How to dry apricot. How to dry apricots for dried apricots at home. At what temperature should you dry apricots?

Sunny apricot is a perishable product. Therefore, when saving it, they try to quickly prepare jam, preserves, etc. But there is a simple, economical, without adding sugar, way to preserve the fruit in a beautiful form with benefit.

You just need to know the rules: how to dry apricots at home.

Selection and preparation

Rule 1: choose a quality product - the dried fruit will be valuable.

To dry apricots, you need to take ripe, not very juicy, sweet varieties of fruits, sort through them, removing damaged and rotten ones.

Tip: the sweetest fruits are oblong in shape and orange with a pink tint. It is better to choose large ones, from whose dense pulp it is easier to remove the stone. It is removed by cutting the fruit with a knife, breaking it into halves by hand, or pushing it out with a wooden stick. Freshly picked clean fruits do not need to be washed. If the climate is rich in sunny days, it is better to air dry for 3 weeks, stringing the apricots on twigs or twine, turning them over from time to time.

Rule 2: Preparation will become easy if there is practice.

Fruits should be washed with running water and the stem and pit should be removed. To ensure that dried apricots retain their sunny color, you can choose a convenient method:

1. 1. Place fruit halves in a solution of lemon juice or acid (1 lemon or 1 to 8 teaspoons of acid per 1 liter of water). After 10 min. Drain the aging solution and spread out the apricots for initial drying.

• Prepare boiling water in a saucepan on the stove. Place the fruits in the bottom of a colander and hold over it for no more than ¼ hour. Sweeten this water and put it there for 2 minutes. apricots. Place on dry paper.

• Take a wire rack, lay out the slices on it in one layer, and place in a wooden box with a lid. At the bottom, set fire to cotton swabs treated with sulfur. The smoke envelops the fruits for two to six hours. Per kg of apricots you will need 2 g of sulfur. Although sulfur smoke is a good preservative that prevents dried apricots from darkening, however, some people, and especially children, have a special sensitivity to it. After drying, fumigated fruits must be left for 30 minutes before eating. in water 20°t.

Natural drying in the fresh air

Rule 3: Dry apricots in the sun in summer and eat vitamins in winter.

Drying apricots in the sun - a natural way to preserve summer vitamins for the winter. Drying according to the algorithm is as follows:

1. 1. Cover the metal mesh with a soft cloth or parchment. Place the apricot slices on it, with the open side up, and cover with gauze.

• Take it out of the house to a well-ventilated area and set it to blow with wind for 4 hours.
• Then move it to where there is as much sunlight as possible.

• After sunset, avoiding moisture, take it home to dry.

• You will have to dry it for about 14 days in strong sun, because in the shade, humidity will ruin the raw materials.

Dry in an electric dryer

Rule 4: there is no sun and it suddenly rains - the electric dryer is our best friend.

In any weather, without leaving home, in less time, and always having help in the form of a dehydrator (dryer) at hand, you can dry a large number of apricots at once. For this:

• • The prepared slices are laid out on the mesh with the cuts down so that they are well blown with dry air.

• The temperature is set to +60º, and if the halves are large, it is kept for at least 40 minutes.

• When you want meaty, juicy dried apricots, you need to dry them for less time. Leave longer if dry and wrinkled is preferred.

Electric dryers are varied; how long to dry fruit depends on the configuration and power. The common thing is that the process of starting and finishing drying occurs at t +40-+50º, and in the middle +60. Following the instructions for conventional models, it takes 10 hours to dry.

How to dry with an air fryer

An air fryer is an excellent alternative to an electric dryer. The convection principle of its operation, combining heating and ventilation, preserves the beneficial properties of fruits. Apricots are placed loosely on the mesh, the ventilation power is set to high and the temperature is +70º. If one cycle is not enough, repeat it.

Dry in the oven

Rule 5: a home oven will help you dry apricots quickly and efficiently.

You can get excellent dried fruit even without an electric dryer in a conventional oven; the main thing is to monitor the temperature and not heat it up too much:

1. 1. Line a wire rack with baking paper.
   2. Arrange the apricots in one loose layer.

