Description

Dried cherries, despite the similarity in the cooking process, are completely different from simply dried berries. Starting from the fact that before drying, such cherries must be boiled in saturated sugar syrup and ending with the concentration of the taste of the finished berries. Dried cherries will retain all the most beneficial vitamins, and will also smell amazingly delicious. These cherries can be used to prepare healthy and tasty cough infusions or eaten simply and washed down with tea.
A step-by-step photo recipe will clearly tell you how to dry cherries at home. In fact, the process is quite simple, but it also has its own subtleties. Sugar syrup can be used for several batches of cherries; this will only improve the taste of the berries. The main thing is to regulate the amount of liquid, because the berries should float freely in the pan and not stew. There is no need to use any spices to prepare such a simple dish: the original taste of cherries will be quite enough. If you don’t have a dryer at home, you can dry the cherries at a very low temperature in the oven, keeping it open so that the berries do not bake. Let's start preparing delicious and natural dried cherries for the winter.

Ingredients

Dried cherries - recipe

To create such a winter preparation, absolutely any variety of cherries is suitable. You can even prepare a real assortment of white, yellow and black cherries. The first step is to thoroughly rinse and dry the selected berries, remove the seeds, and then place them in the refrigerator overnight to infuse. You can sprinkle them with a little sugar for preservation if desired..

After the specified time has passed, remove the cherries from the refrigerator and let them warm up to room temperature. In a separate deep saucepan, mix water with sugar and bring to a boil, dissolve the crystals and boil the syrup for several minutes. Pour the prepared berries into boiling syrup.

At this stage of time, drying cherries at home is widely popular. This is explained by the fact that even dried berries retain all the beneficial properties inherent in fresh cherries.

The benefits and harms of dried cherries for the body

Why it’s useful:

1. Loss of body weight. Dried cherries are an integral part of many diets. All kinds of decoctions are made from this product, which do not cause harm when following a diet, but will also help to significantly strengthen the immune system.
2. Normalization of sleep. Due to the fact that cherries contain melatonin, compotes made from them promote better sleep.
3. Improving memory and brain activity. If you drink one glass of compote made from these fruits every day, you can significantly improve your memory and attention.

In addition to all of the above, such dried fruits have an excellent taste, so children will enjoy eating them.

• People suffering from diabetes;
• Children under 2 years of age;
• People with diseases of the food system.

The presented contraindications are due to the fact that the product contains high levels of glucose, so people with high blood sugar should avoid eating cherries in any form.

What varieties are suitable?

The most suitable varieties for drying cherries are the following:

• Vladimirskaya;
• Late spanka;
• Lyubskaya;
• Samarkand.

When choosing cherries for drying, you need to pay attention to the ripeness and richness of the skin color. The pulp should not have a dense texture, and the stone should not be small in size.

Preparing the berries. How to choose seeds?

Immediately before drying, the fruits must be separated from the stalks and washed thoroughly. In order for the drying process to proceed faster, before starting the procedure for drying the berries, you should blanch for 3 minutes.

Immediately before drying, you should decide whether to dry it with or without a pit. If in the future the product will be used exclusively for preparing compotes, you can leave the pit. If the product will be used as a filling for pies or pies, then you need to get rid of the pit. Currently, in specialized stores you can find a lot of devices that will greatly facilitate this process.

To make it easier to remove the seeds, you need to dry the cherries a little at a temperature of at least 30 degrees using an electric dryer.

Drying

At this stage of time, there are several methods for drying cherries:

• In the sun;
• Using an oven;
• Using an electric dryer;
• Using a stove.

Under the sun

Before drying berries outside, they should be properly laid out. That is, just place the berries on a horizontal surface, a tray or a sheet of chipboard, and lay them out in one even layer.

If the seeds from the cherries have been removed, the laying out is done in halves, with the pulp facing up. You can, of course, dry it this way, even if the cherry is whole, but without a pit.

Often such blanks are used as a substitute. For a high-quality effect, the product must spend several days in the sun. As the berries dry, they are turned over and brought indoors when ready.

In an electric dryer

The berries are cut in half and placed on a tray. The temperature in the dryer is set to 50 degrees, and the cherries are dried for 3 hours, then the temperature increases to 60 degrees, and the drying duration is up to 5 hours. Next, the temperature increases to 75 degrees, and the cherries are dried for another 3 hours.

Drying in an electric dryer:

In the oven

In order to carry out this procedure in a real oven, it is necessary to adjust the temperature before starting the procedure. To do this, you need to sprinkle a few drops of water on the surface of the oven, and they should boil. The method itself is simple and is often used in country houses or dachas.

