Prunes on display in grocery stores look beautiful and shiny. But often there is no naturalness behind this brilliance. To give dried fruits a similar look, an unscrupulous manufacturer processes them with sulfur or liquid smoke, covers them with a thin layer of wax or glycerin. There is little benefit from such a product, moreover, it is not cheap. Therefore, good housewives have long learned to cook prunes on their own. Indeed, in the summer, in a good year, plums can be bought very cheaply. Cooking does not take much time and effort. Therefore, with very little effort, you can provide yourself and your family with a healthy and tasty product for the whole winter.
Prunes are very useful for the human body. It is actively used in the fight against constipation and other gastrointestinal diseases. Prunes cleanse the intestines effectively but gently. In addition, after drying, prunes retain all the nutrients and vitamins that were contained in the plum. But how to prepare a product so that it remains healthy, safe, and also preserved until spring?
Some facts from the history of prunes
Humanity has learned how to make prunes for a long time. The recipe comes from Asian countries. In the old days, the tradition of drying fruits was very widespread, because, for example, there was no way to keep them frozen.
For the first time, the plum tree is mentioned in writings that date back to the 6th century BC. There is an opinion that the plum tree is the result of the crossing of wild thorns and cherry plums. Varieties that are suitable for drying are unpretentious, therefore they grow throughout the territory of our continent. In Europe, the plum appeared only in the 17th century.
Storage types
Well-dried prunes can be saved for a whole year. Keep it away from products with strong, strong odors. The fruits should turn out to be elastic, viscous inside. Those that crumble into powder are best ground immediately and stored in tightly closed jars.
- Plastic bags.
- Containers (plastic, glass, silicone, ceramics, enameled metal).
- Paper or canvas bags.
It is best to keep prunes in the refrigerator. In deep freeze, the shelf life can be extended up to 2 years. It is better to eat dried prunes in six months, but you will have to store it in the freezer.
Useful properties of prunes
What is this dried fruit useful for and why is it so widely used in cooking?
Plum, like prunes, is rich in special substances - phytonutrients, namely neochlorogenic and chlorogenic acids. They have antioxidant properties.
Prunes contain fiber, which helps normalize blood sugar levels. This product is useful for the prevention and treatment of type 2 diabetes. Also, dried fruit helps to reduce appetite. Many diets include small amounts of it, so it's helpful to know how to make prunes.
Dried fruit lowers cholesterol levels and also protects the intestines by maintaining a healthy microflora. Reduces the risk of serious diseases such as colon cancer and hemorrhoids.
Prunes are rich in potassium, a complex of vitamins that can stabilize the water-salt balance and kidney function, normalize the metabolism in the body; possesses diuretic and choleretic properties, is used to treat anemia and vitamin deficiency. Its antibacterial function is not inferior to some medications.
Selection and preparation of fruits
When choosing fruits for blanks, you need to pay attention to:
- the quality of the plum. The shelf life of fresh prunes is much longer;
- there should be no traces of disease on the plum skin;
- don't choose soft, pliable plums.
Preparation comes down to a thorough washing of the fruit. This will remove debris and insects, which will have a positive effect on the taste and shelf life of the final product.
How to choose the right type of plum to dry
Before you start harvesting dried plums, you need to find out the features of how to make prunes at home correctly and which varieties of plums are suitable for this. After all, not all fruits are suitable for harvesting of this type.
The fruit variety needs a lot of attention. To do this, you need the fruits of such varieties that ripen last. This plum will be fleshy and sweet.
If you are versed in varieties or there is an opportunity to ask those who understand, then choose Hungarian (Italian, ordinary, Azhanskaya, purple), Renklode, Raisin-Eric, Stanley, Croman and Burton.
Hungarian is best suited because its fruits are large, have a dense skin, and firm flesh. The stone is easily separated from the pulp, there is little acid in it, and there is a lot of sweetness.
The simplest option
For those who are not used to piquant aromas, you can suggest making sweet dried plums in the oven. This will be very simple, since only two main components are required to work: 2 kilograms of fresh plums and 400 grams of granulated sugar.
For work, it is better to choose the Hungarian variety. Its fruits are large and fleshy enough. The process technology in this case will be slightly different:
- First, as usual, the fruits must be washed, and then, by cutting each of them in half, remove the seeds.
- After that, the workpieces must be folded into an enamel container (pan), sprinkled with sugar, and then, placing a press on top, put in a cool place for several hours until juice appears on the surface.
- The liquid must be separated by straining through a colander, and the halves themselves must be laid on a baking sheet, not forgetting to cover it with parchment.
- Preheat the oven to 60 degrees, and then put food in it, leaving the door slightly ajar. The processing time will depend on the degree of drying you want.
How to prepare plums for drying
Now the plum needs to be prepared for the drying process, let's look at how to make prunes at home.
