How to dry greens in a vegetable dehydrator. How to dry herbs in the oven Can you dry herbs in the oven?

When the season of fresh vegetables and fruits begins, your favorite, tasty and aromatic greens appear, and you need to save them so that in winter you can enjoy dishes seasoned with finely chopped dill, parsley, basil, celery, cilantro and other healthy herbs. Therefore, during the season when greens are not expensive and there is a lot of it in stock, you need to stock up on these gifts of nature and prepare for winter. Now let's figure out how to dry dill and other herbs, and what are the best and easiest ways to do it.

All the rules for drying dill can be applied to other greens: parsley, basil, cilantro, celery, marjoram, oregano (oregano), mint, green onions (batun) and even arugula.

Preparing dill and herbs for drying

First of all, prepare the greens, you need to sort them out and wash them, discard the yellow and limp leaves. Be sure to rinse the dill with cold water. The fact is that warm water can ruin the beautiful color, and the plant will immediately become lethargic. We don’t need this, if we are wondering how to dry dill for the winter at home, we must study it and do it right.

After you have washed the dill and herbs, you need to lay them out on a dry cotton towel in a draft, for example, near an open window. So that the greens dry well. Of course, it is better not to rinse dill and other greens at all before drying. Therefore, if you collect greens in your garden and pick off the top, clean leaves and twigs, you don’t have to wash them.

How to dry dill at home

Now let's move directly to the question, how to dry dill at home. Have kitchen paper towels ready to dry the greens. Do not use magazines or newspapers, because printing ink is toxic, and wet dill will absorb all these harmful substances, which is definitely not suitable for us. Dry (not wet) greens can be simply laid out on the table surface, without any bedding.

Spread the chopped dill or whole sprigs on paper towels, not very tightly. It’s better to take more paper so that the greens have more space, and they dry well and don’t stick together. Another important point: before drying the greens, find the most ventilated place in the house, where there is no sun. Many people mistakenly dry dill on the windowsill; it withers in the sun, loses its color and taste. Of course, dill will dry out much faster in the sun, but, as mentioned earlier, it will lose color and taste. Therefore, it is better to spread the greens in the dark (or shade) and wait a few days.

The readiness of dried herbs is very easy to check. You need to crush the leaf (twig) in your hands, it should crumble, making a crunchy sound.

Another way to dry dill if you want to preserve the whole greens. It is necessary to tie the dill in bunches and hang it on a thread in a ventilated, dark place until ready. This way the branches (stems) will remain intact. We remember that we do not dry the bunches in the sun, we hide them where it is dark and there is ventilation!

Then the greens dried on the stems need to be chopped. If you want your seasoning to be the same as in the store, chop the herbs by rubbing them through an iron sieve (see photo). It's very simple, but the result is wonderful!

Now we know how to dry dill in sprigs and chopped.

How to dry greens for the winter at home

As for the rest of the greens, everything is simple, everything is the same as with dill. Thus, you can dry the following at home for the winter: parsley, basil, cilantro, celery, marjoram, oregano (oregano), mint, green onions (bamboo) and even arugula.

Wash well, sort, throw away the limp and yellow leaves, and chop finely, or leave whole branches, hang and dry in bunches. Place on paper towels and dry in a dark place until ready. But if you dry a variety of greens, you can make joint seasonings from them, the main thing is to know which greens go with which ones. Just before drying dill for the winter, parsley, basil and all other plants together. Place everything separately so the flavors don't mix, then when they're ready, mix together for an incredible flavorful seasoning.

How to properly store dried herbs for the winter

So, now we know well how to dry dill at home, and let’s figure out how to preserve it so that the delicious smell, which adds piquancy to any dish, remains for a long time. Buy a set of small glass jars, small and medium (100 ml - 500 ml), and ensure that the lid closes tightly and well. If you have children, there will be no problems with jars; you can take from children’s purchased purees, since usually such jars “will come in handy”, they, like many people, are not thrown away and are stored until needed. These fit perfectly. Good jars with vacuum seals (lids with rubber bands) are now sold in many large hardware stores. Dried herbs last the longest in glass because moisture cannot get in there.

