How to prepare ginger for tea for future use: ☕ drying, storing, freezing

AnyutaN — Dec 10th, 2016 Category: Dried roots

Tags: Dried ginger

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.

Ingredients: water, ginger, sugar Time to add: All year

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.

Which root is suitable for drying?

Store-bought ground ginger is inferior in quality to fresh. It is better to buy fresh roots. For preparations, you need to take them from the first harvest and immediately process them. If you buy roots in a store, they should be:

from 2 cm long (the larger they are, the higher the concentration of essential oils and nutrients);
dry, dense and elastic to the touch;
with smooth light golden skin;
no mold, stains, cracks, scratches;
with yellowish-whitish flesh, with a minimum of fiber.

The old root is not suitable for harvesting and storage. This root vegetable is wrinkled, with a darkened skin and yellow fibrous pulp. Dried by overuse, first soaked. When added to drinks or tea in dry form, you need to take into account that it turns out spicier than fresh.

Beneficial features

Dried ginger is a concentrate of useful biologically active components. That is why it is consumed in limited quantities. The maximum daily dose is a teaspoon in ground form. It is in this form that it is used by those who want to lose weight. It is believed that the spice speeds up metabolism and partially prevents lipids from being absorbed in the intestines while transiting through the digestive tract.

In addition, the spice will help cope with poisoning and improve the intestinal microflora. In general, regular consumption of ginger improves appetite and stimulates the production of digestive enzymes, increasing the quality and speed of digestive processes. It can act as a mild pain reliever, a source of vitamins, micro- and macroelements, chlorogenic acid, antioxidants and phytoncides. Ground ginger has the following effects on the body:

relieves inflammation;
kills pathogens;
reduces pain during PMS;
stimulates the production of bile and some hormones;
increases libido and sexual desire in men and women;
strengthens the immune system.

One of the most popular uses of the spice is adding it to tea. This is a miracle remedy that quickly warms you up, helps you cope with the first signs of a cold and promotes weight loss. Next on the list of uses is adding it to meat dishes, soups and dough for cookies and pies.

Drying ginger at home is very simple, easy and cheap, because the finished spice in the store is much more expensive, and its production time may not always coincide with the real one. That's why you need to stock up on this valuable product yourself and for health benefits.

About peeling and shelf life

Most of the valuable components are located directly under the peel. But if it is light and thin, you don’t have to clean it. Or remove with a metal sponge, vegetable peeler, or scrape with the edge of a spoon. If the peel is thick, you need to cut it off with a knife, along with the side shoots. Fresh root can be stored in the refrigerator for 3-4 weeks, wrapped in a damp cloth.

Preparations for future use are made immediately. You need to cut ginger on a plastic board; a wooden board will preserve its aroma for a long time. Dried must be stored in a cool, dark place. It retains its beneficial qualities for 2-4 months. It should be kept in a glass jar with a loose lid, but not in cellophane. Otherwise, it will begin to rot and become moldy. It should not be stored near dairy or strong-smelling products to avoid a combination of odors.

Benefits and harms of the product

For good health

Benefit:

The active components contained in dried ginger can effectively fight viruses and inflammation.
They have antioxidant properties.
Dried ginger inhibits harmful bacteria.
Has an expectorant and analgesic effect.
Strengthens the immune system.
Improves memory.
Thins the blood.
Helps destroy cancer cells.

Harm:

Dried ginger warms up the body and at elevated temperatures, you should stop using it.
For people with heart disease, weight loss based on dried ginger should be carried out strictly after consultation with a doctor.

The medicinal properties of ginger are written here.

For weight loss

Why is it useful?:

Dried ginger root powder can normalize metabolic processes in the body.
Speed up metabolism, resulting in burning extra pounds.

Harm:

Despite all the beneficial properties of the dried rhizome, there are contraindications for its use for nursing mothers and women in the last months of pregnancy.
Those who suffer from stomach ulcers or other diseases of the gastrointestinal tract should refrain from this method of losing weight.

Natural drying

The easiest method for preparing ginger root for tea is natural drying at home. But it takes a long time. The root must be washed, peeled, cut into thin slices or grated. Place on a tray, having previously covered it with a cloth or cooking paper.

Place in a dry room or on the balcony. They must be well ventilated. But so that the sun does not fall on the ginger. To ensure that it dries evenly, it is stirred several times a day until the pieces of the root vegetable become hard and brittle. Drying whole will take much longer. In a private home, you can cut ginger into circles, string them on a thread and hang them next to the stove.

In 2-3 days it will be ready. If ginger is made in the form of tea leaves, it must be peeled and crushed in a mortar or blender. To prepare tea, mix two tablespoons of crushed root and tea leaves, pour 400 ml of boiling water over them. Let it brew for 30 minutes.