In this case, the berries are laid out in an even layer on a sieve, which is placed in the oven. After this, the oven is closed, but you need to leave a small hole for the moisture to evaporate. Drying time is 10-12 hours.

Oven drying

Thanks to this method, you can get not just dried, but dried cherries.

In order for the drying process to be successful, you need to perform the following steps:

• Prepare syrup from water and sugar, for this the ingredients are taken in a 1:1 ratio, that is, for 500 grams of sugar you should use 500 ml of water;
• In the resulting composition, you need to boil the prepared cherries for 5 minutes;
• You need to remove the berries from the mixture using a slotted spoon, then put them in a colander to remove any remaining syrup.

After these manipulations, the product is laid out on a baking sheet in one layer, and then sent to an oven preheated to 70 degrees. The drying process takes 8 to 9 hours. You can determine the readiness of the product not only by color (dark brown), but also by pressing. When you press the berry with your finger, no juice should come out of it.

Storage rules

The most common way to store dried cherries is to store them in paper bags. If a person is sure that the berries will be used quickly, then they can be placed in a jar. In addition to the storage methods presented, berries are often placed in the freezer.

Insert your text here

Use of dried cherries

Such dried fruits are very popular in the confectionery industry. They are often used to make marmalade, marshmallows or baked goods. But the most common method of use is, of course, compote which, in addition to being tasty, will bring many benefits to the body.

In addition, dried cherries are also used for medicinal purposes in the treatment of bronchitis, arthritis and as an antipyretic.

If you dry the berries correctly, you can get a huge supply of vitamins for the winter and just a delicious fruit.

Solar drying of cherries, raspberries, currants, sweet cherries:

Everyone is well aware of the healing and aromatic properties of dried cherries. You can simply eat this dried fruit as a bite, or you can cook a delicious compote from it. Dried cherries are often added to pie and various sauces. But the main advantage of this wonderful dry berry is the absence of unwanted preservatives or excessive sweetness. Moreover, harvested in such a simple way as drying, the crop is perfectly preserved at room temperature for six months.

At what temperature should you dry cherries and for how long at home?

Depending on the method of drying cherries, the temperature may vary. For example, in the oven it fluctuates between 60-80 ℃ and lasts 4-12 hours, and in the fresh air it depends on the summer temperature and takes on average 5-8 days.

To tell if the berries are dry, press one of them with your fingers. Your hands should remain clean without dripping juice.

And also pay attention to the color of the raw materials. When ready for storage before winter, the berry turns dark burgundy or even brown.

Stages of drying cherries

The drying process is carried out in several stages. On first stage Cherries should be sorted into defective and non-defective. That is, we need cherries without dark spots, cracks, dents, etc. Whole berries must be thoroughly washed with running water and the cuttings removed. Then you can dry them a little.

On second stage You need to cut each cherry into two equal parts. It is important to remember that the smaller the half, the faster it will dry. Moreover, this makes it easier to remove seeds from them.

On third stage you need to prepare a solution of ascorbic acid in warm water. In this case, the powder should completely dissolve. After this, the water must be cooled to room temperature. Cooked berries are dipped into water with vitamin C, where they are kept for about 5 minutes, and then carefully pulled out with a slotted spoon. Thanks to this procedure, darkening of the berries during drying is prevented and their beautiful color is preserved.

Fourth stage- directly drying the cherries, which can be done in two ways: outside and in the oven.

If you have acquired an electric dryer to prepare supplies for the winter, then you have definitely made the right choice. It dries the cherries faster than in the open air, and there are more options for delicious preparation.

To dry cherries with pits you should:

• collect ripe and elastic fruits;
• rinse them well and leave in a colander to drain excess water;
• sort them out, discarding those that are wormy or have damaged skins;
• pour in one layer onto the mesh of an electric dryer;
• set the temperature to 55-60℃ for a couple of hours, and then switch to 30-35℃ and wait for it to be ready.

If you decide to dry pitted cherries, then there will be more trouble with its preparation and drying. But the taste and quality of the material for future culinary masterpieces will be completely different.

• When reviewing finished raw materials, remove the seeds;
• while drying in an electric dryer, change the temperature conditions from high to low three times, as indicated above;
• be prepared for a longer process.

If you decide to dry cherries in an electric dryer, then you need:

• prepare clean, high-quality seedless raw materials;
• sprinkle it with sugar to drain the juice and leave it in a warm room;
• Allow the remaining cherry juice to drain in a colander. By the way, preserve the first one or use it for preparing summer compotes;
• boil sweet syrup in water and add cherries;
• turn off the heat under the pan, let the berries cool along with the syrup;
• drain the remainder from the container and allow it to drain from the cherries through a colander;
• send raw materials to an electric dryer;
• the duration and order of further actions are similar to the previous description with the only difference being the appearance, elasticity of the cherries and juiciness;
• Be prepared for the fact that seedless berries will take approximately three times longer to dry.

