How to make prunes at home

Prunes are a very useful dried fruit, which is made from plums of different varieties. It is not only available for everyone on sale, it is very easy to cook at home. This will require a lot of fresh plums and knowledge of the features of the cooking process.

Some facts from the history of prunes

About how to make prunes, humanity has learned a long time. The recipe comes from Asian countries. In the old days, the tradition of drying fruit was very common, because to store them, for example, there was no frozen opportunity.

For the first time, plum trees are mentioned in the plum tree, which date back to the 6th century BC. There is an opinion that a plum tree is the result of crossing a wild thorn and plum. Varieties that are suitable for drying are unpretentious, therefore grow throughout the territory of our continent. In Europe, the plum appeared only in the 17th century.

Useful properties of prunes

What is useful is this dried fruit and why is it so widely used in cooking?

Plum, as well as prunes, is rich in special substances - phytonutrients, namely neocolloric and chlorogenic acids. They have antioxidant properties.

Prunes contain fiber, thanks to which the blood sugar normalizes. This product is useful for the prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes. Also dried fruit helps to reduce appetite. In many diets it is included in small amounts, so it is useful to know how to make prunes.

The dried fruit reduces the level of cholesterol, and also protects the intestines, supporting its healthy microflora. Reduces the risks of such serious diseases as colon cancer and hemorrhoids.

Prunes are rich in potassium, a complex of vitamins that can stabilize the water-salt balance and the work of the kidneys, normalize the metabolism in the body; Has diuretic and choleretic properties, is used to treat anemia and beriberi. Its antibacterial function is not inferior to some medical products.

How to choose a variety of plums for drying correctly

Before you start to harvest the plum in a dried form, you need to know the features of how to make prunes at home properly and what sorts of plums for this fit. After all, not all fruits are suitable for harvesting of this type.

A variety of fruits should be given great attention. To do this, you need fruits of such varieties that ripen last. Such a plum will be fleshy and sweet.

If you are good in grades or have the opportunity to ask those who know, then choose the Hungarian (Italian, ordinary, azhanskuyu, purple), Greengage, Raisins, Eric, Stanley, Burton and Kroman.

Hungarian fits best, because its fruits are large, have dense skin, and the flesh is elastic. The stone is easily separated from the pulp, there is little acid in it, and there are a lot of sweets.

How to prepare a plum for drying

Now the plum needs to be prepared for the drying process, let's consider how to make prunes at home.

It is important that the process of storing the fruit is not delayed for more than 3 days, since ripe plums start to deteriorate and wander.

The plum should be thoroughly washed. Rinse until the water becomes clear.

The fruits must be sorted according to the size, since this determines the time of their preparation. You also need to remove the bones.

Also, before making prunes at home, it is necessary to blanch plums in a 1% soda solution. In other words, pour them with hot water and soda for 25-30 seconds. This is to ensure that the draining tissues are softer, and the cells are larger, and that the fruit is deprived of excess air. Then drain again thoroughly to rinse.

At the last stage, the fruits will need to be cooled. After you have done all these processes, you will see small cracks on the skin. This is correct, since they will promote the release of water during drying, the juice will remain inside.

How to make a prune in an electric dryer

For the preparation of dried fruits not so long ago came up with special equipment - electric dryer. This device can be used to prepare not only prunes, but also for drying any other fruits and vegetables.

Before you make a prune in an electric dryer, it is necessary to arrange the fruit on the bowls in such a way that they do not touch or overlap each other.

Depending on the type of equipment, up to 600 grams of plum can be placed on the tray, and the dryer can be designed for different volumes, for example, 14 kg. In total, the electric dryer must be turned on for 41 hours before the prunes are completely cooked. The processing temperature will be 55 degrees Celsius.

After cooking, the finished product is easily separated from the trays, they are well dried and ready for use. Out of 16 kilograms of plums, about 2.5 kilograms of prunes can be obtained.

How to make prunes in the oven

The more popular method of cooking prunes is in the oven. This will not require special equipment. And the process itself is different from how to make prunes in the dryer.

It is necessary to spread the plums on a baking sheet in one layer. The temperature regime for this is also chosen in the range of 50-55 degrees at the initial stage. Plum should be dried within 3-4 hours.

After the first interval, it is necessary to get a baking tray, turn all the fruits by the other side and allow them to cool down (for 4-5 hours, in order for the product to turn out to be of good quality).

The next stage will also take 3-4 hours, but the drying temperature will now be higher - 60-70 degrees. After the set time, the prunes must be removed again, mixed and left to cool.

The last stage will take at least 5 hours. Prunes need to be dried at a temperature of 90 degrees. To obtain a shiny surface at the end of drying, you can raise the temperature to 100-120 degrees.

Thus, the question of how to make prunes is solved. The procedure is simple and does not require special knowledge, but only the availability of time and a little patience.