Vegetable dehydrator or air fryer

This is the easiest way to prepare ginger for storage. Even large pieces dry well in an electric vegetable dryer, so you don’t have to spend a lot of time cutting the roots. However, you need to monitor the size of the slices: household devices are not designed for drying whole ginger. If you need to prepare the entire root for storage, you need to remove the extra trays and do the procedure itself in several stages. Trying to cook ginger all at once may cause the dryer to overheat and become inoperable.

For this procedure, even the thin skin must be removed: when it dries, it can crack and clog the openings for heat. Also, do not cover trays with baking paper. It will interfere with air circulation, which can cause the dryer to break down. You can cut the ginger into small cubes or thin slices. The optimal thickness is 4 mm. Set the temperature to 60° degrees. It will take 6-9 hours to dry completely.

You can also prepare ginger for storage using an electric grill. It will dry much faster. At a temperature of 70°, thin plates will be ready in 2 hours. To do this, the airflow must be turned on at full power. Otherwise, the cooking time will be 5-6 hours. If done correctly, the slices should break easily. You cannot overexpose them, otherwise it will be impossible to soak them or endure them.

Attention!

Do not leave the dryer running overnight. Overheating may cause a fire.

In the oven

To prepare the root in the oven, wash it, peel it, and cut it into slices. The baking sheet is lined with culinary parchment. Lay out the pieces at a distance from each other. Preheat the oven to 50 degrees. Place a baking sheet in it for one hour. The door should be kept slightly open. After an hour, turn the ginger over and put it in the oven for another hour.

If you grate it, the drying time is halved, but it needs to be stirred every 15 minutes. The finished circles do not bend, but break. If the pieces are gray at the break point, the root is ready, if not, keep it in the oven for another 15-20 minutes. After drying, the ginger should cool. Then pour it into a container, close the lid and store it in a dry, dark place.

Contraindications

Ground ginger has a number of contraindications. You should exclude it if you have:

late pregnancy;
breast-feeding;
allergy;
cholelithiasis;
cirrhosis of the liver;
elevated temperature;
exacerbation of chronic diseases.

If you take medications for arrhythmia, drugs to lower blood pressure and blood sugar, then give up ginger or consult a doctor.

How to make ground powder

Ginger ground into powder can be added not only to tea, but also to any dish. First it is dried in any convenient way. Then grind it in a blender twice. If there are no kitchen utensils, then grind it into powder with a pestle, but this takes a long time. Then sift through a sieve. The remaining large pieces are ground again.

The finished ground plant is sold in Ashanti stores. It is used as an additive to tea, coffee, seasoning for dishes, for preparing marinades and kebabs.

Ground ginger powder East End | East End 100g

Article: 003123

Manufacturer: East End

Country: UK

233 rub.

In stockBuy

Why dry ginger?

In Europe, the use of oriental spices began several decades ago. In the homeland of ginger - India - and other Asian countries, it has been grown for several centuries and is widely used as a seasoning, ingredient and medicine. This product began to conquer Europeans in ground form, so the question arises: how to dry ginger and how does it differ from the fresh root?

Today you can easily buy both ground and fresh root. They have almost identical composition, but slightly different properties. So, fresh is more aromatic, less hot, and dried is more pungent and spicy. When preparing soups and salads, fresh ginger is often used, and ground ginger is used for stewing meat and baking.

Why dry ginger at home? First of all, in order to be confident in the high quality and safety of this product. All stages of drying will be clearly controlled by your own eye, and this is the best quality control department. Secondly, the output is a fresh and aromatic spice without impurities or additives, which will be stored for a long time.

Being confident that any product is natural and safe is a big deal, especially if it is used for medical purposes or consumed by children. Homemade dried ginger can be safely added to food, face and hair masks, made into drinks, tinctures and even cough drops that even small children will love.

Getting aromatic spice is the main reason to dry ginger

Freezing

The unpeeled ginger root is wrapped in a bag and put in the freezer. When you need to brew tea with it, cut off the required amount from the root and add to the tea leaves. It's easier to use chopped ginger. The root is washed, peeled, finely grated or crushed in a blender.

Transfer to a freezer bag and level to form a thin layer. The workpiece is placed in the freezer, if necessary, a small piece is broken off and added directly to a cup of tea. Or freeze ginger juice in special forms.

A few words about the benefits of ginger root

It is necessary to dry ginger root so that the root vegetable helps:

cheer up;
prevent the development of cancer;
strengthen the immune system;
remove toxins from the body;
increase appetite;
normalize digestion;
improve brain function;
increase potency for men.

