Yesterday my husband and I dehydrated some apples. Yum! Why, you might ask, do you need to dehydrate food if you live in the desert? Why can't you just put the apples out in the sun and let them dry out by themselves? If you have three to four continuous sunny days in a row over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, it will work. Out here in November, it's freezing at night and our days are getting into the 50s, so we have to figure out something else to do. An oven can work to dry fruit, but isn't very efficient, so we dug out the old electric dehydrator.
The first step to dehydrating is preparing the fruit. I cored these tasty Winesap apples. As you might notice, some of my holes aren't exact circles--my aim was a little bad!
Then you slice the apples and put them on a dehydrator sheet. Note the size of the apples and how they cover the entire sheet.
Then it's time to put the apples in the dehydrator. We set it for 145 degrees for about 16 hours.Dehydrating is a long process.
Here's what the apples look like when they come out of the dehydrator. They are definitely a lot smaller once they've lost their water.
But the taste is more concentrated, and they are better than candy. That's saying a lot coming from a dedicated sugaraholic. We were all greedily snacking on them as we put them in bags. Yum!
Good morning, Desert family~~~
ReplyDeleteThat process looks like a lot of fun, and you even have a prize when you're done. Good job.
Your little family seems to enjoy every second of the day using the entirety of the God given bounty around you. You’re an inspiration to the rest of us...
I'll bet Desert Boy loves those apples! I want to get a handy-dandy dehydrator too!!
~C
Have you tried it with your apricots or other fruit?
ReplyDeleteWe've tried pears and apricots with pretty good success. My husband says he thinks these apples are more flavorful than other varieties he's tried.
ReplyDeleteC-thanks for your sweet message! You should see Desert Boy chomping away at these. It's often a contest of who gets the last one out of the bag.