should lose
from two-thirds to four-fifths of its weight.

STEPS IN FRUIT DRYING

1. Thoroughly cleanse the product.

2. Prepare the product by slicing and so on.

3. Spread on trays; put in oven or put on commercial drier.

4. Stir occasionally.

5. Shift trays.

6. Test for completeness of drying.

7. "Condition" for three or four days. Sweet fruits may contain more
moisture without spoiling than those of low sugar content.

8. Heat to 140 degrees Fahrenheit for thirty minutes, to kill all
insects.

9. Pack immediately in available receptacles.

10. Label and store.

FRUIT PASTES

Fruit pastes are delicious and can be dried.

1. Select, wash, prepare fruit.
2. Cook until soft; stir.
3. Add sugar to sweeten.
4. Continue cooking until very thick.
5. Spread out flat by spoonfuls on oiled paper.
6. Dry in slow oven; finish drying over kitchen range.
7. Turn from time to time like griddle cakes.

Nuts of all kinds can be dried in these cakes, which may be left whole
or cut in strips with scissors.

CANDIED FRUITS AND VEGETABLES

1. Select product of uniform size and ripeness.

2. Wash; prepare in usual way.

3. Cut fruit in halves, quarters or smaller sections; cut vegetables
in narrow strips two and a half inches long.

4. Drop in a sirup cooked until it spins a thread. To prepare ginger
sirup, add a few roots of ginger to the sirup.

5. Cook until transparent.

6. Drain.

7. Dry in slow oven; Finish drying over kitchen range.

8. Roll in granulated sugar. (May be omitted for fruits.)

This method is recommended especially for candied apples, peaches,
pears and carrots.

In a properly constructed sun drier, all fruits will dry in from 3 to
12 hours, under normal summer conditions. Time depends on dryness of
atmosphere, sunshine and wind. Products dried in a sun drier, no
matter how crude, are superior to those dried in the open without
protection of some kind. Products dry more rapidly in high altitudes
than at sea level.

Racks in oven can be used. Plates or platters can be used in oven. A
stove drier hung over the stove can be used. A water-bath or other
commercial drier can be used with the stove.

TIME-TABLE FOR DRYING FRUITS

[A] ARTIFICIAL HEAT TIME IN HOURS TEMPERATURE 110 deg. TO 130 deg. F.

[B] FAN--NO HEAT APPROXIMATE TIME IN HOURS

PRODUCT | PREPARATION | [A] | [B]
|