Tasty and healthy dried pumpkin pieces - a recipe with step-by-step photos in an electric dryer for the winter. Dried pumpkin: how to dry pumpkin for the winter at home Drying pumpkin for the winter at home

How to dry a pumpkin for decoration? But in order to use this undoubtedly creative vegetable to create interior items and interesting design solutions, you need prepare correctly pumpkin

The most important step for this is drying. She is the one who makes the pumpkin so tough that it can serve its owners for many years as a craft.

In our article we will tell you in detail about how the drying process itself occurs. How to prepare pumpkin for drying? It is very important to properly prepare the pumpkin for the drying process, and we are not talking about preliminary work before the process itself.

You can learn about this from our other article.

You need to approach directly choosing the pumpkin itself- after all, this is the key to proper drying. Not every pumpkin variety is suitable for making crafts from.

Hundreds of pumpkins are grown annually in special greenhouses ornamental breeds, which are just suitable for the creations of masters.

Explore information about varieties of decorative pumpkins and select them by appearance. As a rule, such a pumpkin has a more rounded shape and more pronounced bulges. The color of this pumpkin is even and brown.

Also, in addition to the fact that the pumpkin must be of a special variety, it must be completely healthy in order to adequately endure the drying process. First of all, such a pumpkin should have a uniform color, without obvious signs rot or mold.

Also the pumpkin should have stalk. Unfortunately, drying is impossible without it. From the hole where the stalk connects to the vegetable during drying, juice may leak out and the whole process will be done down the drain. You should also evaluate the pumpkin by touch. It should be far from soft, rather more hard.

There shouldn't be any on the vegetable. damage. Also, do not take a pumpkin that is too large to dry at home. Most likely, such drying will be doomed to failure.

The next step in preparing the pumpkin is your own, but at home. At home, you must carefully prepare the pumpkin for the drying process. For this, peel the pumpkin from visible dirt by carefully wiping it with a cloth. Now put the pumpkin under the shower and rinse on several sides with slightly warm water. Do not apply too much pressure as this may damage the skin of the vegetable.

After the pumpkin is washed, pat it thoroughly with a towel, removing any wet drops. Leave the pumpkin for an hour dark and dry room, and then blot again with a towel and dry for another hour. When you feel the top surface of the vegetable absolutely dry– you can proceed to the next stage.

How to dry a pumpkin for crafts? You can dry the pumpkin either whole or in parts. Depending on what purpose you are pursuing from drying decide on the view pumpkins. If you want to cut a vegetable, cut the pumpkin into arbitrary pieces, after removing the seeds.

Tools and devices

How to dry pumpkin? You can dry pumpkin using different means.

Depending on how you want to see the vegetable in the end, you can resort to different technical devices.

Many people dry pumpkin the old fashioned way. in the room, but few people know that it is big risk.

During this time, the pumpkin may become moldy or begin to deteriorate. Therefore, it is better to leave the natural drying process and use new technologies.

Drying can be done either in the oven, in a convection oven, in an electric dryer or in a microwave oven. There are a lot of options - the main thing is clear compliance with the rules drying and then the desired result will not take long to arrive.

At what temperature should you dry pumpkin? Drying pumpkin can be done with different temperatures depending on the technology used in this process. So, pumpkin drying can occur at a temperature of 80 degrees in the oven.

The pumpkin should be in the center of the oven. You need rotate periodically vegetable clockwise.

IN convection oven the temperature of the effect on the pumpkin will be already 70 degrees. Drying in electric dryer implies a temperature of as much as 80 degrees. Microwave oven contains a small percentage of pumpkin, but it is dried in 600 Watt mode.

The drying process in any of the above devices implies that during the process the pumpkin must be turned from side to side to prevent burning pumpkin on one of the sides.

How to determine readiness?

The readiness of the pumpkin can be determined by its appearance as well as its taste. If you want to rely on appearance, then first of all the vegetable must have brownish tint, both peel and pulp. The pumpkin's crust should be tough, and the flesh should not be sticky or wet, but dried.

If you taste dried pumpkin, it should knit your mouth a little but don't be raw. This is the basic rule for checking the readiness of this vegetable.

Storage

We have already talked about this and for consumption in our articles.

