The tomatoes are ripe, the plums are falling off the trees and here come the apples! It’s time to bring out the dehydrators and start drying the bounty. In addition to canning and freezing I really like to dry some of my harvest; the chest freezer is a bit unreliable and canned goods, while delicious, tend to be high in salt and sugar. The smell of drying plums and apples and the gentle whirring sound of the dryers makes me think of fall and the coming of winter.
Plums picked fresh this morning.
To dry produce start with ripe, clean fruits or veggies. Slice everything thin enough to dry but not so thin that they glue themselves on to your drying racks; I usually go with slices about 1/2 inch thick or cut plums and cherry tomatoes in half.
Plums on their way to becoming prunes.
Next fill up your racks, leaving a bit of space around each piece, stack them up and turn on the dehydrator. Depending on the product I start checking for dryness after about 8-10 hours. Things will dry at different rates so I usually consolidate the racks and switch the order to have things dry more evenly.
Once dried put your product in an air-tight container like a mason jar.
One sad year both the tomatoes and the plums rotted so now I dry them until they are really hard. This is not so good if you want to make dried food to eat without cooking but it works fine if you are planning on using it in oatmeal, soups, sauces etc.. You can also get creative and dry dredging your apple or pear slices in a blackberry puree or dusting fruit with cinnamon.
Dried tomatoes ready to brighten a winter soup.
I'd love to hear from you!