All of us, without exception, constantly buy dried fruits on the market - raisins, dried apricots, prunes, figs. Undoubtedly, it is very convenient, fast and almost always available, because there are departments with dried fruits in every supermarket. It is not always true that the quality and price of dried fruits is suitable for certain parameters, and it also happens that having bought a handful or two of raisins or dried apricots, even in the refrigerator they are covered with mold, thereby indicating a violation of the production drying technology ...

Would you like to try making one of the most popular dried fruits - prunes at home? The simplest process, which will amaze with the result, because homemade prunes cannot be compared with the store analogue! It has a deep fruity taste, striking plum aroma and excellent body to the maximum. In addition, dried prunes at home are devoid of harmful additives and wax, with which dried fruit is processed in industrial dryers for longer storage. A recipe with a photo of a prune made at home, which can be safely eaten by everyone, without exception - already on our website!

To make prunes in the oven you will need (yield - 1.5 kg):

• fresh plum "Hungarian" - 2 kg
• sugar - 200-250 g

How to make prunes at home - a simple recipe:

Take a ripe, non-acidic, but always firm plum of the "Hungarian" variety. You can try other varieties that also have a sweet firm pulp, but "Hungarian" will still be ideal for making prunes at home. In such a plum, the bone is well separated, which is what we need! We wash the plum, separate the tails, leaves and everything else unnecessary.

Carefully cut a groove on one side on each drain so that the bone can be removed without dividing the drain into two halves. You should get these "shells".

Pour a teaspoon (or how much) of sugar into each plum shell. We take a saucepan and put all the plums filled with sugar in the first layer on the bottom.

In the same way, fill the pan to the top, sprinkle a little sugar on top. We leave for a day. Shake the pan from time to time so that the resulting syrup dissolves the sugar as much as possible.

After a day, sugar and plum juice form a liquid syrup. There will not be too much of it, it will not completely cover the drain, but this is not what we need.

Put the plum and syrup on low heat and bring to a boil. Do not boil the plum, just stir it a couple of times in hot syrup and immediately remove it from the heat after the first signs of active boiling appear. The fruits will only warm up and slightly change their shade from bluish-black to reddish-plum. Throw the plum in a colander and separate the syrup from it.

Now we take a baking sheet, cover it with parchment, lay out the heated plum in rows, leaving a little space between it.

We start to dry. The drying process will be carried out in the oven, so if you have a home kitchen electric dryer, you can use it according to the instructions. We heat the oven to 60-70 degrees and place the baking sheet in the middle position, opening the door slightly and fixing a small crack with a wooden spatula. The time for preparing prunes at home in the oven is individual, depending on the size, type of plum, on average from 4 to 8 hours.

In the process, the drain must be turned over to the other side so that it dries evenly on all sides. Determine the readiness of the plum by the following criteria: it should not be wet, but become elastic and dense.

When the plum is dry enough, soak it for 2-3 days in a room, on a kitchen windowsill or on a sunny balcony for the final result.

Homemade prunes are ready!

Now it can be used for its intended purpose - to use it just like that healthy snack, add to cereals, desserts and pastries.

Bon Appetit!

When buying dried plums, you can face a problem: it is either expensive or of poor quality. Therefore, it will be easier and more profitable to smoke on your own. Making prunes at home is not difficult: just know the recipe, stock up on plums, sugar and take some time to prepare for drying.

Smoking plums in the oven

The recipe for drying plums in the oven is one of the simplest, as it requires minimal human intervention. You can make prunes in about a day, and when it is ready, you can safely add it to any dishes or use it as an independent food. Smoked plums can be stored for a long time, and you don't have to worry that they quickly deteriorate.

Ingredients:

• plums - 1 kg;
• water - 0.5 l;
• sugar - 500 g.

Each housewife should take into account the fact that 1 kg of prunes is obtained from about 4 kg of plums. In the process of cooking, they dry out, lose their juice and with it their mass. Based on this, you need to calculate the desired amount of product that can be obtained as a result of cooking.

To smoke a plum is as easy as shelling pears

Sort the plums and discard the wormy ones, if any, and rinse the remaining ones and cut them into halves. Remove the bones and discard. Now we need to make a syrup, the recipe for which is very simple. Boil the water with sugar over high heat, then reduce the flame and add plums to the syrup. Bring everything to a boil together. Then turn off the heat, drain the syrup and place the fruits on a baking sheet next to each other. Sprinkle generously with sugar on each half.