Firstly, do not leave the pumpkin in a damp and humid room and, if possible, reduce contact with moisture to zero.

The pumpkin must be kept in a place where the temperature does not exceed 30 degrees and does not fall below ten.

How to store pumpkin crafts? It is necessary to cover them on top with some kind of coated in order to prevent spoilage of the vegetable.

For example, it may be colorless furniture varnish or nail polish. In any case, careful protection of the vegetable from all kinds of cracking and moisture is necessary.

How to store decorative pumpkin? It is necessary to store pumpkin in a dark and dry place. You cannot keep dried vegetables outside in both cold and warm seasons. Also, do not forget that such vegetables react very sensitively to temperature changes, so don't let this happen.

Excess moisture promotes the formation mold or rot. The problem of pumpkin spoilage is also common. rodents or insects. Take a closer look at this phenomenon.

Instructions

Dried pumpkin: how to use? If you want to dry a pumpkin that you will use as a craft, you need to do your research carefully. How to properly dry a pumpkin for crafts?

Firstly, process the vegetable exactly as we wrote in the first paragraph. Then try to rinse the pumpkin under warm water, getting rid of any surface changes. Do not injure the pumpkin or cut anything off it.

After drying the pumpkin with a towel, leave it in well ventilated place for a day. These actions are the beginning of the drying process itself.

The pumpkin should be loaded into the oven itself at the moment when the cabinet hasn't warmed up yet. The tray with the pumpkin must be dry. Remember that the pieces must be stirred constantly. If we are talking about a whole pumpkin, then turn it over.

Entirely

How to dry a whole decorative pumpkin for crafts?

You can only use a whole pumpkin two ways- using various devices for this or the usual way of waiting.

Let's talk about the first method. Pumpkin has been dried in the oven for a very long time, but drying the whole pumpkin is difficult. very difficult task.

In order for the fruit to dry well and reach its condition, choose not too big copies. Also, do not forget that such a pumpkin should be prepared in advance.

Now let's do the oven. Preheat the oven to a temperature of approximately sixty degrees. Place special baking paper on a baking sheet and place the pumpkin. Turn the pumpkin over periodically, allowing each side to dry. Drying may occur from two to eight hours depending on the size of the vegetable.

If your oven is not designed to accommodate such a large fruit, you can do it differently. After preparing the pumpkin, leave it in dry and dark place. Check your pumpkin periodically to spot signs. rotting.

This is usually caused by high humidity or insects. As a rule, pumpkin is dried at home without exposure to heat. about three months.

For Halloween

You should also remember that to make a holiday pumpkin you need to select decorative pumpkin varieties, but not hard, because otherwise you will not be able to cut anything from such a fruit.

How to dry a pumpkin for Halloween? Halloween pumpkins should not be dried out too much. The pulp should remain inside slightly damp. Therefore, it is recommended to prepare the vegetable not just three, but two or one and a half months in advance.

Bottle shop

How to dry bottle gourd? Bottle gourd is much smaller than ordinary and decorative, and therefore dries much faster. To dry such a pumpkin, you need to place it in the oven for a couple of hours at a temperature 40 degrees or leave it on a couple of months in a dry, dark room.

Quick ways

How to quickly dry a pumpkin for crafts? If you want to quickly dry the pumpkin, use a regular home hair dryer.

If your vegetable is small, that’s enough for you. a couple of hours to dry its crust with warm air.

Remember that you need to tinker with such a pumpkin more careful. From sudden overheating, the crust may well crack.

Drying pumpkins isn't that difficult, so don't be afraid to do it. at home. Are you sure that the methods we have listed will be useful to you in the future for creating incredible crafts and things.

To preserve the beneficial properties of pumpkin for a long time, make a preparation from it - dried powder. A step-by-step recipe with photos will help you clearly see the technological process. Video recipe.
Recipe contents:

Dried pumpkin is not only tasty, but also healthy. Many recipes are prepared from it, but today we will focus on winter preparations. Of all their types, the entire vitamin and mineral composition is preserved to the maximum during drying. Moreover, you can prepare an orange vegetable in this way at home in an oven or a special electric dryer. Then in winter, dried pumpkin pieces can be consumed as a sweet treat. Well, for those housewives whose households don’t eat pumpkin in any form at all, you need to make a powder from dried slices. Then it can be added to all kinds of dishes, marinades and sauces. For example, dried and ground pumpkin powder is added to baked goods to improve the taste and appearance. It is also added to soups and salads, meat casseroles, stews and other dishes. Some tips below will help you prepare the preparation correctly.

