How to dry ginger at home correctly with video

Ginger is a source of phytoncides, antioxidants, vitamins A, C, group B, microelements and amino acids. It is recommended to drink it with tea, it gives a boost of energy, increases the body's defenses, normalizes digestion and allows you to fight excess weight.

However, in its raw form, the product can be kept in the refrigerator for no more than 7 days, during which time it is unlikely that you will be able to use it entirely, especially if you purchased a lot. In this regard, methods for long-term storage of ginger are becoming relevant.

Which root is suitable for drying?

To prepare a product for future use, you need to carefully consider it before purchasing. A good one has no damage, stains, mold on the surface, a smooth, even surface with a thin golden-beige skin. The root itself is dry, dense and elastic to the touch. Fresh ginger root has yellowish-white flesh, almost without fibers. This is exactly what is suitable for drying.

An old, stale plant has a wrinkled, darker-colored peel, and the flesh is bright yellow with fibers.

In addition to fresh root, you can also purchase a ground product. In composition they are almost identical. But the latter is inferior to fresh in terms of taste and aroma characteristics.

Dried ginger: how to properly dry ginger at home

Fresh ginger root can be found in the store at any time of the year, but from time to time the price for it begins to “bite”, so a favorable offer awakens the desire to buy more of this root vegetable.
The problem arises when, literally, after a week or two, the purchased product, stored in the refrigerator, begins to deteriorate. What to do? There is a solution: you can dry the ginger! We’ll talk about how to do this correctly today in this article. Before we move on to drying, let's look at the types of ginger roots. It comes in black and white. The difference is not in the type of plant, but in the way it is processed after digging it out of the ground. Ginger is harvested when the green part of the plant turns yellow and the leaves begin to fall off.

The dug up root is washed in water and dried for some time in the sun. This ginger is called “black”. It has a burning taste and a bright rich aroma. At home, you can only make the “black” root.

To prepare “white” ginger, by the way, this is what can be found on the shelves of our stores, it is washed, doused with boiling water, and then soaked for several hours in a weak solution of hydrocyanic acid or bleach. Therefore, when purchasing ginger root in the store, do not forget to rinse it thoroughly before use.

About peeling and shelf life

Drying the root, making a powder out of it, or freezing it is a great way to preserve the beneficial properties of ginger for a long time.

Most of the beneficial substances are located under the peel, so whether or not to peel the root depends on its thickness. If it is thin and light, then washing it with the hard side of a foam sponge or a vegetable brush is sufficient. If in doubt, cut with a knife, peeler or scrape (you can also use a spoon for this). Cut off the lateral shoots.

Dried rhizome with skin, when kept in a cool place, out of light, retains its properties for about 2-4 months. It is not recommended to keep ginger in cellophane packaging; it may begin to rot and become moldy.

You should not use wooden utensils for cutting, as they will retain the aroma of the product for a long time.

Ginger root, what is it?

In order to obtain dried powder from store-bought ginger root, you must have an electric or conventional oven.
How to make dry ginger powder:

Wash the root well. You can dry the product either as a whole or in cut form. If you are inclined towards the latter, then peel the root in a thin layer so as not to cut off the beneficial esters contained in the peel and which give the fragrant aroma of the spice.
The product is laid out on a dry surface on the sunny side. This method is only suitable for warm countries or during summer. The root should be stirred several times a day and brought back indoors at night. But if climatic conditions do not allow you to achieve drying of the spice in this way, then you can use another method.
Place the product in the oven and leave it open. Turn on the heat, it should be low. An electric oven will also work. Turn the spice over from time to time.
Take out the dried root and grind it into powder. You should have a mixture that visually resembles flour in consistency.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ws5kHDQ11c

This root vegetable is very healthy and unusual in taste. Moreover, you can grow it with your own hands, and in order to preserve its beneficial properties, it would be advisable to dry it in order to use it later not only as an unusual food, but also as a medicine for traditional medicine. Ginger is endlessly beneficial and its properties can truly be healing.

This is one of those products that has been known since ancient times; it is mentioned in ancient treatises, Ayurveda, legends and myths. Agree, not every vegetable that we traditionally grow in our beds can surprise you with the fact that legends were made about it, and our ancestors passed them on from time immemorial.

Ginger root can be pickled for various dishes, but for medicinal purposes, the dried version is best suited. Yes, you can go and buy it at the store, why dry it? But if you are sick, for example, with a cold, sore throat, or have a loss of energy, then it is difficult to leave the house, and what we want is not always on sale. Especially in the provinces. And the price for ginger root varies in different seasons, the product is not everywhere and not always of high quality, then why not stock up. After all, our ancestors dried medicinal herbs, fruits of nature and were strong and healthy.

In fact, ginger can do everything, it seems. Scientists have used it more than once and often discovered more and more new properties. Ginger is a remedy that:

can relieve inflammatory processes;
normalize the activity of the gastrointestinal tract thanks to useful coarse fibers that cleanse our intestines, eliminating all toxins, wastes, carcinogens that lead to diseases;
serves as a prevention of oncology, which is provoked by the same harmful substances;
has bactericidal properties;
gives energy, strength;
helps with women's and men's diseases;
stimulates the immune system, helps the cardiovascular system;
improves health during a number of diseases.

So, we hope that now you understand why you need dried root vegetables, and we will also tell you how to dry ginger. But first, a few words about the types of vegetables.

This root vegetable can have two types - black and white, but the point is not in the variety or color of the root, but in the processing after preparation. To obtain tart, richer, dark-colored ginger, it is thoroughly washed and dried after digging. It contains maximum benefits, its taste is quite rich and spicy. The second type is white - this is the one that was dug up, washed, and then treated with a special chemical composition. It can be bleach or sulfurous acid, it can also be scalded. As a result, the root crop changes its taste and color.

