Most store bought dehydrated fruit is soaked in sugar and preserved with sulfites… plus they’re outrageously expensive – YIKES!
Making your own naturally dehydrated fruit is cheap and easier than you think, plus they taste like the real thing… because that’s exactly what they are! Enjoy!
Feel free to post any questions or comments you may have & don’t forget to subscribe here or at YouTube so you’ll know when I have a new video up.
The special tools featured in this recipe are:
- EdgeCraft 610 Chef’s Choice Premium Electric Food Slicer
(got it here at Amazon.com and they shipped it Free!)
- Excalibur Dehydrator – Model #3926T
- Cuisipro Apple Corer
– I think I got mine at Kmart… but this is a much better one from Amazon.com that will automatically release the core – instead of having to push it out (and cut yourself like I’ve done a few times).
If you don’t already have a Excalibur Dehydrator, I encourage you to check out what this awesome Dehydrator is capable of! It’s made in the USA, has an outstanding warranty, and is the most popular Dehydratorbecause of it’s large, efficient design and low cost to run.
Here are some suggested ingredients for dehydrating fruit and the procedure for this recipe – feel free to experiment with it! If you have the Living Cookbook software, you can import the free recipe file by cutting and pasting it right into your program.
Fruit Chips for the Dehydrator
Ingredients
Fruit Suggestions:
Apples – Dehydrating Time: Approx. 8-10 hours*
Pineapples – Dehydrating Time: Approx. 12-20 hours*
Bananas – Dehydrating Time: Approx. 12-20 hours*
Pears – Dehydrating Time: Approx. 8-10 hours*
Strawberries – Dehydrating Time: Approx. 8-10 hours*
Mango – Dehydrating Time: Approx. 12-20 hours*
Papaya – Dehydrating Time: Approx. 12-20 hours*Almost any fruit will dehydrate!
* Drying times will vary depending on your humidity and dehydrating temperature.
Lemon-Water Solutions:
1 Part Pure Lemon Juice (no sulfites and not from concentrate) to
3 Parts Water
Combine in Spray Bottle (unused portion can be stored in sprayer in the fridge)Procedure
- Using a very sharp knife or Food Slicer
- Layer sliced fruit on your Dehydrator tray/screen. Do not overlap fruit.
- For non-citrus fruits, spray generously with lemon water solution (only need to do the tops).
- Place trays in Dehydrator and set temperature to 105 – 115 degrees (you can do it higher, but the nutrient loss will be greater).
- If your Dehydrator has a timer, set timer for approximately 10-12 hours and check fruit regularly for desired ‘done-ness’ (is that even a word? LOL!). Rotate trays if necessary and set-timer so that the fruit will not over dehydrate.
- Store finished fruit in an airtight container (ie. mason jar, ziplock bag, etc…). Keeps best in fridge, and even longer if using a food sealer.
Yield: Varies depending on amount of fruit used.
Preparation Time: Approx. 15-20 minutes
Dehydrating Time: 8-20 hours (depending on humidity and what you’re dehydrating)
Feel free to send me any questions or comments you may have!
~ Enjoy!
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Hello there!
I just found your website and I noticed that we live in the same state, and I was wondering if you could email me with some tips on dehydrating in this weather while still maintaining raw integrity but without fermentation.
Thank you,
Blake
Aloha Blake!
Since we live in the same state of Hawaii, then you should be able to follow the dehydration suggestions I make on my videos without any issue of fermentation.
If you are trying to maintain as much nutrients as possible, then you will want to keep the dehydrator’s thermostat at 115 degrees or below. Some raw foodies will suggest drying temps at or below 110 or 105 degrees – and that will work for some things in our humidity. However, I’ve found that 115 degrees works well and prevents any mold growth.
Hope that helps!
God Bless!
~ Erika
i would like to know the tool you used in slicing the Banana.
Thanks
Aloha Nicholas!
I’m using a EdgeCraft 610 Chef’s Choice Meat Slicer… you can find our more info about it on Amazon – I’ve placed a link in the blog post above.
God Bless!
~ Erika
I used your recipe and these are now in the Excalibur! Thank you!
Oh Erica…please help! I’m desperate! I just purchased the Excalibur and nothing has turned out right except for my kale chips
I tried making veggie chips out of snap peas and green beans. I dehydrated them for 24 hours at 105 degrees (checked on them constantly). They were not even edible. My bananas and apples turned out much too chewy. I’m not sure I’m going to keep the dehydrator anymore. Apples and bananas are already portable. I really want to make portable veggie snacks with yummy seasonings. Any suggestions?
The next time you make these will you show some pictures of the finished product? Thanks so much!
Leigh-Anne
Hi Leigh-Anne!
Don’t lose heart! My first time experimenting with my dehydrator wasn’t always what I expected either. By sticking to some recipes, you’ll be a pro dehydrator in no time!
The reason your snap peas and green beans did not turn out is for two reasons: 1) They are not edible once dehydrated (like the snack ones in the bag that are deep fried in oil); they must be soaked or cooked to restore them to an ‘edible’ food once dehydrated. 2) Some greens require that you blanch them in boiling water before dehydrating to preserve them properly – however they still need to be soaked before they can be eaten again. A dehydrated bean will be hard as rock for proper preservation.
If you are a Raw / Whole Foodie who wants the nutritional value of Raw Veggie Chips, you would need to blend the cooked/soaked beans in your blender with other ‘binders’ that can help create more of a chip or cracker that is edible. However, peas & green beans are not the best choice for this – I would stick with green leafy veggies, nuts, tomatoes, flax meal, salt, carrots, dates, etc… for the best outcome. A great resource for Raw Cracker Recipes is the ‘Krazy Kracker Lady’ & for Dehydrator Tips try, ‘Dehydrate2Store’ on YouTube.
There are several reasons your fruit may not have turned out… the first thing I would check is to see if the heating coils are working properly on your Excalibur. When I bought mine, I had to follow the instructions included in the manual to ‘push on the coils’ to re-set the temperature gauge (since they can shift during shipping). This solved the problem immediately and I’ve never had to do it again in over 4 years.
The other possibility is that your fruit was sliced to thick and/or needed more time and/or a higher temperature (due to cold weather / humidity).
If you still have problems after trying the things I suggested, I would recommend calling Excalibur – they are wonderful and will be willing to walk you through some of the basics.
I hope this helps… let me know how things go. I’m sure once you try it again, you’ll get better and better each time.
God Bless!
~ Erika