How to store dried apricots at home: rules and terms, choosing a place

Winter harvesting methods

Fragrant fruit blanks are the best way to enjoy them both in summer and winter. There are several ways to bookmark for long-term storage.

We store in the refrigerator

Fresh produce can be enjoyed all week long when stored in the refrigerator on the fruit rack. The fruits are placed in food containers with a sealed lid. If you just put them in the refrigerator in a bowl, they will last no more than two days.

At a temperature of 0 degrees, the fruits will lie for 30 days. After this period, it is recommended to use them, as they begin to lose their taste and aroma.

Drying

To prepare dried fruits, it is necessary to rinse the collected products with running water, pull out the seeds and lay them out on a tray. The place should not be lit.

The cut fruits are placed in a draft for 4-5 days. The slices are located at some distance from each other. After that, they are taken out in the sun and left for another 1 week. After the performed procedures, dried fruits are packed in separate packages. In this form, they can be stored for six months.

Freezing in the freezer

You can save products for a long time by placing them in the freezer. There are several options for storing fruit in the freezer.

In syrup

To prepare fruit in syrup, it is necessary to cut the washed and dried products into slices. Then they are placed in special containers.

For sugar syrup, you need to prepare the following ingredients:

500 grams of sugar;
0.5 liters of water;
1-2 tablespoons of lemon or any other natural juice.

The food is mixed in a saucepan and put on fire. After the water boils, the dishes are removed from the stove. Chopped fruits are poured with cooled syrup and placed in the freezer. Before use, the container with fruit is moved to a shelf in the refrigerator so that defrosting takes place gradually.

Puree

For the preparation of puree, ripe and soft fruits are selected. They are washable and are pitted and placed in a blender. You can also grind through a sieve.

To prepare a dish, you should take:

1 kilogram of rolled fruits;
2 tablespoons lemon juice
200 grams of sugar if the fruit is not sweet enough.

All products are mixed, poured into containers and placed in the freezer.

With sugar

The easiest and quickest way to preserve a product is to cover it with sugar. For this, not very soft fruits are taken, cut into quarters. Then they are laid out in layers in a special container and sprinkled with sugar. The container is placed in the freezer.

The recipe is good because when defrosting, the fruit does not lose color and aroma.

Apricot halves

The product is well preserved in the form of frozen halves. To do this, follow a series of steps:

cut into halves;
remove bones;
spread out in one layer;
place in the freezer for 2 days;
put in bags for freezing.

This method saves space in the refrigerator. And the halves can be added to pies, to prepare compotes from them.

Wholly

You can freeze whole fruit without cutting it. Whole fruits are laid out in one layer and frozen. After freezing, they are transferred to bags or containers. In this form, the products are convenient for making fruit drinks, compotes.

How to dry apricots at home - options and tips for instructions

Dried apricots are a storehouse of vitamins. Self-harvesting of dried fruits will give you confidence in their naturalness. For home drying, choose large sweet fruits. There are many ways to dry apricots. The simplest is natural sun drying.At home, you can prepare a healthy treat for the winter using an oven, an electric dryer, and a dehydrator.

Dried apricots and dried apricots - is there a difference?

Dried apricots are called pitted dried apricots. For the preparation of dried fruits, ripe and juicy fruits are used. The bone is removed using a special incision, which is made in the middle of the fruit.

Dried apricots increase immunity, improve digestion

Before drying, the fruit is soaked in water with citric acid, then dried in the sun or using household appliances. Dried apricots are used to prepare compotes, pies, decoctions. Such dried fruits are also served for sweet tea.

Drying rules

Simple rules will help make dried apricots juicy and tasty.

For the preparation of dried fruits, it is better to use selected apricots.
After removing the seed, the fruit must be rinsed well.
To preserve juiciness and bright color, soak the fruits in water with citric acid for 5-10 minutes.
To get juicy dried apricots, dry it in the sun or in the oven.

Most of the beneficial trace elements will be preserved when air-dried.

The best recipes

Different drying methods can give you different results. Some apricots will turn out juicy and smooth, others dry and wrinkled.