• It is not advisable to raise the temperature above +60°. Ideal drying takes place at +40º, so after heating the oven, you need to turn it down later.

• The door must be opened slightly from time to time to allow air circulation.

• As soon as the apricots begin to dry out, they need to be gently stirred periodically.

• If there are a lot of fruits, then several grids are used at a distance of no less than 7 cm.

• If ventilation is uneven, dried apricots should be kept at room temperature for some time.

Advice: if you want to please your loved ones with a very tasty result, then you should use an unusual recipe for preparing apricots to dry them. The product is placed in a container, sprinkled with sugar (1:1), and aged for 12 hours. The resulting juice is drained, 1 tbsp is added. sugar and water to make syrup. As soon as it boils, immerse the apricots in it and pour over the juice of ½ lemon. Immediately turn off the stove and cover the container with a lid, leaving until completely cooled. After this, the apricots are placed in a colander, and the syrup is drained (it can be added to the compote). Then they need to be dried in the house in any convenient way. Dried apricots must not only be properly prepared, but also preserved. To prevent dried fruit from drying out, place it in a glass container, seal it tightly and store at +20º t.

Knowing how to properly dry apricots at home, you can save a rich harvest, money from buying dried fruits of questionable quality, and health by pampering yourself with healthy fruit.

Dried apricots are a certain type of dried apricot, which is prepared from two halves of one fruit, without the pit. There are several other names for dried fruits: apricot is a small, dried apricot with a bone left in the center. Large apricots, after drying, are called sear, and pitted apricots are called kaisa.

Selection of apricots for drying

To prepare dried apricots, you need to choose a good variety of apricots. The harvest should be harvested at the height of the season, when the fruits are already filled with juice, filled with sugar, but have not yet become too soft. The pulp should be elastic and, under no circumstances, should leak. In southern, hot countries, the level of natural sugar reaches 25%. Where there is not much sunlight, sugar usually does not rise above 12%. This is a pattern - the hotter the sun, the sweeter the fruit.

It should be borne in mind that apricots must be large, because their weight is reduced several times, and accordingly, their appearance is significantly reduced.

When choosing apricots for dried apricots, you should try to put aside only whole fruits, without breaks or external flaws. It is not desirable that they have natural defects: specks, dry spots, cracks. Such fruits can easily be used on another variety of dried apricots. Ideally, you should remove them from the tree yourself, place them one at a time on a flat bottom, without loading them with other fruits on top, thereby immediately preparing them for drying.

Attention!

It is better to wash dried apricots immediately and very well, then after drying you can enjoy them. If dried fruits are washed, some of the vitamins are lost.

How to dry apricots

After washing, the fruit is divided in half and the stone is carefully removed from it. There are many methods for drying apricots, each of which will have its own temperature. It won’t be big, because the main thing is not to overcook them. In technical conditions, the temperature should not exceed 60 degrees. Let's talk about drying methods and temperature conditions for each.

In the oven

If drying in natural conditions, in direct sunlight, is not possible, then experts recommend using the oven.

Drying can be done on sheets, but the best option is to use a wire rack. First, you should preheat the oven for 8 minutes at a temperature of 160 degrees. Then place the apricots on the grill (before heating, to avoid injury, the grill must be removed). If there is no fan in the oven, set the temperature to around 60 degrees. After 10 minutes of drying, open the oven 10 centimeters, fix it and leave it in this state. With the door open, keep the dried apricots for 10 minutes.

Alternate drying:

• with the door open – 10 minutes;
• with the door closed – 40 minutes.

Apricots should spend 8 to 12 hours in the oven. In the period between this time, you should especially carefully monitor fruits, or rather, dried fruits. They cannot be overexposed.

Attention!

If there is a fan, there is no need to open the oven. Is it just to control, look and evaluate readiness.