• All varieties of pumpkin are suitable for drying, but it is better to take autumn ones with thick skin, because... they dry faster.
• The orange fruit must be whole, ripe, without stains or spoilage.
• You can cut the peeled fruit from pulp, peel and seeds in different ways: into thin slices like chips, 5 mm thick strips for soups and salads, as well as small cubes.
• To prepare pumpkin flour, the cutting method is not important.
• Before drying, you can blanch the pumpkin slices (keep them in boiling water for 2 minutes). Then the dried pumpkin will retain its bright color as much as possible.
• You can also treat pumpkin pieces with saline solution before drying. This workpiece is protected from pests and damage.

• Calorie content per 100 g - 41 kcal.
• Number of servings - 5 kg of fresh pumpkin yields 350 g of dried powder
• Cooking time - 15 minutes of prep work, plus drying and chopping time

Ingredients:

• Pumpkin - any quantity

Step-by-step preparation of dried pumpkin powder, recipe with photo:

from the “sunny berry” - pumpkin, yes, yes, exactly berries, many botanists think so.
For many years now they have been studying this plant, which is truly unique because it contains such a huge complex of vitamins and minerals like no other. And pumpkin is rightfully considered a champion in terms of its content of nutrients.
Moreover, everything useful is very easily absorbed by the human body, both adults and children.

Moreover, pumpkin is perfectly stored for a long time, retaining its beneficial properties, but many do not even know that it can be used to make wonderful preparations for the winter. A product that is quite affordable and from which you can prepare healthy

If you are a big fan of pumpkin, then take a closer look at these recipes, maybe for a change, you will also want to cook them.

Dried pumpkin

This method of preparation perfectly preserves the taste of pumpkin; eat it instead of regular dried fruits, realizing that it is very healthy.
Typically, such a pumpkin does not sit around for a long time and is eaten quickly. If you have children in the house, try preparing pumpkin so that they eat less candy and chips, but rather dried sweet pumpkin. I know that children really like it.

Dried pumpkin recipe. Peel the ripened pumpkin from the skin and seeds, cut into small pieces, cubes, slices, approximately 0.5 cm thick.
Cover a baking tray with baking paper, preheat the oven to 50 - 60 degrees, lay out the pumpkin pieces and place in the oven. Dry at this temperature for 6 – 7 hours. Then increase the temperature to 80 degrees and dry for another 2 hours (you can open the oven slightly).
Tip, if the pumpkin is not sweet enough for your taste, you can prepare a sweet syrup and dip (blanch) the pumpkin for 1 - 2 minutes, then place it on a wire rack, drain and then dry (I recommend doing just that).
And, another little tip, to preserve the bright color of the pumpkin, you need to blanch it in slightly salted water for 1 - 2 minutes, then lightly dry it on a towel and then dry it.

Now there are drying cabinets on sale, in which it is very convenient to dry any fruits and vegetables, dry herbs, I use exactly this one, it is very convenient!

Dried pumpkin should be stored in cardboard boxes or cotton bags.

Candied pumpkin.

If you want delicious candied fruits, then buy a sweet variety of pumpkin that has a bright color and smooth flesh.

Peel the pumpkin and remove the seeds, and cut the pulp into small cubes. First, try cooking with 1 kg of pumpkin, you will need 1 more lemon, 500 g - 600 g of sugar, powdered sugar, vanilla or cinnamon as desired.
Cut the lemon in half and then cut into thin slices.

Place the chopped pumpkin in a saucepan in layers: pumpkin pieces, then lemon slices, sugar. You will get several layers.

Place the pan in a cool place for 12 hours, during which time the juice will appear.
Then, place the pan over medium heat, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 5-6 minutes. Leave to cool for 3 – 4 hours. Then bring to a boil again and cook. If, after repeated cooking, the pumpkin does not become transparent, that is, it is not saturated with syrup, after cooling, boil it again.
After cooling again, drain the syrup.
Line a baking tray with baking paper and place the pumpkin in one row.
Preheat the oven to 120 degrees.
Place the baking sheet in the oven, open the door slightly and dry for 3.5 - 4 hours, checking the pumpkin for doneness from time to time.