If you store jars of dried herbs not in a closet or in a dark space, it is better to use non-transparent jars. Also acceptable containers are tin cans, for example coffee cans, if you can close the lid well and tightly.

Now we've got it figured out how to dry herbs and dill how to store. Remember that over-drying dill means ridding it of all vitamins and all its rich substances. Therefore, we do not allocate more for this three days. If you dried the dill correctly, the place was well ventilated, and it was dark and dry, after this time the greens will be ground into a fine powder in your hands.

Hardly anyone today imagines cooking without the use of herbs. In addition to the fact that it is a tasty and aromatic seasoning for various dishes, it is also a storehouse of useful substances. So, for example, it contains four times more ascorbic acid than. And 100 g contains 25% of the daily iron requirement for a person. The best ways to preserve valuable substances for a long time in plants used in cooking are. We'll talk about how to dry it properly in this article.

What can be dried

It's pretty simple, easy and cheap way preparations for the winter. In addition, dried products do not take up much space and do not require any special storage conditions.

However, first, let's figure out what kind of greens can be dried so that they do not lose their properties.

Such plants include:

Did you know? 454 g of greens contain the amount of vegetable protein that the human body needs per day.

Before drying greens for the winter, they must be carefully sorted, washed and thoroughly dried from moisture. The roots must first be trimmed. Remove yellow, dry, damaged leaves. It is also necessary to get rid of thick leaves and rough stems and old plants.

When purchasing herbs at the market, it makes sense to soak them for 15 minutes in salted water (one tablespoon per 1 liter of water). If they contain harmful additives, most of them should go away. After the procedure, the herbs should be washed, shaken well and dried on a towel (paper or linen).
If you prefer to dry cut plants, then you need to chop them with a knife into 4-5 cm pieces. When harvesting using the hanging method, you need to collect the greens in bunches and tie them.

Drying methods

There are two main drying methods:

• in the fresh air;
• in special conditions - using an oven, microwave.

Outdoors

To dry herbs outdoors, you will need twine or parchment paper, depending on which method suits you best - vertical (hanging) or horizontal (unfolded).

Drying outdoors should be done in warm weather.
The vertical drying technology is as follows:

1. We tie the culled, washed and dried grass with rubber bands or threads into bundles of five to six branches.
2. We hang the bunches under a canopy with the leaves down so that there is good air access to them, but at the same time they are not blown too much by the wind, and the sun's rays do not fall on them. When exposed to the sun, the grass will lose most of its beneficial substances; when exposed to wind, the smell will disappear.
3. The distance between the bundles should be about 7-10 cm.
4. We periodically check the readiness of the workpieces. Drying takes from six hours to several days. If the greens are dried correctly, they will be the same color as fresh. It shouldn't crumble into dust.

In addition to a canopy, an attic, balcony, loggia, veranda or other well-ventilated room is also suitable for hanging bunches.

It is good to dry in bunches.
For the horizontal drying method, the greens are laid out on sieves, trays, baking sheets or other surface. Flat plates will do. Parchment or newspaper or canvas fabric is placed underneath. The grass is laid out in a thin layer so that one plant does not overlap another. You can cover it with gauze on top. While drying, the grass will need to be turned over periodically to prevent rotting. Plants need to be protected from the sun.

On the windowsill

You can dry it horizontally on a windowsill.

1. Place the grass on parchment paper or newspaper. It is best if the layer is single, no higher than 1-1.5 cm. Otherwise, the drying process will be long and of poor quality.
2. Stir the grass once or twice a day.

In the same way, you can dry plants on a loggia or balcony.