In the sun

By drying apricots in the sun, you preserve the vitamin and mineral complex they contain as much as possible. Before drying, be sure to keep them in the shade, in a well-ventilated place. The process will require a flat sheet or table. You can dry it outside, on the balcony, on the roof, the main condition is direct exposure to the rays. There is no need to rearrange them; it is better to immediately determine a flat space for future dried fruits, on which they will be placed with the cuts facing up. At night, apricots are put away at home. After three to four days, the apricot slices will shrink in size and be sticky to the touch (sugar leakage). If you need space for a new batch, you can push them out and stack them closer to each other.

The surface should be wooden; any other material will need to be covered with a white, unpainted cloth. Drying time directly depends on temperature; the hotter it is outside, the faster the fruit will dry. Housewives usually spend one or two weeks on this. In windier and hotter climates, apricots dry out much faster. Experienced experts advise hanging drying fruits. You can string them on a thread or on skewers, then the wind will blow over them evenly, and the drying process will speed up. This is how mushrooms are usually dried.

Attention!

When drying dried apricots, wasps and even bees may appear; be careful - it is dangerous to drive them away. It is better to choose a place where there are no wasp nests or bee pastures.

In the microwave

The microwave is the worst option for drying fruit. It is harmful in itself, plus it will actively take vitamins from the fruit. But, if there is no other way out, then you can dry dried apricots this way.

First of all, you need to prepare the microwave. It absorbs all odors, so it is recommended to wash it with soap and then with lemon juice. Prepare the apricots, place them on a flat microwave-safe dish, set the setting to minimum and leave to dry for 5 minutes. Then you should ventilate the fruit, change the mode to “defrost” and set the time to 20-25 minutes. It is advisable to check readiness a couple of times during the total time. Remove the half-finished apricots, dry them in a ventilated place for a couple of hours and repeat the process again. If the apricots are small, then once is enough.

In an electric dryer

An electric dryer dries better than an oven; it’s as if it was designed specifically for this. Before use, be sure to read the operating instructions, as the dryer will burn out very quickly if used incorrectly.

Place the apricots on the surface away from each other so that their skins do not stick together. The temperature regime is chosen from 40 to 50 degrees. Drying usually takes up to 10 hours. After drying, hold them with the lid open, then place them on a fabric base and leave for several hours, preferably in fresh but not humid air.

Outdoors

The recipe for drying it under the sun’s rays is described above, but you can dry it in cooler weather, just in the fresh air. The main thing here is the presence of wind. For drying, you need to choose the most ventilated, but at the same time not dusty, place. To dry in the fresh air, for example, on a balcony, you must string the fruits on a rope/thread. You can also dry it on the surface, then the time period will increase from 8-10 days to two and a half weeks. In rainy weather, dried apricots are brought into the house. It is also necessary to bring it in at night, since this is a more humid time of day.

Attention!

To protect dried apricots from ant invasion, you can treat the legs of the table on which the fruits are dried. You can put them in bowls of water or smear them with something sticky. It is imperative to cover apricots from flies with gauze or thin cloth. Periodically removing it for better drying.

How to store dried apricots

There are no ideal storage methods. One way or another, it must be checked constantly. Many housewives advise storing dried apricots in plastic or tin containers. A somewhat incorrect approach, the only exception may be a short period of time. Plastic “does not breathe”, it is harmful, anaerobic and other organisms develop in it very quickly.

You can store dried apricots in glass, but it is best to use vacuum lids. Failing that, regular metal ones will do. There are also glass containers with similar lids; they are also good for storing dried apricots. But the storage time under such conditions will be reduced.

One of the best storage options is paper and fabric bags. These materials “breathe” and therefore allow sufficient air to pass through. A wooden barrel will also be an excellent container, but the time will also be reduced. Disadvantages of storage conditions in natural containers:

• white coating;
• presence of bugs.

Storage conditions:

• well-dried dried apricots;
• for natural materials: well-ventilated area/air availability,
• for any storage: no humidity;
• cool.

Attention!

Remember that oxygen continues to dry out the dried apricots. If you store it in bags or paper, it will dry completely. In glass containers, dried fruits retain maximum moisture only if they are sealed. Also, very wet dried apricots will quickly spoil. Be sure to dry it completely, otherwise your energy will be wasted.