Smoked prunes can be cooked in the oven at a minimum temperature (40 ° C). It is necessary to dry it in several passes: first, keep the temperature at no higher than 45 ° С for 4 hours, then increase it to 60 ° С for 4 hours, and at the end increase to 80-90 ° С. Every 4 hours, remove the baking sheet from the oven and allow the fruit to cool. If this is not done, then they can burst and lose juice.

The recipe provides for cooling the finished product for about 3 hours. When cooking at home, it is recommended to turn the warm fruits over so that they dry evenly.

Smoked prunes will be ready when they darken, acquire a matte shade with a slight touch and become elastic. This will also mean that it has been prepared without the use of chemicals. The finished ingredient should be stored in a dry place at temperatures between 0 ° C and 20 ° C. So that it does not get damp, you can put it in paper bags.

Drying plums in the sun

The most natural way to cook at home is to smoke prunes in direct sunlight. The recipe is especially suitable for those who want to make it in the country, where they have their own plot, but no oven.

What you need:

1. plums;
2. gauze;
3. wooden sheets.

The fruit should be rinsed, wormy and rotten areas removed, and then cut in half. The seeds should be removed from the fruit. You need to lay out the halves on wooden sheets with a cut up, not end-to-end, so that you can dry well. If you put the fruit cut down, the juice will flow out and the smoked prunes will not come out juicy enough.

Dried plum

Laying fruits outdoors is necessary only on hot days, in bright sun. Cover the plums with gauze so that flies do not land on them. They will have to stand in the sun for about 6-7 days. They should be taken indoors at night. Every day, the halves need to be turned over so that they dry evenly. This recipe has only one drawback: insects can get under the gauze.

Drying plums in an electric dryer

This recipe is perfect for home cooking. Fruits are cooked in an electric dryer in much the same way as in an oven. The fruits will need to be washed, sorted and cut into two equal parts. After that, you need to boil the water with sugar and soda and boil the plums in this syrup.

After that, they are laid out in one layer to dry well. If you put the halves in bulk, some may not cook completely, and it will take more time. They need to be placed with a cut up to preserve juiciness and useful elements. The electric dryer is turned on and the temperature is set to 50 ° C. It is necessary to dry in this mode for about 4 hours, then let the fruits cool and heat up again (at a temperature of 60 ° C). After 5 hours, turn off the dryer again and cool the plums. Then the temperature is increased to 80 ° C and the fruit is left for 6 hours. They should now be ready. If everything is done correctly, the taste of the product will turn out even better than the purchased one.

Drying plums in an electric dryer

Note to housewives: it is not necessary to cut plums, although it is advisable to do so. They will dry faster in halves and are easier to eat. Some argue that pitted fruits retain more nutrients, but this has not been proven. Therefore, everyone decides for himself which recipe to choose and in what form to cook ripe plums.

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. After all, 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 useful and delicious 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?

Recipe for making natural prunes

There is nothing superfluous in this recipe, just a plum. This prune is suitable for people who adhere to the rules. healthy eating... Let's start preparing a natural treat.

1. The best way to dry prunes is from the Vengerka plum variety. In this case, you will receive a product that is as close as possible in appearance to a store one. Although, in fact, prunes can be prepared from any plum, even a round one.
2. Fruit for drying should be ripe, but moderately tough and fleshy. If you buy a plum, make sure that the pulp separates easily from the stone. For drying, choose only strong fruits without wormholes. Flabby and shriveled plums are best set aside.
3. Some people try to get rid of the whitish coating on the surface of the fruit. In order for the plum to be preserved for a long time, it really needs to be washed off. However, this is not easy to do, so we will soak the fruits in alkaline water. Dissolve a little soda in a basin (a teaspoon for three liters of water) and dip the drain into the solution. After a while, it will be easy to clean and rinse under running water.
4. Fruits are best dried pitted. Small plums can be left with a bone, but in winter you have to be very careful not to spoil the tooth on an unnoticed bone.
5. After removing the seeds, the fruit must be cut in half. In the form of halves, it is much easier to dry them.
6. The next step is blanching. Place a pot of water on the fire and bring it to a boil. Dip the halves of the drain into the water and wait 5-10 minutes. After that, remove the plums and immediately transfer them to cold (ice-cold) water. Remember, the fruit should be soft, but firm and not cooked.
7. After that, put the halves on a baking sheet in one layer and dry for 2-3 hours at a temperature of 60-80 degrees. At the same time, open the oven slightly so as not to overdry the food. Flip the halves of the plums several times during the entire time.
8. When you get the plums, leave them for another day in a ventilated place - on the windowsill or on the balcony. Cover the fruit with gauze to keep out insects. After a day has passed, the drain can be stored.

This is a simple recipe for making natural plums. But there is one more that sweet tooth will definitely like.

This is a sweet prune recipe that kids will be delighted with.

1. We select and prepare the fruits as in the previous recipe. In this recipe, remove the bone, but not cut the plum in half. Let it stay whole.
2. We fill the plum with sugar in a ratio of 3: 1. That is, three kilograms of fruit will need one kilogram of sugar.
3. Plum, unlike other fruits and berries, does not give juice well, so you will have to wait for the valuable syrup. Leave the plum with sugar under slight pressure for a day and stir the mixture regularly. When doing this, be careful not to damage the fruit.
4. When the syrup appears, put the pan on the fire and bring to a boil. It is very important, as soon as the plum starts to boil, it should be turned off so that the fruits are not cooked. Stir the plums well to make sure all the fruits are covered in the sugar syrup.
5. After that, the mass should cool down - at this time, the fruits are even more actively saturated with the sugar composition. After cooling down, discard the mass in a colander and let the drain drain. Then place the halves of the fruit on the parchment and place in the oven. Dry the plum at a minimum temperature for about 3-4 hours. The high temperature will speed up the process, but the fruit will lose its vitamins and become useless.
6. After drying, let the cream dry completely at room temperature.
7. By the way, sugar syrup no need to pour out. It is very aromatic and delicious. It can be used for liqueurs, the syrup can be diluted with water and drunk like a compote or used as a filling for pancakes.
8. When finished, the prunes should be dry, but quite pliable.

Such prunes can be used as a dessert or pie filling. Sweet prunes can be added to marinades for meat - it gives a delicate sour taste and fruity aroma to dishes. Leave the prunes in a bowl on the table and the children will happily gobble them up instead of candy.

If the prunes are dry enough, they can be stored in a canvas pouch in a kitchen drawer. If you doubt whether prunes are well dried and assume it long storage, freeze dried fruits in the freezer. It is better to pre-divide the prunes into portions so that defrosting is easier.

Summer is the time for harvesting, drying, boiling and making marinades. A good housewife will not only provide the family with natural products, but also save the family budget. After all, the cost of homemade prunes is 10 times cheaper than the dubious product that we find on store shelves. Dry prunes, make preparations - and winter will pass for you without money and vitamin losses!

Video: how to cook prunes at home

The best plum for making homemade prunes with pits is Hungarian. It has a juicy, sweet pulp and tolerates short-term heat treatment. Prunes at home from Hungarian it turns out a rich black color with a shiny surface. It can be used as an independent dessert, added to salads or put in sauces for meat. Prunes help to strengthen the immune system, enhance intestinal motility, slow down the growth of bacteria, and normalize the work of the cardiovascular system.

Ingredients:

• plum Hungarian - 1 kg;
• granulated sugar - 1 kg;
• water - 400 ml;
• baking soda - 1 tsp.

How to make homemade prunes with pits

From one kilogram of fresh plums, about 250 g of prunes with pits are obtained.

For drying, you must select ripe fruits... They should have a whole, intact skin and firm flesh. The use of worm plums is unacceptable. Remove the stalks and rinse the plums thoroughly under running water.

It will not work to wash off the whitish bloom from the surface of the fruit. It should be removed with a mild alkaline solution. To do this, you need to boil 1 liter of water. Then pour 1 tsp into it. soda.

Dip the plums into the resulting solution for 30 seconds. Then quickly shift them to cold water... It is better to do this in small portions. In this case, the solution should boil all the time. If the plaque cannot be removed the first time, the procedure can be repeated. The fruits processed in this way will not only become more attractive in appearance, but will also dry faster in the sun. This is due to the microcracks formed on the skin of the plums during blanching.

Then you should prepare a syrup from granulated sugar dissolved in 400 ml of water. It must be brought to a boil. So that the sugar does not burn, you need to stir it periodically until it is completely dissolved.

Plums should be placed in boiling syrup and allowed to simmer for 5 minutes.

Then the fruits should be removed with a slotted spoon and transferred to a metal colander. The liquid flowing down from the plum must be collected and poured into the syrup.

