You want to know how to dry your orange slices or other fruit if you are here. To skip right to it, scroll to the bottom of the article for the step-by-step guide on how to dry your fruit. There are a few things to note when dehydrating different fruits, and this is just one of the subjects we cover in this article.
What this article will cover
- Can you dry fruit in the oven?
- What temperature is best for drying fruit?
- How long does dried fruit last?
- How to tell if dried fruit is off?
- A step-by-step guide to drying fruit at home
Can you dry fruit in the oven?
Yes, you can! Drying your fruit in the oven is the perfect way to dry your food without a dehydrator. You can dry pretty much any fruit you like, and they make some of the most excellent and healthy snacks. The main fruits people choose to dry at home are oranges, grapes (raisins), apples, bananas, and strawberries.
We will use orange slices for this article, but you can apply the same process to most fruits.
What temperature do you dry fruit in the oven?
To dry fruit, you want your oven set low, around 60 Celsius, 140 Fahrenheit or gas mark 1 (Gas ovens are not ideal for this). Set it as low as possible if you don’t have clear markings on your oven.
How can you tell if dried orange slices are off?
You can tell when your dried fruit has gone wrong by its colour, taste and texture. If it’s not quite right when you tuck into your dried snacks, the chances are it has gone wrong. Other signs are if your dried fruit has become dark, chewy, and lacking flavour.
How long do dried orange slices last?
Dried fruit will last between 4 and 12 months if stored correctly, kept cool, and kept out of sunlight. If the fruit contains any moisture it will likely go off more quickly.
How to dry Orange Slices
You can use this method to dry most fruits. The critical thing to remember is the higher the water content of the fruit, the longer it will take to dehydrate. For this example, we will use Orange slices.
What you will need
- Large bowl
- A sharp knife or Mandolin
- Chopping board
- Orange slices or fruit to dehydrate
- Lemon juice
- Baking tray or wire rack
- Baking paper/parchment
Whether you need help chopping food or want evenly sliced vegetables, this Mandolin vegetable chopper is worth the money and is always out when i’m cooking. This device makes life easier in the kitchen and is perfect for slicing fruit to dehydrate because each slice is the same size, meaning they will dry at the same rate.
Preperation
Fill the large bowl with water, leaving room to add your sliced fruit. Add lemon juice to the water, around one teaspoon per half litre. Adding lemon juice acidulates the water, which helps prevent fruit like apples from browning while preparing the batch for drying out.
You also want to preheat the oven to its lowest setting, around 60 degrees Celsius or 140 degrees Fahrenheit, Gas mark 1.
How to dry orange slices
Step 1 – Cut your orange into thin slices using a sharp knife or Mandolin. I like them around 5mm thick but use your preference. Remember, the thicker they are, the longer they will take to dry.
Step 2 – Place the orange slices into the bowl of lemon juice and water (acidulated water) and allow them to soak for a few minutes. Strain and towel dry the fruit slices so they are ready for the oven.
Step 3 – Spread the orange slices across a baking tray lined with baking paper/parchment, leaving some room between each piece. Overlapping the slices will lead to uneven dehydration as the moisture will evaporate more slowly.
You can spread the orange slices across a wire rack instead of a baking tray if you have a wire rack. You will not need to turn over orange slices on a wire rack as the airflow passes both sides.
Step 4 –You can now put the baking tray into your preheated oven on the lowest rack.
Step 5 – Leave the fruit to dehydrate in the oven. Depending on how juicy the fruit is, it can take 5 – 24 hours. Remember to flip the slices over halfway through if they are on a baking tray.
Step 6 – When the orange slices are entirely dehydrated, remove the baking tray from the oven and cover the fruit with a kitchen towel for 24 hours, which helps remove the final bits of moisture.
Step 7 – Once dry, the fruit should appear leather-like and tough. The less moisture there is, the longer you can store the dehydrated orange slices. Store in airtight containers jars or freeze in freezer bags for a rainy day.
Tip for making raisins – Put them into boiling water for around 2 minutes before drying them. Boiling them for a short time softens skins and helps them dry quicker. To learn more about making rasins check out our article on ‘How to make raisins‘.
Dried strawberries
One of our favourite fruits to dry at the Backyard Farm are strawberries! They taste great dried and can be eaten as a snack or used in recipes. They are delicious when chopped up and used in a flapjack recipe! If you want to dry your strawberries at home, follow the guide above using strawberries. Cut them thin, lay them out and dry them slowly – yum.
Image by stockking on Freepik
