During the pandemic, I am taking taste-bud journeys as I self-isolate rather than physical journeys. Here is my adapted recipe for dehydrating strawberries in my Cosori dehydrator. It was inspired by my attempts to replicate one of my favorite snack foods -- store-bought freeze-dried strawberries which are not always available and also expensive.
One of my favorite snack foods are store-bought freeze-dried strawberries. They are not only expensive (often $4.50 to $6 per packet), you can't always find them available. In my effort to wanting to replicate this is what inspired me to try dehydrating fruit, in the first place. Two of the brands that I have purchased in the past are:
- Crunchies Freeze-dried Strawberries
- Simple Truth Freeze-dried Strawberries
Recipe
- Reputable dehydrator such as a Cosori Dehydrator
- Sliced-up strawberries (frozen or fresh)
- Mesh trays sprayed lightly with unflavored cooking spray
- Flat Silicone Dehydrator Sheets (another option)
- Ziploc bag or jar to store finished product
- Food-grade Oxygen Absorber packet
Procedure
- Step 1: Slice your strawberries. I used an egg slicer.
- Step 2: Lightly spray either your mesh sheets or your silicone sheets with unflavored cooking spray such as Coconut cooking spray. [FYI - I cannot stand the smell or taste of coconut; however, coconut cooking spray has no smell or taste.]
- Step 3: Lay out your strawberry slices with space between every slice for even drying.
- Step 4: Once you have filled your trays completely, plug in your dehydrator and turn it on. [Since I had more strawberries left since I had opened and sliced three bags of frozen strawberries instead of two - I dehydrated the remaining strawberries in the oven. I will blog about how to do that tomorrow.]
- Step 5: Set the dehydrator at 135 degrees Fahrenheit for 10 hours. My strawberries were completely done at 9 1/2 hours.
- Step 6: After allowing them to cool completely, store them in a Ziploc bag or jar along with a food-grade Oxygen Absorber.
- Step 7: Eat and enjoy this tasty and slightly crunchy, slightly pliant snack!
Buyer Beware!!! Here is a dehydrator I definitely do NOT recommend!
Please note: When I first began all dehydrating attempts, I actually purchased a very cheap dehydrator from Walmart.com for less than $40. Sometimes, you get what you paid for. This was a total waste of money and time.
Please also note: To my despair, I discovered that not only were all directions written in Chinese, even after 26 hours of dehydrating a large bag of sliced thawed strawberries, the whole thing had to be trashed. Here is what I was left with:
FYI - Repeatedly, I tried to post a review, but it would not post. This is the review I attempted to post:
Buyer beware: Looks cute but does not work!
This showed up in great condition and looked very cute! However ...
When I got ready to use it for the very first time, I discovered manual was in Chinese. The temperature gages are in Celsius.
I bought a huge bag of sliced frozen strawberries to try. It took about half the bag to spread out the strawberries per tray. I plugged it in and turned it on. For the first two hours, I used the second from the highest setting. The strawberries were unchanged. Then, I put it on the highest setting and checked it every few hours. After 26 hours, only a very few on the lower racks had somewhat dehydrated. Most of them were still gooey and moist.
I peeled off what I could to place them on cooking sheets to dehydrate in the oven. Over half the strawberries were a lost cause.
Since I did not keep the box, I am not even going to attempt to try to return this. I simply placed this in the trash can. Lesson learned: You get what you paid for! Thank goodness it was less than $40 and not one of the more expensive ones.
Still, this was extremely disappointing! Not only was I out the cost of the dehydrator, I was also out the price of the bag of strawberries. Sigh and double sigh!
This showed up in great condition and looked very cute! However ...
When I got ready to use it for the very first time, I discovered manual was in Chinese. The temperature gages are in Celsius.
I bought a huge bag of sliced frozen strawberries to try. It took about half the bag to spread out the strawberries per tray. I plugged it in and turned it on. For the first two hours, I used the second from the highest setting. The strawberries were unchanged. Then, I put it on the highest setting and checked it every few hours. After 26 hours, only a very few on the lower racks had somewhat dehydrated. Most of them were still gooey and moist.
I peeled off what I could to place them on cooking sheets to dehydrate in the oven. Over half the strawberries were a lost cause.
Since I did not keep the box, I am not even going to attempt to try to return this. I simply placed this in the trash can. Lesson learned: You get what you paid for! Thank goodness it was less than $40 and not one of the more expensive ones.
Still, this was extremely disappointing! Not only was I out the cost of the dehydrator, I was also out the price of the bag of strawberries. Sigh and double sigh!
Cooking Sites that have inspired me:
Books written by Debbie Dunn:
Here is the Amazon Link to all anti-bullying curriculum books plus all children’s books written by Debbie Dunn (both paperback and Kindle). It will open up in a new window.
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