You can store dried apricots in the refrigerator, but there they will quickly lose their vitamins. In addition, condensation collects in the container and the fruits become soggy. Moreover, it is not advisable to store dried apricots in the freezer - it is pointless; when defrosted, it will lose more than half of its vitamins and minerals.

Before placing in one container or another, all fruits must be checked for the presence of bugs, damaged areas, and rotting. Separate them from healthy fruits in order to extend storage time

Secrets and tricks of cooking dried apricots

You can not only simply dry the fruits, but also do it according to special recipes. The addition of different flavors diversifies the usual organoleptic quality indicators.

Dried apricots with lemon juice and honey

Thanks to lemon juice, dried apricots will acquire a sweet and sour taste. Proportions: 2 lemons per 3 kilograms of fruit, six tablespoons of honey. Rinse the lemon and cut into slices, place in a deep container, add two liters of water with diluted honey. Carefully place the already halved apricots into the sour water. Keep for 2-3 hours.

Dried apricots with lemon juice and sugar

This recipe requires one lemon, three kilograms of whole apricots and a glass of sugar. Melt sugar in a water bath until it turns into honey. Squeeze the lemon into the sugar, pour the resulting mass over the dried apricots. Gently, without disturbing the structure of the fruit, stir them with your hands. Keep in sugar for three hours, then dry, divide in half.

Other secrets of the housewife

For bright color, apricots are kept in citric acid: 1 tablespoon of acid per liter of water. Keep for two hours.

Before use, be sure to soak the dried fruits in cold water for at least an hour. If you boil dried apricots, the beneficial properties will go away, but if you just wash them, you won’t get the desired cleanliness effect, and there may even be bugs left behind.

Readiness of dried apricots

If the dried apricots are not cooked, they will most likely disappear very quickly. Readiness is checked in several ways.

Tactile check

The outside of the dried apricots should be almost dry to the touch. If you try to tear it with your hands, then, at the same time, the dried apricots should remain elastic, since moisture is retained in it. When you tap the dried fruit with your finger, the sound will be dull.

Organoleptic testing

The finished dried apricots will taste sweet, feel viscous, and chew well.

Visual inspection

Dried apricots, which are prepared without any chemical tricks, do not have a bright orange color. Its color scheme is restrained: light yellow, dull orange or slightly brownish tones. Bright, store-bought dried fruits should repel, not attract, an experienced housewife. Thanks to aging in citric acid, you can achieve more saturated colors, but not as bright as in the picture.

You can also check the readiness of dried apricots by putting them in hot water, without boiling. Dry fruits should swell within 5-7 minutes. And after 15-20 minutes, in fact, it returns to its previous size. In the case when drying is not complete, you can dry the fruits in a closed cardboard box or in a wooden box.

Summary

Properly prepared dried apricots retain 75-85% of vitamins and minerals. Dried fruits, despite their sugar content, are a dietary dish. They can be consumed both raw and boiled. It is not recommended to boil dried fruits. If you cook compote from dried apricots, you should first boil water with sugar, turn off the burner and only after two minutes, lower the dried apricots. Cover the compote with a lid and let it stand for at least 30 minutes. Thus, the set of useful substances is preserved as much as possible.

Methods for drying apricots. Getting dried apricots at home.

Properly dried apricots provide enormous nutritional value to the body. Let's talk about options for drying “sunny” fruits at home.

How to dry apricots for the winter using dried apricots at home?

• The benefits of apricots are undeniable. How I would like to enjoy these fruits all year round! Vitamins, antioxidants, fiber, organic acids, macro- and microelements - an invaluable contribution to the health of the body and the flawless functioning of all organs
• Apricots are especially useful for heart diseases. Potassium contained in fruits is an important element for the normal functioning of the myocardium of the heart muscle.
• How to stock up on apricots for the whole year? There are many options for preparing and storing delicious fruits. One of them is drying apricots
• Drying is the natural or artificial evaporation of liquid by concentrating and preserving the beneficial substances contained in the fruit. This method eliminates the risk of the development of microorganisms during subsequent proper storage of products

Video: How to prepare dried apricots at home?

