Do you have a dehydrator? There are MANY kinds to choose from but this is mine.
I love the hinged door and multi level slide out trays it has for convenience.
If you don't have a dehydrator, no worries! You can use your oven!
Okay back to the fruit...Strawberries.
It is important to use fruit (or vegetables) at their peak to get the best flavor possible from your dehydrated foods.
(Hint: I look for the discounted produce section of my grocery stores, often it's perfectly ripe with a few imperfections that can be cut around)
In fact, that's exactly where these strawberries came from!
Fruits and vegetables should be washed and dried before they go into the dehydrator (or oven). Patting the produce before proceeding will reduce the drying time significantly.
Some fruits & vegetables require a step called blanching before we could proceed to the drying step, but luckily strawberries don't require this!
When preparing your strawberries, you want to make sure you are slicing as uniformly as you can.
This step ensures an even drying time, keep in mind some slices may naturally be thicker or smaller, that's ok...(I deem these the test snacks)
I put my strawberries in the dehydrator and set it at 122 degrees F and set it for 10 hours. This low temperature allows some of the nutrients to remain in the fruit. If you are doing this in your oven, you will want to set it at its lowest temperature.
How long it will take the strawberries to dry will depend on a few factors here...how thick or thin they have been sliced, how dry they were going into the dehydrator, what temperature you're set at, the weather outside....the list goes on. The best way to know when they're done is to just be patient.
I start checking mine (sneaking bites) at around 6 hours checking to see which are drier than others...keep in mind it can take anywhere from 10-18 hours depending on any of the above factors.
I take this time to rotate any trays that may be drying faster with others that are drying slower. I cannot tell you when they will be done, use your heart!
You will know these are done bc they will be dry completely through, no stickiness or dampness. Depending on your thickness & drying temp, they will be either be a pliable chewy texture, or a brittle crunchy texture. Both are absolutely delicious and can be used in a magnitude of ways.
Now that they are dry, you can keep these in an airtight container like a mason jar for up to 2 years!
And that's that....fresh strawberries preserved for years to come! (or to be eaten immediately because they make an amazing snack!)
Comments