These days, fresh fruits and veggies seem to cost more and spoil sooner. As much as I love fresh fruit and veggies, their shelf life makes them a use it or lose it type of food. If you and your family prefer fresh produce to canned, one way to be sure they won’t spoil is to dry them.
Dried fruits can serve as a great alternative to candy. Instead of leaving out cupcakes and cookies full of sugar, try dried pineapple or apple slices. The sweetness of the fruit is concentrated when it’s dried, and the taste will explode in your mouth.
Learning to dry fruit is a fairly easy process. You don’t need to buy any fancy equipment. Investing in a few sealing jars would be nice so that storing the fruit will be easier, but it isn’t a necessity. Sealing jars can be found fairly inexpensive at many supermarkets.
To start, gather all of the fruits you want to dry. Most fruits make good choices. Some of the more common ones are: pineapples, apples, plums, grapes, apricots, and tomatoes (yes they are a fruit!). If you favor lemons, limes, or other citrus fruits, you will be drying the peels and not the fruit itself.
All fruit and equipment needs to be clean and thoroughly dried before beginning. Drying racks are needed if you plan on air drying outside or using an oven. Some pieces may be done before others so rotating the trays in the oven gives you a chance to remove any fruit that is already dried and replace with another.
Slice the fruit into small pieces. Apples need to be cored and peeled before slicing. Tomatoes can be cut into slices or quarters and salted before drying. Grapes and plums are okay as is because the skin doesn’t affect their taste.
If you prefer to use the microwave to dry your fruit, place small batches in the microwave on the turntable tray. Fruit pieces should be evenly spaced to allow for air circulation while drying. Set the microwave to the defrost setting in order to dry the fruit. It will take about thirty to forty-five minutes. Check after thirty minutes and gradually add time as needed. It is not recommended that tomatoes be dried via the microwave because they should be dried at approximately 120 degrees for about twenty-four hours.
You can eat some of these tasty treats as soon as they are dried or you can save some for later. If storing for later, let the fruit cool before placing in sealing jars or plastic bags. Dried fruits will keep for up to two weeks in a cool dark place. However, these fruit treats are so scrumptious they may not even last for that long.
Dried fruit has a multitude of uses. It can be eaten as is or mixed into sauces and batters as a flavorful addition. Drying your fruits will save you money because it makes the fruit last longer than normal and gives you a reason to eat more of it.
Resource: Healthy Meal Planning
I absolutely love this article. I have been wanting to dry fruit for years now but did not want to invest in another appliance that would take up more space. I never knew you could actually use your oven and better yet, a microwave. I may sound naive, but truly this is an epiphany for me. I plan to get started today. Thank you for all the advice on how to dry my own fruits and vegetables. I am going to try it on my medool dates too and see if they will keep longer. Thank you.
I absolute agree with you on the dried fruit. It is a means of preserving food for a long time. At one time I was into the habit of buying fresh fruit then refrigerating when not done with all of it. Then tossing after it had been in the refrigerator for a while. I still have the problem with fresh produce, but not so much with fruit. I enjoy dates dried fruit, dry apricots, dry pineapple,and dry mango. Dry fruit is the way to go.
Rather than gathering plastic bags to put the fruit in, why not put them in more environmentally friendly bags?
Thanks very much for the information provided on this site, i have been looking into drying my own fruit for a while now and you have supplied the exact information i needed, thanks again.
Mary
Dried apricots are very nice, I now snack on them instead of crisps. I have never tried dried mango though, but will look out for them as I love mango but it is quite messy to eat when out and about, so dried would be better.
I know that if you have up-to-date kitchen appliances you can make your own dried fruit really easily and it tastes SO GREAT!! I love it.
.-= jim@Kitchen Appliances´s last blog ..Hotpoint EW84K Electric Cooker =-.
Dried fruit is very versatile and most children like it as well. Paw Paw dries out very nicely, as does apple. Right now in the southern Australian states there is a good amount of berry fruits and cherries which all dry nicely and keep well in an airtight container. Great on cereal or in homemade muesli.