Animal, Nature, and Travel: Taste-bud Journey: Dehydrating Mixed 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 frozen Blackberries plus canned Peaches, Pears, & Pineapple using my new Cosori Dehydrator. It was inspired by watching several tutorials on Amazon plus YouTube.

On my 2nd attempt for using this dehydrator, I used all six trays.

Tray 1: Large one-pound bag of frozen blackberries

Tray 2: Remainder of that bag plus canned pears

Tray 3: Canned pears from rest of first can and part of second can

Tray 4: Remainder of canned pears and large can of canned peaches

Tray 5: Rest of canned peaches plus one ring from canned pineapple

Tray 6: Remaining 9 pineapple rings from that 20 oz. can

Recipe

Dehydrator with six trays
1 pound bag of frozen blackberries
20 oz. can of pineapple slices
2 cans of 15 oz. sliced pears
20 oz. can of sliced peaches
Oxygen Absorber per storage jar
Storage Jars with a leak-proof seal to keep out extra oxygen

Procedure

Step 1: Lay out the fruit with space between each piece.

Step 2: Set the dehydrator to 145 degrees Fahrenheit. Set the time to 10 hours.

Step 3: Set a separate timer for 5 hours - the halfway point. At the halfway 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 5 more hours.

Step 4: At the 10-hour point, turn off the dehydrator and remove the trays from the machine. Allow them to cool completely.

Step 5: Once they have cooled, store them into your selected jars. Place an oxygen absorber in each 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 drip tray looked like at the end. Some of the blackberries had fallen through the wires. Those blobs were actually kind of tasty. They were the drippings from the defrosted frozen blackberries. I'm told you can make fruit rollups with this machine. So, this was a rather tasty accidental first attempt for that.

Please also note: I did not use any kind of cooking spray on the trays. I think I will try that next time around. I probably will use a cooking spray that does not have a strong taste such as coconut spray. Also, I will use one of the plastic mesh trays on future attempts at dehydrating smaller fruit such as blackberries and strawberries. That way, they will not end up falling through the wires once they have shrunk.

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.