Candied root

Candied is used not only as an additive to tea leaves. It is at the same time a decoration for dishes, a dessert, and an ingredient for baking. It is prepared in stages:

The root is washed and peeled. Slice thinly - 2 mm thick. Pour boiling water over it (so that it completely hides the pieces) and leave for 2 hours. This can remove the bitterness from the ginger.
Drain the liquid, rinse the pieces and pour syrup. For it, take water and granulated sugar in equal proportions.
Cook the ginger over low heat until it becomes soft and the syrup thickens.
The pieces are poured into a colander and excess liquid is allowed to drain. Then roll each one in sugar and place one at a time on a baking sheet covered with parchment.
Preheat the oven to 70 degrees. Place the baking sheet in it for half an hour. Then they are allowed to cool and packaged in bags. The candied pieces are very tasty and replace candy. They can be placed in a vase and stored at room temperature.

Ginger juice can be added to tea, seasoned with salads, first and second courses.

In Ashanti stores you can buy various products with ready-made ginger root. It is included in balms, sweets, toothpaste, anti-cellulite cream. If you prepare ginger for future use yourself, you can add it not only to tea, but also to other dishes and skin care products.

Why do you need to dry ginger root?

Ginger is difficult to grow in garden plots, so the root can be purchased fresh in the store. For better and longer preservation of the product, it must be dried properly. At the same time, you should not be afraid that the beneficial properties will disappear.

When dried, the roots retain their quality.

And the powder is actively used during culinary processing, including spice in:

salads;
soups, vegetable and mushroom snacks;
pies and ice cream;
marinades and sauces.

In addition to the original taste, the dried product will give the food an exquisite aroma. But you need to use ginger correctly, adding the spice to meat dishes and soups 15 minutes before the end of cooking, and to sauces after they are removed from the heat. You should not sprinkle ginger powder in spoons; you only need 1 teaspoon, for example, per kilogram of meat. And add spice to drinks at the tip of a knife.

Dry root, previously crushed, is mixed with other spices. Mustard seeds are suitable for this, and pomegranate seeds will enhance the healing effect.

For those losing weight, salads are seasoned not only with ginger powder, but also with lemon, and olive oil is suitable for dressing.

The dry root is beneficial for hair. It is added to masks along with sesame oil to eliminate oily hair, and with egg yolk and a tablespoon of honey, ginger will help restore the structure of the hair. With the help of dry rhizomes they fight seborrhea and dandruff.

Many recipes are offered by traditional healers, where dried root is needed to normalize the pathological state of the body.

Lemon slices with sugar in a jar: recipe

The classic recipe for such a dessert in a jar does not require any additional ingredients other than lemon and sugar. They need to be taken in equal quantities. Although the amount of sugar can be either reduced or increased. Here you need to proceed from your taste.

Slices in sugar

As for lemons, select only ripe and firm fruits. It is advisable that the variety you choose does not have a very thick peel.

Wash the lemons thoroughly, place them in a container and fill them with cold water.
Leave the fruit in this form for 30 - 45 minutes
Drain the water and wash the lemon again (now you need to use a brush)
Pour boiling water over clean lemons and dry on a paper towel.
When they are dry, cut the fruit into slices and remove the seeds.
Sterilize the jar and let it dry
Place a layer of sugar on the bottom of the jar, then 2-3 layers of lemon slices
We repeat adding the ingredients in this order until the jar is completely filled.
The last layer should be sugar
After you fill the jars with the ingredients prepared in advance in this way, they need to be tightly closed.
Move the jars to a dry place and leave there for seven days
If the jar is tightly closed with a lid, then turn it over and place it upside down.
After a week, the volume of the contents of the jars should decrease
Add more lemon slices and sugar to them (a little less than the first time)
Now we send the jars for storage in a dark and cool room

You can eat such a delicious dessert in 5-7 days.

How to dry ginger at home: the best recipes

There are many options for drying ginger root that require no special equipment or special skills. However, if the household has a dehydrator or electric dryer, this will greatly simplify the task.

Outdoors Drying time: 6-12 days.
Natural drying will help preserve the largest amount of essential oils, vitamins and minerals in their original form. After all, the effect of high temperature is eliminated.

Place the ginger cut into thin slices on baking sheets, sieves or trays covered with a clean cloth or paper. The pieces should not touch. You can string them on a stern or nylon thread, making a kind of garland.
Cover the product with one layer of gauze or thin cloth to prevent insects from landing on it.
Hang the garlands outside under a canopy or in a room with very good ventilation. Attics, sheds, balconies, and ventilated dry storerooms are well suited.
Once a day, inspect the dryer, change trays or threads.

Many people place baking sheets with ginger in the sun, but this is wrong. Under the influence of ultraviolet radiation, beneficial and aromatic substances are oxidized and decomposed. Drying loses the lion's share of its usefulness and aroma.