In an electric dryer

If you often harvest greens for the winter, then there is a reason to purchase for these purposes. This is not a very expensive device that will help greatly simplify the process and dry the plants efficiently.

The drying process in an electric dryer is as follows:

1. Place the washed, dried and chopped grass to 1.5-2 cm into trays in a thin layer.
2. If the dryer has a “Herbs” function, then select it. If such a function is missing, then set the temperature to 40-45 degrees.
3. To achieve uniform drying of the entire batch, the trays will need to be swapped periodically.
4. Typically, the process of drying herbs in a dryer takes two to six hours. For devices of different brands, this time will be different. It should be clarified in the attached instructions.

Can I dry it in the oven?

It is also possible to dry herbs in the oven. It is important to maintain the required temperature, since too high a temperature leads to overdrying of plants, loss of color and valuable substances.

We invite you to familiarize yourself with the technology of drying greens in the oven:

1. Place the washed and dried herbs on a baking sheet with baking paper. It is also advisable to cover the top with paper. The layer should be no higher than one or two centimeters.
2. Preheat the oven to minimum temperature. It is best to dry at temperatures below 40 degrees. To achieve a low temperature, you can place a wine stopper or other object between the door and the oven that will prevent the door from closing completely. This way the temperature can drop.
3. When the grass becomes limp, the temperature should be raised to 50 degrees.
4. We keep the plants in the oven for two to four hours, periodically checking their readiness.

Important! You should not dry several types of herbs at the same time. This way their smells will mix.

1. You can dry greens in the microwave. It is placed on a paper plate, having previously covered it with a paper napkin. The top of the grass is also covered with a napkin. Dry the plants at maximum power for three minutes. After turning off the oven, the greens are inspected. If there are under-dried specimens, they are brought to readiness for another two to three minutes.
2. Dried herbs are an excellent substitute for salt and help reduce its consumption. You just need to add a pinch of dry herb to the salt shaker that usually stands on your kitchen table. It copes with this task perfectly.
3. When drying, make sure that the plants do not come into contact with metal. Otherwise, they will lose their color and change to dark. So, if you place plants on metal baking sheets, then you should spread baking paper on them.
4. Young plants are better suited to drying.
5. Different types of herbs must be dried separately (except in a dryer). If you plan to create a mixture of seasonings, then you need to mix them after they have dried.
6. For drying it is better to choose

Dill takes one of the first places among the herbs used in cooking. Dill is used to flavor salads, first and second courses of meat, poultry and fish. How to preserve this spicy herb for the winter is the main topic of our conversation today. The best ways to store dill are to freeze and dry it. At the same time, dried herbs have the brightest aroma. We will talk about how to properly dry dill at home so that it does not lose its taste and beneficial properties in this article.

If you plan to process greens from your own garden, then you need to carefully approach the issue of collecting them.

It is best to use very young plants for drying that have not yet developed a dense tube with a seed umbrella. The collection time is at the beginning of summer.

Cut dill from the garden, preferably in the morning, immediately after the dew has disappeared. If there was rain at night, even a little, then it is better to postpone this procedure to another time, since the greens will be too wet, and this can lead to their premature spoilage. For the same reason, it is better not to wash dill collected from your own garden.

If you purchase greens at the market, and the purity of the product is in doubt, then rinse the dill bunches under running cool water and dry thoroughly. A waffle or paper towel is suitable for this. Also, a bunch of grass can be placed in a glass in a draft so that drops of water from the plant evaporate.

How to dry dill

The best way is to dry the entire branches, and then, once dry, grind the thin leaves from the rough stem. The advantage of this method is that the essential oils in the plant will evaporate less and the seasoning will remain aromatic for a long time.

If you nevertheless decide to dry the plant without stems, in chopped form, then you should not try to chop the dill too finely. It is better to do this just before the cooking process, rubbing a whisper of greenery between your fingers.

Basic methods for drying dill at home

Drying in the fresh air

Prepared greens can be dried in bunches or chopped.

