How to dry pumpkin seeds by all the rules?

At first glance, drying vegetables, fruits, nuts or seeds at home is difficult and troublesome. In fact, it is enough to observe a few simple rules, and you can both dry the pumpkin seeds yourself, and store them for a long time. Treat yourself and the family with a delicious product!

Culinary and consumer information

Pumpkin seeds are delicious and healthy. They are used as raw materials for obtaining pumpkin oil, in "beauty recipes", in cooking - in salads, pastries, vegetarian dishes.

Pumpkin seeds are rich in minerals, microelements, natural protein compounds, natural carbohydrates. Of particular value is the high content of tocopherol - vitamin E. This group of substances positively affects the human reproductive system. Maybe that's why the Ukrainian girls, having decided to refuse the potential groom, gave matchmakers the pumpkin during the matchmaking? As they say, looked at the root!

Important!

Pumpkin seeds are high in calories. In 100 grams of dry product contains about 550 kcal. If you complement the delicacy with salt, butter and spices, then - beware, figure!

You can not use a pumpkin in the following cases:

• individual intolerance;
• some diseases of the stomach and intestines, liver;

Pregnancy and lactation, children's age are not contraindications.

In its raw form, pumpkin seeds are not used, as they are difficult to clean. Although the maximum of useful substances is contained in the raw product! In addition, they contain a large amount of moisture, quickly deteriorate, moldy. Therefore, before storing for storage or for use in culinary purposes, the seeds should be dried.

Dry pumpkin seeds: how not to spoil the product?

For the preparation of seeds suitable for any kind of pumpkin - both food culinary, and fodder and wild varieties of this culture. Bought, raised, cut, flesh used, seeds harvested. There will be no trouble with the preparation - the desired useful product is in the seed chamber, and not scattered throughout the pulp, as in the watermelon.

There are several drying methods.

Natural way at home

This method is suitable for all pumpkin lovers. The main thing - free areas and warm sunny weather.

• Seeds cleanse the remains of pulp.
• Rinse with clean water.
• Seed the seeds in 1 layer on a horizontal surface covered with baking paper. This can be a baking tray, any metal sheet. It is better not to use wooden surfaces of the house as a substrate, as the seeds are rich in moisture, and the tree will draw moisture and deform.
• Forget for a few days. But watch out for the weather, as the drying process does not occur under the rain.
• The criterion for properly dried seeds is the fragility of the shell.

Drying in the oven or fruit dryer at home

The sequence of operations is slightly different.

• Wash the pumpkin seeds.
• Read the instructions for the electric dryer. It describes the regimes and optimal temperatures for drying vegetables, fruits, seeds.
• Put the raw material into pallets in 1 layer, set the correct mode and forget about the seeds for a while.
• For the oven, the drying temperature is not more than 100 degrees. Time is determined by experience, but the whole process will take several hours. The shell must be dry and brittle.

Fast drying in oven

This method is suitable for those pumpkin lovers who can not wait even a few hours. It is important not to leave the oven, as drying takes place at high temperatures and there is a risk of getting a burned product.

Methods of working with seeds:

• prepare the raw materials - remove the pulp, rinse with water;
• oven temperature - 180 degrees;
• spread the seeds on a baking tray into 1 layer;
• , place in the oven for 20 minutes;
• gently try the seed - the shell must be dry and fragile;
• , transfer the finished product to a cold baking tray, as the seeds quickly cool and do not burn.

In microwave oven

This is more frying than drying. Therefore, prepare a small portion for 1 time. The sequence of operations is similar to the previous recipes. The drying time in the microwave is 2 minutes at full power.

Storage of Dried Pumpkin Seeds

Store at home only completely and properly dried seeds. Fried - not stored, but immediately used for food, because they are easily damp.

The basic storage rules should be observed.

1. Dry place - it can be a cotton bag in a suspended state in a ventilated room.
2. Glass or ceramic container with a tight-fitting lid. The main thing is not to let the moisture penetrate.
3. Cardboard box in a dry place.
4. Peeled pumpkin seeds are not stored for a long time. They are in contact with the air, the pumpkin oil is oxidized and spoiled. So get the rule - cleaned and immediately used for the purpose!
5. If you buy ready-made seeds, and not pumpkin, be sure to smell the product. If you feel a sharp unpleasant oily smell, then give up buying. Seeds are hopelessly lost, and use them is dangerous to health.

Do not buy pumpkin seeds of factory production. Most often they are seasoned with salt, preservatives, taste enhancers and various E and almost the entire table of DI Mendeleyev. Prepare a delicious and healthy product at home. It's easy - just stick to the rules of drying and storage!

We advise you to read an article on how to dry biscuits in the oven