Of course, hot candied fruits are soft, but after cooling, they will be harder.

Place the slightly cooled candied fruits on a large flat plate, sprinkle with powdered sugar and let cool completely.
It is better to store candied fruits in a tightly sealed glass container.

Pumpkin jam

And, of course, pumpkin jam is very tasty! It is believed that this is the most common way of preparing pumpkin, and various berries and fruits are also added to it, for example, rowan, apple, orange. When preparing pumpkin jam with the addition of various fruits, they try to maintain the proportion - per 1 kg of pumpkin - 200 - 250 g. Sugar is usually put per 1 kg of pumpkin - 900 - 1000 g + 1.5 glasses of water.
The pumpkin pulp is cut into small pieces, then immersed in boiling water for 4 minutes, then chopped fruits, apples or pears, etc. are added. (at your request).
The syrup is prepared from the above calculation and the prepared fruit is poured over it and left overnight.
Then it is cooked in two stages for half an hour, with an interval of 2 - 3 hours. Bring to a boil for the third time, add vanilla or cinnamon, maybe orange zest, pour into jars and screw.

Pumpkin and orange jam

To prepare it you need:

• pumpkin - 1 kg
• water - 1.5 cups
• oranges - 3 pcs
• walnuts - 1 cup
• sugar - 1kg

Preparation

Squeeze the juice from the oranges and grate the zest. Boil sugar syrup, dip pumpkin pieces into it and cook until half cooked. Add orange juice, zest, nuts and cook until the jam thickens. Place while hot into prepared jars and close.

Recipe for jam with pumpkin and physalis. It is cooked in the same way, only for 1 kg of pumpkin you take 0.5 kg of physalis, 1.5 kg of sugar and 1-2 cloves.

Here's another original recipe: Pumpkin and rowan jam
Ingredients:

• Pumpkin - 1 kg
• ripe rowan - 100-200 g
• sugar - 0.5-1 kg
• water -1/2 cup
• citric acid - 1 tsp.
• ginger or cinnamon, whichever you prefer - 0.5 tsp

Preparation

Place peeled and diced pumpkin in sugar syrup and bring to a boil. Cook for half an hour, then add rowan and cook for another 15 minutes. Pour into jars, close and wrap.

Pumpkin marmalade is cooked in the same way as jam, the only difference being that all the ingredients are crushed into puree.

And finally, two very interesting, unusual recipes that I only recently learned about.

Dietary supplement- pumpkin powder! This is actually something. Unusual recipe. What is this powder for? To add to food - to heal and strengthen the body. It is believed that the powder lowers cholesterol levels, improves intestinal function (fiber in its pure form), improves the condition of chronic kidney diseases - and this is only a small part of the beneficial properties. In general, a recipe for those who are especially concerned about their health.

Recipe for making pumpkin powder: wash the pumpkin, remove the skin; cut into pieces and remove seeds; cook for 10-20 minutes; grind through a fine sieve; dry at +135°C for just a few minutes. In general, this product is manufactured industrially and can be purchased. After drying, a yellowish powder with a pleasant sweetish taste is obtained. If you dilute it in water, it will be regular pumpkin puree.

And one more very simple recipe, pumpkin flour, which is obtained by grinding not only pumpkin seeds into flour, but also the shell-peel. At first this seemed very “indecent” to me, but then I realized that this is exactly what is correct, because the thin, swamp-colored layer that lines the shell and surrounds the grain itself has healing properties. Now I dry the seeds, and then grind them into flour in a coffee grinder and add them to porridges and salads. I simply store it in a glass jar under a glass lid.

Choose the recipe you like and be sure to include it in your diet.
Attention! But people with stomach and intestinal problems, or those with diabetes, need to be careful about pumpkin dishes.

First you need to prepare the pumpkin. If you have it large, then cut it into several pieces. You can take several small ones. Wash the pumpkin, dry and place on a baking sheet. Send it to bake for an hour in the oven at 180 degrees.

When the pumpkin has cooled, remove the skin and seeds. Then cut into slices about two centimeters thick. Place the slices on a dry baking sheet and sprinkle sugar on top. Place the baking sheet in the oven and leave the pumpkin overnight without turning on the heat.

