How to dry hawthorn in many ways? Helpful Tips

Hawthorn is a popular medical berry widely used in folk medicine. Fruits are used primarily in various heart diseases, successfully replacing some medications. Therefore, the harvest of hawthorn for the winter is often done in the form of dried berries. From the raw material, water infusions and decoctions are then used, used both hot and cold. Also, some mistresses introduce flour from crushed fruits into the dough when baking bread, saturating its taste with original fruit notes. In this article are some simple ways of how to dry the hawthorn. Proper adherence to the technology will save the maximum of useful substances in the harvested product.

When is it necessary to collect the fruits of hawthorn?

The berries are harvested at the time of full maturity. Usually it happens at the end of September or October. Therefore, maroon berry decorated with spreading branches until frost. You can carry out the harvesting of fruits in several stages, cutting fruits in batches. In this regard, drying can be carried out in different ways depending on the weather conditions.

How to dry hawthorn in the open air?

The first ripe berries can be harvested already in September, when the weather still pleases warm days. Before drying, pick fruits, culling damaged pests and foreign garbage. With berries, remove sepals and other excess parts. Pre-wash the raw material is not necessary, just grind the berries with a soft cloth, and then sift them in a colander. Sprinkle the fruit in a thin layer on trays covered with paper, filling 1 m ² about 3-4 kg of berries. Carry drying in a well-ventilated area, you can in the open sun. For 4-5 days of such treatment at an air temperature of 18-25 ° C, the hawthorn will "come" to readiness. At night, you must put trays in the room, so that the morning dew does not get on the berries, the paper needs to be changed daily. Correctly dried berries become red-brown color, which indicates compliance with the technology.

How to dry the hawthorn in the oven?

The latter berries are harvested already under unfavorable weather conditions (when the temperature is lowered to frosts, in rains), which excludes their natural treatment. Therefore, the hawthorn is dried using a gradual heating in the oven or electric dryers. The second option, of course, is much more convenient and practical. But not all housewives have these useful "home helpers", so we'll figure out how to dry the hawthorn in an ordinary oven. Prepare the fruits prepared in the manner described above on a baking tray with a thin layer. Choose a mode of moderate gradual warming, increasing the temperature from 40-50 ° C to 65-70 ° C. The oven door must be kept slightly ajar, and the berries should be stirred occasionally. After about 3-4 hours, the fruits will be ready. Leave them after turning off the fire to cool inside the oven. Prepare hawthorn in paper or tissue bags, placing them in well ventilated rooms with low humidity or in glass containers with lids.