How to dry cherries in the sun

Choose an open, dry area away from the road, garbage bins, and fences with animals. The best place may be the garden. The best drying area is one that is located at a slight slope to the south, heated as much as possible by the sun.

Place the cherries in special sieves in one row and leave for several days. The readiness of the dried berries depends on their size and degree of ripeness (about 3-4 days).

How to dry cherries in the oven

Drying cherries is possible in both gas and electric ovens. But do not forget to open the oven door slightly to avoid steaming the berries. Sometimes drying of cherries and other fruits in large volumes is carried out in a special drying cabinet with a draft system, moisture removal and heat input.

How to dry cherries in an oven

For oven drying, it is very important to determine the temperature sufficient to dry the berries. Sieves with cherries can be installed in the oven if the drops splashed onto the bottom of the oven do not boil and the paper does not catch fire. Place bricks on the bottom of the oven and place sieves with berries on them. Close the stove damper loosely to leave a small gap, and cover the chimney slightly.

Everyone knows that cherry fruits ripen much earlier than other stone fruits. But besides this, these fruits still have a lot of advantages. Cherry berries are very tasty, both fresh and dried. Of course, it is not rational to specifically use fruits for drying. But very often, when harvesting, there are reasons for the need for drying, for example, berries that were picked at the wrong time, dried out on the tree, or burst due to rainy weather. Dried cherries are a very high-calorie product, containing about 54-58% sucrose, 1.96-3.6% acid, 25-31% various vitamins.

Drying of cherry fruits can take place in the sun, in an ordinary Russian oven, in an oven and, of course, in an electric dryer. The quality of future dried fruits will depend entirely on the duration of the drying process itself. It is desirable that drying proceeds as quickly as possible. To speed up this process, you should first soften the fresh fruits by applying a “mesh” to the skin and dipping the berries in boiling water for a few minutes. If you decide to get dried fruits similar to raisins, then before drying, remove the pit from the fruit and place it in a fumigation chamber, which is very easy to do at home. Build it from adobe bricks or simply use a covered barrel or box.

For fumigation, take about 1 - 2 g of sulfur per 1 kg of cherry fruit, pour into a roasting pan or box and light. Having burned in a closed space, sulfur forms smoke, which will subsequently protect the fruits from browning. This process should take 1 -1.5 hours. Afterwards, the berries are dried in a sunny area for 5-9 days.

If you choose an electric dryer for drying, then select a temperature of 60-65° and dry for about 18-20 hours. The drying process is complete when they, after being squeezed in a fist, easily crumble. But at the very beginning, maintain the temperature at 55-60°, this will allow you to avoid cracking of the fruit and leakage of juice. And then, when the berries have dried a little, you can gradually increase the temperature to 75-80°. comes out five times less than fresh. The most suitable varieties are those with intensely colored flesh, such as Melitopol black, Bigarro Oratovsky, Dneprovka, Francis, Tavrichanka, French black, Chernyavka, Drogana yellow, Raduzhnaya. If you follow all the drying rules, you can easily obtain high-quality raw materials, very similar to raisins. According to the rules, dried cherry fruits have a very beautiful dark cherry color, sometimes almost black, shiny, elastic.

But in order for high-quality dried fruits to be preserved for a long time and not lose their taste and appearance, they should be stored correctly. To properly store dried cherries, you must use a dry, cold room. Most often, such a room in a home is the attic. But this is if you have a lot of dried raw materials prepared. But if there are not a lot of cherries, then it is better to store them in 3-10 liter glass jars, tightly closed with nylon lids. Sometimes, insect pests may appear in this product. In such cases, dry the fruits in an oven or microwave at a temperature of 80-90 degrees, while stirring thoroughly. After such drying, sift all the dry cherry fruits and place them in a pre-well washed and dried container. It is not worth harvesting large quantities of dried cherries, since when they are stored for a long time, the nutritional value of the product decreases, it dries out, and becomes unsuitable for use. These dry cherries should be consumed before the new harvest.

Cherry is one of the most famous berries. Its fruits were consumed in Anatolia eight thousand years BC. It was grown in Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece. Traces of cherries have been discovered in ancient Swiss settlements in southern Sweden. According to legend, the berry came to the Roman Empire in the second century BC from the Turkish city of Girsun. The Roman Emperor Lucus liked the cherries that grew there, and he ordered its seedlings to be brought to Rome.

What are the benefits of cherries?

The benefits of cherries are undeniable. Its fruits contain glucose, fructose, fiber, vitamins B, K, PP, A, organic acids (succinic, malic and citric), as well as essential micro and macroelements: copper, phosphorus, iodine, magnesium, manganese, iodine.

Cherry eliminates putrefactive processes in the intestines, improves gastric motility, and removes harmful substances from the body. The berry has a positive effect on the functioning of the heart and brain, improves blood circulation and metabolic processes, and prevents blood clots.

Cherries are not only very tasty, but also healthy. It has a mild diuretic effect, so you can use it for kidney and liver diseases. Saturates with iron for anemia. Ascorbic acid strengthens the heart and blood vessels, provitamin A strengthens bones, teeth, and has a beneficial effect on vision. Coumarin, contained in cherries, keeps the body in good shape and helps weakened people recover faster.

In order for the prepared cherries to be well preserved for the winter, you need to taste them by touch. It should be medium soft, ripe but not overripe, without damage or smudges, with a shiny color. You should take berries with petioles, as they are better preserved this way. Cherries should not be sticky.

Dried cherries are perfect for compotes and numerous drinks. If you pour cold water over the cherries, cook for 10 minutes, then leave for an hour and add a little lemon juice, you will get an excellent tonic drink that is useful for general weakness of the body, weakened immunity, and anemia.

Dried cherries are suitable for making mousses, jellies, and jelly. All dishes prepared with its use not only have a pleasant taste, but also have a medical effect. Cherries are used in chicken salads, dumplings, pancakes, and candied fruits are made from them.

Dried cherries contain all useful microelements and vitamins. Dried cherries are used to decorate a variety of desserts and added to cupcakes. Dried or sun-dried cherries can also be used as a substitute for sweets. It's much healthier and tastier. Many people like to brew dried cherries in. This gives the drink a pleasant aroma and amazing taste.

Sun-dried cherries can be purchased at the market or in supermarkets. But you cannot be sure of the quality of this product. It’s another matter when you prepare it yourself, especially since it’s quite easy and simple to do. A stove, oven, oven, or Ezidri berry dryer will be useful for this. A dryer is especially useful if the cherry harvest is rich and there is nowhere to put it.

Sun-dried and dried cherries are different. Dried berries become dry and inelastic. And the dried one should completely lose its elasticity. At the same time, its taste turns out to be more refined.

Cherries have a sweet and sour taste, so they can easily replace sugary-sweet raisins in desserts. Small, but at the same time fleshy cherries, which do not have a lot of juice, are better suited, so they dry faster.

Baking with cherries

Delicious crackers are obtained if dried or dried cherries are added to them. It is necessary to prepare the filling, which should consist of your favorite nuts and cherries. You can add poppy seeds, candied fruits, and coffee at your discretion. Just don’t overdo it so that the taste doesn’t turn out incomprehensible. It is better to make the filler from two or three ingredients. Nuts should be fried and finely chopped, dried fruits should be chopped, if the cherries are small, then you can put them whole.

Knead the dough from flour, baking powder and eggs. It should be sticky and liquid. Gradually add nuts, cherries and other filling ingredients to the dough. The mass is not very attractive, but after baking the crackers will turn out beautiful and appetizing.

The most difficult part is shaping the sticky dough into bars. It is necessary to constantly lubricate your hands with vegetable oil or sprinkle the work surface with flour. The dough is placed on parchment paper and baked in the oven at 180 degrees for half an hour, checking it periodically with a toothpick.

The bars are taken out of the oven, wait a couple of minutes and removed from the paper. It is important not to miss the moment, otherwise the baked goods will stick to the parchment paper. Cut the bars into slices. The thickness can be as desired. Some people like thin and crispy bread, while others love softer baked goods. The resulting crackers are placed back in the oven and browned for another 10 minutes at a temperature of 160 degrees. Then turn it over and leave to dry for another 10 minutes.

That's all. It took 250 grams of flour, 150 grams of sugar, 3 eggs, salt and baking powder on the tip of a knife, 200 grams of dried cherries and nuts.

Dried or dried cherries are not only healthy, but also very tasty. An electric one will help preserve all the benefits of the magnificent berries. If in the summer, among the abundance of ripe and aromatic fruits, you might think that you don’t really want cherries in winter or spring, then with the onset of cold weather, this decision can radically change.

During the period of winter storms, frosts, when there is a snowstorm or slush outside the window, and the body loses its vitality and yearns for the sun, how nice it will be to take a jar of dried berries from the shelf and prepare cherry compote, a wonderful drink that supports the immune system. Or bake muffins, cookies, crackers with cherries and enjoy a fragrant breakfast with a cup of scalding coffee, tea, cocoa, exuding an exciting aroma. Set yourself up for a wonderful day. And drinking tea after dinner with cherry desserts will not leave anyone indifferent and will give a quiet family home comfort to any company.