Benefits of dried apricots for restoring energy

Dried apricot fruits are a healthy treat for both adults and children

• Dried apricots are a high-calorie product containing organic sugars: fructose, glucose and other low molecular weight carbohydrates
• Several dried apricot fruits help suppress hunger and restore the body's energy costs during hikes and long trips.
• Dry apricots can be used as a snack between meals in many weight loss programs

Some tricks for drying apricots

• Fully ripe and undamaged apricots are selected for drying.
• If the fruits have just been picked from the tree and are clean, then it is better not to wash dried apricots and apricots for harvesting.
• To avoid darkening of the fruit during drying, you should keep the apricot halves in a colander over hot steam for some time and dip them in a solution with lemon juice or citric acid in the proportion: 8 teaspoons per liter of water. Then dry the fruits on a cloth or wire rack

At what temperature should you dry apricots?

The temperature factor when drying fruits is the most important component of proper drying technology.

The fruit drying process begins and ends at a lower temperature: 40-50 degrees. The main drying is carried out at an optimal temperature of 60-70 degrees.

How to dry apricots for the winter in an electric dryer?

• A variety of electric dryers from different manufacturers greatly facilitate and speed up the process of drying fruits. They have different configurations, are equipped with sets of plastic trays and are equipped with a fan and a powerful heating element
• The fruit halves are laid out loosely on plastic trays so that the fruits lie at some distance from each other and cannot stick together. The first and last two hours of drying are set to 50 degrees. In the middle of the process, the temperature is maintained at 60 degrees. On average, apricots are dried in an electric dryer for 10 hours, depending on the density of the fruit

Video: Dried apricots in an electric dryer

How to dry apricots in the oven?

Apricots can be dried in the oven with careful temperature control.

• First, the apricot halves are dried at room temperature for 3-4 hours. Then place on wire racks covered with parchment and dry in the oven at a temperature not exceeding 60 degrees.
• Since there is no ventilation in the oven, you should dry apricots with the oven slightly open. To ensure even drying, it is recommended to turn the apricot slices over from time to time.
• At the end of drying, you should lower the temperature to 50 degrees and carefully monitor so that the fruits do not dry out. If individual fruits are dried unevenly, you should keep the dried fruits for some time in the air at room temperature until completely cooked

How to properly dry apricots for dried fruits in the sun?

• In areas with long hot and sunny days without rain, drying apricots outdoors in the sun is considered the best way to harvest fruits
• Before drying in the open sun, apricots should be dried in a shady place, well blown by the wind, for 3-4 hours
• The fruits are placed on fabric or wooden grates in a place with maximum sun exposure for a long time with good air circulation. At night, it is better to store fruits in a dry place to avoid them becoming damp.
• Apricots can also be strung on twine and hung to dry. To ensure even drying of the fruits, they should be turned over periodically. After 2-3 weeks, you can get high-quality dried apricots with a full range of useful components. Moreover, the fruits have a long shelf life
• 5-6 days is the optimal period for drying apricots in the sun

IMPORTANT: To ensure that the fruits have an attractive presentation and are less likely to spoil, they are fumigated with sulfur dioxide or sulfur. Such fruits are not recommended for children and people prone to allergic reactions.

How to dry apricots in the microwave?

How to dry apricots in an air fryer?

To prepare dried fruits, you can use an air fryer, which can easily replace an electric dryer and oven.

An air grill is a household electrical appliance that operates on the principle of a convection oven. The hot air heating system and the presence of a powerful fan allow you to dry fruits and vegetables.

1. Washed and dried apricots are cut into halves
2. Place the fruits on the air fryer grill so that they do not touch each other
3. Drying is carried out at high fan speed at a temperature of 60-70 degrees
4. If the apricots are not dry enough during one cycle of operation of the air fryer, the drying process can be resumed again

How to dry apricot kernels?