Cooking dried apricots at home

For dried apricots, choose medium-sized ripe apricots. Ripe fruits break easily, the stone leaves by itself, leaving the pulp in place.

To prepare dried fruit you will need:

3 kg of apricots;
1 liter of cold water;
250 ml fresh lemon juice.

Step-by-step cooking:

Rinse the fruit and remove the pits.
Soak the halves in cold water with lemon juice.
After 5-10 minutes, take out the fruit and dry on a towel.
Dry in the sun or with household appliances.

The different drying methods will be described below.

Natural sun drying

To prevent insects from settling on apricots, fruits should be covered with a net or gauze.

This method is considered the longest, but as a result, dried fruit retains all the beneficial trace elements.

After preparing and processing the apricots, place them on a wire rack, cloth or plastic wrap.
Place the fruit in a shade in a draft and let sit for 4-6 hours.
Then move the workpiece to a sunny place for 6-8 days.
Sort out the dried fruits, put them in a glass jar, dry the rest until tender.

It is important that the apricots are cut up

Cooking in the oven

Drying apricots in the oven will take 12 to 24 hours

With the help of the oven, you can get delicious dried apricots in 1 day. After carrying out the preparatory measures, the fruits are laid out on a wire rack and sent to the oven.

Place the apricots in a cold oven.
Turn on heating to 40 ° C.
After an hour, preheat the oven to 50 ° C.
Raise the temperature 5 ° C every 60 minutes. Maximum drying temperature 80 ° C.

Place the cooled dried fruits in a storage container.

Cooking with an electric dryer

If it is not possible to dry apricots in the fresh air, take an electric dryer

Step by step cooking:

Peel the apricots, wash and dry.
Place on wire racks, cut upwards.
Switch on the dryer for 8 hours.
Then leave drying at room temperature for another 10 hours.
Dry for another 6 hours.

The result is a delicious dried apricot, suitable for making compote (it turns out to be quite dry). To properly prepare apricots for food, you need to reduce the drying time. Leave the first stage the same, and reduce the second to 2-3 hours.

It is enough to load the apricots into the dehydrator and select the desired drying mode

If there is no time to cook dried fruits, then a dehydrator will come to the rescue. Drying time for apricots 30 minutes. All you need is:

Prepare the fruit.
Divide them into sections.
Switch on drying mode at 60 ° C for half an hour.

If the fruits are large, then the cooking time is increased to 50 minutes.

: useful tips for drying from the practitioner

Dried apricots will help support your immune system in winter. Dried apricots at home are delicious, and most importantly, natural. It does not need to be washed before use. The product is suitable for feeding adults, children, as well as pregnant and lactating women.

Anastasia Lazareva
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Protecting workpieces from parasites

How to get rid of midges and bugs when storing dried fruits:

glass, ceramic dishes are wiped with vinegar diluted with water in a 1: 1 ratio. A cloth made of natural fabric is moistened in the solution and the jars are processed. When the vinegar wears off, fruits are laid out in a container;
if dried apricots are stored in cardboard or wooden boxes, you need to lay out or hang bunches of mint nearby;
Laundry soap will save supplies from moths, which cannot tolerate its smell. To prevent the apricots from smelling like soap, the boxes must be tightly closed.

If living creatures have already started up among the orange pieces, pour the dried fruits onto a baking sheet, sort out. Discard the damaged fruits, and distribute the rest in an even thin layer and ignite for an hour in an oven preheated to 75 degrees.

If, during storage in an apartment or in the country, it is difficult to protect the supply of dried fruits from pests, it is better to transfer it to the freezer.

Tips & Tricks

Experienced housewives give the following recommendations for maintaining the best quality of dry fruits:

Shops offer not only dried berries and fruits, but also dried ones. The latter retains more moisture than the former. For dried fruits, vacuum packaging is used.
Containers with dates, prunes, dried apricots, raisins are placed on the shelves located on the refrigerator doors.
Slices and candied fruits are placed in fabric bags on a shelf in the closet.

