Drying fruit and vegetables

Sliced green beans/wax beans are cut diagonally into 2 cm pieces, blanched and dried at 80–90 °C for 2–2½ hours.

Green peas sorted by size, blanched in 5 l water with 30 g sugar and 15 g salt, and dried at 50–60 °C for 3–4 hours.

Drying cabbage from Erken 1914: cabbage cut in strips, blanched and dried at 80–90 °C falling to 60 °C for 4–6 hours; stored dry in linen bags or tins.

Caraway greens are dried like parsley: ½ minute in boiling salted water, cooling and drying at 80 °C falling to 60 °C for about 4 hours.

Parsley is dipped ½ minute in boiling salted water, cooled in cold water and dried at 80 °C falling to 60 °C for about 4 hours.

Drying root vegetables from Erken 1914: carrots, parsnip and celeriac cut in strips, blanched 5–8 minutes and dried at 80–90 °C falling to 60 °C.

Sugar-free fruit puree from Erken 1914: fruit cooked with a little water, pressed, bottled and sterilized. Used for soups, creams and cakes.

Dried cherries from Erken 1914: placed high in the drying oven, dried at 50 °C rising to 70 °C for 6–9 hours; flawless berries may be sun-dried first.

Dried pears: peeled, split pears with scraped stems are blanched in sugar water (250 g sugar per liter) and dried at 90–100 °C for 6–12 hours.

Dried plums: air-dried for a couple of days, laid on a rack stem-side up and dried at the top of the oven at 40–50 °C, rising to 70 °C toward the end.

Rhubarb is cleaned, cut into 3 cm pieces split into 4 to 8 parts depending on thickness, and dried at 60°C for about 6 hours.

Erken's method (1914) for dried apples: peeled, cored apple slices steamed 2 minutes in salted water and dried in a single layer at 90–100 °C.

Erken's method (1914) for keeping fresh berries in water: sound berries in bottles with cold water, corked and sealed, stored in a dry cellar.

Drying blueberries: 3 days of air or sun drying, then 4–6 hours on the top shelf of the drying oven.

Rosehips are dried whole or halved and cleaned, at 50 °C rising to 80 °C; alternatively they are blanched a couple of minutes and dried at 80–90 °C.

Black currants, red currants, and gooseberries are dried like blueberries: 3 days of air/sun drying and 4–6 hours on the top rack of the drying oven.

Erken's fruit cordial (1914) of black currants, raspberries, gooseberries and red currants: berries juiced, boiled 4–5 minutes with sugar, bottled.

Dried peas from Erken's Big Cookbook (1949): sorted peas blanched in sugar and salt water, cooled and dried at 60 C for 3-4 hours.

Dried potatoes from Erken's Big Cookbook (1949): washed potatoes peeled after a quick dip in boiling water, sliced, blanched and dried on racks.