Drying persimmons at home

Persimmon dried in the fresh air

In Taiwan, many farmers grow and dry persimmons. This is a troublesome but profitable business. I propose to see how this happens on an almost industrial scale.

For drying, you need persimmon that is not yet ripe, when it just begins to change its color from green to yellowish.

The fruits are immediately picked and they go to a special machine, where the persimmon instantly loses its peel.

Next, they arrive on special mesh trays, where the persimmon fruits are dried in the open air for several weeks.

These are entire multi-story racks that are equipped with wheels to make it easier to roll them up overnight into a room where stable humidity and a temperature of at least 30 degrees are maintained.

During the day, workers swap trays several times so that each fruit gets its share of the sun.

This is how persimmons are dried on an industrial scale, and small traders simply tie persimmons on ropes by their tails and hang them on fences, or in their shops, where the persimmons dry and await their buyers.

Maybe persimmons dried in this way are tasty, but they don’t look very appetizing, so let’s dry the persimmons the old fashioned way, using an electric dryer.

Drying persimmons in an electric dryer

It is recommended to take unripe fruits with dense pulp for drying. The peel can be peeled or left as is.

In order for persimmons to retain their bright orange color after drying, you need to squeeze out lemon juice and thoroughly soak the persimmon rings in the juice.

Place the persimmons on the tray of the electric dryer, turn on the temperature to about 60 degrees. On average, persimmons take about 8 hours to dry; depending on the size of the pieces, this time can be reduced or increased.

How to dry persimmons in an electric dryer, watch the video:

Persimmon chips in the oven

Peel the persimmon, remove the stem and cut into thin slices. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper, lay out the persimmons, sprinkle with lemon juice, and sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon.

Preheat the oven to 170 degrees and bake the chips for 5 minutes. Then open the oven door, reduce the temperature, and dry for at least another 2 hours.