Anyone Drying Fruit ??

[black404]

I don't have a fruit dehydrator, but I have plenty of pears.

Does anyone know how to dry pears or any fruit without a dehydrator?

 

[redoak]

I think you can use your oven on a low temp. We used our dehydrator on did alot of apples and then vacuum sealed them.

 

[Leah-yes I know I'm crazy]

Wash, peel, core, slice (or dice). Dip them in acidic solution. Fruit fresh, water with lemmon, or water with crushed vitamin c tablets. Lay them on a cotton sheet in the sun on a picnic table and flip them around every four hours or so. Pick them up before dark and set them in the house overnight. Lay them out agian the next day until they are the desired texture.
Candied pears are another good use for extras. They make a great gift for the holidays too. You can even send me some.
Then there's the old stand by of home canning or making pear/apple butter. Yum. For every 3lbs of pears add 2 lbs of apples...toss into crockpot until it is cooked down to rich thick mush and season with ginger or cinnamon according to your preference. Wonderful on english muffins or pancakes.

If I was going to do only one I would do the candied pears and give them away for christmas gifts with some good chocolates or nuts. But with two huge trees I usually do some combination of all.

 

[black404]

thanks...

I am going to try the pear butter and candied things.

I really wanted the dried fruit but ...since I still have alot of FLIES ( awh!!) I think that I will stick to the indoor options.

 

[mcg30_40]

I used to dry jerky in my oven, I don't see why you couldn't do fruit the same way. Just turn your oven on as low as it will go, slice the fruit, and put it in the oven till it dries. I would use a broiler pan or something that would drain off any liquids that might show up.

 

[black404]

What about candied fruits, I cant find a real recipe.

Is it a lost art? Or am I just missing the point? I want it dried and sweetened, like a hard candy.

Help?