According to the latest scientific data, apricot kernels have valuable healing effects and are of interest for the prevention and treatment of a number of diseases.

IMPORTANT: Eating a small amount of apricot kernels is beneficial and does not cause intoxication of the body. You should only use sweet kernels in an amount of no more than 50 g per day. The dose for children is 25 g, depending on age.

For drying, varieties are used in which the seeds are easily separated from the fruit. The seeds are laid out in a thin layer on trays or baking sheets and dried in ventilated areas or in the open air, possibly in the sun. The seeds are stirred periodically to ensure even drying.

Video: About the benefits of apricot kernels

Video: How to dry apricots?

All vitamins and nutrients are best preserved in naturally dried apricots. First prepare the apricots themselves - they need to be divided into halves and the pits removed.

It is most convenient to dry on any metal rack. First, line it with some fabric, and place apricots on top, with open cuts towards the top. Now you need to leave them in the shade, but in the open air, for about three to four hours. And only after such weathering can it be exposed to open sunlight. In the evening, bring it into the house, and in the morning, take it out into the sun again. If the weather permits, the apricots can be dried quite quickly, but it may take a couple of weeks. It also depends on the size and variety of the fruits themselves.

Another widespread method of drying is stringing.. That is, the fruits are strung on a thread or thin branches. And then they are left to dry in the open air and under the sun's rays.

If you don't want to spend a week drying your apricots, or you don't have a convenient place to leave your apricots to dry, use a special dryer. Modern industry offers a large selection of this type of household appliances. In addition, new, improved models appear every year. The heaters in them provide the desired temperature, the fan provides the effect of ventilation in the open air. In addition, the dryers are designed in such a way that it is possible to place the maximum amount of fruit on special trays and, as a result, get more dried apricots per drying. These dryers are very easy to use and drying fruits does not take much time.

There are some features that you need to remember when drying apricots. The main thing is that the apricot halves in the trays should not touch each other. Be sure to leave some space between them to prevent them from sticking together. The drying temperature is regulated as follows: the first 2-3 hours – 45-50°C, then increase it to 60°C, and for the last 2-3 hours reduce it again to 45. In general, the process takes up to 12 hours, but it can take less time - depending on the size of the fruit and the characteristics of the dryer.

You can dry dried apricots in a simple kitchen oven, but then you need to continuously monitor the process. If you choose this method, keep in mind that there is no air movement in the oven to provide ventilation. Therefore, the temperature should be higher - 65 degrees. Make sure that excess moisture does not accumulate on the apricots - to do this, open the oven several times during the drying process. You can slightly reduce the temperature closer to the end of the process. Try not to dry it out, constantly look into the oven and check the fruit.

There are a few more tricks. Right before you start drying, place the already divided apricots in any sieve or colander and hold them over a pan of boiling water. Not long, about ten minutes. If some of the fruits are a little hard, you can even put them in boiling water. This procedure will give your dried apricots a beautiful bright orange color.

You can do it differently. Take one liter of plain water, add 1 teaspoon of citric acid to it, and dip the apricots prepared for drying into this solution. This little trick will also give dried apricots a beautiful look.

Since ancient times, in Transcaucasia, Central Asia, China, Iran, and some countries of the Middle East, dried apricots and apricots were produced - tasty and healthy dried fruits from apricots. And although today you can find a huge variety in stores, this delicacy’s too attractive “presentation” often inspires doubt about how natural, and, therefore, healthy this product is. Therefore, many people wonder whether and how to make dried apricots at home.

What is dried apricots?

First of all, you need to understand how dried apricots differ from apricots. First, before making dried apricots, pit the apricots by cutting the fruits in half. Secondly, they have different cooking technologies. So, real, traditional apricots are dried naturally, i.e. dry whole fruits with seeds are harvested directly on the tree and harvested as a “harvest,” but the production of dried apricots often involves heat and other processing.