Small bunches of 5-6 branches are fixed with a thread to any canopy, placing them with the foliage facing down. At the same time, the place for drying greens should not be exposed to direct sunlight, and it itself should be well ventilated.

Chopped dill is also dried in the shade, placing it in a small layer on trays or flat plates. The top of the grass can be covered with gauze to prevent dust from settling on the workpiece.

Watch the video recipe from the “Cooking” channel. Video recipes" - How to dry greens for the winter

How to dry dill in the oven

Since dill contains a lot of aromatic oils, this herb should be dried at the lowest possible oven temperature, preferably up to 40 degrees. Too high an oven temperature can also cause the product to change color and lose its beneficial qualities.

Place the whole dill slices and branches on baking sheets lined with wax paper. Keep the oven door slightly open. This will allow air to circulate well. The baking sheets should be removed every 30 - 60 minutes, the greens should be mixed and inspected for readiness.

The total drying time can take from 2 to 4 hours.

Drying greens in an electric dryer

The prepared foliage or twigs are laid out in a loose layer on pallets and the unit is turned on to the “Herbs” mode. If your electric dryer does not have one, then the temperature should be set independently within 40 degrees. The product will be completely ready in 3 – 4 hours.

Watch the video from the “Ezidri Master” channel - How to properly dry dill? Dried herbs. Herbs

Drying dill in the refrigerator

Place a thin layer of chopped herbs or small twigs on a flat plate. The top of the structure is covered with a napkin. The container is placed in the plus compartment of the refrigerator on the bottom shelf, and forgotten about for about 2 - 3 weeks. During this time, all the moisture from the grass will evaporate and the workpiece can be transferred to jars for storage.

How to dry greens in the microwave

Place the slices or sprigs on a paper plate or flat container lined with a paper napkin. The top of the dill is covered with another layer of thin paper. In this form, the greens are sent to the microwave oven for 3 minutes at maximum power. After the specified time, the top napkin is removed, and the greens are inspected and mixed. If necessary, drying continues in the same mode for another 2 - 3 minutes.

How to check the readiness of dried greens

High-quality dried dill easily turns into a fine powder if you try to rub the branches between your fingers. If the greens wrinkle but do not break, drying needs to be continued.

The dried product should be stored in dark glass jars with tight-fitting lids in a dark, dry place. Ziploc coffee bags are also great for storing herbs.

It is best to collect herbs for drying in early summer. Then, during the cold season, you can brew tea, medicinal decoctions and infusions from them. Let us recall a few nuances about drying herbs for the winter.

Unlike vegetables and fruits, herbs are much easier to dry. After all, they have the least amount of moisture. Preparing herbs yourself is much cheaper than buying them at a pharmacy or market. In addition, herbs collected independently or grown at your own dacha are of higher quality and more environmentally friendly.

Checking the quality of purchased herbs is not easy: they may turn out to be unwashed, spoiled, or not at all what is stated on the package. They sometimes contain toxic pesticides that are formed when grass is exposed to gamma radiation used to kill microbes. At home, you can grow rare herbs that are difficult to find in stores or are expensive.

Dried herbs do not mold, they do not contain yeast bacteria, so they retain their beneficial properties longer than fresh ones (from six months to a year). Good air circulation and heat are necessary to remove moisture from plants and ensure uniform drying. There are several ways to dry herbs, but first of all you need to prepare them properly.

Proper preparation of herbs

Proper preparation of herbs is of great importance. Herbs should be collected during their flowering period, in the morning after the dew has dried, but before the essential oils evaporate under the sun's rays. You need to go for herbs in dry weather. After collecting plants, it is not advisable to delay drying them so that they do not collect moisture and dust, which negatively affect their quality and taste.

Herbs grown independently do not need to be washed, but if they were collected in the steppe or forest, they are rinsed under running cold water, and then shaken and placed on a dry napkin or paper to remove excess moisture. Before drying, the grass is sorted out so that no dead, old, diseased, or withered leaves and stems remain.