When storing the product in the cellar and basement, it must be remembered that rodents can penetrate there. In order to prevent spoilage, it is better to place dried fruits in containers that will be too tough for small animals.

Dried fruits and berries can replace candy, decorate homemade cakes, or serve as a base for compote. The main thing is to store them correctly so that the products retain their taste and useful properties for a long time.

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How to store?

Dried apricots can be stored both at room temperature, subject to all requirements, and in the refrigerator.

Since a delicacy can be stored for many months, it is important to periodically revise it and, if necessary, remove damaged specimens. And also look for bugs that can start in dried fruits

If there are a lot of beetles, then it is better to discard the product, if their number is insignificant and there are few damaged dried apricots, then the workpiece can be saved.

Another tip for storing dried apricots: you do not need to keep it in the same container with dried apples or pears, dried apricots will give some of the moisture to dried fruits, this will harm both.

At room temperature

As mentioned above, dried apricots should be stored in a dark, cool place with a low humidity and away from heating appliances. It is better to choose a glass and sealed storage container, but plastic containers are also good.

It is not forbidden to use linen bags, but it is important to remember that long-term storage in such a container contributes to the drying out of the product.

Do not store the product in plastic bags at room temperature. It will quickly damp and mold and rot will appear. You should check dried apricots as often as possible for spoilage and bugs, so as not to miss the moment and correct the situation in time.

In fridge

Dried apricots store well in the refrigerator, in the fruit and vegetable compartment

It is important to choose the right packaging for this. The refrigerator compartment is usually high in humidity, so the packaging must insulate the product

And also the correct container will help isolate the product from extraneous odors that the dried apricots absorb.

The best packaging would be sealed jars or bags.

It is important to regularly inspect the container and replace it if condensation forms. This is especially often observed when storing underdried dried apricots.

If you do not miss the moment, then the delicacy will be stored in the refrigerator for 3-4 months.

In the freezer

By freezing the product, you can increase the shelf life up to one and a half years. In this case, you do not have to worry about mold or beetles. The disadvantage of this method is that when dried apricots are frozen, they lose many useful substances.

Apricots need to be sealed to prevent them from absorbing the odor from the freezer. Plastic food containers work well. This method will preserve both dried and well-dried dried apricots. When freezing a product, remember that the subsequent defrosting should take place gradually and only naturally. Thus, it will be possible to save some of the benefits and improve the taste. Re-freezing is not allowed.

Knowing the correct storage of dried apricots, you can prepare a large amount of product and store it for a long period of time. Thanks to this, you can delight yourself and your loved ones with a delicious vitamin dessert all year round, and especially in the spring, when it is especially necessary.

How to store apricots to ripen

Slightly unripe apricots can be brought to the desired state as follows:

Prepare a paper bag.
Fold the apricots into it and cover slightly.
Leave the bag of fruit in a room with a temperature of up to 20 degrees. They will ripen at 15 degrees. A prerequisite is that the sun's rays should not fall on the packaging with apricots.

The fruit becomes soft and ripe after 2–3 days. They can be stored outside the refrigerator for up to five days and up to a week inside it. The fruit tray is the perfect place for apricots. Fruits should be folded into an airtight container, not just put into a container.

Before placing apricots in the refrigerator, you need to make sure they are ripe, as the fruits will not ripen at low temperatures.

Dried fruit (apricot) appearance

Apricot is a very tasty and healthy product. As you know, it has a thick-walled bone and a rough surface. The product receives such properties from its juicy brother - apricot. After all, it is no secret to anyone that the skin of this fruit is velvety pubescent. Moreover, when mature, it has a yellowish-orange color. After drying, the apricot becomes darker, and sometimes it acquires a brown tint. This is due to the fact that during the drying process, all the moisture from the fruit evaporates, and the remaining peel with pulp adheres tightly to the dark brown drupe.

In the fridge or not?

Fresh apricots begin to ripen quickly at temperatures of 10 degrees, so under such conditions it is better to preserve those fruits that you plan to eat soon or an unripe crop.

