buah reveals: This is how air drying works.

Ever since we humans set out to discover and settle new lands a long time ago, we have been faced with an all-important question: How do we ensure that the many fruits that we have gathered today do not all spoil?

It was probably our colleague, Chance, who helped and one of our ancestors forgot a few berries in the sun one day. Only to discover days or even weeks later that, although they now looked a little different, they were still just as tasty as before. Air drying was invented. Today it works like this:

Preserve food by air drying.

Actually, the name 'air drying' is a bit misleading. Because when we think of air, we tend to think of wind. However, a draft only plays a minor role in this process. Heat, for example from the sun, is much more important. That's why air drying is sometimes also called solar drying.

The principle behind it is very simple: Food spoils because it contains water - because where there is water, there is life. Bacteria, for example, that multiply happily and cause food spoilage through their metabolic processes.

But what happens when water meets heat? That's right, it evaporates. And the faster it gets, the warmer it gets. When you blow dry your hair, you are air drying it. Food can lose up to 80 percent of its water and therefore last for a long time.

Today, two different methods of air drying food are mainly used, both of which are part of the “drying” process:

#1 Sun drying

Sun drying actually works the way you probably imagine: Food is spread out in the sun in the fresh air for several days. Just turn them every now and then so that they dry evenly. Nature will do the rest.

You can try this yourself at home. Just put an apple on the windowsill in the summer. Please wash and dry thoroughly beforehand. If you turn it regularly now, you will have a long-lasting dried apple after a few days.

#2 Industrial air drying

In industrial drying, the heat does not come from the sun, but is artificially generated in devices with names such as belt dryers or tray dryers. Of course, this has the advantage that you can dry regardless of the weather. It can sometimes get a little warmer than in the sun. However, it should never be too warm! We pay particular attention to this.

Because high temperatures not only destroy the flavors of a fruit, but also its micronutrients. The first vitamins begin to break down at temperatures as low as 40° Celsius. That's why we prefer to give our air-dried fruits more time in the dryer and only remove their water very slowly. Of course, if we were to run them through the machine at 70° Celsius, the process would be completed much more quickly. But our stated goal is to always offer you fruit from all over the world that is as tasty and nutritious as possible. That's why we say: little heat.

What we also never get into the fruit are additives. And contrary to popular belief, they are not even necessary with air drying. Because if fruit is dried thoroughly enough, sulfur or other preservatives can be completely avoided. It just takes enough time.

Tell me, boo, what exactly is dried fruit?

You've probably already stumbled upon a stall at the market that offered dried fruit and are now wondering what process they used to dry it.

We'll tell you: It was air drying. Because 'drying' is simply another expression for air drying. A dried plum was air-dried, a dried apple was air-dried and a dried grape (aka raisin) was? That's right, air dried.

In addition: Even though you can buy dried sausage in some places and salami is also air-dried, experts call the process for meat products: ripening.

That's why air drying is (actually) good.

When used gently, air drying is an excellent method for preserving food. The aromas are retained or even intensify due to the lower water content. Vitamins and other micronutrients are hardly destroyed but are preserved deep inside the fruit.

However, the operative word here is 'gentle' in any case. If you put your dried fruit in the oven at 120°, it will be ready quickly, but in the end you will only produce a bland, vitamin-poor something that only remotely resembles fruit.

Good air drying is therefore time-consuming and complex. If you want to proceed carefully, it is not suitable for all types of fruit, because some fruits only release their water so slowly that the bacteria win the race against drying.

Nevertheless, we resort to this process for some of our treats. The fruits in our chewy sweets, for example, are all air-dried - primarily for their consistency. Because if we were to freeze-dry the fruit here, we wouldn't get chewy candy, but something like a crunchy ball.

The slow air drying allows us to find the perfect time when the fruits have a long shelf life, but are still soft enough to form a solid mass in which the intense taste of mango, passion fruit, pineapple, etc .with all its nutrients.

Last thing you should know about air drying.

Now you are also very familiar with air drying: an ancient process that is now mostly carried out by machine and in which, above all, a lot of time is important in order to preserve everything good in the fruit.

Of course, our air-dried snacks also have a particularly long shelf life if you keep them dry at home, protected from light and air. This way they stay fresh for months.

These drying processes still exist:

• Freeze drying
• Vacuum drying

Fresher than fresh