Drying and storing herbs

Dry the herbs in a warm and dry place, collecting them in small bunches. A bundle that is too tight and thick will not allow the herbs to dry evenly. It is not recommended to expose them to direct sunlight - they discolor the herbs and deprive them of their aroma.

Traditionally, for drying, plants are tied by the stems and turned over with the buds and flowers facing down. You can hang bunches of herbs on the porch in windy weather. For this, special hooks, twines, hangers, and ceiling beams are used. Ideally, it will be sunny outside along with the wind.

In order for herbs to retain their color, taste, nutrients and medicinal substances well, it is recommended to dry them in the fresh air. But if this is not possible, it is advisable to choose a dry, well-ventilated room: for example, an attic or attic. In urban environments, herbs are often dried on the balcony. If you need to save herb seeds, it is better to wrap them in paper bags or gauze, which will protect the seeds from moisture, wind and excess sun.

The duration of drying can vary - from 5 days to several weeks. It depends on the type of grass and weather conditions. After the grass has completely dried, it is advisable to immediately remove and store it, otherwise they may begin to rot and their properties deteriorate. You need to remove plants carefully - dry herbs become very fragile.

Electronic dryers

Herbs can also be dried using food dehumidifiers, which have a mechanism that controls the temperature and a fan that circulates the air. This is much easier and faster than waiting for the herbs to dry naturally. It only takes a few hours for the herbs to remain in the electric dryer. This depends on the product model. In this case, it is necessary to strictly follow the instructions.

Drying herbs in the oven

Some people dry herbs in the oven, but this is not the most effective method. To prevent the herbs from burning, it is important to set the oven temperature to a very low temperature. The plants are laid out on gauze and sent to the oven.
However, there is no air circulation, which is so necessary for high-quality drying. Periodically, the herbs need to be turned over so that they dry evenly, and their condition must be monitored at all times.

Microwave ovens for drying

The microwave is better for drying herbs than the oven. But it is also not considered the best way to dry medicinal or culinary plants. Before drying in the microwave, the herb is laid out between two paper towels on a wide plate. The microwave turns on for a minute with breaks of 30 seconds. This mode of operation with a half-minute rest is observed for about 10 minutes while the grass dries.

Using the refrigerator

You can't properly dry the herbs in the refrigerator, but the plants are also preserved well there. To do this, they need to be laid out on paper towels, which are then rolled up into a roll and placed in the refrigerator.
Thanks to the paper, moisture from the herbs is absorbed. After some time, you can get slightly dried plants with their aroma, taste and color preserved.

Proper storage of dried herbs

Once the herbs are removed from the drying area, they need to be packaged for long-term storage. Grind the dried herbs with dry hands, or use a mortar and pestle for this. Leave the crushed plants for a while to preserve the aromatic oils. Then the herbs should be placed in airtight containers and stored in a cool, dark place for 6-12 months. Some herbs are finely chopped and frozen in the freezer to better preserve the flavor.

Drying is the simplest, cheapest and least labor-intensive method of harvesting. You can dry anything: berries, fruits, vegetables, herbs. They are dried whole or cut into pieces in the fresh air or in a warm oven. You can also do this in the microwave. Drying is extremely easy. And you don't need a lot of space! Not for the drying process itself: you can do this even in the room or kitchen, even on the balcony; nor for subsequent storage: dried preparations are greatly reduced in volume compared to the original raw material.

However, among all these unconditional advantages, there is one disadvantage: the significant ease of preparation of dried preparations in no way guarantees their further preservation without problems. The greatest danger for them is high humidity: it can cause mold. Food moths also love them! Why am I all about sad things? We'll dry it, period! And for storage we will choose a drier place. Let the moth choke! We can also dry it with special drying - from the waste left over after preparing the preparations. Let's say that after sorting the raw materials you are left with damaged fruits that are unsuitable for your preparations. They can be dried, unless, of course, they are affected by diseases. In addition, for drying, you can use peeling apples and pears, and even squeezing after making juice. And all this, imagine, is worth drying not only to feed the insatiable moth. Everything that the moth has not eaten will be useful to you in the winter: add it to some dish as a seasoning, or even brew a medicinal tea.