There are a few tricks to keep in mind when planning storage:

Ripe apricots should be stored in the refrigerator, since at room temperature the product will not only lose its quality, beneficial properties, taste, but also quickly deteriorate.
It is recommended to store the crop in paper bags, and not to pack it in polyethylene.
You can store fresh crops in plastic containers with a lid.

If you do not have a cellar in which it is convenient and optimal to store this product, then try to approach these storage conditions. The humidity indicator of the environment should be up to 90% and the air temperature should be about +5 degrees.

Before the storage stage, the harvested crop should be rejected. Damaged and overripe fruits are removed from the batch that is being prepared for storage.

Let's consider several options for storing fresh apricots.

In paper or cardboard bags and boxes.

This option provides free ventilation of the air and does not create condensation, which subsequently deteriorates the quality.

In wooden boxes.

Each fruit selected for storage is wrapped in parchment paper. Laying of apricots in several layers is allowed. However, it is worth avoiding their snug fit to each other. Every few days they are checked for damage and material with defects is rejected so that later it does not spoil the entire batch.

In the refrigerator compartment.

Fruits are placed in a container with a lid and placed on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator at a temperature of +2 to +8 degrees. So the shelf life can be up to 30 days. Remember that in an open container, fresh fruit is left in the refrigerator for only a week.

In a cellar or a cool pantry.

The conditions of this room for storing the harvested crop are almost close to ideal. However, each fruit must be wrapped in paper. The optimum temperature is considered to be 5 ° C. If you follow these recommendations, you can save the harvest for up to a month.

Timing and possible problems

The shelf life of dried fruits at home varies depending on the conditions and packaging. But, subject to the correct temperature regime and in a suitable container, dried apricots can be stored:

Just on a shelf or on a table - 30 days.
In a cool, dark place - 6 months.
In the refrigerator - 10 months.
In the freezer - up to 1.5 years.

However, despite the firm belief that you have packaged dried fruit correctly, you need to crawl into your hamster supplies once a month. You need to check not how many pets ate in your absence, but the presence of mold or bugs.

Yes, not only people love to feast on aromatic dried fruits. With high humidity, the ubiquitous mold strives to bloom in lush clusters on your stocks.

If you find at least one spoiled fruit, you will have to throw out the entire contents of the container. It's a shame, but mold spores have already hit the rest of the fruit. It's just that we can't see them yet. Do not risk your health, throw it away without regret.

Advice. To avoid global damage to dried apricots, lay them out for storage in small containers.

Bugs or cereal moths, too, will never give up a delicious treat. But, unlike mold, you can try to save the rest of the stock. Choose unaffected apricots, put in the freezer for a day, then pour boiling water for an hour, then rinse thoroughly. It is better not to store such dried apricots again.

Advice. If, after all the manipulations, you are afraid to eat such dried fruits, then cook compote from them, use for baking or make a sauce for meat.

Do not store all dried fruits in the same container. They have different humidity, and if there is prunes, then everything will smell only of them.
There are recommendations not to immediately purchase large portions of dried fruits, but to replenish a small stock with a purchase in the store as needed. The advice is highly dubious. Does anyone in a supermarket care about the good preservation of dried apricots? Unlikely. And in what conditions was it before the store shelves? Who knows?
If you are lucky enough to find great dried apricots, get as many as you can at once. At least at home, you will know for sure under what conditions the stocks are stored.
When intruders appear in containers, an oven will be an alternative to boiling water. Dried fruits were poured onto a baking sheet, heated for 40-50 minutes at a temperature of 70-75 ° C and left to cool.
Despite your best efforts, have you noticed that dried apricots have become softer? So the humidity has reached your savings. Dry the fruit in the oven to prevent spoilage. Anneal glass containers in the same place. After complete cooling, the dried fruits can be put back into the bins.

How to store dried apricots at home? Observing all precautions, and regularly eating up stocks. And it is better not to waste away over cans, like Koschey over treasures, but to enjoy the unique taste of dried apricots.