It is clear that apricots retain more beneficial properties of the apricot fruit than dried apricots. In particular, potassium, which is very good for the heart. Therefore, it can be argued that apricots are more intended for use as, so to speak, a “healthy food additive” or as part of various potions, and dried apricots are more of a delicacy that is used both independently and as part of desserts and other dishes.

What varieties of apricots are suitable for making
dried apricots at home?

Let’s say right away that wild apricot varieties are not at all suitable for making dried apricots. As for the “cultivated apricot,” today more than a hundred different varieties are known, differing both in taste and in the time of fruit ripening. Since dried apricots are dried fruits, it is necessary to remove moisture from apricots, so varieties with large, sweet, fleshy fruits are suitable for making this delicacy.

It is also necessary to pay attention to ensure that the fruit does not taste bitter.

If dried apricots are intended to be dried in the sun, then it is not recommended to choose fruits of early varieties that ripen at the beginning of summer, since during this period it is not yet so hot and the fruits may not dry well.

Making dried apricots

Now let's figure out how you can make dried apricots at home.

So let's get started:

• We select fruits for making dried apricots. Please ensure that they are free of wormholes and damage. Apricots that are too ripe are also not suitable. An ideal fruit should have a bright color, but at the same time be quite firm to the touch.
• Wash the apricots thoroughly, divide them into halves and remove the pits. At this stage, we reject fruits in which worm larvae are visible in the form of small black or dark brown dots. Such pests can also appear in completely intact, at first glance, undamaged fruits. Therefore, I would like to immediately warn you that you should not give in to temptation and try to remove the larvae and use a similar fruit, since this will still not be possible, and worms may later appear in the dried apricots themselves. In addition, it is not recommended to wash already cut fruits.

Tip: do not throw away apricot kernels, as they are not only tasty, but also healthy. Of course, it is not recommended to eat them in handfuls, but they are perfect chopped as a topping for various pastries or cakes, or whole as a decoration for confectionery products.

• To prevent the dried apricots from turning out to be too dark in color, place the cut halves of apricots in a colander and keep them over a container of boiling water for 10-15 minutes. If you are going to use dried apricots only as a dessert, then you first need to boil a thick syrup and immerse a colander with apricots in it for a few minutes. If dried apricots are used in preparing meat dishes, you can use a weak saline solution instead of syrup. In the latter case
• Take out the colander with the apricots and wait a minute or two for the liquid to drain. Then take a large plate or dish and carefully place the apricots along the sides, leaving the circle in the center free to collect excess liquid from the syrup or brine.

Tip: to make dishes with apricots take up less space, you can stack them three on top of each other.

• Finally, let's figure out the question of how to dry apricots for dried apricots? To do this, place them on the dryer racks so that they do not touch each other. Place the racks with apricots in the dryer, close the door and set the temperature. You need to start drying at 50 degrees, and then finish drying at 45 degrees.

The process usually takes about 10-15 hours, depending on the juiciness of the fruit. The readiness of dried apricots is indicated by the absence of moisture on them and the fact that they should not be sticky to the touch.

If you don't have a dryer, you can use grandma's proven method - dry them outdoors. To do this, a dish or tray with laid out apricots is placed in the center of a larger square piece of gauze, with a side the size of which is three times the diameter of the dish (or the side of the tray if it is rectangular).

Then we tie the ends with a knot so that if you hold the knot, there is a distance of 20-25 seconds between it and the dish. If the weather is not windy and the day is sunny, then we hang the dishes on a clothesline by the knots. In cases where this method is not suitable, you can simply lay out the trays with apricots in the sun and cover them with gauze.

How to store dried apricots?

To have a delicious apricot delicacy on the table all winter, it is not enough just to make dried apricots at home - you also need to learn how to store them correctly. Dried apricots are best stored in wooden containers, closed with lids, or linen bags. Under no circumstances should dried apricots be stored in plastic bags.

Now you are familiar with all the intricacies of the process of making this apricot delicacy. As you can see, making dried apricots from apricots is not so difficult, just follow simple tips and recommendations and soon you will be able to treat your loved ones to a variety of culinary masterpieces, to which dried apricots will add a special accent of oriental exoticism.