Readiness will directly depend on the weather or indoor conditions. You can judge it by breaking a piece between your fingers. It should be completely dried, fairly hard, not exuding juice, with some effort, but crumble.

In the oven

Drying time: 5-7 hours .
To significantly speed up the process, you can use a regular household oven. You can also prepare dried ginger powder in it.

Line baking sheets or wire racks with parchment or baking paper.
Place the ginger pieces at a distance of 1-2 millimeters from each other.
Preheat the cabinet to a temperature of 45-52°C. In this case, the oven door can be slammed tightly only when the “Convection” function is activated. If not, you need to let the moisture evaporate. For electric ovens, a gap of 4-6 centimeters is enough, and for gas ovens, 6-8.
Place the racks in the oven and let them sit for 2.5-3 hours, turning them every 25-30 minutes.
Turn off the device, take out the product, let it cool completely and carefully turn each piece over.
Warm up the cabinet again, but to 68-70°C. Dry the ginger until completely cooked, also constantly changing the racks and turning them 180° every 20-30 minutes.

To get ginger powder, you need to slightly dry the pieces so that they become brittle. It is important to avoid burning, otherwise the taste will become not only acrid, but also bitter. Once you can easily crumble the slices between your fingers, turn off the device and let them cool completely. You can use a mortar or coffee grinder for grinding. After grinding, the powder is sifted and, if necessary, ground again.

In an electric dryer or dehydrator Drying time: 10-12 hours .
Special drying devices allow you to control the temperature, which affects the quality of the final product.

Place the chopped ginger on the grates of the device, place them inside and close the lid tightly.
Set the temperature to 46-50°C.
Dry until done, changing the racks once every 2-3 hours.

Experienced dryers recommend not loading the dehydrator to capacity, but leaving the racks empty one after another. This way the ventilation will be better and the roots will dry out faster.

In an air fryer Drying time: 1.5-3 hours .
Such equipment will reduce the time as much as possible, but the quality may be slightly worse than in other options.

Place the root pieces on a special plate so that they do not touch each other.
Close the lid tightly. Set the airflow to maximum power and the temperature to minimum. For different models, this indicator can vary between 55-70°C.
Turn on the device and wait 1-1.5 hours. Repeat if necessary.

Readiness can only be determined by a completely cooled product. Therefore, before running the air fryer for additional time, let the ginger reach room temperature so as not to dry it out.

You can make dried ginger in sugar in the oven, electric dryer or air fryer, how to use it is easy to figure out by finding information on the Internet. To do this, raw pieces must first be dipped in syrup or simply granulated sugar, and only then placed on wire racks.

Selection and preparation of raw materials: how to simply dry ginger

The unsightly root is a rich source of a wide variety of elements that can be broken down by certain types of processing. It has a high content of antioxidants, phytoncides, vitamins of almost all groups, minerals, and amino acids. At the same time, the maximum calorie content of dried ginger is only 347 kilocalories per 100 grams of product.

How to choose good raw materials

Before you learn how to dry ginger, you need to find out what is taken into account when choosing in the store:

The roots need to be carefully examined. High-quality ones suitable for drying will be elastic, with a beautiful, slightly shiny, smooth surface. They should not be wrinkled, flaccid, or soft.
There should be no dark or light spots on the surface of the skin; it should have a uniform, grayish-brown tint.
The roots should not have mechanical damage, traces of impacts, cuts, or be crushed.

In retail outlets you can see two types of roots, which do not at all indicate the plant variety, as many mistakenly believe. The real difference is in the processing of the product after it is harvested. You can usually only get black ginger with your own hands, which is obtained after digging, washing and drying the root in the open air. Its skin then turns out dark, gray-brown, sometimes brown.

To obtain a white (light) root, a lengthy process is required, which is more suitable for industrial production and requires special skills, special equipment and chemical reagents. Ginger is scalded with boiling water, soaked in a light solution of bleach or hydrocyanic acid, and dried in special boxes.

Root preparation

Do you have an electric dryer?
Not really

Both black and white ginger are quite suitable for home drying, but the second one must be additionally soaked in water, left for several hours and only then dried, continue processing.

Cut off the lateral shoots of the root, separate the fused parts.
Remove the skin from the main shoot in a thin layer. She can be quite rude there. But, if it is thin and clean enough, then it is better not to do this. It is in it that the concentration of aromatic and beneficial substances is highest.
Depending on the type of subsequent drying, cut the ginger into suitable pieces. These can be bars, thin plates, circles, cubes. The raw material can be grated, then it will dry much faster.

Lay the resulting blanks on paper or a clean cloth to remove excess moisture, blot with paper towels or napkins. After this, you can proceed directly to drying.