Dried strawberries are good for making fragrant tea, home baking and as an addition to cereals. If it is not possible to pick a wild berry with your own hands, you can replace it with garden strawberries, while choosing the least watery varieties. The dry product yield is about 1:10, i.e. to get 50 g of dried berries, you need a pound of fresh ones.
Technology of drying berries in the oven
1. Wash. You can wash only relatively large garden strawberries or strawberries, since the tender wild berry, when it enters the water, quickly absorbs moisture and turns into a slurry. After washing, strawberries are laid out on a cotton cloth to quickly drain water. The sepals are cut off.
2. Grinding. Small strawberries are dried whole, while larger specimens are cut into thin slices and laid out on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.
3. Drying. The drying process is preceded by drying the berries in the oven at a temperature of about 30 degrees for 1.5-2 hours. To save time and energy, it is advisable to dry and dry the maximum amount of raw materials using all available levels in the oven.
4. Drying. How much to dry strawberries depends on the moisture content of the berries and the heating temperature. The oven temperature is set at 50-60 degrees and in this mode the raw materials are kept for about 5-6 hours, focusing on the humidity and color of the berries. In the process of drying, the berries acquire a maroon color.
After cooling, the dried product is transferred to dry glass jars, which protect the berries from excessive drying or, conversely, moisture, and also prevent the sweet forest aroma from escaping. You can also use thick paper bags.
