Animal, Nature, and Travel: Taste-bud Journey: Dehydrating Kiwi Fruit

During the pandemic, I am taking taste-bud journeys as I self-isolate rather than physical journeys. Here is my adapted recipe for dehydrating two pounds of Kiwi fruit using my new Cosori Dehydrator. It was inspired by watching several tutorials on Amazon plus YouTube.

This is my third round of using my new Cosori dehydrator. This time, I cut up and sliced two pounds worth of Kiwi fruit.

I found that I could get 24 slices of Kiwi fruit per tray.
It took me three full trays plus the drip tray for all the tiny pieces.
This time around, I used mesh trays sprayed lightly with Coconut cooking spray to keep them stick-proof.
With my remaining two trays, I opened up a large can of peaches to dehydrate them, as well.

Recipe

Dehydrator with six trays
2 pound bag of fresh Kiwi fruit
20 oz. can of sliced peaches (optional)
Oxygen Absorber per storage jar
Storage Jars with a leak-proof seal to keep out extra oxygen

Please note: I think it was a mistake to have the peaches in there as the kiwi ended up smelling and tasting a bit like peaches. Next time, if I am dehydrating kiwi, I will not add any other fruit to prevent this from happening again.

Procedure

Step 1: Peel and slice the Kiwi fruit into about 1/4-inch slices. For the Kiwi fruit, use a mesh plastic tray lightly sprayed with unflavored cooking oil to overlay each metal tray. Lay out the fruit with space between each piece. You should be able to get 24 slices of Kiwi per tray. With any small pieces, place those on the drip tray to dehydrate, as well.

Step 2: Set the dehydrator to 135 degrees Fahrenheit. Set the time to 6 hours.

Step 3: Set a separate timer for 2 hours. At that point, pause the dehydrator and turn over each piece of fruit to help prevent them from sticking to the tray. Set your timer for the remaining time of 4 more hours.

Step 4: At the 6-hour point, pull out all trays containing the Kiwi fruit. Allow them to cool. Since the peaches require additional time to dehydrate, leave those two trays in the machine and set the timer for 3 more hours. If the peaches are still not done at that 9-hour point, add whatever additional time you judge to be necessary.

Step 5: Once the Kiwi slices have cooled completely, store them into your selected jar. Place an oxygen absorber in that jar to help prevent them from spoiling.

Step 6: When your sweet tooth gets activated, eat one or more of these instead of junk food. I have found them to be a truly nourishing and yummy snack.

Please note: This is what the the drip tray looked like before and what all the dehydrated Kiwi fruit looked like at the end.

Please note: I went online to see if there were any easy tips on how to effectively peel Kiwi fruit. I found the following video that advised slicing off the ends of the fruit and then using a spoon to peel what remained.

Please also note: The video made it look almost effortless. I tried my best. I even used a grapefruit spoon and an egg slicer for the peeled fruit. Alas! Other than one or two successes, I did not YET have the knack for that suggested hack. The good news was that I could eat the pieces that were too messed up to go in the dehydrator. Lol!

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.