How to Dry Ginger

It should be noted that Ginger is of two kinds - white and black. It depends not on the grade, but on the way of processing. If the root is simply excavated, washed and dried, you will get a black ginger with a rich aroma and burning taste. To obtain white ginger, the root is heated with boiling water, washed, cleaned and soaked in a solution of sulfuric acid or bleach, and then dried. White ginger does not have such a sharp taste and smell.

For drying, both types of ginger are suitable. In shops usually sells white ginger. If you grow ginger yourself, it will be easier to get black ginger. By the way, having decided to dry ginger from your garden, remember that you need to collect the root of ginger when the leaves of the plant turn yellow and begin to fall off.

Before drying the ginger, rinse it thoroughly in water using a brush, and let it dry in the sun. Drying ginger can be as a whole, or cutting into slices. If you decide to dry ginger sliced, cutit should be tidy, because under the skin is concentrated most of the essential oil, which gives the ginger a characteristic aroma. If you do not want to mess with grinding ginger after drying, you can first grate it on a large grater, and then dry it.

Drying ginger can be in many ways: both naturally, in the sun, and in the oven. When drying ginger in the sun It is necessary to spread it in a thin layer on a drysurface under the hot sun, and at night put into a dry warm room. At least once a day (preferably in the middle of the day) ginger needs to be turned over so that it evenly dries. This method of drying ginger is considered optimal.

You can also to dry ginger in the air, but not under the sun. To do this, a thin layer of ginger in a well-ventilated room (you can in the attic). If you dry ginger in the open air, you need to cover it with a special canopy. Ginger must be regularly turned over.

If you want to speed up the drying process of ginger, you can dry it in the oven - gas or electric - at a temperature not higher than 70 degrees (or better - 50-60). If you have a gas oven without a thermometer, and the temperature is difficult to determine, just turn on the minimum fire.

Take a baking sheet, cover it with culinary parchment, and gently lay the ginger on top. Put the baking tray in the oven. The oven door must be left slightly ajarto let out moist air. Carefully follow the ginger in the drying process, so as not to overdry it. If you dry whole ginger, turn the roots from time to time so that there are no soft undried areas left in them.

You can also to dry ginger in a Russian oven, if you have it, of course. Please note that for drying ginger, the heat should not be too strong. There is a simple way to check the temperature in the oven: throw a piece of paper into the heated oven. If it is not charred, but the heat from the oven can still be felt, you can safely dry ginger. During the drying process, a pipe is sometimes opened, releasing moist air. The damper of the furnace is kept at the level of the second brick. Do not forget to make sure that the ginger is dried evenly, for this you need to turn it over from time to time.

How to determine, how well the ginger is dried? A well dried root should have a grayish-white hue on the fracture. And if you grind it into powder or grind it, it should resemble flour of grayish-yellow color.

As you can see, dry ginger not so difficult, and if desired, you can provide for yourself this spice for a long time.