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- Photo: Mr.Thomas / Flickr
Dried fruit is a healthy snack, and you can save a great deal of money by making your own. People have been drying food to preserve it for thousands of years. Before fridges, people kept food from spoiling by pickling, smoking, salting or drying it. Out of these, drying is probably the easiest method of preserving food. This process removes the moisture in food, which means that fungi, bacteria and mould can’t grow on it and make it go bad. Follow the simple steps below and learn how to dry fruit.
1. Select the fruit
You have probably seen dried fruit such as apples, peaches, pears and plums (prunes), but you can also dry fruit such as pineapples, figs and bananas. Use only healthy, ripe fruits.
2. Wash, peel and cut the fruit into slices
Prepare the fruits according to type, one at a time. Wash your selected fruit. Obviously fruit like bananas and pineapples needs to be peeled, but other fruit can be left unpeeled; they’ll just take longer to dry. Remove pits and cores. Cut the fruit into thin slices or rings.
3. Soak the fruit in acidic juice/solution (optional)
Some fruits, such as apples and pears, darken unattractively as they dry. To prevent this, soak them in acidic juice, such as pineapple or orange juice, for five minutes. A longer-lasting method is to soak them in a mixture of ascorbic acid (vitamin C). This involves mixing 1.5 tablespoons of crushed vitamin C tables with four cups of water and soaking the fruit as with the juice.
4. Dry the fruit
If you have soaked the fruit, drip-dry it before putting it on a baking tray covered with baking paper. Make sure they don’t touch. Before putting the fruit in, preheat your oven to around 120 degrees Fahrenheit. Slide the tray in and, if your oven has a fan, turn it on. If possible, leave the oven door ajar slightly and wait. The fruit is dried once they’re chewy and no longer sticky or crunchy. When pressed, no liquid should come out of them. Congratulations, you now have drieds fruit!
5. Store the fruit
Allow the fruit to cool for about two to three hours. Cover it with a cloth to protect it from insects. Don’t put cling film or a plastic cover over it, otherwise moisture may form. After it has cooled down, store the fruit in a cool, dry place either in jars or plastic containers. If you find lingering condensation in the jars, dry the fruit some more.
6. Rehydrate the fruit for use (optional)
You may want to soak the dried fruit in water before cooking it. Allow it to soak until it has regained its original size. But don’t soak for too long, otherwise you’ll end up with a tasteless mush. After soaking, boil the fruit in the same water. Add sugar if the fruit tastes sour.
Looking for something interesting to do with your dried fruit? The BBC has loads of great recipes to get you inspired. Start off with this warming winter fruit salad.
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