4 best ways to properly dry onions at home for the winter

Bulbs of different varieties are grown in many household plots. Getting a good harvest is half the battle. The main thing is to keep it. Any summer resident needs to know how to dry fresh onions for the winter. After all, if you follow the instructions and recommendations of experienced gardeners, you can create a delicious spice. Homemade preparations are much better than store ones, since they retain the taste and bitterness of natural vegetables.

Why dry onions for the winter

There are many benefits to drying vegetables at home. Among them, gardeners distinguish:

1. When stored, dried onions do not require the same amount of hassle from the hostess as fresh ones.
2. Delicious dried onions can be added to any dish to add a delicious spicy flavor to your food.
3. The volume of turnips is reduced, which means that a smaller room will be required to store them.

Features of drying onions

Each type of onion has its own characteristics. These are important to consider when drying vegetables. If you do not follow the recommendations based on the variety, the hostess will violate the cooking technology and ruin the harvest.

Sevka

Sevok is most often planted for long-term storage of heads. To dry onions, you must follow the algorithm:

1. The ripe seed must be sorted out, removing the rumpled or rotten vegetables.
2. Selected vegetables must be laid out outside, in an area where there is a lot of sunlight.
3. If the weather does not allow drying the onions outside, you need to prepare the space in a well-ventilated area. Having spread out old papers or cardboard on the floor, you need to evenly distribute the sevok over them. Do not use newspapers or magazines to dry as paint and ink are poisonous.
4. Regular drying with stirring for a month will give excellent results.

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Onion

Drying onions takes half the time. Step-by-step instruction:

1. When the bulbs are finally ripe, you need to leave them for 2-3 days in the beds.
2. After collecting turnips, it is necessary to dry them for 2 weeks in a dark room with good ventilation and a temperature above 24 degrees Celsius.

Chernushki

If you properly dry the nigella, which is most often used for planting next year, you can get a bountiful harvest. This requires:

1. The next day, after collecting and cleaning from the ground, spread it on the floor in a room where the temperature is slightly higher than room temperature.
2. In the second week, drying is carried out in a room where the temperature reaches 27 ° C-28 ° C.
3. The third and last week is drying in a room where the temperature exceeds 35 ° C.

Green onions

To dry green onions, simply wash and cut the feathers, then spread them evenly over a flat surface.

For 4-6 days, the slices are constantly turned over to achieve results.

Selection and preparation of products

Before starting the drying process, it is recommended to get rid of:

• bulbs damaged during collection;
• rotten turnips;
• vegetables whose skin is unevenly peeled off;
• broken or locally squeezed bulbs;
• turnips infected or damaged by insects.

Before drying, you need to peel the bulbs and cut them into rings.

Ways to dry onions at home

Thanks to modern appliances, there are many options for how and where to dry onions. However, do not forget about the traditional, time-tested methods.

Outdoors

To dry the harvested crop outdoors, you need to be confident in the weather. If, according to forecasts, no rains are expected in the coming days, then the preparation process can be started on the backyard territory. For this, a level place with enough sunlight during the day is suitable.

In this area, it is necessary to level dry land or lay out pre-prepared straw mats.

Any surface that is not able to accumulate moisture is suitable for drying.

In an electric dryer

The electric dryer is the ideal unit for fast processing of vegetables. At the same time, the beneficial qualities of the onion will not be lost, and the taste will be no less rich and open. It will take 7.5-8 hours to dry the turnips. Set the device to a temperature of at least 60 degrees Celsius. Cut rings are laid out inside, and after cooking they are placed in cloth or paper bags.

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In the oven

This method is similar to an electric dryer. Onion rings are spread on a baking sheet, greased with a small amount of vegetable oil. 3 hours at 80 degrees is enough to dry the vegetables.

In the airfryer

The airfryer is a great way to quickly dry onion rings. It is enough to spread them evenly on the wire rack and turn over every 3 minutes. After 40 minutes, the pieces will be ready.

Signs of a well-dried onion

The correctness of drying is determined by the husk. If the skins of the bulbs gradually dry out and begin to rustle, then the right conditions for drying have been selected. If too much husk remains on the territory, it is recommended to lower the room temperature.

Terms and conditions of storage

Dried onions are ready when a light spicy smell emanates from them, and the layers of husks have come off and raised. This will happen after 2-4 weeks or within a day, depending on the method and conditions.

Possible problems

Each drying method has its drawbacks. To get a tasty product, you should beware of the following difficulties:

1. If it rains while drying the turnips, it is necessary to increase the onion preparation time by 4-5 days.
2. If pests are found that spoil the bulbs, you need to find the most affected vegetables, and process the rest. The drying time is doubled.

Drying onions for the winter is an activity that does not require a lot of time and special skills from the hostess. However, only with hard work and a desire to make a high-quality workpiece will it be possible to create a delicious spice that will retain its properties for a long time.