[Annen]

Inspired by New Shoot and her dehydrator, but too mean to shell out, I've am trying out drying in the oven, as I don't need to buy one of those, I already have one.    I looked for threads on drying and there are a few which start an experiment off,  but don't finish by coming back to tell us what happened next. 


I checked my oven temperature and its very lowest setting is about 200F, so that is probably low enough to work, although ideally it should be lower than that.


I sliced up some strawberries and an apple and cut them thin, less than half a centimetre I think. I spread them out not touching each other, on baking parchment, on a cooling tray, on a baking tray in the middle of the oven.
I left them in overnight, about 8¹₂ hours.


They turned out a bit crispy.  Very tasty though and quite snackworthy.  I think that would be quite good for beetroot crisps, which I love.
So next time I will cut the fruit a bit thicker, and maybe a bit shorter cooking time, as I like a chewier texture to the dried apple, I'm not sure about strawberries as I have never had those before.
I will also try without the baking tray and just put the parchment on a cooling tray direct on to the oven shelf.
Also while I am learning it would probably make sense to put them in during the day when I can keep a better eye on progress.


I WILL let you know what happens next. (I hope I'm not boring people with this) I would have put a photo up, but they all got eaten

[Springlands]

That was a worth while experiment Annen. My top oven has a really low setting for defrosting foods or keeping them warm - I might just have a go at drying some apples and pears when my next grocery order arrives.  I love dried fruits but so many of them contain preservatives.

[Beetroot queen]

I tried toms in the past but they didnt store so unless you ate them within a few days they went manky.

I am tempted to buy a machine but i want to be able to shore fruit once its been done

[Annen]

I tried toms in the past but they didnt store so unless you ate them within a few days they went manky.

I am tempted to buy a machine but i want to be able to shore fruit once its been done

From what I have read, tomatoes are best dried and then preserved in a jar of oil.  It is on my list of things to try.

[Madame Cholet]

You can also make tomato leathers like fruit leather, which I haven't tried due to the lack of spare tomatoes last year. My dehyrator is great and i'm not really big on gagets, I think you would gat your money back in the long term as it uses much less electricity than the oven.

[Beetroot queen]

I tried toms in the past but they didnt store so unless you ate them within a few days they went manky.

I am tempted to buy a machine but i want to be able to shore fruit once its been done

From what I have read, tomatoes are best dried and then preserved in a jar of oil.  It is on my list of things to try.

Oh tell me more and keeo me up to date. The kids ate them like candy but we lost lots which was a shame

[Annen]

You can also make tomato leathers like fruit leather, which I haven't tried due to the lack of spare tomatoes last year. My dehyrator is great and i'm not really big on gagets, I think you would gat your money back in the long term as it uses much less electricity than the oven.

I don't know what a fruit leather is, is it just chewy dried slices?

[peedee555]

how about caramalizing very simular but with sugar

[Madame Cholet]

You can also make tomato leathers like fruit leather, which I haven't tried due to the lack of spare tomatoes last year. My dehyrator is great and i'm not really big on gagets, I think you would gat your money back in the long term as it uses much less electricity than the oven.

I don't know what a fruit leather is, is it just chewy dried slices?

yes the fruit ones you can eat as snacks the tomato ones you add water, to make a sauce.

You puree the fruit and pour into a plastic tray, which comes with the dehyrator then dry. Lots of recepies for different flavours on the internet using spices ect and good way to use up overripe fruit too.
 I made a hedgerow one 2 years ago which I sweetened with honey,a combination of juice from rosehips, haws, sloes, elderberries, blackberries with the pulp from apples and damsons.

[Annen]

Ooh, 2 more things for my list - leathers and caramelising This looks like a long term project!

[Madame Cholet]

I do apple rings over the woodburner on a contraption made from dowels and metal chains will photo it when I get a lead to dowload it to the pc.

[Annen]

I did another batch
I checked at 8 hours, but some were still soft. So I put them back for another couple of hours, and they were good, but patchy.  I need to cut everything the same size and do only one type of fruit at once.  The strawberries were ready before the apple but had stuck to the paper, so I couldn't get them off without messing all the others up.


Its a bit tedious, I am more and more tempted by a dehydrator 

[Mrs Bee]

I have a dehydrator and until now I have just used it for tomatoes which, when dried out store beautifully.

i also use it to make a sunblush type of tomato salad which we eat within a few days.

I am also finding it useful to dry off fish and meat that has been brined before it goes into the smoker. And I believe you can use it for making airdried ham too.

I prefer to eat my fruit fresh or frozen.

I have also dried fruit in the oven as it will go down as low as 50C. I made some crisp discs of pineapple to go with a very complicated recipe by Raymond Blanc.