Now place the slices in one deep container that can be heated in the oven. Fill them with syrup from a glass of water and two hundred grams of sugar. Stir until all the slices are soaked in the syrup. Place the pan in the oven for 10 minutes at 100 degrees. After this, drain all the syrup and dry the pumpkin in the oven at 100 degrees so that it dries a little after soaking in the syrup.

Then you need to sprinkle cinnamon on the slices and keep them in the oven for another 6 hours at minimum temperature (50-80 degrees). This is a long process, but this is the only way to dry a pumpkin in the oven. When you remove the slices from the oven, they need to be laid out on a flat surface so that they do not touch each other. Leave the slices in this state for 3 days so that they reach the correct condition. To speed up the process, the slices can be cut into smaller pieces.

Pumpkin is an excellent vegetable with a large supply of nutrients. It can be frozen, dried, pureed, and properly prepared seeds of this plant will be an excellent treat for gourmets. But increasingly, pumpkins are also used to make decorative elements.

Pumpkin decor ideas:

Choosing the right one

This vegetable is usually used to make decorations for Halloween and also to make dishes. It is believed that the water in it does not spoil for a long time, has a special taste and helps with diabetes.

But not all pumpkins are suitable for this; it is worth choosing a plant of two varieties for crafts - “Cukurbita”, “Legenaria”. And if the pumpkin of the first type is small in size, with a bright color, which then fades, then the vegetable of the second variety has a thick green peel. True, over time it will turn golden.

ADVICE: the fruit must be intact, without damage or rot.

To obtain high-quality material for crafts, you must follow certain harvesting rules:

• The stalk of the plant should dry well and turn brown;
• It is necessary to remove the fruits, leaving 7 cm of the stalk;
• You can't pick pumpkins after frost.

Preparing the vegetable

The pumpkin preparation process itself will consist of the following stages:

• Carefully remove visible dirt from the surface of the plant;
• Rinse the pumpkin in a shower of warm water;
• Wipe off surface moisture with paper towels;
• Leave in a dark, dry place for an hour, blot again with a towel and dry completely;
• Dry the pumpkin.

They do this depending on the type of future craft. If it involves cutting, cut into pieces and do not forget to remove the seeds.

Drying pumpkin and how to clean the inside of the pumpkin:

Tools and devices

There are several ways to dry pumpkin:

• In the oven at 80 degrees, placing the vegetable in the center and periodically turning it clockwise;
• In a convection oven at 70 degrees;
• Electric dryer - 80°;
• Microwave - 600 W.

There is no need to dry the pumpkin naturally, as it may spoil.

How to determine readiness?

In appearance, the finished pumpkin will be brown, both inside and out. The rind is hard to the touch, and the flesh is not viscous, soft or moist.

The inside should taste mouth-watering, but not soggy.

6 pumpkin decor ideas:

Storage

It is better to apply furniture varnish to the finished product, but nail polish is also suitable.

How to dry pumpkin for crafts?

To make the craft work, the plant must be prepared in the manner described above.

If the pumpkin is dried in the oven, then the latter must be preheated. The fruit itself needs to be turned over or the pieces mixed.

IMPORTANT: pumpkin is very responsive to temperature changes.

Entirely

For this method, choose a small-sized vegetable. Then preheat the oven, lay parchment on a baking sheet and place the pumpkin. This way it will dry from 2 to 8 hours.

If you have a dry and dark room, without insects, you can prepare the vegetable naturally. To do this, the fruit is hung and periodically checked for rot. The plant will be ready in 3 months.

Decorative crafts:

For Halloween

For this holiday, the pumpkin is dried for 1.5 - 2 months so that the flesh remains moist. This will allow the fruit to be cut out. You also need to choose a decorative, but not a hard vegetable.

Video of work:

Bottle shop

This pumpkin is even smaller than a decorative one, so it dries even faster. It is better to do this in the oven at +40 degrees for 2 hours.

Video example:

Quick ways

If you need to dry a small pumpkin quickly, then a regular hairdryer will do. But this must be done carefully so that the peel does not crack.

Drying a pumpkin at home is not difficult, and crafts made from it will delight their owners for a long time.

How to make a pumpkin minion for Halloween: