![\"driedapplespj\"](\"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/driedapplespj.jpg\")
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I have always loved dried apples for their tanginess and chewy texture and even though I eat them regularly, I have never bought them in my whole life. My mum used to dry apples which were too wilted to be eaten or very acid, tart varieties offered by friends or family, who had trees going wild. Some fruits were even too bad to be baked, but drying worked like a magic wand, transforming them into flavoursome, healthy snacks. I have been doing the same for many years, but it is really nothing to boast about: dried apples are the easiest home-made snacks I know. Especially if, like me, you can dry them on… radiators.<\/p>\n
My mum dried apples in three different ways: in the oven, over the stove and on radiators, the last method being the most frequent (and my absolute favourite). In fact, even though they are not often considered as such, radiators are excellent drying appliances in heating season: easy to use, absolutely free and not requiring our presence or much attention. Of course this will not work if you have floor heating or if your radiators have a drying-unfriendly shape (although you can always play with threads… see below). I have always been lucky to have drying-friendly radiators in every flat I lived in.<\/p>\n
Drying in the oven is not more difficult, but it consumes energy and requires your presence at home (unless you are one of those people who trust electric appliances and leave ovens, dish washers and washing machines on when they go out; I have lost my faith in machines after a serious accident with a relatively new washing machine). Drying over the stove is probably the oldest fruit-drying method. It is also cost-free (unless you rarely cook), but requires preferably a gas stove and a bit more work beforehand because apple pieces have to be thread on strings or threads and placed above the stove.<\/p>\n
Dried apples are very handy in a mixture of snacks served with drinks. They might be a nice healthy, slightly tangy accent among the nuts, crisps, chips or whatever you plan to serve with drinks during the approaching end-of-year parties. Obviously, do not mention that these snacks were a way of saving dying fruits from the bin and even less that you have dried them on a radiator!<\/p>\n
TIPS: Whatever method you choose, keep tasting apples every several hours. This way you will choose the texture and dryness level you prefer.<\/p>\n
If you mix several different varieties, dry them separately and put in labelled different jars. My favourite are acid varieties but many people prefer the sweeter, floury ones.<\/p>\n
Preparation: several hours – several days<\/em><\/p>\n Ingredients (the final yield depends on the apple variety and on the dryness level):<\/em><\/p>\n apples (can be very wilted)<\/em><\/p>\n Peel the apples, core them and cut into thin slices (they should be 1\/2 cm\/ 1\/5 inch thick; otherwise you will obtain crisps (or chips)).<\/p>\n You can cut the whole apples (this will produce slices with a hole inside) or if you don’t have the apple corer, cut the apples in quarters, core them and then slice each quarter.<\/p>\n ———DRYING ON A RADIATOR:<\/p>\n Cut a piece of baking paper similar in size and shape to the surface of your radiator.<\/p>\n Place the apple pieces, making sure they do not touch each other.<\/p>\n If your radiators are very thin or have another form which doesn’t allow placing a flat piece of baking paper, you can use the STOVE-DRYING method (see below) and dry your apple pieces on threads hung on radiators.<\/p>\n Taste them every 4-5 hours to check the dryness and texture. I prefer my apples slightly soft.<\/p>\n Put the dried, cool apples in a jar with a lid. They will keep at least for a year (no need to refrigerate).<\/p>\n ———DRYING IN THE OVEN:<\/p>\n Preheat the oven to 50\u00b0C (122\u00b0F).<\/p>\n Place the apple pieces on baking paper, making sure they do not touch each other.<\/p>\n Taste them every 4-5 hours to check the dryness and texture. I prefer my apples slightly soft.<\/p>\n The drying process can be divided into several days.<\/p>\n Put the dried, cool apples in a jar with a lid. They will keep at least for a year (no need to refrigerate).<\/p>\n ———DRYING OVER THE STOVE (works best with gas stove):<\/p>\n If you have sliced whole apples and obtained doughnut-like slices with holes, put them on a thick thread and hang high above the stove.<\/p>\n If you have quarter slices (like the ones you see above), take a resistant but thin thread with a needle and, piercing every apple slice, put them on the thread. Hang the thread high above the stove.<\/p>\n The apple slices will dry while you cook, so of course this process should be divided into several days.<\/p>\n Taste them every 4-5 hours to check the dryness and texture. I prefer my apples slightly soft.<\/p>\n Put the dried, cool apples in a jar with a lid. They will keep at least for a year (no need to refrigerate).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I have always loved dried apples for their tanginess and chewy texture and even though I eat them regularly, I have never bought them in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[23,50,85,22,205,18],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12056"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12056"}],"version-history":[{"count":36,"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12056\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12741,"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12056\/revisions\/12741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12056"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12056"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.withaglass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12056"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}