However, as in everything in our procurement business, the higher the quality of the raw materials, the better the quality of the dried preparations. The easiest way is to dry greens and herbs at home. Let's start with them. And we will also choose the simplest method - drying in the sun or, rather, in the open air. Although this is a lengthy task, it is not at all troublesome.

How to Dry Greens, Herbs, White Roots, Root Vegetables and Vegetables Outdoors

Drying greens. Spoiled by the summer abundance of greens and herbs, we often relax and forget that spring will pass, summer will end, and with it they will almost disappear from our table. Almost, because greens can be bought in winter, but spicy herbs will have to wait until next spring. Frankly speaking, dried herbs are, of course, not at all the same as fresh ones. They are different, but that is their beauty. In addition, they retain many useful substances. Usually at home it is customary to prepare dried parsley, dill, celery, tarragon (tarragon), basil, lovage, mint and lemon balm.

There are two ways to dry herbs and herbs:

.Method 1. Wash the sprigs of greenery or herbs, shake off the water and let them dry a little, laying them out on a towel. Then tie them into small bundles (each type separately) and sushi in the open air, perhaps on the balcony, hanging them at a distance of 7-10 cm from one another, in a place protected from the sun and wind. This is necessary so that they do not turn brown from the sun, and from losing their aroma from the wind. You can dry herbs in the room. To do this, do not cut the prepared greens, but tie them into bunches and hang them on a stretched twine.

. Method 2. Prepared as in the first method, cut the greens and herbs with a knife or scissors, lay them out on sheets of paper and put them on a cabinet or take them out to the balcony. Turn the greens once a day and they will be ready in a few days.

BY THE WAY, you can prepare dried sorrel or spinach in the same way.
The main condition when drying greens: the faster it dries, the better it retains its natural taste, color and aroma.

When the greens are dry, rub them into a coarse powder with your hands, place each type separately in glass jars with lids or paper bags and store in a dark, dry place. Unfortunately, when dried, herbs partially lose their characteristic taste and aroma, so I do not recommend storing them for too long. At the same time, their taste and aroma acquire a new sound, which is also not bad. Add dried and properly preserved greens and herbs to the first and second courses a few minutes before the end of cooking. Before this, you can mix them in any ratio, selecting them according to taste and aroma, but you should not mix more than three herbs at the same time. In addition, you can sprinkle dry mixtures of herbs and herbs (can be mixed with salt) on boiled potatoes or season meat and fish before cooking. Speaking of fish. For fish dishes, you and I can prepare a special mixture of dried herbs.
To prepare a spicy mixture for fish dishes, rub between your fingers or palms, then sift and mix 1 tbsp. l. dried parsley, 1 tbsp. l. dried celery greens, 1 tsp. dried savory greens, 1 tsp. dried basil greens. Then add chopped spices to them: 1/2 tsp. fennel seeds, 2 bay leaves, 1 black peppercorn. Store the finished mixture in a tightly closed jar in a dark place.

BY THE WAY, dry greens can be kept in a salt shaker on the table: the salt it contains will completely or partially replace the salt in the prepared dish. The same can be done with the dried white roots ground into powder. It is known that some dried herbs and their roots can be used for diseases that require restriction of salt and other spices, such as hypertension. So, dried basil, for example, allows you to significantly reduce salt consumption, and in combination with lovage, exclude other spices and herbs from the menu.

