Do you know what drying is?

What is drying? Drying is the process of dehydration of a substance under the influence of temperature, or due to a natural loss of moisture. It is one of the main ways of preserving food. When removing moisture, first, a favorable environment for the development of microorganisms is eliminated, and, secondly, an increase in the concentration of dry substances in the product makes it impossible for them to be digested by single-celled microorganisms. Simply put, dried food will not rot.

Any decent housewife with this process came across and knows well what drying is. This is an old, long known to mankind way of conservation. Moreover - the most simple and affordable. Supplying armies, sailors of the distant sea, providing vitamin reserves for the winter, all this and much more would be unthinkable without long-stored products. Also, in conditions of winter and spring vitamin deficiency, they become simply irreplaceable in the prevention of respiratory diseases.

There are two types of action. Drying is natural, outdoors under the influence of the sun and forced - in the oven-dryer. The first method is long, but sparing, allows you to save more vitamins and trace elements, the second is faster, but the quality of the output somewhat suffers.

What is forced drying? There are many different ways to ensure fast and high-quality processing of the product. So, for example, the convection oven, which can "pretend" and a conventional oven, distributes the products with a stream of warm air and carries away the evaporating water. The ultraviolet and microwave ovens will act directly on the moisture in the food, and heat it over the entire volume evenly. Sublimation drying will dry the frozen product without having to heat it.

What can I dry? In fact, everything, even milk. In the home in such a way can preserve a variety of vegetables and fruits, mushrooms and berries, fish and meat. Drying fruits and berries does not require pretreatment. The concentration of sugar in such products increases, so they can be used as sweets. It should be noted that the mushrooms contain a lot of water, so they lose weight significantly. Therefore, before use, they are soaked and they return their excellent taste qualities.

Drying fish and meat requires pre-aging them in salt or saline. The fact is that these two products are most susceptible to microorganisms and require more careful treatment. Dried foods are stored in a dark and dry place, since ultraviolet destroys vitamins and trace elements, and increased humidity will necessarily lead to the appearance of mold fungi on the surface.

Before drying the product, you need to clearly understand what drying is. This process is irreversible. Do not throw food into the water to return to its original state. They will not return. In the process of conservation, there is a change in the biochemical composition of food and its taste, the loss of part of the vitamin composition. The ability of the dried products to partially restore their volume is one of the main quality indicators.