Raisins are dried grapes that have a pleasant taste. Just like a fresh product, it brings benefits to human health. In cooking, such dried fruit is added not only to sweet salads and desserts, but also used to prepare meat dishes. But is it possible to make it at home? Talk about this further.
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Can I make raisins from grapes at home?
For those who have never come across homemade blanks, the technology of drying grapes is a complex process that requires special equipment and professionalism. In fact, you can make raisins from fresh fruits at home by yourself. There are various recipes, following which, anyone can master the technique.
The best varieties for drying are called sweet varieties, such as black, white, or Kishmish pink. Another advantage of this grape is the small size of the grapes, which allows them to speed up the drying process. The dried product loses up to eighty-five percent moisture, while retaining the full amount of sugar.
Ways to get raisins
First you need to harvest and prepare it for the process of harvesting. Berries must be ripe, devoid of various damage. Dry grapes can be different. It is worth getting acquainted with various ways to choose the most convenient one. The main methods include:
- Natural drying;
- In the oven;
- In the electric dryer;
- With the use of alkali.
Production in direct sunlight
This method is not the fastest, but economical and affordable. The entire crop should be inspected, get rid of rotten, spoiled berries, and then spread it out on a dry surface in the sun. Grapes do not need to shoot with brushes. Periodically, every few days, the fruit is turned over by the other side. The method involves drying to three weeks.
Oven use
This method requires the removal of the fruit from the branches after the clusters were thoroughly washed with cool water. Excess moisture is brushed off from the brushes, after which healthy ripe berries are selected for cooking. Fruits to be removed:
- Dry;
- Rotten;
- Affected by pests and diseases;
- Frozen.
Selected grapes descend into boiling soda solution for 5 seconds. This technique is necessary for cracking the skin, resulting in moisture will evaporate faster.
After drying the grapes with a towel, they spread it on a baking sheet covered with baking paper. Drain the product should be with the oven door open, setting the temperature to 50-60 degrees. The duration of the procedure is a total of 10 hours. Periodically it is necessary to take breaks, letting the berries cool.
Drying in the electric dryer
Washed grapes in one layer are laid out on trays of electric dryers. The first stage of drying lasts eight hours. And every hour you need to change the pallets. After turning off the device, you need to let it cool down and start the process again for eight hours. For large grapes of the two stages a little, you will need another one.
Some people use a different method: they increase the number of approaches, reducing the drying time to four hours. Break with this option is 2 hours. The total drying time varies from twenty to twenty-five hours, depending on the size of the berries.
Alkaline method
The method consists in the use of alkali. Grape bunches, if possible, fumigate with sulfur or sink for 10 seconds into the boiling alkaline solution.40 grams of baking soda are used for 10 liters of water. After you need to quickly remove them, rinse with cool water and dry. Treated twigs with berries hang in the room. Boxes are set under them so that the ready-made raisins fall from the brushes into them. When drying by this method, direct sunlight should not be allowed.
This technique compared to natural drying in the sun reduces the cooking time by 3-4 times. After 5 or 10 days the fruits are ready for use.
How to determine the readiness of grapes
It is impossible to understand that the raisin was prepared, focusing only on the time indicator. The duration of drying varies depending on the type, size, method used.
The product at the outlet has the parameters by which its readiness is determined:
- Berries should not be sticky;
- The total weight and volume of the products obtained is several times less than the initial characteristics;
- When squeezing the raisins with your fingers, it does not emit any liquid.
For better preservation, dried fruits are kept at a temperature of 5-6 degrees and relative humidity of 60 or 70%.
What is the best drying method?
The choice of method is influenced by many factors. For those who have their own vineyard, it is better to turn to sun drying or the alkaline method. In a limited space of a city apartment, it is more efficient to get raisins using an electric dryer or oven.
To save dried fruits as useful as possible allows the method used in Asia. Winegrowers build special ventilated earthen houses in which clusters are dried in the shade. But before drying, such buildings are also treated with sulfur, because it can be called a kind of alkaline method.
Self-drying of grapes has advantages over buying it in the store. The raisin obtained by this method meets the taste requirements of the person who harvests it, and is also an eco-friendly, clean product.