Fruit is a delicious way to make sure that your kids get a lot of vitamins in their diet. Get a lot of bang for your buck and have a snack that tastes amazing, and will provide your kids with a lot of vitamins their body needs. Here’s how to dehydrate your own fruit for a healthy snack your kids will love.
Steps to Take to Dehydrate Your Own Fruit
Wash
Wash your fruit and get all the crud off of it. Sometimes fruit has a lot of dirt on it, make sure that’s all of so that the fruit won’t taste bad after it has been dehydrated. Be wary of germs because so many people touch their fruit to get a good look at it before they buy it. Purchase a fruit and vegetable wash so you don’t have to use traditional soap.
Peel and Slice Your Fruit
If you like your fruit without peels, peel your fruit before you dehydrate it. Generally you do not need to peel fruit with skin that you usually eat. Apples and pears taste great with the skin on. Or you can peel it. It’s totally up to you. Oranges, lemons, or limes can taste bitter if the skin is left on. Consider peeling these before you dehydrate them. Large fruits should be sliced into ¼” or ½” slices. Slicing them into smaller sizes will help them to be eaten because they are in a snackable size. You don't need to be careful of proper sizes if the fruit is already small. Things like strawberries can simply be cut in half. Apricots can also be pitted and halved and be the perfect snackable size. It all depends on the fruit that you’re dehydrating. Blueberries and cranberries can be left whole.
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Spritz with Lemon Juice and Put in Dehydrator
Put lemon juice in a spray bottle and spritz your fruit with it. This will prevent your fruit from browning. This step isn’t necessary if you don’t mind your fruit getting brown. Personally, I don’t like the way fruit looks when it starts to turn brown so I wouldn’t skip this step. Place your fruit on the dehydrator racks. Make sure that none of the fruit overlaps because they will stick together. Make sure that each fruit has its own rack and that fruit that might drip is on the bottom rack so that it doesn’t drip on the other fruit.
Follow Your Manual
Use your manual as a guide to set the temperature and time for the dehydrator. Make sure that each fruit is set to its proper time and temperature to achieve the end result that you want. If you don’t have your manual, typically a temperature between 125℉ and 140℉ will do the trick.
Store Your Fruit
Make sure that there is no moisture left in your fruit. Moisture that is still left in your fruit when you store it, could make it spoil. Put your dried fruit in airtight containers and put them in your pantry for easy access to a delicious snack.
Summing Up
Your kids will love snacking on the sweet, and crispy dehydrated fruit. Whether it’s apples, cranberries, apricots, plums, pears, mangos, or strawberries, they will eat it all up! These snacks are great to take anywhere while you’re on the go. Keep them in snack bags for your kids to take to school or on a picnic. Whatever you decide to dehydrate, your kids will love them!
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