Drying roots. After drying the tops of the greens, you might still have some roots left. I hope they haven't ended up in the bin yet? Even if these are thin parsley roots, they should be dried. What can we say about the more impressively sized roots of parsnip and celery! It is these dried preparations that appear in many recipes under the general name “white roots”. So, when buying greens, it is better to take those with roots. Firstly, it is usually fresher, and secondly, the roots will come in handy. Experienced harvesters usually dry the roots of parsley, parsnips and celery. I dry it all myself every year. But the roots of dill and coriander, I don’t know why, are not usually dried. In addition, some producers, huddled in cramped city apartments and unable to store carrots and beets in their natural form at home, prefer to dry them too. The only downside is that drying these root vegetables in the open air destroys more vitamins than, for example, drying them in an oven, where they dry faster at a higher temperature.

To reduce the loss of vitamins in dried carrots and beets, blanch the prepared raw materials in boiling water for several minutes before drying.

BY THE WAY, White roots, on the contrary, should not be blanched before drying, otherwise they will lose their aroma.
To dry the roots of parsley, parsnips and celery, as well as carrots and beets, clear them of any remaining soil, wash, dry, scrape or peel off the thin top layer with a knife, and then finely cut into strips or slices 3 mm thick. Don’t forget to blanch and dry the carrots and beets. Then place pieces of roots and root vegetables (each type separately!) on a sieve or on a tray covered with clean paper, and place the sushi, depending on the weather, on the balcony, on the radiator or simply on the windowsill, turning it over every day. Or string the pieces on a thread at intervals of 0.5 cm between them and hang it directly in the room or in the shade in the air away from direct sunlight.

BY THE WAY, from 100 g of fresh root vegetables you will get 14-15 g of dry ones.
When the roots and root vegetables are dry, put them in storage, each type in a separate bag or jar. And in winter, when preparing soups, borscht or stews, add these dried preparations to them, but not closer to the end of cooking, like dried herbs, but rather closer to the beginning, so that the roots have time to boil. However, some of them can be ground in a coffee grinder and not only added to prepared dishes, but also kept on the table as a seasoning and then instead of spices. For example, celery root powder can almost completely replace salt, because it contains the same substances that enter our body with salt.

Drying vegetables is not much different from drying herbs and roots. Although for drying vegetables that are juicier than roots and greens, it is still better to choose the second method - hanging drying.

To prepare dried peppers, wash well-ripened pods of sweet or bitter red peppers, dry them and, without peeling them, place them in a warm room for drying for several days. Then tie the pepper pods by the stalks to twine or strong thread so that they do not touch each other, and hang them in a well-ventilated, bright place protected from precipitation (the weight of the entire hanging structure should not exceed 2 kg). When the pepper is dry, put the sweet pepper in storage or grind it in a coffee grinder, and the bitter pepper can be hung with twine in the kitchen - both beautiful and always at hand.

To prepare dried eggplants, wash them, dry them, cut off the stalks, and cut the fruits themselves lengthwise into not very thin slices. Make a slit in the middle of each plate, then string them on a strong thread so that they do not touch each other, and hang them to dry in a cool, dry place. Having dried the eggplants to the state of dried fruit, you can store them at least until the next harvest, but be sure to store them in a dry place.

BY THE WAY, you can dry apples in the same way.
Before eating, pour boiling water over dried vegetables (sweet peppers or eggplants) for 30-40 minutes, and then prepare from them everything that you usually prepare from fresh ones.

How to dry berries

It is enough to simply prepare dried chokeberries, strawberries, raspberries, black currants, rowan berries, bird cherry and blueberries at home. They (except black currants) can be dried either in the sun or in an oven. To do this, prepare ripe berries (except raspberries; for drying it is better to take not quite ripe berries of garden and forest raspberries, since ripe ones become limp when dried), preferably collected in warm sunny weather, and lay them out for drying on a tray covered with paper, and place it on balcony or any other ventilated place and turn the berries over every day. Or place the prepared berries on a baking sheet lined with baking paper and place in a slightly preheated oven. First, dry the berries at 40-45 °C, and when they are dry, dry them at 60-70 °C. Shake the tray with berries periodically while drying. All this time, the oven door should be slightly open. Usually the berries dry out in 2-3 hours. To check their readiness, squeeze several berries in your fist: well-dried berries should not release juice. Place the finished dried berries in jars with tight-fitting lids.

