How to dry pears in the oven and electric dryer? Rules for choosing pears for drying and their further storage. How to dry pears

Preface

If you get your hands on several kilograms of juicy ripe fruits or you are lucky enough to grow these gifts in the garden, prepare them for the winter using the method familiar to all housewives for pears - drying. The dried fruits you prepare retain the maximum amount of vitamins. Of course, you can buy dried fruits on the market, but to be sure of the quality, it is better to do the drying yourself. Let's find out together how to dry pears at home!

Properly selected varieties can play an important role in obtaining high-quality dried fruits. Experts say that the best options in this case will be fruits that contain a minimum number of stony cells, with a small number of seed chambers and moderate hardness of the pulp, without a strong astringent taste, sweet and ripe. These varieties, of course, include everyone’s favorite Forest beauty, Clapp's favorite, Lemonka, Talgar beauty, Bergamot, Summer Williams, as well as varieties Zaporozhye And Victoria.

Pear variety Forest Beauty

Remember, the fruits you select for drying for the winter should not be stored longer than 48 hours; they must be immediately washed and thoroughly dried. Otherwise, they may lose their virtues. Rough, overripe fruits are absolutely not suitable for drying. They are best saved for cooking, jam or jam. Wild pears do not need to be picked from the tree; wait until they fall on their own. The fruits collected after falling to the ground must be given a little time for the peel to darken and acquire a brown tint. This is necessary so that the pears become fragrant and sweet. If you do not comply with these conditions, you risk getting tart and bitter fruits that are absolutely unsuitable for cooking delicious compote for the winter.

Now you know that such dark pears are not rotten or spoiled, but a means to obtain high-quality dried fruits. Subsequently, the game is prepared for drying, like all other fruits. They are cut into small slices, approximately 1 cm thick, and dried in any convenient way. You don’t even have to core the fruit with seeds, peel it, or blanch it in water. If everything was done correctly, at the end of the process you should have elastic and soft dried fruits that should not break when bent and squeezed. When drying wild pears in the sun, do not forget to first dip the slices in a 1% solution of citric or tartaric acid.

Today, there are many ways to dry pears at home. However, sun drying remains the most popular and familiar to most housewives. This method is especially ideal for those who live in private houses or have their own summer cottage, although this method will also work on a sunny balcony with good ventilation. The pears are cut into medium slices and laid out on parchment, newspaper or a baking sheet in an even layer. To prevent flies and other insects from landing on sweet fruits, cover everything with thin gauze. All that remains is to ensure that the sun constantly hits the pears, not forgetting to periodically turn them from one side to the other so that they dry evenly.

Drying pears outside

If you don’t have the opportunity to put pears outside to dry, or the sun’s rays rarely break through the clouds, then use another method - thread drying. This is done quite simply - the prepared slices are strung on a sewing thread, preferably thick enough so that it does not break, and hung in the form of a garland of fruit on both sides on nails or cabinet handles in the kitchen or attic. However, remember, the room for drying fruits for the winter must be warm and well ventilated. Tip - do not press the pear slices too tightly together, as they may stick.

As for the time it will take you to achieve the final result, at least 7-10 days should pass. For those who don't have that much time, you can use alternative, faster drying methods for the winter, such as an oven, microwave or electric dryer.

Compared to the previous method, drying fruits in the oven takes significantly less time. Housewives claim that this method allows you to make pears at home tasty and aromatic. In addition, pears dried in the oven last longer. They can be prepared at any home, both in a private house and apartment. To do this, you will need to cover a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil and lay out the pears in a thin, even layer, after cutting them lengthwise into small slices, no more than 1 cm thick.

Pear pieces after drying

To prevent pears from turning into burnt, inedible pieces, they are dried at a minimum temperature in three main stages: withering, moisture evaporation and sterilization. To begin with, set the temperature in the oven to 50-60 degrees. At this temperature, the pears need to stay in the oven for at least 1 hour. Do not forget to open the oven several times to allow excess steam to escape.

