Apple is considered one of the most useful and common fruits. It, in addition to excellent taste, has a rich chemical composition. Vitamins, minerals, organic acids, cellulose, pectin - all these apple components have a positive effect on the human body. That is why this fruit is recommended to eat all year round. But what to do with the onset of winter? You can buy imported apples in stores, but you cannot always be sure about their quality. In this case, the best from the summer and autumn to stock up on dried apples. In them, as in the fresh product, there are vitamins, moreover, they do not take up much space during storage. So what do you need to know that dried apples are preserved and pleased with seven vitamins?
Storage Recommendations for Dried Apples
- First of all, it should be said that not all apple varieties are well preserved in dried form. It is recommended to do drying from autumn sweet-sour varieties with dense white flesh. Most often dried Antonovka, Grushovka and Titovka.
- Before drying, the fruit must be carefully sorted, washed and cut into equal pieces so that they can dry evenly. By the way, it is better to select large and medium-sized fruits for drying, there will be less residue, and more finished product.
- The duration of preservation of dried apples is greatly affected by the process of drying the fruit. It is necessary that each slice is thoroughly dry. If you do not follow this, one damp slice can ruin the whole piece.
- It is equally important to choose the right storage place. Dried apples are best kept in cool, dark, well-ventilated dry areas with low humidity. If you live in an apartment, they can be stored in a pantry, kitchen cabinet, on a balcony or windowsill. In the private house the basement is perfect for this.
- Dried apples have the ability to absorb foreign odors. For this reason, wherever they are stored, they should always be kept as far as possible from spices and other strong smelling products.
- The container in which the drying of apples is stored must be reliable. If dried apples are not reliably protected, they will not only absorb extraneous odors, but will also dampen, mold and be attacked by pests - bugs, moles and other insects. To avoid all this, you should store this product in tight, small-sized cloth bags, cardboard boxes, wooden cases, sealed glass jars or woven, tightly closed baskets. In no case do not use plastic bags to preserve dried apples. Oxygen does not flow through them, as a result of which the product begins to rust and deteriorate rapidly. Pay attention, whatever the drying of apples is stored in, at the bottom of the container you first need to lay a piece of paper, preferably waxed. Then the apples are laid out in a thick layer, and the paper is placed on top of it again.
- A container with fruit preparations cannot be stored on the floor. She must certainly stand on high ground. For this, it is ideal to equip a cabinet with shelves.
- In order to avoid spoiling dried apples from excess moisture, it is recommended to place a bowl filled with salt next to the container.
- Periodically drying out apples should be checked for the presence of parasites. If they were found, do not throw away all the blanks. First, dried apples should be sorted out by discarding the damaged lobules. Then the drying is sent to the oven for an hour to ignite. The oven temperature should be 70 degrees. Instead, you can also put healthy slices in the freezer for 24 hours.
- Dried apples, affected by mold, cannot be eaten. Mold spores penetrate deeply into the product, therefore, dried fruit infected with fungus cannot be preserved, even if they are thoroughly rinsed and calcined in the oven.
Shelf life of dried apples
With proper observance of all the above measures, dried apples can lie at a temperature of +10 degrees throughout the year. If the drying of apples is stored at room temperature, the shelf life is reduced to 1-2 months.