BY THE WAY, dried berries retain their medicinal properties, and chokeberry berries also lose their excessive astringency.

Some berries, for example, rowan and bird cherry, can be prepared in powder. It is very comfortable. The powder is easier to store: it takes up less space and is less susceptible to spoilage, and its range of use is somewhat wider than that of dried berries, which are traditionally used only for brewing berry teas and preparing compotes or jelly.
To prepare powder from rowan or bird cherry berries, blanch the prepared berries (each type separately!) in salted boiling water for 1 minute, and then dry well in the oven (using the method described above) and grind in a coffee grinder to a fine powder. Store this powder in a hermetically sealed jar. Rowan berry powder can be mixed into sauces, jelly, cookies, and confectionery to add a piquant and sour taste. And from bird cherry powder, also called bird cherry flour, delicious pies are baked. You can also make tasty and healthy drinks from such powders. To do this, just brew 1-2 tsp. powder with 1 cup of boiling water and let it brew a little.
Be sure to dry barberry berries in the fall. In the Caucasus, dried and powdered barberry berries are served as a seasoning for many oriental dishes, especially kebabs. Why don't we follow the example of our Caucasian comrades?

How to store and use dried preparations

If you are fascinated by the drying process and want to continue and experiment with other fruits besides those mentioned, that’s great. The main thing is not to forget that before use, all dried fruits must be thoroughly washed to remove any dust that has accumulated on them during drying and storage, and then soaked in cold water: this makes their subsequent culinary use easier. For example, the soaking time for finely chopped dried apples, pitted apricots and berries should be from 8 to 15 hours. When using dried preparations, keep in mind that for preparing various dishes they must be taken 4-5 times less than fresh fruits. For example, if you want to use dried apples where the recipe calls for fresh ones, you will have to soak about 450 g of dried apples instead of the 1.5-1.8 kg of fresh apples required by the recipe. Cook the soaked dried fruits with the lid closed and at a low boil in the liquid in which they were soaked. Because sugar slows down the absorption of water, do not sweeten cooking fruit until it is soft. Use the liquid in which dried fruits were boiled to prepare other dishes or for compote.

In any case, when cooking from dried fruits, keep in mind that during drying they lose a lot of vitamins; in this regard, they cannot be compared with fresh ones. However, the medicinal properties of dried berries and herbs are not affected by their mummified state. And it pleases! At the same time, one cannot but be upset by the fact that their medicinal properties are also affected by careful compliance with the conditions of their proper storage.

Some practical advice from experienced producers:

Dried fruits are well preserved in gauze bags in a suspended state at a temperature of 8-10 ° C in a dry, well-ventilated room. If you have the opportunity to provide them with similar conditions, use this method, but still check the contents of the bags from time to time and remove any spoiled drying material.

In the absence of a dry, cool and ventilated place in the house, place your dried preparations in well-tied or sealed plastic bags (bags with a special fastener are also suitable) or in glass jars with tight-fitting lids. This is done because dried vegetables, fruits and berries absorb from the air not only moisture that is harmful to them, but also foreign odors.

Even properly stored dried products should be periodically checked and ventilated. This is necessary in order to promptly detect traces of mold and uninvited parasites in the form of food moths, the larvae of which are very fond of feasting on dried fruits.

As a means to repel moths from your dried fruits, you can use only the weakest-smelling, and therefore weakly effective, means, for example, dry citrus peels. Use it alternating with dry lavender or oregano herbs. Sprinkle dried fruits with chopped grass or pieces of peel, as well as clothes: this will protect them for some time from the attacks of moths.