This completes the first stage, let's move on to the second. If initially the oven door was opened only a few times during the entire period, now it should be open constantly, and raise the temperature to 75 degrees. Under such conditions, the pears will begin to actively lose water, which will come out in the form of steam. Don't forget to check the condition of your pears so that they don't burn, and to be safe, turn them over regularly. As for the time required to complete this step, it will depend on the variety you choose and the size of the cut fruit. On average, it can last up to 4-5 hours, but there are exceptions where it will take 8-10 hours to achieve the desired result.

The last stage (sterilization) is the least lengthy, it will take a maximum of 35-45 minutes. Raise the oven temperature again to 80-90 degrees and close the oven door. During this process, the pears will finally dry out and become similar to the dried fruits we are used to. Place dried pears prepared at home on a cotton towel and let them cool.

We answered the question of how to dry pears in the oven; now it remains to analyze the pros and cons of this method. An undoubted advantage is the fairly fast preparation time, compared to the natural method of drying for the winter, and this is important for modern housewives, as well as preserving the taste of the fruit. On the other hand, there are also disadvantages. The relatively high temperature reduces the content of vitamins, most of which are simply evaporated at the last stage. In addition, high temperature can damage the integrity of the fruit, as a result of which they lose their presentation and become unsuitable for consumption.

Let's start with how to dry pears in an electric dryer. If you have such a device at home, then nothing is simpler - proceed according to our instructions. Immerse thin slices in boiling water for a few seconds and then quickly cool them. This is necessary to avoid darkening of the fruit while drying it for the winter. Place the slices on a baking sheet and let them dry slightly, then place them on the rack of an electric dryer. This device has several grates, which makes it possible to dry a large number of pears at the same time. Using this method, you don’t even have to turn the slices over, since a uniform supply of warm air is created in the tray.

Using an electric dryer to dry pears

The cooking temperature should not exceed 70-80 degrees at low air speed. Adjust the cooking time yourself; it usually takes from 30 minutes to an hour. It all depends on the model and the temperature mode you choose. Ultimately, the pears should acquire a pleasant brown tint, become quite elastic and not break when bent. However, if this method is also time-consuming for you, we suggest that you familiarize yourself with the simplest and fastest method - how to dry pears in the microwave. Although such drying did not deserve a barrage of positive criticism, it still has a right to exist.

The entire drying process in the microwave will take you a maximum of 5 minutes, but the main thing is not to overdry by selecting the desired power. Otherwise, you risk getting overdried, unappetizing fruit. Place the sliced pears in an even layer on a dish and send them to dry in the microwave, setting the power to no more than 200-300 W for a couple of minutes. When the timer beeps, turn the fruit over and continue drying them at the same power for another 2-3 minutes. If you notice that at the end of this period of time your fruits are not dry enough, leave them in the microwave for a few more minutes, remembering to turn them over. The finished pears are elastic and elastic. If they turn out hard, it means you overdried them or used unripe fruits.

In order to be suitable for preparing fortifying drinks for the winter and other culinary dishes for as long as possible, it is necessary to choose the optimal place and container for them. The ideal option for storing at home would be wooden or glass containers or fabric bags. Moreover, it is necessary to compact dried fruits into storage containers quite tightly. As for the room, it must be dry, with good ventilation, so that the pears do not become moldy or damp.

Storing dried fruits in a jar

Inspect dried fruit regularly for bugs and other insects. And as a preventive measure, you can dry the pears in the oven or microwave at a temperature of no more than 50 degrees or 200-300 W. If you find that your fruits, after a long time, have become too hard and have begun to dry out, this problem can also be easily eliminated by heating them in the oven or microwave, placing an additional container of water in them, or simply hold the dried fruits briefly over a saucepan of boiling water. water. The steam will make them elastic, soft and tasty again.

On cold winter evenings, you can remind yourself of the gentle summer with delicious dried pears. These dried fruits, which retain their delicate taste and delicate aroma after processing, are quite easy to make at home. The main thing is to prepare the fruits for drying and choose the most optimal cooking method for yourself. How to dry pears correctly? Let's figure it out.

