Canning and Preserving For Dummies (47 page)

Chapter 17

Snacking on the Run: Drying Fruit

In This Chapter

Preventing your fruit from changing color

Managing the level of moisture in your dried fruit

Returning life to your dried fruit

This chapter discusses the rewarding process of drying fruit. Dried fruit has many uses — from snacks to sauces, dessert toppings to baked-good fillings. Many of the best fruits for this method oxidize and brown easily when their flesh is exposed to air. This chapter introduces you to the options available to you to prevent any color change in your fruit.

The times required for drying fruit may take anywhere from a few hours to many days. An electric dehydrator provides you with the shortest drying time and produces the best dried fruit of the three methods discussed in Chapter 16. Sun-drying is the lengthiest process and requires a lot of your attention as well as perfect weather conditions.

Putting Your Fruit in Order

Using the best, perfectly ripe fruit for drying is important for a dried fruit that’s worthy of high marks and rave reviews. Most fruit is suited for this process with a few exceptions. Fruits
not
recommended for drying include avocados, citrus fruits (except for the peel), crab apples, guavas, melons, olives, pomegranates, and quinces.

Sizing up your preparation options

Drying time is determined by the moisture in your fruit, the size of your fruit pieces, the moisture in the air (even if you’re using a dehydrator or an oven), and the pretreating method you choose. Larger pieces of fruit take longer to dry than smaller pieces of the same fruit. So the smaller you cut your peaches or the thinner you slice your bananas, the less time you need to produce a safely preserved dried product.

Pretreating your fruit

Pretreating makes your fruit look good by preventing
oxidation
and
discoloration,
the darkening of the fruit flesh after it’s exposed to air. This process retards the enzyme activity in the fruit that causes it to ripen.

Pretreating only slows down the ripening process in fruit; it doesn’t stop it.

Using a pretreating method before drying your fruit isn’t as important as when you’re canning fresh fruit. In fact, it’s not necessary at all, but it does assist you with the drying process by shortening the drying time.

The following section explains your pretreating choices.

At one time, sulfuring fruit was popular for preserving fruit color and vitamins in dried fruit. Sulfur is unsafe for any drying method other than sun-drying because the sulfur produces dangerous fumes of sulfur dioxide when it’s heated, which occurs when you dry fruit in an oven or a dehydrator. People with asthma or other allergies should avoid this product.

Water blanching

Water blanching is the best for maintaining the bright fruit color. Immerse the fruit in boiling water for a short period of time and then immediately plunge it into ice water to stop the cooking process started from the boiling water. Drain the fruit well.

Steam blanching

Steam blanching is the most common method used for fruit. The steam quickly heats the fruit, shortens the drying and rehydrating times, sets the color and flavor, and slows down the enzyme activity, in some cases killing microorganisms (refer to Chapter 3). In fact, fruit retains more of its water-soluble vitamins and minerals from steam blanching than water blanching.

To steam blanch, hang a colander on the inside edge of a pot of boiling water, making sure the colander doesn’t touch the water. Place your fruit in the colander and heat it as directed in your recipe. Cool your fruit quickly in a bowl of ice water. Drain the fruit well.

Dipping in a solution

With this method, you immerse your fruit into a liquid or a solution to control darkening. Dipping the fruit helps it retain vitamins A and C that are lost during the oxidation process. You can use any of the following liquids:

Lemon or lime juice:
Fresh citrus juice is the most natural of the dipping solutions. Mix 1 cup of juice with 1 quart of water. Soak the fruit no longer than 10 minutes; drain thoroughly before drying.

Ascorbic acid:
This white, powdery substance is available in drugstores. Its common name is vitamin C. Dissolve 1 tablespoon of powder in 1 quart of water. Don’t soak your fruit longer than 1 hour; drain it well before drying.

Commercial antioxidants:
These products are found in supermarkets or where canning supplies are sold. Some common brand names are Fruit-Fresh and Ever-Fresh. Follow the directions on the product package for making your solution and determining the soaking time.

Detailing Your Fruit-Drying Expertise

Properly dried fruit produces a superior product for use at a later time. After your fruit is dried, labeled, and stored (check out Chapter 16), you’ll have delicious and healthful fruits at your fingertips all year round.

Fruit contains a lot of water, and you may be surprised at just how much volume you lose when you dry it. So don’t be put off by the amount of fruit you start with, wondering where you’re going to store it all. Four pounds of fresh blueberries, for example, makes 1 1/4 cup dried blueberries. And the best news? All the taste and nutrition is still there. The only thing missing is the water.

Evaluating dryness

Knowing when your fruit is properly dried is important. Normally, touching and tasting a cooled piece of fruit gives you the answer, but when you’re in doubt and you positively, absolutely need to know the moisture in your fruit has reduced enough, follow these basic steps:

1. Prepare your fruit and weigh the portion you’ll be drying.

2. Look up the amount of moisture (water content) in your fruit.

You can find this information in the recipes list in this chapter.

3. Determine the total water weight of your fruit.

Multiply the weight of your prepared fruit before drying by the water content percentage. For example, you have 20 pounds of prepared peaches with a water content of 89 percent:

20 pounds of peaches
×
0.89 water content = 17.8 pounds of water

4. Calculate the amount of water (by weight) that needs to be removed from the fruit during the drying process.

Multiply your total water weight (your answer from Step 3) by 0.8 (the minimum amount of water you want to remove from your fruit during the drying process). Using the peaches example

A total water weight of 17.8
×
0.8 = 14.24 pounds of water to remove

5. Determine how much the fruit should way
after
drying.

Subtract the amount of the water you want removed (your answer from Step 4) from the total weight of the fruit you prepared for drying (your answer from Step 1). Example

Twenty pounds of prepared fruit – 14.24 pounds of water to remove = 5.76 pounds of dried fruit as your goal

6. Weigh your fruit when you think it’s done.

If your fruit weighs the amount you calculated in Step 5 or less, your processing is successful. If your fruit weighs more than this amount, return it for more drying.

Properly dried fruit has 80 to 95 percent of its moisture removed, which means leathery, not crispy, results.

Drying fruit step by step

This procedure is simple and is detailed in Chapter 16 for the three drying methods. Here’s a summary for drying fruit in a dehydrator or an oven:

1. Preheat your oven or dehydrator and prepare your trays.

2. Prepare your fruit as directed in your recipe.

3. Place your fruit on your prepared trays or racks.

4. Place the filled trays in your dehydrator or oven and begin the drying process.

5. Check fruit and rotate the trays periodically to ensure even drying of the entire batch.

6. At the end of your drying time, check your fruit for the proper degree of doneness as stated in your recipe.

7. Package your fruit in temporary containers, like plastic bags, and allow them to
condition
or
mellow.

This process distributes any moisture left in the fruit pieces to other, drier pieces, reduces the chance of spoiled fruit, and may take up to one week.

8. Package and label your product for storage.

Don’t add fresh fruit to partially dried trays of fruit. The fresh fruit increases the humidity in the drying chamber and adds moisture back to your drying fruit. This adjustment in the humidity level affects drying and increases the drying time for both fruits.