To obtain dried cherries, you will need, besides the berries, 1 teaspoon of powdered ascorbic acid, water, and auxiliary tools – a fruit knife, pot, skimmer, baking tray or drying screen, and parchment paper.

The drying process takes place in several stages
1. In the first stage, you should sort the cherries into damaged and whole ones. That is, we need fruits without dark spots, cracks, dents, etc. The whole berries need to be well washed with running water and stems removed. Then they can be lightly dried.

2. In the second stage, you need to cut each cherry into two equal parts. It's important to remember that the smaller the half size, the faster it will dry. Moreover, it's easier to remove the pits from them this way.

3. In the third stage, you need to prepare an ascorbic acid solution in warm water. The powder should dissolve completely. After that, the water needs to be cooled to room temperature. The prepared fruits are lowered into the vitamin C water, where they are kept for about 5 minutes, then carefully removed using a skimmer. Thanks to this procedure, the darkening of berries during drying is prevented and their beautiful color is preserved.

4. The fourth stage is the direct drying of cherries, which can be done in two ways: in open air and in the oven.

How to dry cherries in open air?

If the weather is warm and dry, cherries dry perfectly in open air. For this, you need to use a special screen on which the cherry is placed, with cut sides facing outward. The screen typically has a gauze base, and the second part serves as a lid.
The screen needs to be exposed to the sun daily. When putting away the fruits for the night, they should first be kept in the oven at 160°C for half an hour.

Drying cherries in the oven

When drying cherries in the oven, you'll need a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Unlike the previous method, the cherry pieces should be placed with cut sides down. The oven should be preheated to 165°C, while the door should not be tightly closed, leaving a small gap for fresh air circulation. Drying is carried out for three hours at the specified temperature. In the following 16-24 hours, the temperature will need to be reduced to 135°C. Complete readiness of cherries is manifested in their plasticity, stickiness, and wrinkliness.

VERY USEFUL
Dried cherries are rich in anthocyanins and antioxidants, which have anti-inflammatory and anti-aging effects.
To obtain delicious dishes, you can use dried fruits with muesli, crunches, "instant" porridges, and also serve together with melted chocolate. You can use dried cherries as filling for rolls with mushrooms and onions, as well as mixing them with chopped chicken fillet or pork.