Preparation

Slightly unripe pears, firm and not too juicy, are best suited for drying. If we talk about specific varieties, these can be “Victoria”, “Zaporozhye”, “Clapp’s favorite”, “Forest beauty”, “Ilinka”, “bergamot”, “fragrant” and “limonka”. Ideally, you need to pick pears in your own garden, but you can buy the fruits at the market or in a store.

You need to start drying pears as soon as possible after picking them, as over time the fruit becomes soft.

Carefully sort through the harvest; set damaged or rotting pears aside (you can eat them fresh by cutting off the damaged areas).
Wash the pears well under running water, dry them with a towel or napkins and put them in boiling water for 10 minutes.
Then cool the fruits at room temperature and cut into pieces.
Cut large pears into centimeter slices, divide medium and small ones into 4 or 2 parts.

After this, you can start drying in any way convenient for you.

In the oven

Place the prepared and chopped pears in a single layer on a baking sheet.
Place the baking sheet in an oven preheated to +60 °C.
After 2 hours, increase the heat to +80 °C.
When the fruit has noticeably decreased in volume, the temperature should be reduced again - this time to +55 °C.

The oven drying time for pears varies from 12 to 24 hours depending on the size of the pieces and the type of fruit.

In the microwave

Drying in the microwave takes only 5-7 minutes.

Place the slices on a plate and send them to dry in the microwave at 300 W for a couple of minutes. Then turn the fruit pieces over and repeat the procedure.

In an electric dryer

An electric dryer can dry a large volume of fruit in 15–30 hours.

Place the pear pieces on the racks, set the temperature to +70 °C.
Periodically check the degree of readiness of the dried fruits: the pear slices should become slightly brownish, soft and elastic, but in no case brittle or brittle.

In the sun

Place the pear slices on a baking sheet or tray and place in a sunny, outdoor location. 2 days are enough for drying. At night, be sure to bring the fruits into the house and cover them with polyethylene so that they do not absorb excess moisture and rot. After 2 days, place the dried pears in a well-ventilated area and wait another couple of days.

Storing dried pears

Finished dried pears can be stored in a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid or in a cloth bag in a cool, dry place.
When stored in bags, dried fruits must be checked from time to time for spoilage, because pears can rot, become moldy, or acquire fruit moth larvae or small bugs. To prevent troubles, once a month the reserves should be poured onto a baking sheet and lightly dried in the oven at a temperature of +50 °C.
If desired, you can grind the dried fruits in a coffee grinder to a powder. Pear powder can be used for cosmetic purposes (as a component of hand-made masks) or as an additive to baked goods or porridges.

Now you know how to dry a pear. You and your family will definitely like it. Throughout the winter, you can pamper yourself with the vitamins and minerals of fruits without spending a lot of time looking for more or less passable fresh pears in the supermarket.

The desire to feel warmth on winter days and feel the aroma of summer again is not alien to everyone. Modern methods of preparing fruits and vegetables for the winter period are limited by housewives to the preparation of jams, compotes, pickles, and “freezes.” Such an old harvesting method as drying is extremely rarely used, but in vain. A large number of useful microelements are better preserved in dried fruits. We suggest you remember today how to properly dry pears at home for the winter.

Selection and preparation of pears for drying

The decision to provide yourself with dried fruits for the winter requires some knowledge. For harvesting, choose ripe, slightly tough fruits with thick skin. The permissible number of seeds in a pear is moderate. Careful carrying out of all stages of processing and drying, as well as choosing the appropriate variety, will allow you to obtain a high-quality product. When drying, some housewives add sugar. In this case, the result will be sweet dried fruits that can be used as a dessert.

The following varieties are considered suitable for dry harvesting:

Victoria;
Limonka;
Forest beauty;
Clapp's favorite;
Zaporozhye;
Ilyinka;
Bergamot;
Fragrant.

Important! The use of frozen, worm-eaten, rotten or damaged fruits is prohibited. Discard such fruits immediately.

After cutting out unsightly places, use them for food (cook compote, make fruit puree).

Selected fruits are washed well with water and wiped dry.

Small fruits can be dried whole. Cut the largest ones into slices no larger than 1 centimeter, removing the seeds.

There is a method when, before drying, the processed fruits are immersed in boiling water for 15 minutes, cooled, then cut and dried.

Forest wild pear. Nuances of preparation

Forest pears, commonly known as wild pears, are somewhat different in taste from garden varieties. The fruits have a small appearance and may be slightly bitter. The processing of wild pears is similar to the processing of garden pears. They are often dried whole. To preserve its presentation during drying, it is treated with a solution of tartaric or citric acid. Blanch the pear in boiling water for about five minutes. The drying process is the same, the only difference is in the harvesting process.

The forest pear is harvested when it begins to fall from the trees. The fruits are placed in containers and wait until they turn brown. When stored, pears of this color lose their astringency and bitter taste and become aromatic and sweet. The dried fruits of their forest pears have a more interesting taste and strong aroma.

Drying pears at home for the winter

Dried fruits from garden or wild pears are a storehouse of easily digestible carbohydrates, vitamins and microelements. Their peel contains a lot of useful substances necessary to maintain immunity in winter and spring. You just have to stock up on the gifts of nature, and then no diseases are scary. The thing is that, compared to fresh ones, these dried fruits have a long shelf life and “survive” until spring without problems. The pear fruit is rich in glucose, sucrose, fiber, acids, and pectin. A large amount of vitamins B1, C, P, PP, carotene make the fruit unique. Proper drying of the pear does not allow it to lose its beneficial properties.

How to dry pears at home

Several options are used:

naturally - in the fresh air;
in an electric dryer;
in the microwave;
in the oven.

The natural drying method is less expensive and preferable. There is no energy consumption, no need to waste time monitoring the temperature. All your labor costs come down to moving the pallet of chopped fruit indoors in the evening, and outside in the morning. Therefore, if you have the opportunity to take advantage of natural sources of heat and ventilation, use this method.

Tip: to prevent chopped fruits from losing color during drying, you can sprinkle them with lemon juice.

Drying pears in the fresh air

Place the prepared fruit in a thin layer on a baking sheet or spread out. Place the container in a place where the sun's rays fall. In the evening, bring the pear indoors, since the humidity of the street air increases significantly at night. Cover the fruit container with plastic wrap. Perform this manipulation for two days. Then move the pear to the shade. The place should be well ventilated. The pear is kept in the shade for four days.

Some owners use a modified natural drying method. The pear slices, dried until half cooked, are pressed into a thin layer using two boards, then strung on a thread with a distance of 1 millimeter. The thread is suspended, and the pear is dried in this form.

Oven drying

When choosing this drying method, expect that the minimum operating time for the oven will be about fourteen hours. The principle of laying out sliced fruits on a baking sheet remains the same as in the first case. It is necessary to select the correct operating mode for the oven - drying. The maximum temperature should be set to 60 degrees. At this temperature, the fruit is in the oven for about 2 hours. After this time, the temperature can be increased by 10-20 degrees and drying can continue. As the fruit begins to shrink in volume, the temperature should be reduced to 50 degrees. At this temperature, dried fruits are brought to full readiness. The time spent on drying is affected by the type of pear and size. Drying whole fruits will take about a day, slices – about eighteen hours.

Drying pears in an electric dryer

Immerse the pears prepared for drying in boiling water for a few seconds, remove the pear with a slotted spoon and quickly cool it in cold water. Such a shock bath is necessary for the fruit to prevent darkening. After the excess liquid has drained, the pear is placed on a tray and sent to an electric dryer. The temperature in the dryer is set to about 70 degrees. The pieces should be turned over to the reverse side from time to time. The drying process takes from fifteen hours to the meshes. Dried fruits can be considered ready when they acquire a golden color. When bent, they should not break; when pressed, the structure will be soft and elastic.