This is the kind of ginger we buy in our stores. Therefore, you yourself understand that after purchasing you must wash such a root well and then clean it. Just don’t cut the skin like you would a potato, as this will remove the useful layer. The thickness should be only a millimeter. If you decide to grow the root vegetable on your site, you will get black ginger, which you can then dry and pickle. Let's now tell you how.

Ginger is a very useful spice. She found her place not only in medicine, but also in cooking. Ginger is added to compotes to give them a special taste. In some countries, excellent jam is made from ginger.

Pickled ginger is an indispensable component when serving sushi. Ginger is added to baked goods in its pure form or in combination with other aromatic spices. Ginger root can also be added to hot meat and fish dishes, or to brine for cucumbers or other vegetables.

Today, purchasing ginger is quite easy - it is sold in every supermarket. This ginger can be dried and used to prepare your favorite dishes. You can dry ginger in the oven, electric dryer, or in the sun. Well-dried ginger has a grayish-white tint at the break and is brittle. It can be stored in slices or ground in a coffee grinder. Store dried ginger in a dry, tightly sealed container.

Recipes with the ingredient fresh ginger

Natural drying

The method is the simplest, but time-consuming.

Wash the root, peel (if desired), and dry.
Cut into thin pieces.
Place them on a tray lined with cotton cloth, parchment paper or plain white paper.
Place it on a balcony or in a room with good ventilation, but so that the workpiece is not exposed to direct sunlight.
Stir occasionally to ensure even drying until the pieces become hard and brittle.

You can dry the whole root this way.

Please note that dried ginger must be soaked before use. The dosage of raw materials will be lower than when using a raw product, since it is sharper in dry form.

Drying methods

You can dry ginger at home in different ways naturally, in an electric dryer, in the microwave, in the oven. It all depends on the climate, temperature, precipitation, humidity. The more acceptable “healthy” way is the natural way. In order to properly dry ginger using solar heat, it must be thinly cut into rings. It is not recommended to stack it as it may cause rotting and mold. It is advisable to turn over and mix the pieces every day in the evening to avoid rot and remove suspicious ones. In case of cold nights, it is better to bring it indoors. This method is the least expensive, but requires close attention to the product.

In the oven

To dry ginger, you can use the oven:

Wash the root and dry it on a towel.
Cut into slices as thin as possible.
Place the pieces on a baking sheet so that they do not touch each other, first place parchment paper.
Set the oven to 50 degrees and wait until it warms up.
Place a baking sheet with chopped ginger in it for 1 hour. Leave the oven door slightly open.
Turn the circles over to the other side and wait the same amount.
Check the workpiece. Dry pieces cannot be bent; they break immediately. And if a gray tint is visible on the break, then we can assume that the ginger is ready; if not, continue drying.
Remove ginger from oven and cool to room temperature.
Place the finished raw materials in an airtight container and place in a dark, dry room.

Freezing

Unpeeled ginger, previously tightly packed, can be placed entirely in the freezer. At the same time, it will not lose its beneficial properties. When brewing tea, take it out, cut off a small piece and use immediately.

You can also freeze grated ginger. For this:

Grate the washed, peeled root on a fine grater or grind in a blender to a paste.
Transfer the resulting mass into a sealed bag and smooth it out. The surface should resemble thin tiles.
Place chopped ginger in the freezer.
Before cooking, take out the tile, break off a small piece, which you can use immediately.

This may come in handy: Ginger tea recipes.

How to properly dry ginger root

Drying food products involves preliminary preparation of raw materials. For purchase, choose only a hard root without obvious signs of damage. The root structure should be dense and the surface should not be heavily wrinkled.

You can dry the root using the following cutting methods:

thin plates;
small cubes;
using a coarse grater;
in a blender.

The latter method is used when it is necessary to obtain a dry mixture in powder form. The root vegetable is dried unpeeled, since when the skin is cut off, a large amount of useful substances is lost. To reduce tear production, it is recommended to work with the root under cool running water.

Natural warmth

The simplest method in which dried plates can be obtained with minimal time, and this does not require special equipment. Cooking requires an open area with direct sunlight.

Dryer

In an electric dryer, ginger is dried in such a way that there is a small gap between adjacent plates. The layer should not be too thick and uneven, otherwise it will not be possible to achieve uniform drying. To achieve the desired effect, the trays are periodically swapped. You can dry the ginger in this way for 6 to 9 hours; it is recommended to set the temperature to 60 C.

Oven

The ginger will be dry in the oven when kept for 2.5 hours at a temperature of 50 C. The sheet is first covered with baking paper, on top of which ginger slices are laid out in a thin layer. After this time, the temperature is brought to 70 C and maintained until completely ready. If your oven has a convection function, it is recommended to turn it on. The average time to obtain the finished dry product is 5 hours.

Air fryer

Microwave drying makes it possible to get quick results, since the process takes on average from 1.5 to 3 hours. To do this, the equipment is set to a temperature of 70 C and maintained for the required time. The duration directly depends on the cutting method used; the smaller the size of the pieces, the faster you can get a dry product.

Attic spaces

This method is ideal for owners of private houses. How to properly dry ginger:

wash thoroughly, remove damaged areas, dry;
cut into thin slices;
spread on a flat surface in a thin layer;
Turn over periodically to prevent mold from forming.

It is important that there is natural air circulation in the attic and that there is no increased humidity; the temperature should not be low. If these requirements are not met, the desired effect will not be achieved, and the ginger will begin to become moldy.