After 30 minutes, the fruits must be laid out on a tray and sent under the sun for 10-12 hours.

Then the plums should be transferred back to the syrup and boiled for 5 minutes. Then all the steps are repeated until the plums wrinkle.

Dried plums are probably the most famous and popular dried fruit besides raisins. Prunes not only provide health benefits but are also very versatile in the kitchen. It perfectly complements both sweet and meat dishes... This dried fruit is also popular as an ingredient in muesli, yogurt, etc.

Purchased prunes are often treated with sulfur and other preservatives to maintain the best fruit color and shelf life. Sulfur can provoke headaches, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea in sensitive individuals. In addition, she is a real vitamin B 1 killer.

Therefore, it is always safer to dry plums yourself, using a special dryer (dehydrator) or a conventional oven. Only in this case it will be guaranteed natural product without any additives. Usually, the result is very good, even with the most inexpensive dryer models.

It is believed that real prunes are not obtained from any plum, but only from special varieties - Hungarian Italian, Hungarian home, Hungarian-Pokrovka, Renklod. Owners of other varieties of plums do not bother to dry their fruits either. It will turn out not quite the usual purchased prunes, but completely natural.

Drying the plums ensures the safety of the fruit and saves storage space. A bucket of fresh plums will turn into a couple of cans of prunes when dried. And it will be easy for them to find a place, even in a limited space. Apart from this, there is another reason for making homemade prunes.

Prunes for health

From a health point of view, prunes and fresh plums, at first glance, hardly have any outstanding nutritional value... The content of vitamins, minerals and trace elements in them is extremely low. Why, then, are prunes considered very healthy?

Prunes hold the absolute record for antioxidant content among all fruits and vegetables. Therefore, dried plums are very valuable for their ability to support the immune system and detoxification organs.

There is scientific research on the contribution of prunes to gut health. In particular, regular consumption of this product provides good fiber supply to the intestines and is considered effective in preventing colorectal cancer.

Prunes make a wonderful home remedy for constipation. To do this, put 3-4 prunes in a glass of water and leave overnight. In the morning they drink plum water and eat soaked prunes. The laxative effect of prunes is due to the high density of plant fibers and the presence of fructose. Also, prunes are used during pregnancy as a natural, well-tolerated mild laxative.

Fructose is quickly converted into energy in the body. Thus, prunes can quickly fill the body with strength in states of exhaustion.

V folk medicine The therapeutic value of prunes has been highly regarded for centuries. In addition to the anti-tumor and laxative effects already mentioned, prunes are also beneficial for:

• support of the kidneys and liver;
• reduce fever;
• prevention of atherosclerosis;
• stimulation of metabolism (therefore also suitable for weight loss);
• relief of rheumatic pains and gout.

Drying process of plums

In a dehydrator, or oven, large amounts of water evaporate from the fruit. Bacteria and various microorganisms live in a humid environment, they need it for life, the formation of rot and mold. There is no place for them in a dried product. Therefore, dried plum is stored for a long time, has only a small amount of residual moisture and is slightly soft to the touch.

The difference with purchased prunes is that homemade prunes no sulfur or other additives are added. Also, dried plum retains more nutrients, including enzymes.

Recipe hstrawberries in a dryer or oven

Important: This dried plum recipe does not include any sweetener. Therefore, depending on the variety, the end result may not be sweet at all. If you are not embarrassed by adding sugar to prunes, then watch and follow the recipe in the video, at the very bottom of the page.

Ingredients:

Fresh plums

Preparation:

1. Wash the plums. Cut each plum with a knife, but not completely, and pull out the bone.

2. In the dryer: distribute the fruit on the trays with the cut up to facilitate the evaporation of moisture.

In the oven: Place the plums on a baking sheet lined with baking paper.
3 ... In the dryer: dry plums in a dryer at 40-60 degrees. It is believed that for greater preservation of nutrients, the temperature during drying should not exceed 42 degrees. The drying time is individual, it lasts, on average, about 24 hours.

In the oven: let the plums dry at 50-60 ° C for 15-17 hours. It is important to ensure good air circulation so that moisture from the drain can evaporate properly. Even if the oven is convection, it does not hurt to clamp a wooden spoon in the oven door. Allow the plums to cool well after drying.

4. Transfer the finished prunes to glass jars, close the lid and stick a label with the name and date of preparation.