Drying pears in the microwave

Drying pears in the microwave is considered one of the fastest cooking methods. The whole process takes no more than 4 minutes per serving. It is important for this method to ensure that the pears cut into slices or cubes do not dry out.

So, place the prepared fruits on a plate previously covered with linen or cotton cloth. Select oven program for 2 minutes and 200 W. After the time has passed, turn the fruit over and repeat drying at the same parameters. Repeat the process until the product is completely ready. When dried, the moisture in the fruit evaporates and it acquires a beautiful golden hue.

Agree, on cold winter evenings you really want summer warmth and aroma. Dried fruits can remind you of delicious summer. Today we will start preparing pears.

The pear is saturated with sugars, enzymes, organic acids, fiber, nitrogen, tannins and pectin substances. This fruit contains a lot of vitamins B1, C, P, PP, carotene (provitamin A), as well as flavonoids and phytoncides. In addition, most varieties of pears are rich in microelements, including iodine, which is necessary for normal life. You may be surprised, but when properly dried, the pear does not lose its beneficial properties. You will learn how to dry pears correctly right now.

Preparing pears for drying

If you decide to treat yourself to dried fruits in winter, then remember that for drying you need to take ripened, but at the same time hard pears with dense flesh, with stony cells, and a small seed chamber. The following varieties are considered ideal for drying: “limonka”, “forest beauty”, “Victoria”, “Clapp’s favorite”, “Zaporozhye”.

Fruits prepared for drying should be washed and dried thoroughly.

Small pears can be dried whole, larger fruits should be divided into slices about 1 centimeter thick, and the seed pods can also be removed if desired.
Now you can proceed directly to drying the pears.

Drying pears in the fresh air

Place the prepared pears on a baking sheet or tray. We place it in a sunny place and dry it for two days. At night, pears should be brought indoors and covered with plastic. After two days of drying, the pears should be moved to a well-ventilated, shady place and cooked for another two to three days.

Drying pears in the oven

Place the pears prepared for drying in a thin layer on a baking sheet. Place in the oven and dry at approximately 60 degrees for a couple of hours. After the specified time has elapsed, the temperature should be increased to 80 degrees and drying continued. The exact drying time of a pear depends on its variety; it often takes a day for the fruit to reach readiness.

Drying pears in an electric dryer

Pears prepared for drying should be immersed in boiling water for a few seconds and then immediately cooled in cold water. This procedure is necessary to ensure that the pears do not darken during drying. After such a “contrast shower,” the pears are laid out on a tray, allowing all excess liquid to drain, and sent to an electric dryer. Pears should be dried at a temperature no higher than 70 degrees, pieces of fruit should be turned over periodically. The drying process of pears can take from 15 to 30 hours. Fruits are considered ready when they acquire a brownish tint, are soft and elastic when pressed, and do not break when bent.

Drying pears in the microwave

Place the pears cut into slices in one row on a plate. We set the power on the microwave oven to approximately 300 W and send the fruit to dry for a couple of minutes. After this time, the fruit should be turned over and drying continued at the same power. About every half minute you need to check the readiness of the fruit. Typically, drying pears in the microwave takes no more than 5 minutes.

Today, drying fruits is not a very common procedure, since huge freezers have appeared, and it has become possible to store fruits frozen. Dear visitors to our portal, how do you prefer to preserve the fruits of summer until winter? We would be grateful if you would tell us in the comments to this article how you dry pears.

Step 1: prepare the pears.

First you need decide on the variety of pears! It is important to dry pears using fruit that can be stored for no more than two days. It is better to choose varieties with dense pulp. And it happens that in such pears you come across hardened areas, like pebbles. The ingredient should be very ripe and sweet. Varieties such as “Forest Beauty”, “Victoria”, “Ilyinka”, “Klapp’s Favorite” are excellent for drying.

So, first of all, we rinse each pear well under running water and place it in a deep bowl. The ingredient must be peeled and cored using a knife. To do this, while holding it with your hand, cut off a thin layer of peel with a knife, then cut the fruit into two halves and remove the seeds in a circular motion.

