and the seeds are laid out on clean paper or cloth to dry. Dried naturally at room temperature.
After the seed coat is brittle and dry, the seeds are considered ready and harvested for storage.
How to determine if a pumpkin is ready
When preparing dried pulp, the main thing is not to dry it out.... How can you tell if a treat is ready? Readiness is determined by the appearance of the slices and also by taste. When properly dried, the pieces are soft and flexible without sticking to your hands.
If in doubt, try it! Chew the slice for a while. If there is a feeling that the pumpkin is melting in your mouth, then it is ready... The dried pulp tastes sweet, because now it contains much more natural sugar than fresh.
When dried, pumpkin slices are reduced in size by 1.5-2 times. It also signals readiness.
Storage conditions of the finished product
How do I store dried pumpkin slices? A cool dry place with a temperature of +9 to +12 ° C is best suited for storage. Air humidity should be no more than 60%.
For long-term storage, choose glass or plastic containers. with tight-fitting lids. Line the bottom of the container well with dry parchment paper. Layers of slices are also overlaid with paper.
Council. If you have prepared a large amount of treats, choose a freezer for long-term storage.
Application of dried pumpkin
Dried Pumpkin Slices - Ready-to-Eat Product... But they are also used as an ingredient in a wide variety of dishes. Dried pumpkin is used for making mashed soups, cereals, sauces, desserts. We offer several recipes.
Candied pumpkin fruits with honey and spices
Spicy candied pumpkin fruits with honey are a healthy and unusual dessert. To prepare it you will need one and a half kilograms of pumpkin pulp, cinnamon stick, vanilla sugar, cloves, 4 tbsp. l. fructose, 4 tbsp. l. honey.
The pulp is cut into cubes and boiled in water with a cinnamon stick for five minutes. Syrup is prepared separately from two glasses of water, honey, fructose and vanilla sugar. Add pumpkin cubes to the syrup and boil for 15 minutes.
Candied fruits are carefully removed from the cooled mass and dried in an oven at a low temperature for at least 4-5 hours. The finished delicacy is transferred to a container and stored in the refrigerator.
Candied pumpkin with lemon
Candied pumpkin fruits with lemon are very tasty. To prepare an unusual dessert you will need: 2 kg of pulp, 600 g of sugar, half a glass of powdered sugar, two lemons and water.
The pulp is cut into cubes, covered with sugar and left overnight. In the morning, the released juice is drained and mixed with grated lemons. The mass is brought to a boil and cooked, stirring constantly, for five minutes. Then the syrup is filtered, pieces of pumpkin are added and boiled until thick.
Candied fruits are dried in an oven or dryer, spread out on paper. Sprinkle the finished dessert with icing sugar.
Candied pumpkin fruits do not harm the figure - the calorie content of the finished product is about 150 kcal.
Georgian dish pkhali made from dried or dried pumpkin
An unusual dish called phali is also prepared from dried pumpkin pulp. To prepare it you will need: 500 g of dried or dried pumpkin, 3 cups of walnuts, 1 tsp each. saffron and utskho-suneli, 2-3 cloves of garlic, cilantro, celery and dill, 2-3 tbsp. l. vinegar, ground pepper and onions (optional).
First, prepare the nut mass. Walnut kernels are ground in a meat grinder. The greens are finely chopped. Garlic is crushed into gruel. Greens, onions, garlic, spices, hot peppers, vinegar, salt are added to walnuts. Mix thoroughly.
Pieces of dried pumpkin are mixed with a nut mass. It is better to cook phali in advance so that the ingredients are soaked. Vinegar is sometimes substituted with pomegranate juice.
Take a note:
Secrets and Tricks of Cooking Dried Pumpkin
So, dried pumpkin is a tasty and healthy dish that is easy to prepare at home... Let's add a few secrets of experienced chefs that will help you stock up on bright slices for the whole winter:
- to preserve their bright orange color, the pumpkin pieces are dipped in boiling water for two minutes before drying (if this is not done, the pumpkin will darken when dried);
- to remove harmful microbes and insects, pumpkin is soaked in salt water before drying;
- during the drying process, the pumpkin slices are turned over several times to prevent the pieces from sticking to the wire rack;
- if at the end of the process the pieces remain too wet and sticky, they are left to dry for another one to two hours.
Conclusion
Drying pumpkin in the open air is a lengthy and not always successful process. During natural drying, pumpkin will often rot or be attacked by insects.
Using an electric dryer or oven for drying significantly speeds up the process and minimizes the likelihood of product spoilage. If the process went right, the result is non-sticky and elastic pumpkin slices.