It is important that the process of storing the fruit is not delayed for more than 3 days, as ripe plums will start to deteriorate and ferment.
The plum must be thoroughly rinsed. Rinse until the water becomes clear.
The fruits must be sorted by size, since the time of their preparation depends on this. You also need to remove the bones.
Also, before making prunes at home, you need to blanch the plums in a 1% soda solution. In other words, sprinkle them with hot water and baking soda for 25-30 seconds. This is necessary so that the tissues of the plums become softer, and their cells are larger, and so that the fruits lose excess air. Next, the drain must be thoroughly rinsed again.
At the last stage, the fruits will need to be cooled. After you complete 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.
Determination of the quality of dried fruits
The quality of the finished prune can be determined visually.The fruit should be firm and whole, slightly firm, not sticky and should not fall apart in the hands. Improper drying leads to cracking of the skin, a change in the shape of the fruit, overdrying.
To find out about the readiness of a prune, pay attention to its appearance and condition. The main indicators that the fruits have dried correctly:
- they are soft but not wet;
- elastic, elastic;
- do not stick to hands;
- the skin does not crack when bent.
Properly prepared prunes are shiny, firm and won't crack
It so happens that plums are dried unevenly. Don't worry, there is a way to fix this. Divide the prunes into 1 liter glass jars, close tightly with plastic lids and leave for a few days. Shake the contents of the cans from time to time and watch for the formation of condensation on the walls: while it is, you need to continue drying the prunes. During this time, overdried fruits will absorb excess moisture from those that have not dried up.
How to make prunes in an electric dryer
For the preparation of dried fruits, not so long ago, they came up with a special equipment - an electric dryer. This appliance can be used to prepare not only prunes, but also to dry any other fruits and vegetables.
Before making prunes in an electric dryer, it is necessary to arrange fruits on 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 plums 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 until the prunes are completely cooked. The processing temperature will be 55 degrees Celsius.
After cooking, the finished product can be easily separated from the trays, they are well dried and ready to use. From 16 kilograms of plums, about 2.5 kilograms of prunes can be obtained.
The simplest option
For those who are not used to piquant aromas, you can suggest making sweet dried plums in the oven. This will be very simple, since only two main components are required to work: 2 kilograms of fresh plums and 400 grams of granulated sugar.
For work, it is better to choose the Hungarian variety. Its fruits are large and fleshy enough. The process technology in this case will be slightly different:
- First, as usual, the fruits must be washed, and then, by cutting each of them in half, remove the seeds.
- After that, the workpieces must be folded into an enamel container (pan), sprinkled with sugar, and then, placing a press on top, put in a cool place for several hours until juice appears on the surface.
- The liquid must be separated by straining through a colander, and the halves themselves must be laid on a baking sheet, not forgetting to cover it with parchment.
- Preheat the oven to 60 degrees, and then put food in it, leaving the door slightly ajar. The processing time will depend on the degree of drying you want.
The finished products just need to be folded into sterile jars and, having covered them with a lid, put in a cool place.
How to make prunes in the oven
The more popular method for preparing prunes is in the oven. This does not require special equipment. And the process itself is different from how to make prunes in a dryer.
You need to spread the plums on a baking sheet in one layer. The temperature regime for this is also selected in the range of 50-55 degrees at the initial stage. The plum will need to dry within 3-4 hours.
After the first interval has elapsed, you need to take out the baking sheet, turn all the fruits over to the other side and give them time to cool down (within 4-5 hours, in order for the product to be of high quality).
The next stage will also take 3-4 hours, but the drying temperature will now be higher - 60-70 degrees.After the specified time has elapsed, the prunes must be removed again, mixed and left to cool.
The last stage will take at least 5 hours. Prunes will 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 has been resolved. The procedure is simple and does not require special knowledge, but only time and a little patience.
Spicy sweets
There is another original version, with the help of which you can easily cook just sweet sun-dried plums. In this case, very little time is needed, and only salt, spices and sugar are required as additional ingredients.
The cooking method is somewhat similar to the previous options:
- Divide the washed plums into two halves in the usual way and remove the seeds from them.
- After that, they need to be sprinkled with the selected additional components. To make dried fruits as sweet as possible, all ingredients except sugar can be completely eliminated.
- Place the food in the oven for a couple of hours at a temperature of 120 degrees and wait until the slices dry out a little. At the same time, they must retain their plasticity.
The finished products will only have to be transferred to clean glass jars and filled with oil. Store food in a cool place with a closed lid. You can add some garlic along with dried plums for flavor. If only sugar was used, this should not be done.
Plums have long been considered an excellent object for harvesting. In the villages, it was customary to dry these fruits, soak or prepare compote from them. But the most popular to this day are still dried plums. The process of their preparation is quite long, but the result is a product with excellent taste.