Meanwhile, put a large saucepan of purified water on high heat and add sugar to taste, stirring occasionally with a tablespoon until it is completely dissolved. In order for our pears to dry faster and be sweeter, they need to be boiled in boiling water for some time. Due to this, we can gain a lot of time! When the water boils, turn the heat to medium and carefully place the main component into the container with your hands. You can boil the pears in parts up to 15 minutes, until they become soft. Check the degree of readiness with a fork. As soon as they are ready for further processing, immediately remove them with a slotted spoon and transfer them to a deep bowl. You don’t have to drain the water; it’s perfect for fruit compote or jelly, because the pear is so aromatic.

Place the ingredient on paper kitchen towels or fabric towels to cool and remove excess moisture.

And now, on a cutting board using a knife, cut the fruits into small pieces. There are several options for how to shape the pears. You can simply cut them into random pieces. You can also chop the ingredient across the fruit into small half-rings or lengthwise, thick no more than 5-7 millimeters. And relatively small pears can generally be left unchanged, although they will dry much longer than pear pieces. In general, it’s up to you to decide what you like best and how much free time you have.

Step 2: dry the pears.

So, a pleasant sweet aroma of pears is heard in the kitchen and everything is ready for further preparation. Therefore, place the pears on a baking sheet in one layer and turn on the oven. Place the baking dish with our ingredient in the oven and dry it at a temperature no more than 55-60°С so that the pear pieces do not crack and bubbles do not appear on them. We prepare them in this mode about 2 hours. Afterwards, increase the temperature in the oven up to 80°С and continue to dry until, when pressing on the pear pieces with a wooden spatula, juice comes out. It may take about 8-12 hours. Therefore, be sure to stir the pears with a spatula every two hours. During the drying process, such a fruit will lose more than 70% of its moisture, therefore, from a quantity of 4 kilograms, we will only get 1 kilogram of dried pears. Another feature of the product’s readiness is that when you press on it, it is very soft, but at the same time it becomes very elastic! Attention: if you see the pears starting to darken prematurely in the oven, turn the heat back up at 55-60°С and dry the ingredient at this temperature, stirring it from time to time. After the allotted time for preparing such fruit has passed, turn off the heat and remove the baking sheet from the oven so that the pear pieces cool to room temperature. They can be left in this state for another two days in some quiet, dry place so that they dry completely. And only after that we transfer the dried pears into a clean, dry jar and close the lid tightly so that moisture does not enter it. Pear drying is complete!

Step 3: Serve dried pears.

The most interesting thing is that such an affordable and tasty fruit in ancient times saved people from various diseases thanks to its properties! The pear helps the heart and muscles work well, especially after physical exertion. And, if you apply a piece of fresh pear to the surface of the skin, it can relieve allergic inflammation. Simply put, this is a miracle fruit! Therefore, it can be served to the table in its natural form. For example, instead of candy, children can be given a piece of dried pear to chew. Uzvars made from this ingredient are very tasty for holidays such as Christmas or Easter. Dried apples and even prunes will go well with this compote along with the pear. It is especially useful to eat dried fruits during the cold season, as they give the body an additional supply of vitamins and nutrients!

Enjoy your meal!

- – You can dry pears using grandma’s old method. To do this, we need a calm, quiet place in the sun, right outside. A dacha or a private yard with a garden is perfect for this. Everything is very simple! Immediately after we cut the ingredient into smaller pieces, we place them on a baking sheet or a large flat sieve and place them directly under the sun for the whole day. And only at night we bring the pears into the room, covering them with plastic wrap or a bag. We carry out such actions for 2-3 days and on the fourth day we move the baking sheet with pieces of pears into the shade outside and dry for another 2-3 days. Just don’t forget to bring the pears indoors at night anyway.

- – There is another way to soften pears before drying! We rinse the ingredient well under running water and cut it into small pieces. Then carefully place the slices into boiling water and cook them for 5-7 minutes.