Find yourself with extra fruit around harvest time? Try dehydrating them! Dehydrated fruit makes a great snack during the colder months when fresh fruit is hard to come by. Not to mention dehydrating fruit is actually quite easy! Watch as one of our horticulturists walks you through the process!
The first step is to pick your fruit. In this video, we’re using two different kinds of fruit: pears, and pluots.
Pears:
We’ve got an excellent selection of pear fruit trees to choose from. Our most popular is the Bartlett Pear. These trees fare well in agricultural, suburban, and urban environments. Each springtime the tree will erupt with beautiful white blossoms that soon turn into delicious and juicy pears!
These pears have a round, bell shape, and a golden-green skin that holds an abundance of sweetness inside. Its crisp flesh is a favorite to use for cooking, baking, and of course dehydrating!
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Dapple Dandy Pluot Tree:
Also known as "Dinosaur's Fruit" or "Dinosaur Egg," the Dapple Dandy Pluot® Tree (Prunus Pluot) is a sweet cross between an apricot and a plum, hence its name. This late ripening variety produces an abundance of freestone fruit that is just as delicious dehydrated as it is fresh off the tree!
Before this lovely tree is adorned with pluots, the tree covers itself in stunning white flowers.
With a few of the fruits that you don’t plan on dehydrating, try a Dapple Dandy pluot in salsas or grilled on the barbeque!
You won’t have to worry about this tree making it through the winter, it is hardy in Zones 5 - 9!
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While we’re just showing pears and pluots in the video, there’s no reason to limit yourself. You can dehydrate almost any fruit!
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Not sure which type of fruit tree to try out? Check out our video on the 5 most popular fruit bearing trees: [ Ссылка ]
Using an Electric Deli Slicer isn’t mandatory but it does make cutting the fruit into uniform slices much easier and it takes a fraction of the time! The one shown here is from Chefman and is our favorite for a number of reasons. It has a powerful 180 Watt AC motor, an adjustable thickness dial, and is oh so simple to clean with its removable and retractable stainless steel blade.
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Once you’ve set the slicer to your desired thickness, go ahead and slice up a batch of your favorite fruit. It’s easiest to use the slicer on a clean baking sheet so as to reduce the mess you make.
Another helpful piece of equipment when drying fruit is a dehydrator. Of course you can use your oven, but for the best finished product, a dehydrator is the way to go! In this video, we use an Excalibur 9-Tray because it offers 15 square feet of drying space, an adjustable thermostat range of 105°F to 165°F, and lasts for years! Simply load up the dehydrator with your fruit of choice, set the temperature and time, and walk away!
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For the Pears and Pluots shown here, we set the temperature at 145°F for 9 hours. One of the best and easiest ways to store the dehydrated fruit is in simple freezer bags with the date of dehydration written on them. Stick them in your freezer and just like that you’ve got delicious and healthy snacks to munch on all winter long!
Enjoy!
