Autumn is already here, and it’s time to prepare for the winter. During those cold months, your favorite fall fruits won’t be available. If you want to have them on hand for your favorite recipes, it’s best to dehydrate them now. This is my must-dehydrate list.
From the beginning of September, my dehydrator has been working non-stop, since I’m trying to dehydrate as much of my favorite fall fruits as I can.
Before you continue: Take a look at our list of the Best Food Dehydrators.
Table of Contents
Why?
Well, when I’m cooking or baking, I love adding dehydrated fruits and vegetables because they have an intense flavor. A thin slice of dehydrated pear brings so much more taste than a fresh slice that it’s almost incredible. And you can only imagine how well that fits into recipes. (Here’s some awesome spiralizers to use!)
Also, since I discovered that kids love them, dehydrated fruits have become a regular snack in their diet. A great, and healthy replacement for chips.
Not to mention that they take up less space than fresh produce ever could – once I dehydrated them, I managed to fit 10 pounds of tomatoes in one large jar.
Recommended reading: Best Jar Openers
I’m using a simple food dehydrator for every type of fruit, and the process is pretty simple.
Now that you understand my reasons, it’s time to dive into my fall must-dehydrate fruits list:
1. Pears
Fall is the season filled with most delicious sorts of fruit, which is why it’s hard for me to let it all just fly by, without dehydrating at least a dozen pounds.
DIRECTIONS:
Pick ripe, but not mushy pears, wash them, core them, and then slice into pieces no thicker than 1/3 of an inch.
Arrange the slices on the dehydrator trays, and make sure they aren’t touching.
Set your dehydrator to 140F (60C), rotate the trays regularly, and your pears should be ready after 9-10 hours. When they’re done, pear slices should be leathery with no wet spots.
Let them cool, and then pack into air-tight jars.
USE:
You can use them as a snack, or rehydrate them by pouring boiling water over them, and leaving them in it for 5-10 minutes.
2. Blackberries
All of my favorite recipes for French desserts are incomplete without blackberries, so I can’t miss out on this opportunity during the season. Neither should you!
DIRECTIONS:
Buy as much of this lovely fruit as you want, and rinse them in a solution of water and vinegar (4 to 1 ratio). Set your dehydrator to Cool, and let them air dry. This might seem unnecessary, but I experimented a bit, and realized that dehydrating them wet, makes blackberries flatten out.
Once they are properly dry, place them evenly on the dehydrator trays, and make sure that they don’t overlap.
Set your dehydrator temperature to 130F (54.4C) and leave them for 19-20 hours. Rotate every few hours.
You’ll know they’re done when you can take one and crush it into powder between your fingers.
When the process is done, leave them to cool for 10 minutes, and vacuum seal them, or pack into airtight jars.
USE:
You can crush them and use the powder in juices and teas, or you can rehydrate them, and use in cake recipes. Rehydration is simple – soak them in hot water for 10-15 minutes, and then pour off the unnecessary water.
3. Apples
Having access to this sweet, delicious fruit all year long is worth the effort. Pick your favorite sort, and dehydrate away.
Next to your dehydrator and apples, you’ll need a sharp kitchen utility knife, water, and lemon.
DIRECTIONS:
Wash, core and then cut the apples into slices no thicker than ½ of an inch.
Squeeze one lemon into a bowl filled with water, drop the slices into it – this will minimize the browning during dehydration.
Drain apples, and then air dry them in your dehydrator by setting it on Cool for 10-20 minutes.
Place slices on dehydrator trays, and make sure that they aren’t touching.
Set the temperature to 130F (54.4C) and leave for 11-12 hours. When they get a leathery texture, they’re done.
Let them cool a bit, then vacuum seal or pack into air-tight jars.
USE:
You can eat them dehydrated as a snack, add them to recipes, or rehydrate them for pies and similar desserts by leaving them in hot water for 20-25 minutes.
4. Dates
I know that they are not everybody’s favorite fruit, but there are marvelous pork recipes with dates, not to mention desserts, so they are a fruit you don’t want to skip. And they are super-easy to dehydrate.
DIRECTIONS:
Pick ripe dates, wash them in water, remove the seeds, and then cut into bite-sized pieces.
Dry them well, and then place on dehydrator trays. Make sure that pieces don’t overlap.
Set the temperature to 100F (37.7C), and leave for 20 hours. You’ll know they are done, when they are leathery and chewy.
Vacuum seal them, or place into air-tight jars.
USE:
You can use them as a sweet snack, or rehydrate them and add to all sorts of recipes. Rehydration is simple, just pour boiling water over them, and leave for 30 minutes.
5. Tomatoes
Easily dehydrated, this fruit keeps both its flavor and its color when dried, and since I love recipes that include sun-dried tomatoes, this is a must.
All you need is a good, sharp knife (preferably a Japanese knife sharpened with an electric knife sharpener), tomatoes and a dehydrator. I tend to use pear, Roma, and paste tomatoes for this, because the round salad kind is too watery, and it doesn’t dehydrate as well.
DIRECTIONS:
Cut tomatoes in half, slice them so each slice is no more than ¼ of an inch thick. People think that tomatoes need a lot of time to dehydrate, but if you spoon out the seed gel it will cut drying time almost in half.
Put slices of tomato on dehydrator trays, skin side down. Make sure to leave space between slices on all sides.
Set your dehydrator for 130F (54.4C), and let tomatoes dry for 6-8 hours, until they are leathery.
Remove trays and let tomatoes cool before transferring to airtight jars or vacuum sealing them. If you store them properly, they will keep indefinitely.
USE:
All you need to do in order to reconstitute these tomatoes, is pour boiling water over them. Leave for 25 minutes, and use any way you want.
Final tips
Whichever fruit you choose to dry, make sure to pick ripe and firm fruit similar in size – for a more even process. Rinse the fruit thoroughly. Choose a day when you can stay at home all day long, so you can rotate the trays, and so you’re there when the process is done. If you’re not 100% certain that your fruit is completely dehydrated, leave it a while longer, if it isn’t, it’ll go bad swiftly.
While you’re here, be sure to check out our kitchen product reviews!