Disinfection of dried fruits

If the infection is small, then the products are washed and sent to the oven (temperature 70-800C).Containers from dried fruits are thoroughly washed, fabric bags are washed in hot water.

Freezing is another method. If the mole has already started, sort out the dried fruits, and those where there are no manifestations yet, send them to the freezer for disinfection at a temperature of -10 to -15 degrees. The cabinet where the infected dried fruit was located should be rinsed with vinegar.

Observe the temperature and humidity of the air, then dried fruits will always be tasty and beautiful.

Like any organic product, dried fruits have a shelf life and certain storage conditions.
We can safely say that even the very quality of everyone's favorite delicacy is determined by its storage conditions.

These terms guarantee the preservation of all consumer properties and indicators of products established by the standards, subject to the storage rules for a certain period of time.

The difference in terms is that the shelf life is called the time interval during which a given product can be used, and the shelf life is considered to be the time during which the product retains all its original properties.

The shelf life of products is established from the date of manufacture by the manufacturer.

Selection of dried fruits for storage

We choose dried apricots in stages, adhering to the following rules and nuances:

Product appearance and color. Dried apricots, dried without the use of chemicals and dyes, should be opaque, matte and brown or yellowish in color. The bright orange color and "translucency" of the fruit indicate its chemical processing.
Density of the product. The dried fruit should not be sticky or ooze when pressed.
Smell. Dried apricots have a pleasant apricot smell, without soot and other extraneous notes.
Dried fruit taste - sweet with sourness, without any aftertaste.
The size. Larger specimens tend to be sweeter, flavorful and contain more nutrients.

Ripe fruit storage methods

There are several ways to store fresh apricots

In order to ensure a long term and not lose the harvest, it is important to correctly select the harvested fruits. For these purposes, fruits are suitable without external damage and signs of rot.

In paper bags

Once harvested, apricots can be stored in paper bags. This method allows you to provide free air flow to the fruit and does not create condensation, which is often present when using plastic bags.

In wooden boxes

For storage in wooden boxes, each fruit is wrapped in parchment or thin-layer paper. Fruits with signs of defects are removed before laying. Fruits are placed in a container in several layers, not allowing them to fit too tightly. Periodically, control checks should be carried out to identify spoiled fruits, if any, such fruits are removed. The proximity of good and bad apricots in a short time can lead to spoilage of all apricots in the box.

In fridge

Apricots can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 7 days. It is recommended to use sealed containers for these purposes, as this blocks the access of oxygen. If the fruit is stored in a bowl, the proper flavor qualities will last for 2 days. At a refrigerator temperature of 0 C, the duration can be extended up to 30 days.

In the freezer, fruits can be stored whole, cut into 2 or more slices or in pieces. To do this, use plastic bags or plastic containers. The nutritional value of the fruit is not significantly reduced with this method.

Drying

Not all varieties of apricots are suitable for drying, so this nuance should be taken into account when choosing fruits. Large, but not very juicy specimens are selected for the process. It should be borne in mind that the initial weight of the fruit during the drying process is reduced by an average of 5-6 times.The product can be dried naturally, using an oven or special household appliances.

Before starting work, washed apricots are kept in water with lemon juice, using proportions of 1 liter and 1 tsp. spin, which will prevent them from darkening. The seeds are removed from the pre-selected and processed fruits, if desired, cut into pieces.

When choosing a natural drying process, apricots are laid out on a flat surface, leaving in a cool, ventilated place for several days. They should be spread out in a thin even layer; they should not touch each other. Then they are taken out in the sun for 7 days and dried for 7 days. The finished product is placed in bags, it must be consumed within 6 months.

When using the oven, the following sequence of actions should be followed:

lay a cotton cloth on the lattice, on which lay the apricots in a thin layer;
preheat the oven to +50 C, gradually increase the temperature to +70 C;
turn the fruit periodically to achieve an even drying effect;
after 1 hour, transfer the dried fruits to a baking sheet covered with baker's paper for further drying.

To obtain the finished product, it is required to dry the apricots for 10-12 hours. If the fruit has become elastic and does not release juice when pressed, then the process can be completed.