Dried vegetables and fruits are healthy snacks that you can enjoy all year round. If you have any extra ripe fruits or vegetables, you can dry them at home with the use of your oven.
If you want to follow the process of drying your produce, follow the steps below:
- Prepare- remove seeds and stems, peel, slice and add some seasoning.
- Dry
- Cure
Selecting produce that you want to dry
The process of dehydrating is commonly used if your produce is ripe or at its ripest. Here’s how you can start:
- Select fruits or vegetables that are overly ripe
- Cut any blemishes, if any
- When your produce is on the tree, too much rain can cause them to become overripe and split
Wash and soak your produce in cold water
- Remove stones and large seeds as they are not good when drying
- Remove stems
- To make the drying process quicker, blanch vegetables such as cauliflower, vegetables in hot water for 3 minutes then place them in cold water after
Drying
Drying doesn’t require any high-tech equipment – a regular oven will do. But if you want to dry often, you may want to invest in a dehydrator.
The time of drying can depend on how thick your slices are, temperature, altitude, and amount of water. Don’t worry if you over-dry it, as it just means it will be crispier and not chewy.
Curing
The last step is curing. Always make sure that your produce is not moist before storing it in order to avoid spoilage.
