Dried Apple Rings, and Homemade Pectin Stock

I visited the fantastic Girton College Orchard here in Cambridge and picked a load of early apples- Discovery and Tydeman's Early Worcester- that were finishing. 


Dried Apple Rings 


I wanted to preserve the lovely flavour of these early apples, and the lovely blush colour, so decided on drying as the perfect way to make my harvest last longer! After fresh, dried is my favourite way to eat apples.


I don't have a dehydrator, but use the retained heat in my normal gas-fired cooker to dry out my apples. 


What you'll need:


Unwaxed lemon/lemon juice/large bowl of water
Small, sharp paring knife
(Corer-useful but not essential)
Oil- sunflower or vegetable
Cooling racks/grill racks/wooden chop sticks

Early Worcesters 

How to:


1. Give all apples a good wash- you could even have a little go at apple bobbing when they're floating in the sink. I never got the hang of that!


2. Remove core- with corer or small paring knife. Then finely slice apples across so you have thin rings, max. 5mm in width. I leave the skin on as this is where most of the nutrients are. Do remove any bruised or bad bits of your apples at this stage.


3. As you are chopping up apple, prevent browning of the fruit by either wiping cut surface with lemon juice, or submerging freshly cut rings in a large bowl of water. I prefer the lemon method, reasons will become clear below!

Apple rings hanging from chopsticks ready to go in the oven

4. Depending on how much space you have in your oven, either lay out your apple rings onto oiled cooling racks/grilling racks or thread onto oiled wooden chopsticks which can then be laid across oven shelves so the apple rings are hanging. You will probably find your own ingenious way to do this with whatever equipment you have to hand- let me know and do post a picture! The key is to have a good circulation of air around the apple rings- which is why cooling racks will work better than solid baking trays.

My latest batch- ready for storage

5.  Apple rings will take on average 15 hours at a heat equivalent to gas mark 1 (135°C, 275°F). However to save energy, I place my rings in the top oven when I'm using the bottom oven, which gets hot passively and works like a treat. Or, if I've just finished baking and turned off the oven, I'll pop the rings into the still warm oven to put that retained heat to use. Do experiment, but remember that drying for a longer time on a lower heat preserves more nutrients and colour in your finished apple rings.


6. When to stop drying? Whenever your ideal state is reached- do you want them deliciously crispy to add to breakfast cereals, or more chewy for a snack on their own? The choice is yours! Just make sure that apples don't feel wet to the touch, as the more moisture left in the apple there's more chance moulds will develop. When totally cool, store your apple rings in airtight containers and you can enjoy them all Winter long, if they don't get scoffed too quickly.




Homemade Pectin Stock


Pectin is the magic ingredient when it comes to jam and jelly making. It's the fantastic teeny tiny molecule that gels plant cells together. We harness pectin's jelly-like properties when we want to make set or semi-solid preserves. 


I find it really useful to keep in mind which fruits are the best and worst sources of pectin when jamming:


High

• Crabapples
• Apples
• Gooseberries, blackcurrants, cranberries, under-ripe blackberries, 
• Citrus fruits- peel and pips
• Quince
• Under-ripe bullace or damson plums, wild plums

Low

• Strawberries
• Cherries
• Raspberries, loganberries, tayberries
• Apricots
• Pears
• Medlars

In all cases, the riper any fruit is, the less pectin it contains.


When making jams with the lower pectin containing fruit, recipes call for addition of pectin- otherwise you'll get a runny jam that doesn't set. You can buy pectin powder from the shops, and ready-prepared jam sugars with pectin already added- but here's a sneaky way to get it for (almost) free.  


You know all those apple cores, and the unwaxed lemon skins you created when drying your apple rings? DON'T THROW THEM IN THE COMPOST!




How to:


1. Instead, chop up the lemon skin finely, and pop in a pan with a splash of water (enough to cover the base of the pan).


2. Cover pan and bring to a boil, simmering until lemon rinds are softening up. Then add the apple and continue to simmer until all added fruit is soft.

3. If you have a vegeatble mill (Moulinex sieve), simply pass the mixture through here and pips and rind will be separated easily. If not let the juices drip through a jelly bag or muslin cloth overnight.


4. Store in jars as you would jam, or you can freeze in ice cube trays- pectin loses potency after being frozen and thawed- but will still have some function.


5. Each batch will contain different amounts of pectin, and you can boil down further to help concentrate your preparation. For jam making, to be on the safe side, add the same volume of your pectin preparation to the volume of cooked down fruit you wish to make into jam.  I'll try and post up my experiments and get a more accurate figure for you. Experiment! Do let me know if you have a magic formula for adding homemade pectin.