Why Would I Use A Fruit Dryer?

With winter almost here it is time to bid goodbye to mouth-watering and delicious summer fruits until next year.  However, if you would like to access these all year round then look to use a fruit dryer.  

Drying fruit allows you to store seasonal produce for many months either in the pantry or freezer for up to a year.  

Food preservation has been around for centuries.  It is a common practice that savvy home cooks use across all cultures, traditions, and ethnicities.  Some of the easiest ways to preserve food at home are drying, smoking, canning, and vacuum sealing.

So, if you can’t bear to be without those yummy mangoes and strawberries over the colder months, read on!

What Is A Fruit Dryer? 

A Fruit Dryer is simply a specific function for a food dehydrator.  It is a small electrical appliance that removes all the water content in any type of food.  Some of the common things dried are fruits, vegetables, and meat.  Read our best home food dehydrator reviews.

These small kitchen appliances have a built-in low-powered oven to produce hot air and dry foods without cooking them.  They also include a fan to move air around and extract the moisture-laden air from the unit through air vents.   In most cases, a dehydrator can reduce the water content within foods to less than 20%.

Fruit dryers or dehydrators use different types of heat sources.  Electric dryers are the most common but solar drying is also popular and is the way fruit was dried traditionally.

Why Do I Need A Fruit Dryer?

Fruits are composed of approximately 80-95% water and will start to spoil within days of ripening.  Of all fresh produce, it is fruits with a high water content that “go off” quickest.  

For fresh fruit to rot there is a combination of factors that need to be present.  Microorganisms are the usual culprits.  Think molds, yeast, and bacteria.  These require air, moisture, light, and the right temperature to grow.  

Using a fruit dryer removes the moisture from within each piece.  This prevents the growth of bacteria and slows the action of enzymes within fruit without completely de-activating them.

Moreover, the process of dehydration means that no flavor is lost during the process.  In fact, in some instances, the flavor is even enhanced!

Once the moisture is removed your fruit will have shrunk in size and weigh much less.  This makes it easier to store and with vacuum sealing, they will keep in the freezer for years.  

So, not only does a fruit dryer extend the shelf life of your favorites, but it can also help you to store them more conveniently!

How Do I Prepare The Fruit? 

Before using any kind of fruit dryer, you need to pre-treat the produce as follows.

• Scrub apples and pears to remove any wax or chemicals.  
• Wash soft fruits thoroughly for the above reason.  Any berries, stone fruit, and grapes.
• If the fruit is light-colored like apples or pears, dip it in a pre-treatment solution to prevent browning.  Ascorbic acid, lemon juice, fruit juice, or citric acid all do the trick.   Just dip the slices in pretreatment solution for 3 to 5 minutes before placing them on the mesh trays.
• Grapes or cherries, which are dried whole, must be blanched first.  Immerse the fruit in boiling water for 30 to 60 seconds then dunk into cold water.  Dry them on a paper towel before placing them on the trays in the fruit dryer.
• Some fruit will not go brown on cutting and can be placed directly in the unit.

Using An Electric Fruit Dryer

A typical electric unit consists of two main items –  a heat source and a fan. They also come with a number of mesh trays depending on the size and price of the fruit dryer.  

We have laid out the required steps to dry any fruit using an electric home food dehydrator.

Make Your Own DIY Food Dryer

If you do not want to spend money on a fruit dryer, then make one yourself! 

All you need is a cardboard box, racks, dowels, a light bulb, a cooling fan, duct tape, and aluminum foil.

Final Thoughts

A fruit dryer is ideal to preserve seasonal produce and enjoy them all year round.  By drying fruit you retain all of the nutrients and vitamins and remove moisture to prevent bacterial growth.

The best thing is that you can either invest in a unit or you can make one yourself!  We hope this article helped clarify fruit drying.  Read our best food dehydrator reviews.