I grow over a dozen cultivars of Asian Persimmons (in The Woodlands, near Houston, TX), primarily astringent ones. For the past few years I have made hoshigaki out of some of the surplus fruits. In late September this year I peeled a batch of firm (just starting turn orange) Saijo, cut off the stems/calyxes, skewered them on bamboo BBQ sticks (much easier than tying them on strings!), arranged them on a pre-drilled board:
I inserted the board in a jury-rigged “wind tunnel” attached to the intake side of the exhaust fan in the apex of my greenhouse (it reaches 120F+ inside during the day in September):
Window screening on both ends of the tunnel to keep out insects, etc. I set the fan to run 24 hours per day:
Three weeks later (after massaging the fruit a few times) a perfect batch of hoshigaki resulted. No mold due to starting the batch in the morning of a sunny day. No need to dip in boiling water, but probably not a bad idea:
